Find reviews | Concerts, Opera, Dance, Kids events, Talks or lectures | David Larkin

In the run-up to Bastille Day, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra offers an entirely French programme under the baton of Stéphane Denève, with Olivier Latry as organ soloist.

A fine ensemble cast brings Puccini's triptych of one-acters to the Sydney Opera House stage, with stand-out performances from Lauren Fagan, Viktor Antipenko, Simon Meadows and Angela Hogan.

An icy Götterdämmerung brings Opera Australia's Ring Cycle to a successful conclusion, with standout performances from Lise Lindstrom as Brünnhilde and Andrea Silvestrelli as Hagen.

The tireless Stefan Vinke wows in the title role of Opera Australia's Siegfried, in a production which harnesses technology to excellent effect.

The second part of Opera Australia's Ring Cycle sees digital effects employed with greater restraint, delivering a production that is by turns moving and thrilling. 

The opening Opera Australia's much-delayed Ring cycle contains wonderful visuals, and a standout performance from Warwick Fyfe as Alberich, but also moments of bafflement and excess.

Joshua Bell directs the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in lively, well-crafted performances of Prokofiev and Mendelssohn in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. 

Damiano Michieletto's imaginative take on Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann is lavish fun, with star turns from Jessica Pratt, Iván Ayón Rivas and Marko Mimica.

The first programme in Stephen Hough's Sydney series sees him offer sensitive but not incandescent Rachmaninov, followed by thrilling performances of Respighi's Roman Trilogy under John Wilson. 

The LSO opens its three-concert Sydney stay with a panoply of colours and virtuoso orchestral playing in a programme of Adams, Debussy and Ravel, under the masterful leadership of Sir Simon Rattle

Donald Runnicles demonstrates his superior musicianship in a warm, intelligently crafted reading of Brahms' Symphony no. 2 in D major, with Andrea Lam as a sensitive and reserved soloist in Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto.

A thrilling account of Mahler's First Symphony under Simone Young launches the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's 2023 season, with Mahler's Blumine and Debussy's Ariettes oubliées on the undercard.

Sydney may possess the most iconic opera house in the world, but Opera Australia ventured outdoors once more for a successful rock 'n' roll-themed Carmen on Cockatoo Island, with a stage positioned at water's edge.

A lively and amusing Barbiere at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, with Daniele Gatti expertly marshalling the talents of Ruzil Gatin, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, Nicola Alaimo and Fabio Capitanucci in Damiano Michieletto's colourfully minimalist staging.

Star tenor Jonas Kaufmann sings the title role in Olivier Py's dour and symbolism-heavy Lohengrin, set in post-war Berlin.

187 years after its Parisian debut, Halévy's La Juive receives its Australian premiere. A sterling cast under Carlo Montanaro reveals some unexpected beauties (and occasional longueurs) in this classic of French grand opéra.

An afternoon programme by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra featuring Beethoven's Triple Concerto and Brahms' Third and shorter pieces by Schreker and Harry Sdraulig offers pleasant but somewhat underwhelming impressions.

Mahler and Schubert: masters of both song and symphony. Jacqueline Porter is the soloist as the SSO under Umberto Clerici perform Schubert arrangements and Mahler's classical Fourth Symphony.

A mixed-bag of an evening at the Sydney Opera House, with a production of Ernani imported from La Scala failing to solve the inherent challenges of the work, despite good performances from the cast.

The revival of David McVicar's production of Gounod's Faust provides spectacle and entertainment in spades, with strong performances from Ivan Magrì (Faust) and Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Méphistophélès).

David McVicar's dark and gothic Don Giovanni is revived in Sydney, with stand-out performances from Luca Micheletti as an unapologetic and dashing Don, and Eleanor Lyons as a magnificent Donna Anna

An exquisite evening of British 20th-century choral music from Tenebrae under Nigel Short at the Sydney Festival, with outstanding renditions of the music of Parry, Bingham and Stanford.

The expanded forces of the ACO take on two major nineteenth-century symphonic works by Dvorak and Brahms, prefaced by world and Australian premieres of pieces by Andrew Ford and Andrew Norman

A brilliantly staged production of Reimann's Ghost Sonata by Opera Australia shows once again that modernist opera can be compelling if a provocative story is rendered by an outstanding cast.

Davide Livermore's new production of Donizetti's Anna Bolena offers moderate pleasures, with solid performances by Ermonela Jaho in the title role, and Carmen Topciu as Jane Seymour.

Graeme Murphy's new Madama Butterfly opens with arrestingly kinky imagery and heavily exploits digital projections thereafter, but the joy of the production is in the uniform excellence of the performers, headed by the outstanding Karah Son in the title role.

Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria is given the Pinchgut treatment, with an abstract staging complementing historically informed music-making under Erin Helyard.

Under guest director Lorenza Borrani a subdued ACO offers a programme of arrangements of Prokofiev and Beethoven sandwiching a new work by Dobrinka Tabakova.

For their 2019 season-opener, Tognetti and the ACO collaborate with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir to give a meditative, quasi-religious program centred on Bach and Pärt.

Setting aside a disappointing first movement of the Eroica, the Berlin Staatskapelle under Barenboim deliver another polished and persuasive performance in their third Sydney concert.

The Berlin Staatskapelle begins their three-concert Sydney series with a thrilling account of Brahms's first two symphonies in Sydney. 

Having offered a strong feminist reading of Wagner's Ring, could Kasper Holten do the same again for Die Meistersinger? Opera Australia's co-production had moments of excellence, but ultimately left the viewer with more questions than answers

Ilya Gringolts brings his brand of unspectacular virtuosity to the ACO's latest programme, with the Paganini Violin Concerto no. 1 and Bartók's Divertimento clear highlights.

Pared-down forces of the ACO performed pared down masterpieces, in a brilliantly conceived programme which included works by Wagner, Strauss and Mozart.

Davide Livermore's digital set for Opera Australia's new production of Aida ushers in a new type of staging to the Sydney Opera House, and backs up a stellar performance from Amber Wagner in the title role.

On their return to Sydney, the Australian World Orchestra under Riccardo Muti offer a subdued reading of Brahms’ Symphony no. 2 and a thrilling account of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 4.

Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour returns with La bohème, in a fine production by Andy Morton, with star turns from Iulia Maria Dan and Ho-Yoon Chung in the lead roles.

Massanet’s Don Quichotte is mounted by Opera Australia, in a production which creaks but is held together by fine singing from Ferruccio Furlanetto and Warwick Fyfe.

Kosky’s The Nose hits Sydney, sweeping the audience along with hallucinogenic energy. Led by the outstanding Martin Winkler and John Tomlinson, singers and musicians deliver a wild evening's entertainment.

In their Sydney season-opener, the ACO with guest players from ANAM deliver a thoroughly satisfying account of two 19th-century standards and introduce two new works to Australian audiences.

An outstanding cast headed by Karah Son in the title role provides a fitting send off for Opera Australia’s much-loved production of Madama Butterfly in Sydney

The problematic nature of Britten's Rape of Lucretia is well-known: Sydney Chamber Opera's production attempts to navigate it via gender inversion. 

Four years ago, the ACO mounted The Reef. Mountain is clearly its successor: another film project involving scenes of nature peopled by extreme-sports enthusiasts, screened while an eclectic soundtrack is played live by the orchestra.

A vividly dramatic take on Verdi's Requiem by Opera Australia allows chorus and orchestra to shine under Renato Palumbo, and reminds us why the work has been called “opera in church clothing”.

Outstanding performances from Nicole Car and Etienne Dupuis turn Opera Australia's unstaged production of Thaïs into a triumph at Sydney Town Hall.

With Satu Vänskä at the helm, the ACO delivers a thrilling series of performances in an ecclectic program at the City Recital Hall, Sydney

Joshua Bell brings star quality to the visit of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, with a stunning performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto the stand-out item on their first Sydney programme.

Interleaving Bach violin concertos with Haydn symphonies, the ACO give an energetic performance in the Sydney Opera House, with highlight solos from Richard Tognetti and Helena Rathbone.

Damiano Michieletto's inspired intertwining of the standard double-bill of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci makes for vivid storytelling, the whole supported by an excellent cast solidly directed by Andrea Licata.

A tribute concert to the passing of the grand old man of Finnish music, Einojuhani Rautavaara, offers a programme that focusses on sonic beauty at the expense of a more rounded appreciation of the composer's output.