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This was astonishing and gripping vocalism from a true master of Berlioz style.

Susan Graham had all the fun every mezzo-soprano witch, who can sing the role and disguise herself – when necessary – to look the part, deserves. 

Mahler for beginners? Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra provide exemplary clarity and understanding of structure, but don't hit one in the chest in the way the Third can.

Playing Mahler’s Third Symphony was also meant to be an homage to Leonard Bernstein, one of the great interpreters of Mahler’s music, born 100 years ago this week.

A superb Mahler 3 from Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony, building to an ecstatic finale. 

A conventional and quite predictable staging of Lehár’s most famous operetta was saved by dedicated musicians.

John Relyea owns the stage as Méphistophélès in Boston Symphony’s Faust. 

Salonen has an obvious vision on how to conduct Mahler, relentelsly driving the orchestra in the direction he wants.

American composer Jake Heggie's early opera performed by Washington National Opera was one of those rare experiences of an opera full of raw power and wrenching emotion with superb performers that one is not likely to forget soon.

Nezet-Seguin and his Philadelphians convey the brilliance and sophistication of France's undisputed "golden age" of classical music with works by six Parisian composers.

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

It would be no exaggeration to say Franz Hawlata stole the show, an act of grand larceny made all the more remarkable by the strong cast which shared the stage.

Maestro Leo Hussain’s translucent rendition of the score made Capriccio the crowning glory of the Santa Fe Opera Season.  

The Met's brought back its Die Fledermaus set in the turn-of-the-century Vienna in a glittering production with a winning ensemble of singers.

In addition to incorporating twelve-tone rows for each character and within larger musical units like canons and chorales, the entirety of the opera itself is palindromic in structure, with performers whose characters died gruesome deaths during the first act returning as new characters in the third.

Staging the operatic behemoth that is Berlioz's Les Troyens comes with huge challenges to harness the artistic, technical and dramatic qualities in a work which spans more than four hours. 

Just occasionally, a musical experience is so exquisite, so divine, that you selfishly cannot bear to contemplate it ending. 

Only the slightest of quibbles with a fun, frothy new production of The Merry Widow at The Met. 

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's current season is dedicated to performances of works for which its conductor, Charles Dutoit, has received critical acclaim in interpreting. This all-French programme of three very different works by Ravel, Berlioz and Saint-Saens continued the season in style.

One would think that either Renée Fleming or Susan Graham alone would be reason enough to sell out a large venue such as Disney Hall. But everything is bigger in Hollywood, and the LA Phil brought both artists together for a one-night recital of French art song. But even that wasn’t enough.

It’s very difficult to write about Berlioz’s Les Troyens without mentioning its length. Tonight’s cinema screening of Fransesca Zambello’s lush production was billed at 341 minutes – that’s 5.6 hours. But beamed live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, those 5.6 hours entailed spectacular operatic entertainment.

Susan Graham is the mezzo representative of the generation of American singers, including Barbara Bonney, Renée Fleming, Dawn Upshaw and Sylvia McNair, who rose to prominence in the mid to late 1980s and distinguished themselves internationally with their superlative techniques, gorgeous lyric instruments, and impeccable professionalism.

“A revival of a revival of a revival” might describe Handel’s practice of reviving his own works. This highly acclaimed revival production of Handel's Xerxes received it best performance to date with a star-studded cast.Xerxes tells the tale of two brothers, Xerxes and Arsamenes, both competing for the same bride – Romilda.

Read our review of Stephen Wadsworth’s production of Iphigénie en Tauride by Gluck, in its 2011 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Read our review of Nathaniel Merrill's production of Der Rosenkavalier by Strauss, in its 2010 HD broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Read our review of Robert Lepage's production of Berlioz­'s La Damnation de Faust in its 2008 roadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Un des meilleurs orchestres américains, la fougue toujours plus maîtrisée d'un des chefs les plus appréciés du public parisien, et l'impeccable Susan Graham, dans la Troisième Symphonie de Mahler à la Philharmonie de Paris.

Das Boston Symphony Orchestra bietet beim Musikfest Berlin eine beeindruckende Aufführung Mahlers Dritten Symphonie, die bis „zur Liebe Gottes" führt.