Live, On demand, Streamed event: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Christian Van Horn

Despite theatrical drawbacks, this Wozzeck is heartily recommend due to Yannick Nézet-Séguin's staggering understanding of all facets of Berg's score.

The evening’s most revelatory performance came from the young countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen as Medoro. 

The Met's revival of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's 1984 production of La clemenza di Tito is given a new breath of life with superb conducting and an excellent ensemble of singers.

Tcherniakov reduces Berlioz' epic to little more than Circle Time therapy, a poor way to mark the composer's anniversary year.

Mefistofele proves a mixed blessing: good meets evil, devils fight with angels, lovely lyricism alternates with bombast and second-rate material.

Chicago's new Faust is a quest for youth but also a reflection on insipiration, fabrication and manipulation. 

Adès opera resists explanation, and the ambiguity of the story drives much of its compelling nature. 

The musical experience was dominated by the imagery making spectators feel, at least at times, overwhelmed.

David Alden's staging of Alcina mines the rich theatricality of one of Handel's best-loved operas with enchanting but also perplexing results. 

Static blocking and an uneven cast can't kill a Lucia di Lammermoor with a star this bright.

Alan Gilbert reaches a pinnacle at the end of his tenure at the New York Philarmonic.

The Lyric Opera’s new production of Carmen is lusciously embodied, with expressionistic splashes of colour against a quasi-modern backdrop. 

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

If the production is full of pleasures, they do not immediately or obviously connect to a sense of some larger plan, which might have been helped along with a more dynamic set.

A star-studded cast headlined by Isabel Leonard and Lawrence Browlee share a hilarious production of La Cenerentola – complete with rat ballet corps!

To open its season, Seattle Opera presents its first-ever Nabucco in a production undermined by weak staging and uneven casting.

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. 

A well-rehearsed and cohesive Bohème in San Diego, although with some vocal disappointments. 

Using Rossini’s music as the guidelines for his actor’s movements, Director Gregory Fortner has fashione a highly choreographed interpretation of the opera based on the classic production by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. 

San Francisco Opera opens its 92nd season with Bellini's Norma starring Sondra Radvanovsky as Norma and Jamie Barton as Adalgisa.

Amanda Majeski and Joyce DiDonato are exceptional as Vitellia and Sesto in David McVicar's production of La clemenza di Tito at the Lyric Opera.

You can view Britten’s Billy Budd as an opera about the failure of words. When the angelic sailor Billy is falsely accused by his superior office Claggart, his stammer prevents him from defending himself and he lashes out, fatally.

The return of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann to the stage of San Francisco Opera on Wednesday night was a welcome and long overdue event.

The Netherlands Opera’s production of William Tell, directed by Pierre Audi, has proved a daunting endeavor, captivating the audience through its colorful treatment of Rossini’s final opera. From the cast of characters on stage and the musicians of the orchestra to the sound, lighting, stage and costume departments, the roughly four-and-a-half-hour event couldn’t have been more stimulating.

Continuing the experiment from the opening of the season, San Francisco Opera’s current run of Tosca has several performances occurring on consecutive days or in close proximity, necessitating two different casts. The Thursday opening made headlines when the leading lady was felled by illness and a new talent, Melody Moore, made her mark in storybook fashion.

"It was a dark and stormy night …." Chuckling whenever I hear these lines, I can see Charles Schultz’s beloved Snoopy staring intensely at his typewriter, vigorously typing away what he would consider his magnum opus novel.

By all rights, Agrippina should be a tragedy. It begins with news of Claudius' death and ends with a roll call of doom, with political intrigue, power struggles, infidelity and dysfunction filling in the blanks. The Roman Empire is rife with opera fodder, and operas are rife with tales of Greek gods and Roman heroes (and anti-heroes).

Rolando Villazón bricht nach einer schwachen Leistung seine Vorstellung ab und übergibt an Arturo Chacón-Cruz. Dass die Aufführung an der Münchener Staatsoper dennoch gelingt, liegt vor allem an der einfallsreichen Inszenierung.