Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Karita Mattila

Blending theater and symphony, the Houston Symphony reimagines Peer Gynt as Grieg intended – complete with dialogue, chorus, and a luminous cameo from Karita Mattila.

Corinne Winters is phenomenal as the self-possessed Jenůfa in The Royal Opera's revival of Claus Guth's powerful staging. 

Superb singing and brilliant work in the pit can't quite rescue Jiří Nekvasil's overambitious production.

Christof Loy’s thoughtful staging enlightens the character of the protagonists in Sophocles’ tale of matricide; Sir Antonio Pappano extracts great nuance and beauty from Strauss’ score.

Ambur Braid excels in the title role in the Canadian Opera Company’s starrily cast revival of Atom Egoyan's production.

Karita Mattila and Keval Shah call up all their combined artistry at Wigmore Hall for searing performances of Poulenc’s La Voix humaine and a quartet of torch songs.

Asmik Grigorian is captivating in an unobtrusive production of Puccini's three one-act operas. Under Franz Welser-Möst, the Vienna Philharmonic is on top form.

Guth's intelligent production comes with a Karita Mattila masterclass and an outstanding cast, intense to the point of pain. 

The Janáček Festival maintains its proud tradition with a brave eleventh-hour performance.

The Bavarian State Opera avoids the routine in a powerfully cast revival of Richard Jones' building-site production of Lohengrin.

An unforgettable evening at the Met as John Dexter's production of Poulenc's masterpiece is revived to close the season. 

San Francisco Opera's Die Walküre overcame a disappointing first act, winning the audience over with excellent singing and playing and impressive stage effects.

The backstory doesn’t bode well: three fugitive criminals decide to found a city that will pander to society’s most vital needs: food, sex, warfare, and alcohol.

Munich revived a thoughtful modern production of Janáček's Jenůfa, with fine orchestral direction and strong singing doing full justice to the rich score.

In Wagner and Strauss, the beauty and power of Mattila's voice, still fresh and flexible, left the audience reeling in a recital that was a showcase for technique and artistry.

A stunning Sieglinde from Mattila eclipses Kaufmann's restrained Siegmund; Pappano conjures exceptional detail and drive from the LSO.

Olivier Tambosi’s controversial production of Janáček's Jenůfa first appeared at the Met in 2003.

Karita Mattila produces a star turn in the title role, but a pure concert staging does little to bring out the cleverness of the libretto of Janáček’s Makropulos Case.

Remarkable performances from Karita Mattila and Malin Byström head this strong production of Janáček’s Jenůfa at San Francisco Opera. 

It's not for nothing that Janáček's opera is properly titled Její pastorkyňa (Her Stepdaughter). Karita Mattila's Kostelnička was at the centre of a powerful concert performance of Jenůfa.

Jane Archibald and Ruxandra Donose provide a compelling prologue to Ariadne auf Naxos, while Karita Mattila's majestic performance lights up the opera seria second half.

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.

As revivals go, Karita Mattila and Jane Archibald make the Royal Opera's Ariadne auf Naxos a must-see.

Director Keith Warner's Royal Opera production of Berg's Wozzeck makes a truly cathartic experience that fully deserved the long ovation it received, with strong performances from Simoin Keenlyside and Karita Mattila.

Romanticism found both its source and its end at Salle Pleyel on Tuesday night: Beethoven’s Egmont overture, incidental music for a heroic drama written by Goethe, and his Fifth Symphony, where it has been said that “Fate knocks at the door” – both works composed before 1810 – and Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs, created in 1948, when the last notes of Romanticism in music history were dying slow

A pub quiz question for you, dear reader: with which work did 20th century music begin? The rest is noise, Alex Ross's history of 20th century music, opens with Richard Strauss's 1905 opera Salome, focusing particularly on its final bars. As Princess Salome is crushed under the shields of King Herod's guard, the music turns to what Ross describes as "...a tumult... a howl... a shriek...

If only every orchestral concert were as thoughtfully programmed as the Saint Louis Symphony’s last Saturday. David Robertson led his orchestra in Debussy’s Printemps, an ingratiating early work; the Carnegie Hall premiere of Quatre Instants by Kaija Saariaho with the irrepressible soprano Karita Mattila; and the full-length version of Stravinsky’s Firebird.

Read our review of Luc Bondy's production of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca in its 2009 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Read our review of Jürgen Flim's production of Salome in its 2008 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Read our review of James Levine's production of Puccini­'s Manon Lescaut in its 2008 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York

Las voces para esta ópera fantástica de Dvořák serán recordadas en el Liceu; un plantel internacional en el que no faltó la excelencia y una dirección magistral del gran Pons.

Ce trittico fera date, grâce à un travail d’équipe exceptionnel d’où se distinguent notamment Christof Loy, Carlo Rizzi et l’incroyable Asmik Grigorian dans les trois rôles féminins de l’ouvrage.

La production du metteur en scène polonais est de retour à Bastille et on a bien du mal à lui trouver des défauts, d'autant que la direction musicale de Susanna Mälkki est au diapason.

La violence de la mise en scène de Lydia Steier hypnotise mais manque de profondeur ; dans le rôle-titre, Elza van den Heever brille en revanche de mille feux.

Una nueva producción de la mano Christof Loy lleva a Rusalka al Teatro Real con un magnífico elenco encabezado por la soprano Asmik Grigorian.

Rusalka revient à l'Opéra de Paris dans la mise en scène de Robert Carsen, qui prône le réalisme au détriment du merveilleux. 

Karita Mattila, star reconnue, soprano dramatique au timbre d’or, au legato superlatif, a offert un récital d'une grande classe à Genève, avec un Brahms rayonnant, un Wagner crépusculaire, un Berg piquant et des Strauss stratosphériques, faisant oublier le manque d’orchestre par le piano épique d’un Vile Matvejeff somptueux.

Un très beau plateau pour cette reprise de Ariadne auf Naxos, avec notamment le retour à l'Opéra de Paris de Karita Mattila, Elena Moşuc et Klaus-Florian Vogt.