Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | J'Nai Bridges

Strong singing but a stellar orchestra and staging make for a riveting production at the Kennedy Center. 

The third in the composer’s “portrait” trilogy finally arrives at The Met in Phelim McDermott's spectacular production. 

Dame Shirley’s texts are here sung by the young American soprano Julia Bullock whose pliable instrument and stylish way with words reveal an ideal storyteller.

After appearances in London and New York, Phelim McDermott's bold and imaginative production of Philip Glass’ Satyagraha arrives in Los Angeles.

The EIF begins its Bernstein day with music from the outer edges of his career.

Musically, a rewarding Forza, but Homoki's staging is best forgotten.

The finale of the BBCSO’s Bernstein celebration features the composer at his most sublime and frivolous, and offers a rare performance of Songfest for six soloists and orchestra.

Adams and Peter Sellars demand that the audience take a cold, hard look at the Gold Rush and the founding history of California.

With superb singing from Harteros, Salsi and Kaufmann, this production makes a strong case for Andrea Chénier’s continued presence in the repertoire.

Anja Harteros shines in Umberto Giordano’s verismo opera, with a top class sound that trumps even Jonas Kaufmann’s comeback.

Andrea Chénier returns to San Francisco Opera after a long absence, in Sir David McVicar's realistic production. 

San Diego Opera's main stage offering proved that even a warhorse can remain thoroughly enchanting when a production looks and sounds as beautiful as this company’s Madama Butterfly.

It is the fusion of textures and styles coming from the pit that gives Bel Canto a memorable musical profile.

Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra in an "Immortal Beethoven" performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

Emerging talent to watch in Wolf Trap's summer production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. 

Yo-Yo Ma joined forces with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in an afternoon of French chamber music

For the first time in twenty-five years, the Opera Company of Philadelphia has mounted a production of Puccini’s first great opera, Manon Lescaut. The result was an inspired testament to thoughtful direction by Michael Cavanagh, gorgeous sets and costumes by John Pascoe, and several winning performances.

“What a funny kind of fairy tale we’ve gotten into!” proclaims one of the characters in Elegy for Young Lovers, Hans Werner Henze’s odd 1963 opera. The audience may sympathize. W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman’s libretto of an uninspired poet in search of a new muse is not standard operatic fare.

Cette nouvelle production munichoise d'Andréa Chénier donnée en version concert au TCE a su convaincre par sa juste distribution et par la grande qualité de l'ochestre et des choeurs du Bayerische Staatsoper qui l'accompagnait. Bien que laissant quelque sentiment de frustration du fait de l'absence de mise en scène, cette oeuvre peu programmée ces dernières années ne perd en rien de sa force réflexive