Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts an emotionally exhausting evening of Mahler and Bartók

Eric’s dream of a love story with no redemption in Christian Spuck's new production of Der fliegende Holländer at Deutsche Oper Berlin. 

Murray Perahia’s deeply rewarding recital featured Beethoven’s monolithic Hammerklavier piano sonata, prefaced by works of Bach and Schubert.

“Love, love, love… that is the soul of genius,” said Mozart. In no other work does he demonstrate this affirmation more compellingly than in his forever-beloved opera, Die Zauberflöte. 

In Wagner and Strauss, the beauty and power of Mattila's voice, still fresh and flexible, left the audience reeling in a recital that was a showcase for technique and artistry.

Musically and scenically sumptuous melodrama with a solid cast in Karlsruhe.

Kaneko's vivid designs grace this charming Butterfly. 

Not only was the production devoid of Druids or Romans, it turned Bellini’s bel canto masterpiece into an implausible, trite, contemporary crypto-Che Guevara misadventure.  

Concluding its "Belief and Beyond Belief" series, the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yazushi Ono also completes its 2016-2017 concert season. 

One of the world’s great Carmens and John Bell’s smart direction is a winning combination for this Opera Australia production.

A Total Immersion day exploring the works of Edgar Varèse at the Barbican. 

Violinist Leticia Moreno convinces in Lalo's Symphonie espagnole while Pons whips up the excitement with a programme of Turina, Ravel and de Falla. 

Lalo's sunny slice of Seville formed the centrepiece of a programme by the BSO and James Gaffigan that completely lived up to its seductive “Exotic Spice” billing.

As the last stop of their five-city international tour, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra made its debut in the Sydney Opera House.

The jury's still out on the British maestro's Brucknerian credentials as he tackles his grandest and greatest symphony

Yannick Nézet-Séguin led an intriguing performance of Wagner's Flying Dutchman at the Met with a superb orchestra and an excellent ensemble of singers. 

Big sounds were on display as Christoph König and the RPO powered through Rachmaninov and Wagner, with a measured and flowing Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto from Tasmin Little.

Montréal's Theatre Maisonneuve was packed almost to the the gods for the opening night of Rain, performed by renowned Belgian company Rosas. 

The world premiere of Figures of Speech at Alonzo King LINES Ballet was notable for the striking, individual beauty of the dancers, and for its towering score, that incorporated fragments of recorded poetry in languages currently threatened with extinction.  

Despite some very creditable orchestral playing, conductor Joshua Weilerstein never quite got anywhere with his programme of Bach, Weill and Brahms.

Iréne Theorin gives a powerful interpretation of Salome and Elektra's mad scenes in a concert including Also sprach Zarathustra and a contemporary composition.

A typically adventurous programme "curated" by Esa-Pekka Salonen paired Boulez with Debussy. 

Co-opera is a remarkable opera company currently taking an attractive performance of Eugene Onegin to large cities and small towns throughout Australia.

Franz Welser-Möst led a radiant performance of Debussy’s operatic masterpiece directed by Yuval Sharon, starring Elliot Madore, Martina Janková, and Hanno Müller-Brachmann.

A festive air was palpable – the house was technically sold out – as the first of a set of three Ring cycles launched at the Wiener Staatsoper. 

Vilde Frang galvanises the English Chamber Orchestra, with the slow movement of Bach's E major violin concerto proving the highlight of the evening.

Cal Performances and Philharmonia Baroque present a lavish modern-day première of the 1745 version of Rameau's Le Temple de la Gloire. 

In guest conductor Ludovic Morlot's first appearance with the Minnesota Orchestra, works by Ravel were paired with a dynamic reading of Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony.

A sombre programme of four substantial works, part of the LPOs series of concert Belief and Beyond Belief nevertheless had something of showbusiness about it, thanks to the charismatic presence of John Mauceri. 

A career defining performance by Edward Watson, well supported by a memorable cast

Last night in Sweden: Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra make a performance of Strauss' Don Quixote to remember at the Stockholm Concert Hall.

An astringent sorbet between the courses of a heavily sauced Wagnerian banquet.

Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Le nozze di Figaro boasted a young, capable, and energetic cast, a lively staging, and an intimate venue to put it all across. 

Bach presented in various orchestral transcriptions made for a powerful, entertaining evening in Barcelona. 

Opera North's concert version of Puccini's Turandot in Leeds Town Hall, conducted by Sir Richard Armstrong, is magnificent

Even forty years after its world première in Rotterdam, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s new production of Philip Glass’s three-act opera in Basel has particularly timely relevance.

Maestro Jordan did not present a cut down version of the score. Every instrument Wagner called for was on stage, even the six harps, but the only sung piece was Brünnhilde’s Immolation. 

Oper Frankfurt's new production of Rigoletto focuses on the dark side of the tragedy with excellent singing from the two principals.

The show stealer is the opening scene of Act III, as the curtain rises to reveal a line of females, both human and forest-creature, seated, waiting to try on the slipper the prince holds. It’s brilliant, laugh-out-loud clever.

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the US première of Tansy Davies' Forest, a work intended to evoke a Romantic sensation of mystery and nature.

A gripping performance of one of opera’s masterpieces in Berlin. 

Thrilling performances of Sibelius and Bartók at the Philharmonie overshadow lightweight Weber from Andreas Ottensamer.

A classy performance under the baton of Sir Mark Elder unites a seemingly disparate sounding programme.

With a Francophile programme of Berlioz, Chopin and Franck, conductor Fabien Gabel had the constant challenge of exploring the orchestra for fresh insights into each of these Romantic works.

Le Mariage de Figaro is meant to be a bit of a romp; a frothy drawing-room comedy of errors. In this respect, the National Ballet of Ukraine's production works perfectly.

Long climbs often provide the best views. The Adagio second movement of Anton Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony bears the tempo marking Sehr feierlich und sehr langsam… and it is very solemn and very slow indeed.

A joyous explosion of tuneful Victorian satire provides an unlikely, yet ideal, contrast to English Touring Opera's Tosca as their Patience tours the UK in this finely-cast, period-perfect production.

Catch this company wherever and whenever you can.

An evening of acrobatic dance exploring an ecological truism: water’s essential role in survival.

Stunning musicianship and passionate commitment gave two repertoire works a new lease of life.