There’s nothing like an anniversary to encourage an orchestra’s programming. Take Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Intent on marking the occasion of Dmitri Shostakovich’s death fifty ...

One Response to “Handel & Haydn Society serves up a delightful and sparkling “Marriage of Figaro”” Posted Nov 22, 2022 at 8:50 am by Richaard B. Beams Greetings – Thanks for your fine and thorough ...

On paper, the lineup for pianists Víkingur Ólafsson and Yuja Wang’s duo recital on Friday at Symphony Hall didn’t make much sense. John Cage and Conlon Nancarrow, for instance, don’t normally share ...

Whoever planned the first month of concerts at Symphony Hall this year deserves a pat on the back: rarely, if ever, do four consecutive weeks of programs, and from different artists, hold together so ...

For all his work in the profitable realms of opera and oratorio, George Frideric Handel occasionally took time to write music for music’s sake. His Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day, which extols the glories ...

“Thunder is good,” Mark Twain wrote. “Thunder is impressive. But it is lightning that does the work.” A couple lightning bolts struck at Symphony Hall Friday night in the form of the Handel & Haydn ...

Likewise, Sifare went from being Mitridate’s son to becoming his daughter. This change isn’t so great a stretch as it sounds: both sons’ roles were originally written for castrati and a certain ...

Since its founding in the late 90s, the Calder String Quartet has developed a sterling reputation for its wide-ranging programming and championing of contemporary music. Friday night at Jordan Hall, ...

Beware of ideas, Joseph Stalin once warned: they are more powerful than guns. “We would not let our enemies have guns,” he went on. “Why should we let them have ideas?” That statement might make a ...

Tis the season for musical marathons, at least in New England. A little more than a week after the Boston Symphony Orchestra wrapped its survey of the complete Beethoven symphonies, the Celebrity ...

If the two immediate standing ovations on Thursday evening were any indication, sometimes the only response to a performance is “Again!” Such was the case at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s ...

There are few great works upon which fame has shone more unwillingly than Edward Elgar’s Violin Concerto in B minor—at least so far as the Boston Symphony Orchestra is concerned. True, this ...