Vivaldi’s Juditha triumphs in its Montreal première with Ensemble Caprice

Antonio Vivaldi’s three-act opera seria Motezuma was created in Venice in 1733 (months after Handel’s extraordinary Orlando in London) but was thought lost until a manuscript turned up in Germany in 2002. The story is a romanticized and fanciful adaptation of the destruction of Motezuma’s Aztec empire in Mexico by the Spanish armies of Fernando Cortés in the early 16th century.

The program features Maria Dueñas in Korngold's Violin Concerto and a moving tribute to LA native Michael Tilson Thomas

Yuja Wang and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra frame Chopin’s E minor concerto with two Prokofiev works, the First Symphony and Second Piano Concerto.

Balance issues mar an otherwise compelling programme from John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

A world premiere by Wang Chenwei, familiar Chopin and a rare outing for Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta make for satisfying fare in Jahcun Wong’s Singapore Symphony programme.