Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Edward Gardner

From some other world: the LPO's Mahler 2 with Edward Gardner

By Alexander Hall, 23 September 2023

Not with a whimper but a bang! The LPO's new season, with Principal Conductor Edward Gardner in charge, gets off to an impressive start with Mahler's “Resurrection” Symphony.

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London

24 Sep 2023

From some other world: the LPO's Mahler 2 with Edward Gardner

By Alexander Hall

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Prom 36: the London Philharmonic Orchestra play music from 2001: A Space Odyssey

By Rohan Shotton, 11 August 2023

Edward Gardner conducts the LPO in a shrewdly conceived programme of Ligeti and Strauss.

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London

13 Aug 2023

Prom 36: the LPO play music from 2001: A Space Odyssey

By Rohan Shotton

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Janáček crowns the LPO's coronation day concert

By Dominic Lowe, 06 May 2023

After a rare treat to hear Tippett's commemoration of King Charles' birth and Alina Ibragimova's Mendelssohn, the crowning achievement of this concert is Edward Gardner's majestic reading of Janáček's Glagolitic Mass.

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London

08 May 2023

Janáček crowns the LPO's coronation day concert

By Dominic Lowe

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Sparks fly in Rachmaninov with Edward Gardner and the LPO

By Alexander Hall, 04 March 2023

Hands up if you want lush Russian romanticism, delivered in impeccable style by the LPO and Edward Gardner. Leif Ove Andsnes offers welcome freshness in Grieg.

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London

05 Mar 2023

Sparks fly in Rachmaninov with Edward Gardner and the LPO

By Alexander Hall

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Antwerp

Rachmaninov to remember from the Bergen Philharmonic in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman, 16 February 2023

Víkingur Ólafsson's appearance may have been most anticipated, but it is Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances that impresses most as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner make a welcome return to Antwerp.

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Antwerp

18 Feb 2023

Rachmaninov to remember from the Bergen Philharmonic in Antwerp

By Marc Haegeman

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Devilishly good: Gardner conducts The Damnation of Faust at the Royal Festival Hall

By Dominic Lowe, 04 February 2023

A poisoned rat, sugary girls and just the small matter of a man's soul. Berlioz's légende dramatique deals minor to the major and in the hands of Edward Gardner and a superb cast, the work truly comes to life and brings the composer's unique flair to the fore.

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London

06 Feb 2023

Devilishly good: Gardner conducts The Damnation of Faust

By Dominic Lowe

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Dazzling Tippett from Steven Osborne and the London Philharmonic

By Nick Boston, 25 January 2023

Edward Gardner and the LPO offer powerful Elgar and luscious Coleridge-Taylor in their “Three Britons” programme at the Royal Festival Hall.

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London

26 Jan 2023

Dazzling Tippett from Steven Osborne and the London Philharmonic

By Nick Boston

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An overture, a world premiere and a symphony from Edward Gardner and the LPO

By Alexander Hall, 01 October 2022

Must individual items in a concert programme form a coherent whole? Not necessarily, but here a Wagner overture, a cello concerto inspired by environmental concerns and an early Mendelssohn symphony don't justify the LPO's marketing.

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London

02 Oct 2022

An overture, a world premiere and a symphony from Gardner and the LPO

By Alexander Hall

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Stars and symbols, love and loss: Edward Gardner, Jennifer France and the LPO

By Alexander Hall, 28 September 2022

“A place to call home” and “Exiles and Dreamers” is how the LPO marketed this concert. No need for such additional flourishes in an interesting juxtaposition of Tchaikovsky, Dutilleux, George Walker and Dvořák.

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London

29 Sep 2022

Stars and symbols, love and loss: Gardner, France and the LPO

By Alexander Hall

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Gardner and vast LPO forces perform Schoenberg's sprawling Gurrelieder

By Mark Valencia, 24 September 2022

With a powerful but not world-beating team of soloists, Gardner and the LPO tackle Schoenberg's sprawling cantata with aplomb – except for one near-catastrophic misstep.

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London

26 Sep 2022

Gardner and a vast LPO perform Schoenberg's Gurrelieder

By Mark Valencia

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Gardner's Gerontius hits the heavenly heights at the BBC Proms

By Mark Valencia, 31 August 2022

Elgar's oratorio is treated as a rousing evening’s entertainment rather than an offshoot of the Catholic liturgy, with three stellar soloists.

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London

01 Sep 2022

Gardner's Gerontius hits the heavenly heights at the BBC Proms

By Mark Valencia

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Salome stoked to red heat by Byström, Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic in Edinburgh

By David Smythe, 14 August 2022

Returning to the Edinburgh International Festival after their astonishing Peter Grimes, the Bergen Philharmonic and Edward Gardner bring another opera, Richard Strauss' murderous Salome.

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Edinburgh

15 Aug 2022

Salome stoked to red heat by Byström and the Bergen Philharmonic

By David Smythe

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Depths and heights in Birtwistle and Mahler from Gardner and the LPO

By Roy Westbrook, 06 May 2022

Sir Harrison Birtwistle is remembered by Edward Gardner before a performance of Deep Time, followed by Mahler's Song of the Earth.

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London

07 May 2022

Depths and heights in Birtwistle and Mahler from Gardner and the LPO

By Roy Westbrook

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Collaboration not conflict: dazzlingly virtuosic Dean from Gerhardt and the LPO

By Nick Boston, 27 April 2022

Edward Gardner and the LPO offer controlled expression in Britten and reassuring tranquility in Vaughan Williams.

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London

29 Apr 2022

Collaboration not conflict: virtuosic Dean from Gerhardt and the LPO

By Nick Boston

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Biblical inspirations for Edward Gardner and the LPO

By Alexander Hall, 02 April 2022

The constituent parts made up a contrasting and stimulating whole: works by Lili Boulanger, Messiaen and Brahms, united by biblical inspiration. Edward Gardner marshalled the collective London Philharmonic forces.

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London

03 Apr 2022

Biblical inspirations for Edward Gardner and the LPO

By Alexander Hall

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Fairies, prophecy and fratricide from Gardner, Terfel and the London Philharmonic

By Roy Westbrook, 19 March 2022

Sir Bryn Terfel is at the Royal Opera House for the new Peter Grimes, so Captain Balstrode could cross the Thames to sing some Lieder.

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London

20 Mar 2022

Fairies, prophecy and fratricide from Gardner, Terfel and the LPO

By Roy Westbrook

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Nourishing Nordic sandwich with Schumann filling from Gardner, Lisiecki and the LPO

By Roy Westbrook, 10 November 2021

Jan Lisiecki joins the LPO for Schumann's Piano Concerto, the centrepiece between works by Grieg and Sibelius.

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London

11 Nov 2021

Nourishing Nordic sandwich with Schumann filling from the LPO

By Roy Westbrook

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Midsummer fire: Tippett sets the new LPO season alight

By Matthew Rye, 25 September 2021

An incandescent concert performance of Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage launches a new era for the London Philharmonic under principal conductor Edward Gardner.

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London

26 Sep 2021

Midsummer fire: Tippett sets the new LPO season alight

By Matthew Rye

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Edward Gardner conducts a sharp La clemenza di Tito live from Bergen

By Mark Valencia, 15 March 2021

Mary Miller bows out after ten years at the helm of Bergen National Opera with a defiant account of Mozart’s final opera.

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Bergen

16 Mar 2021

Edward Gardner conducts a sharp La clemenza di Tito live from Bergen

By Mark Valencia

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Glasgow

Paul Lewis and Edward Gardner deliver musical poetry in an all-Grieg program

By Phillip Nones, 12 February 2021

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra proves that old warhorses can still sound fresh when played with a keen ear for color and attention to the little interpretive details.

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Glasgow

13 Feb 2021

Lewis and Gardner deliver musical poetry in an all-Grieg program

By Phillip Nones

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Together at last: Víkingur Ólafsson finally plays Grieg in Bergen

By Mark Pullinger, 05 February 2021

The finale of the Icelandic pianist's five-concert residency in the Bergen Philharmonic's Wintermezzo festival saw him play Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor... this time in the same hall as the orchestra!

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Bergen

06 Feb 2021

Together at last: Víkingur Ólafsson finally plays Grieg in Bergen

By Mark Pullinger

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Edward Gardner and the LPO set a solemn tone with Messiaen and Schoenberg

By Linda Holt, 07 October 2020

The London Philharmonic strikes a somber note as Edward Gardner explores themes of resurrection and transfiguration in the Royal Festival Hall.

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London

08 Oct 2020

Gardner and the LPO set a solemn tone with Messiaen and Schoenberg

By Linda Holt

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Gardner and the LPO balance the new and the familiar in season opener

By Edward Sava-Segal, 30 September 2020

In Rautavaara's orchestrations of Sibelius songs, Gerald Finley enveloped every line in refined, sinuous curves, accentuating the music’s rhapsodic quality.

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London

01 Oct 2020

Gardner and the LPO balance the new and the familiar in season opener

By Edward Sava-Segal

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Inspired by Elizabethan music: Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic

By David Karlin, 18 June 2020

The Bergen Phil and the Edvard Grieg Choir trace music from Elizabethan themes to 20th century works on them, culminating in Pärt's Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten.

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Bergen

19 Jun 2020

Inspired by Elizabethan music: Gardner and the Bergen Phil

By David Karlin

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Philadelphia

Edward Gardner impresses in Philadelphia debut

By Linda Holt, 28 February 2020

Michael Daugherty’s Once Upon a Castle, composed in 2003, is the highlight of Edward Gardner's Philadelphia Orchestra debut.

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Philadelphia

29 Feb 2020

Edward Gardner impresses in Philadelphia debut

By Linda Holt

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New York City

Garanča glows in The Met's Damnation de Faust

By Cameron Kelsall, 25 January 2020

Edward Gardner's conducting brings out the nuances of Berlioz's complex score, but The Met's concert staging lacks theatrical thrust.

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New York City

26 Jan 2020

Garanča glows in The Met's Damnation de Faust

By Cameron Kelsall

True Grimes: a gripping semi-staging of Britten’s opera

By Matthew Rye, 30 November 2019

A psychologically penetrating semi-staging of Britten’s Peter Grimes from leading soloists, the Bergen Philharmonic and its chief conductor Ed Gardner laid bare the opera’s music and drama.

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London

01 Dec 2019

True Grimes: a gripping semi-staging of Britten’s opera

By Matthew Rye

Verdi's fresco in sound brought vividly to life

By Stephen Pritchard, 12 October 2019

London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir paint a terrifying picture of hell and damnation at the Royal Festival Hall.

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London

14 Oct 2019

Verdi's fresco in sound brought vividly to life

By Stephen Pritchard

Exceptional Nielsen from Edward Gardner and the LPO

By Chris Garlick, 09 October 2019

An auspiciously successful concert for the LPO and their new Principal Conductor Designate Edward Gardner, crowned by an exceptional performance of the Nielsen.

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London

10 Oct 2019

Exceptional Nielsen from Edward Gardner and the LPO

By Chris Garlick

Massenet the arch-romantic: Werther returns to Covent Garden

By David Karlin, 17 September 2019

Edward Gardner brings out the Wagner influence in Massenet's opulent score, Juan Diego Flórez give a persuasive performance in the title role.

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London

18 Sep 2019

Massenet the arch-romantic: Werther returns to Covent Garden

By David Karlin

Prom 18: Time stands still in Das Lied von der Erde

By Mark Valencia, 01 August 2019

The final song seemed to last both an eternity and no time at all.

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London

02 Aug 2019

Prom 18: Time stands still in Das Lied von der Erde

By Mark Valencia

Prom 6: Impressive and inspiring Anglo-American cooperation

By Nick Boston, 22 July 2019

The Orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music and The Julliard School, with Edward Gardner in an impressively ambitious programme, with tragic Britten from James Ehnes, and a remarkable UK premiere from Anna Thorvaldsdottir.

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London

24 Jul 2019

Prom 6: Impressive and inspiring Anglo-American cooperation

By Nick Boston

Birmingham

A gleefully diabolical Damnation of Faust in Birmingham

By Rohan Shotton, 26 June 2019

Edward Gardner conducts a richly entertaining account of Berlioz's masterpiece in Birmingham

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Birmingham

30 Jun 2019

A gleefully diabolical Damnation of Faust in Birmingham

By Rohan Shotton

Bergen International Festival: Donald Trump sings Ligeti, and Mahler overwhelms

By Stephen Pritchard, 05 June 2019

A surprise "artist" gatecrashes the Festival's closing concert

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Bergen

06 Jun 2019

Bergen International Festival: Donald Trump sings Ligeti

By Stephen Pritchard

From the comfort of one's very own chair: musical journeys with Gardner, Hough and the LPO

By Alexander Hall, 10 April 2019

Tired of looking at the same wallpaper all the time? The London Philharmonic and their conductor Edward Gardner, together with soloist Stephen Hough, offer one way to see (part of) the world.

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London

11 Apr 2019

From the comfort of one's very own chair

By Alexander Hall

Milan

Gardner and Levit invigorate the Filarmonica della Scala

By James Imam, 11 March 2019

Edward Gardner clearly has a thing for the Czechs. A month after he made his Royal Opera main-stage debut with Janáček's Katya Kabanova, here he was with the Filarmonica della Scala to conduct a strongly Czech programme.

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Milan

15 Mar 2019

Gardner and Levit invigorate the Filarmonica della Scala

By James Imam

Two great Royal Opera debuts aren't enough to lift a Katya Kabanova lacking in drama

By David Karlin, 04 February 2019

Amanda Majeski is magnificent in the title role; Ed Gardner shows total master of Janáček's music. But that's not enough to rescue a poorly thought out Richard Jones production.

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London

05 Feb 2019

Two great debuts, not enough drama: Katya Kabanova at ROH

By David Karlin

Sublime care and craft: Edward Gardner conducts Berlioz: L'Enfance du Christ

By Mark Valencia, 17 December 2018

Berlioz was well served in a performance that rose to heights of inspiring dignity and devotional beauty.

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London

18 Dec 2018

Edward Gardner conducts Berlioz: L'Enfance du Christ

By Mark Valencia

Manchester

Gardner's Zarathustra and the Glagolitic Mass impress in Manchester

By Rohan Shotton, 11 October 2018

Edward Gardner opens the Hallé's Thursday series with dramatic Strauss and Janáček.

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Manchester

14 Oct 2018

Gardner's Zarathustra and the Glagolitic Mass impress

By Rohan Shotton

Prom 52: Gardner chisels out the bigger picture in Sibelius 2

By Mark Pullinger, 21 August 2018

A theatrical first half saw the world première of Rolf Wallin's violin concerto, Whirld, played by Alina Ibragimova.

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London

22 Aug 2018

Prom 52: Gardner chisels out the bigger picture in Sibelius 2

By Mark Pullinger

A tale of two concertos: Bergen Philharmonic play Gubaidulina and Grieg

By Aksel Tollåli, 27 May 2018

Bergen Philharmonic’s programme of Grieg’s Piano Concerto and Gubaidulina’s violin concerto Offertorium offered fascinating insight into the relationship between orchestra and soloist.

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Bergen

31 May 2018

Tale of two concertos: Bergen Philharmonic play Gubaidulina and Grieg

By Aksel Tollåli

Thunderingly quiet: Berlioz’s Grande Messe des morts opens the Bergen International Festival

By Aksel Tollåli, 24 May 2018

Berlioz’s gargantuan Grande Messe des morts with the Bergen Philharmonic and Edward Gardner opened the Bergen International Festival with deafening climaxes and even more resounding silence.

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Bergen

29 May 2018

Berlioz’s Grande Messe des morts opens Bergen International Festival

By Aksel Tollåli

Manchester

Unpolished gems: Saint-Saëns, Smetana, Sinfonietta and Chasse royale

By Hugh Morris, 12 January 2018

BBC Philharmonic and Edward Gardner tackle Janáček’s Sinfonietta in a well-crafted programme of French and Czech music.

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Manchester

15 Jan 2018

Unpolished gems: Saint-Saëns, Smetana and more

By Hugh Morris

Basingstoke

Gardner brings Elgar vividly to life in Basingstoke

By Andrew Morris, 04 November 2017

New and old rubbed shoulders in this thrilling Philharmonia Orchestra concert of Elgar and Joseph Phibbs.

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Basingstoke

05 Nov 2017

Gardner brings Elgar vividly to life in Basingstoke

By Andrew Morris

James Ehnes excels in Edinburgh with Beethoven's Violin Concerto

By Simon Thompson, 13 October 2017

Ehnes excels in Beethoven, and Gardner draws lovely tone from the RNSO.

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Edinburgh

14 Oct 2017

James Ehnes excels in Beethoven's Violin Concerto

By Simon Thompson

Edward Gardner and the Bergen Phil storm the Edinburgh Festival with a powerful Peter Grimes

By David Smythe, 13 August 2017

Stuart Skelton’s visceral Peter Grimes is matched by a strong cast with thrilling playing and singing from the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under Edward Gardner.

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Edinburgh

14 Aug 2017

A powerful Peter Grimes in Edinburgh

By David Smythe

Vibrant performances from one of Europe’s oldest orchestras in Edinburgh

By Edward Sava-Segal, 12 August 2017

Conducted by Edward Gardner, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra brought a fresh approach to Elgar's First Symphony.

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Edinburgh

14 Aug 2017

Vibrant performances from the Bergen Philharmonic

By Edward Sava-Segal

New York City

At Lincoln Center, an evening in Mozart’s luminous shadow

By Edward Sava-Segal, 29 July 2017

A Mostly Mozart concert conducted by Edward Gardner and featuring Jeremy Denk was an excellent example of what this festival is trying to achieve.

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New York City

01 Aug 2017

An evening in Mozart’s luminous shadow

By Edward Sava-Segal