Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Etienne Siebens

Martijn Padding's opera Laika is let down by its libretto, which illustrates that though authors may write successful novels, this doesn’t necessarily imply they can also produce good theatre texts.

Asko|Schönberg presents exciting new works by Wagemans and Kulenty. 

Portugese composer Vasco Mendonça presents in Luxembourg his new opera, based on the masterly tale by Julio Cortázar.

Asko|Schönberg are respected pioneers of the new music scene, but this concert in Utrecht found them in less well-travelled territory: music by Debussy and Ravel. This proved a disappointing mismatch of repertoire.

The Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, Amsterdam’s foremost modern classical music venue, opened the music season with a day dedicated to percussion. The first concert included Stravinsky’s Suite from L’histoire du soldat (1918) and Varèse’s Ionisation (1929-31) and Hyperprism (1922-23).

Des réfugiés anonymes rejetés sur la plage d’un luxueux complexe hôtelier ; ainsi l’enfer surgit-il à l’improviste aux portes du paradis terrestre. Un langage coloré qui masque tout sauf les vulgarités de la bourgeoisie autoproclamée : c’est loin d’être le seul contraste sur lequel surfe Bosch beach.