New York Classical Review

Double trouble: Singers reach the heights in Met’s “Tristan”; staging, conducting not so much

Séguin, leading this work for the first time, and lastly Sharon’s staging, which was hit or miss (mostly the latter) all night. The star of the night was Davidsen as Isolde. She delivered a stellar, ...
New York Classical Review

Brooklyn Art Song Society conveys the eternal truths of Rorem’s epic masterpiece

This is, quite simply, one of the finest song cycles in classical music, an equal to the famous ones from Schumann, Schubert, and other European composers. This is also a great American work, with ...
New York Classical Review

Takács players dissect and reassemble the string quartet with new Assad piece

Clarice Assad’s NEXUS, which received its New York premiere in the Takács Quartet’s concert Wednesday night in Carnegie’s ...
New York Classical Review

Freely individual playing colors outside the lines in Vienna Philharmonic’s Strauss, Sibelius

Even the orchestral tone poems of Richard Strauss, their scores larded with tantalizing verbal hints such as “Of the Great Longing” or “Song of the Night Wanderer,” tend to slip off the analyst’s hook ...
New York Classical Review

Nelsons, Vienna Philharmonic stumble in Carnegie opener

The Vienna Philharmonic with conductor Andris Nelsons plays Kurtág’s Petite musique solennelle, Mozart’s Symphony No. 36, and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 6, 8 p.m. Saturday; and Strauss’s Also sprach ...
New York Classical Review

Young pianist proves a fine colorist with brilliant technique in Schumann, moderns

Minyoung Rho, a superbly gifted pianist, introduced herself to New York audiences Monday night with an almost wholly successful recital in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. Although the event wasn’t ...
New York Classical Review

Liu serves up technical thrills and uncertain interpretations at Carnegie recital

Lack of certainty is an underrated quality in classical music. The norm is to value repertoire performances that aren’t just technically precise but have a sense that the ideas about the music are ...
New York Classical Review

A starry cast delivers an imposing, powerful “Don Carlos” in belated Met premiere

Matthew Polenzani in the title role and Etienne Dupuis as Rodrigue in Verdi’s Don Carlos at the Metropolitan Opera. Photo: Ken Howard/Met Opera The Metropolitan Opera returned from its February hiatus ...
New York Classical Review

Top Ten Performances of 2025

1. Mahler: Symphony No. 7. Gustavo Dudamel/New York Philharmonic Gustavo Dudamel isn’t officially the music director of the New York Philharmonic until next season, but performances this year show ...
New York Classical Review

Vocal performances keep Met’s “Lohengrin” aloft in downbeat new staging

Tamara Wilson as Elsa and Piotr Beczała in the title role of Wagner’s Lohengrin. Photo: Marty Sohl / Met Opera The Metropolitan Opera ended its mid-winter hiatus with the much-anticipated premiere of ...
New York Classical Review

Met’s “Tales of Hoffmann” offers dark Romanticism and a feast of female voices

Benjamin Bernheim with admirers in the title role of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Metropolitan Opera. Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera E.T.A. Hoffmann, spinner of bizarre tales in the early ...
New York Classical Review

A Stravinsky night to remember with Kopatchinskaja‘s Philharmonic debut

Patricia Kopatchinskaja performed Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto with Jakub Hrůša and the New York Philharmonic Wednesday night at David Geffen Hall. Photo: Marco Borggreve The main attraction at New ...