Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Berlioz

An inspired piece of programming illustrates the continuities in angst-filled works from the Baroque, Romantic and contemporary eras.

The Cleveland Orchestra’s first evening of the season at the Blossom Music Center also included a performance of Beethoven’s Second Symphony that was both sparkling and appropriately dramatic.

It's typical that in the last concert in a series that has lasted seventeen years, we had a recital from a talented young singer with a growing reputation, a Rosenblatt classic.

There's no faulting the execution, but the former Python's take on Berlioz's dramatic legend is worryingly inconsistent in tone. 

A packed recital given by mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly at Brighton Festival.    

With a Francophile programme of Berlioz, Chopin and Franck, conductor Fabien Gabel had the constant challenge of exploring the orchestra for fresh insights into each of these Romantic works.

Nothing is better than when Berlioz ramps up the decibels. With a huge orchestra and choir and a deluxe starry cast assembled in Strasbourg, this was a special performance. 

Petrenko and the RLPO tackle familiar Berlioz and unfamiliar Kodály and Szymanowski.  

Absolute Jest sounds like perfect fare for an April Fool's Day concert. John Adams quotes Beethoven in many guises in his jolly work for string quartet and orchestra. 

The riotous energy of carnival dazzled Symphony Hall as Alain Altinoglu debuted with the Boston Symphony in a program he assembled as a personal homage to Charles Munch.

Roth bookended Matthias Pintscher's new work with familiar pieces, Berlioz’s Le Corsaire Overture and Beethoven’s Symphony no. 6 in F major.

Maestro Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic gave the New York première of Esa-Pekka Salonen's Cello Concerto with soloist Yo-Yo Ma.

Antonacci's voice shines even in the art songs that pad out the evening, but it's Poulenc's one-act opera that gives San Francisco Opera Lab's current offering dramatic weight (and makes it worth seeing).

With combined ages of over 150 years between conductor and soloist, there was no lack of experience on the platform for this Royal Philharmonic Orchestra concert.

A disappointing pairing of Berlioz and Mendelssohn from a conductorless Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. 

Andris Nelsons' program pays homage to two touchstones of the French repertory with the Boston Symphony: Henri Rabaud and Pierre Monteux.

A musically strong revival of an austere production still leaves one feeling short-changed.

The silence of the Cenotaph was swept away by the greatest howl of anguish in music.

This production, directed by Tim Albery and with sets and costumes by Tobias Hoheisel, boasts more than one megastar.

Sibelius' Violin Concerto remains one of the true tests for violinists, and was performed with great emotional depth in Seattle by young Armenian violinist Sergey Khachatryan. 

James Levine’s excellent CSO appearance included a first half juxtaposing Mozart and Schoenberg anchored by a memorable Symphonie fantastique, and even a tribute to the victorious Chicago Cubs.

Irish mezzo soprano Rachel Kelly joins the Ulster Orchestra in an evening of richly coloured orchestration and exotic flavour, conducted by Jac van Steen. 

The CBSO pairs Berlioz' opium-fuelled extravaganza with a 20th-century favourite starring Vilde Frang.

Soprano Elizabeth Watts brought tonal richness and energy to an evening of French song with texts by Théophile Gautier, but her expressive arsenal was diminished by a bout of flu.

Renée Fleming joins the Pacific Symphony for Strauss, Italian Songs and Rodgers and Hammerstein. 

A strange combination of a Berlioz overture, a commemorative work and Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the Hallé, Sir Mark Elder, Alice Coote, Gregory Kunde and Leonard Elschenbroich.

Prom 20 proved an exhilarating journey, featuring Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette as one of the key works of this year’s BBC Proms' Shakespeare 400 celebrations.

The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and Sir Roger Norrington give their very last concert together, with Robert Levin as soloist in Beethoven's fourth piano concerto.

Edward Gardner conducts a solemn, emotionally-charged performance of Berlioz’s radical masterpiece at Gloucester Cathedral

Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict is light and fluffy, making it perfect summer festival fare. Sadly, like a soggy soufflé, Pelly's one-trick staging soon falls flat.

A journey of emotions with the Munich Philharmonic under Gergiev resplendent in Ravel and Richard Strauss, thought-provoking in Ustvolskaya, and Behzod Abduraimov electrifying in Rachmaninov.

The combined forces of various LSO and Guildhall ensembles come together in an evening that was, in turns, poignant and thrilling to perform Peter Maxwell Davies's last work. 

One of America's high quality regional orchestras premieres a new Amercan piano concerto by Kenneth Fuchs, along with presenting a trio of French orchestral gems.

“If music be the food of love, play on, give me excess of it.” There was certainly plenty of Shakespeare-inspired music on the bill for the London Philharmonic Orchestra's celebration of The Bard. 

The concept of bringing opera and ballet together in an abstract production is interesting, but Sasha Waltz creates a cold universe that fails to convey strong emotions.

After being absent since December, music director Riccardo Muti returned to Chicago Symphony in a passionate account of the epic Roméo et Juliette by Berlioz.

At a time of love and literature in fairest Barcelona, the scene was laid at the Liceu for interpretations by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Berlioz and Bernstein of Shakespeare's timeless tale.

An intense experience as the RCO explores programme music depicting poets, musicians and artists. 

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Søndergård, was joined by pianist Alexandre Tharaud, presenting strong performances of familiar French composers.

The heady combination of the Scottish première of James MacMillan’s Little Mass, Nicola Benedetti playing Szymanowski 2 and the drama of Berlioz Symphonie fantistique was an evening to remember.

Charles Dutoit stands as arguably today’s premier Berlioz conductor. If his case needed any special pleading, it was pled well in Symphony Hall when he bracketed the Resurrexit and Te Deum with Henri Dutillieux’s Timbre, espace, mouvement ou La Nuit étoilée.

Bryan Hymel and Irene Roberts explored the boundaries of love in the latest splendid performance in the Rosenblatt Recitals.

Tonight's concert was listed under the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's "Indulge" series, and it was indeed an occasion for feeling well and truly spoilt.

The coda to Juliet's "Convoi funèbre" crystallised all that was exceptional about this performance of Berlioz's symphonie dramatique.

Joshua Weilerstein conducts the RLPO in music by Rouse, Prokofiev and Berlioz. 

The San Diego Symphony presented a glittering holiday gift to audiences with its final Jacobs Masterworks program of 2015

Bernard Rands' new concerto, with Robert Walters as soloist, the centerpiece of a concert that also included Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique.

Romanian conductor Cristian Măcelaru was rapturously received as guest conductor for this brilliantly original and eclectic programme with the Hallé. 

Sasha Waltz & Guests reimagine L’après-midi d’un faune, Scène d’amour (from Roméo et Juliette) and Le sacre du printemps at London’s Sadler’s Wells.

A diverse and occasionally challenging program opens the season in Detroit.