Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Nicholas Phan

The world premiere of Iraqi-American composer Amir ElSaffar's ambitious Dhikra (Remembrance) very nearly succeeds in its ambitions. 

Led by guest conductor David Danzmayr, the Seattle Symphony's performance of Beethoven's Ninth resumes an interrupted tradition, with a Buddhist prayer set to music by Lili Boulanger as the touching preface.

Visiting conductor Matthew Halls in a programme of Haydn, MacMillan and Beethoven.

Tilson Thomas has form with Berlioz: the full forces of the LSO and London Symphony Chorus built up to a noble blaze

Torrential downpours and the croaking of consumptive frogs fail to dampen spirits at Wolf Trap's National Symphony Orchestra concert featuring pianist Seong-Jin Cho, JoAnn Falletta and a massive community chorus.

A high-minded approach to Bach's masterpiece is undercut by an uneven performance.

Beethoven’s call to joy and brotherhood left much to be desired if not for a fantastic chorus in the final movement. 

Nicholas McGegan and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra give new life to a Scarlatti serenata.

The second week of the Seattle Chamber Music Society's 2015 Summer Festival offered up an unusual juxtaposition of instrumental and vocal pieces, with a beautifully somber mood prevailing.

Joélle Harvey, Iestyn Davies, Nicholas Phan and Hanno Müller-Brachmann shine in Franz Welser-Möst's sometimes meditative interpretation of Bach's Mass in B minor.

Employing khoomei, a style of singing that remains “a mystery to Western science”, each of the four performers was capable of producing up to four notes at once.

When Cleveland Orchestra music director Franz Welser-Möst had to bow out of this past weekend’s performances of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana due to a recent back injury, the orchestra’s talented young assistant conductor, James Feddeck, inherited a high-profile assignment. The set of four concerts had been heavily promoted and were sold out.

What a stark contrast between the visual and the aural at last Thursday’s concert at the Hollywood Bowl. On stage was the 79-year-old conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, appearing frail as he shuffled towards the podium; the gauntness of his features accentuated by his suit which hung loosely from his frame.

An outstanding lineup of soloists joined Bernard Labadie at Carnegie Hall Sunday for a performance of J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion. Hearing Labadie conduct his own ensemble Les Violons du Roy and the chamber choir La Chapelle de Québec with such a superb group of soloists was truly a treat indeed.

Robert Spano conducted the Orchestra of St. Luke's and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus in an ambitious concert in Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. The results were as mixed as the programming, which featured J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 and Magnificat, alongside Messiaen's Trois petites liturgies de la Présence Divine.

He thought he had seen Heaven before him. He knew not whether he was in or out of his body when he wrote it. Twenty-four sleepless nights, many untouched dinners and endless tears later, his Messiah was ready to see the world. Or maybe not just yet.True, there had been times when he was ambitious and proud. There had been times when it was all about him. Now he had learned the truth.

El conjunto Il Pomo d'Oro, con George Petrou en la dirección, acompañando a un sólido elenco ofreció una versión formidable de Ariodante de Handel.