Review: From the Nazis to RBG, how Richard Wagner changed the world
You cannot escape Richard Wagner. If this review has reached you, anywhere in the world and by whatever means, you have already had your life affected in some way by...
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Commentary: Why Satie? Why now? How one composer embodies our time of loneliness and angst
Safe at home has not necessarily meant sane at home. One antidote is a mega-dose of Erik Satie. The French composer's most beguiling and languidly becalming piano pieces, particularly the...
Celebrate at home with four music pieces of profound meaning
We're well warned of enduring some of our hardest coronavirus days. Passover and Easter are serious holidays that alert us to world-altering shifts. For Jews it was the throwing off...
The deepest listening for Passover and Easter: Four music pieces of profound meaning
We're well warned of enduring some of our hardest coronavirus days. Passover and Easter are serious holidays that alert us to world-altering shifts. For Jews it was the throwing off...
A classical concert to soothe a coronavirus-rattled soul: A critic’s streaming picks
For the last few years, my morning ritual has included clicking on to worldconcerthall.com when I first turn on my computer, cappuccino in hand. I do it before I look...
Review: The Kanye West opera at the Hollywood Bowl? Call it ‘Nebuchadsnoozer’
Kanye West premiered his much-anticipated "Nebuchadnezzar" opera Sunday evening at the Hollywood Bowl, and the result was ... short! At 50 minutes or so, the production ran for far less...
Commentary: Plácido Domingo had to go, but he still matters
Placido Domingo is a towering figure, but he is not larger than life. That much became true Wednesday with the news that, amid allegations of sexual harassment, Domingo has resigned...
Appreciation: Why Jessye Norman was more than a great voice. Much more
Shortly after 9 /11, Jessye Norman was scheduled to sing Schubert's solemn song cycle "Die Winterreisse " (Winter's Journey) staged by Robert Wilson in Paris. She called the director first...
Commentary: Classical streaming has arrived. How do the new services stack up?
The history of classical music is that of progress, be it advancements in harmony and form, the invention and development of instruments, or the technological innovations of recording and broadcasting....
Commentary: What sexual harassment allegations against Placido Domingo could mean for opera culture
Placido Domingo last appeared in Los Angeles in May, adding his 151st role as an opera singer, the "wildcat." The titular fugitive in the zarzuela, "El Gato Montes" is fatally...