Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Simon O'Neill

Putting Gershwin up against Mahler is a challenge, but Simone Young and Jean-Yves Thibaudet bring it off in the Sydney Symphony's 2026 season opener. 

Can a perfect performance of the stupendous Gurrelieder be anything other than five stars?

A fully-staged performance of Wagner's Das Rheingold transforms Walt Disney Concert Hall to an opera house where the orchestra is the star. 

A long stellar night of supremely assured singing and playing in Wagner's Siegfried, with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle on top form.

Amanda Majeski reprises her peerless Kátya, but Katarina Dalayman's flint-like characterisation as Kabanicha strikes the most sparks.

Simone Young  is made of stern stuff. With 30 hours to go before the concert performance, her Leonore falls ill. Can the show go on? 

For social distancing reasons, the Festival dispensed with a full staging of Wagner's epic love story, allowing singers and orchestra to share the stage in an able compromise.

Giordano Bellincampi presides over a fleet and crisp performance of Beethoven's only opera, performed in Auckland Town Hall. 

The Staatsoper Berlin celebrate the arrival of Michael Volle, a splendid Wotan, aided by a strong ensemble of singers and Daniel Barenboim's leadership.

Daniel Barenboim led a performance of deliberate tempo with a great ensemble of singers.  Guy Cassiers‘ production, while visually stunning at times, does little to enhance the performance.

Andris Nelsons finishes his 2019 Tanglewood residency on a high note.

Guth's incisive staging of Strauss and Hofmannsthal's grandest opera proves a moving and detailed experience at its transfer to the reopened Staatsoper. 

A superb choral performance and some memorable solo moments bring Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand" to life, even if the sheer energy of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra turns frantic at times.

Sir Mark Elder and The Hallé orchestra are the powerhouse in a memorable performance of Siegfried. Simon O’ Neill, Iain Paterson and Christine Goerke head up a universally strong cast.

Thomas Søndergård’s final performance as chief of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales sees them pull off Mahler 8 in style.

The New Zealander Heldentenor makes a welcome return to Auckland for Wagner's erotic song cycle. 

New York Philharmonic, under the strong leadership of its incoming music director, demonstrated that they can perform opera as well as symphonies in an impressive performance of Act 1 of Die Walküre.

Rattle and the LSO give hundreds of moments of individual brilliance in this most symphonic of song cycles, but with both soloists giving grounds for reservation.

The music of Sibelius and Mahler may seem worlds apart, but this concert by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, celebrating Finland's centenary, proved that opposites can attract.

A taste of the future with Sir Simon Rattle and the LSO.

A sensational Die Walküre from Sir Andrew Davis and the RSNO at the Edinburgh Festival that will be talked about for years.

An underwhelming performance that fell prey to poor interpretive judgements. 

Die Walküre in Leipzig turns the family drama into a tragedy of fear and anxiety, with glimpse of hope at the end.

Eva-Maria Westbroek proves an outstanding Káťa in the Staatsoper's revival of Janáček's opera, powerfully conducted by Simon Rattle. 

Joining Music Director Jaap van Zweden were some familiar faces who had appeared in Das Rheingold and Die Walküre in the same or different roles, and new faces appearing for the first time.

Released from the incarceration of directorial prison walls, Fidelio can still make a most powerful impact on the concert platform.

Donald Runnicles ends the 2016 Edinburgh Festival with Gurrelieder. 

The second evening of Staatsoper Berlin's Ring featured an exceptionally strong musical performance, both from the orchestra and the singers. 

The revival of Das Rheingold at Staatsoper Berlin was still marred by distracting use of dancers on stage, but musically it was a great success. 

Michael Tilson Thomas, leading the San Francisco Symphony in an invigorating performance of works by both Schubert and Mahler, emphasized the idea of repetition as an evolution rather than a lie.

San Francisco Symphony presents Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde in all its glory. The addition of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony filled out the program, but seemed very much an afterthought.

Fine singing from Simon O’Neill and Orla Boylan in New Zealand Opera's production of Tosca.

In James Conlon's final performance as music director of Ravinia, he presented a magnificent Flying Dutchman with a stellar cast.

"under Inkinen the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra has set a standard that is rarely surpassed even internationally"

All five of the Houston Grand Opera’s performances of Die Walküre sold out immediately – more than 13,000 seats – and there are several good reasons why.

The BBC SSO and Ilan Volkov close EIF 2014's contemplations on 'Conflict and Culture' with dark Mills and dramatic Janáček.

On Harry Kupfer's dramatic set, strong performances by Simon O'Neill (Otello), Lianna Haroutounian (Desdemona) and especially Claudio Sgura (Iago) make Opera Australia's Otello a memorable revival.

Any performance of Mahler's Eighth Symphony is a special event. This one was a thrilling end to the Royal Scottish National Orchestra's season.

Matthias Goerne steps in for Thomas Hampson and electrifies James Levine's Wozzeck at the Metropolitan Opera. 

Dipping my toes into the murky waters of the Wagner-fest at the Proms this year for the first time, I found myself confronted with the monumental second installment of the Ring cycle, Die Walküre.

In last night’s performance of Die Walküre at the Met, Martina Serafin as Sieglinde and Simon O’Neill as Siegmund drew us completely into the process of two people falling into illicit love.

If you've been brought up with the Judaeo-Christian ideal of an all-powerful, all-good God, Norse mythology can come as a bit of a shock. Wotan, the father of the gods, is philandering, deceitful, power-hungry, sentimental, violent and ultimately weak - the gamut of human frailties writ large.

In a castle in mediaeval Denmark, King Waldemar and Tove sing rapturously of their love. But dark deeds are afoot: a Wood Dove tells us that Tove has been murdered by Waldemar's jealous queen, Waldemar berates God, he and his men are condemned to rise from their graves every night and ride in a wild hunt - all this to the accompaniment of a giant, brass-laden orchestra playing a lush, opulent symp

It’s difficult to believe that the current run of John Adams’ Nixon in China at the San Francisco Opera marks the opera’s local premiere. Adams is not only one of the leading composers of his generation, but he is also a celebrated local hero.

While Weber is widely acknowledged as being of historic importance as the link in the German operatic tradition between Beethoven and Wagner, his operas are rarely staged in England, and even in concert remain a relative novelty. Curious because this is music of the utmost vitality and beauty and at times he surely borders on genius.

The classical world came off lightly in the recent New Year Honours list, with the Royal Opera House’s knighted Antonio Pappano the only winner. He has much to celebrate, more so after directing last night’s concert performance of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with authoritative ease and good cheer, supported by a fine array of soloists.

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider dirige l'Orchestre national de Lyon avec une grande économie de moyens, mais il obtient précisément ce qu’il veut : une interprétation profonde, riche et sensible.

Très attendue depuis son annulation pour cause de Covid-19, la Tétralogie selon Calixto Bieito déçoit grandement pour son premier épisode, et ni la fosse ni la distribution vocale ne compensent cet échec.