Festivals

Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony gets a glorious performance by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig

by

GermanyGermany Shostakovich Festival Leipzig [3]: Gautier Capuçon (cello), Boston Symphony Orchestra / Andris Nelsons (conductor), Gewandhaus, Leipzig. 17.5.2025. (GT)

Andris Nelsons conducts cellist Gautier Capuçon and the BSO © Jens Gerber

Read more

Shostakovich Festival Leipzig opens with a remarkable performance of the neglected Fourth Symphony

by

GermanyGermany Shostakovich Festival Leipzig 2025 [1]: Dmitry Trifonov (piano), Gewandhaus Orchestra / Andris Nelsons (conductor), Gewandhaus, Leipzig. 15.5.2025. (GT)

Andris Nelsons conducts pianist Dmitry Trifonov and the Gewandhaus Orchestra © Jens Gerber

Read more

The Cleveland Orchestra’s festival has Michelle Cann tell stories of the Chicago Black Renaissance

by

United StatesUnited States Mandel Opera & Humanities Festiva; [1] – ‘The Women of Chicago’s Black Renaissance’: Michelle Cann (piano). Rheinberger Chamber Hall, Severance Music Center, Cleveland, 19.5.2025. (MSJ)

Michelle Cann told stories of the Chicago Black Renaissance © Roger Mastroianni/CO

Read more

Mariotti illuminates the in-between at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

by

ItalyItaly Maggio Musicale Festival 2025 – Mozart, Stravinski, Poulenc: Emöke Baráth (soprano), Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Michele Mariotti (conductor). Sala Zubin Mehta, Teatro del Maggio Musicale, Florence, 8.5.2025. (ES-S)

Michele Mariotti conducting the Maggio Musicale Orchestra © Michele Monasta

Read more

The Takács Quartet at the reopened Frick: lines of continuity

by

United StatesUnited States Spring Music Festival – Beethoven, Janáček, Brahms: Takács Quartet (Edward Dusinberre, Harumi Rhodes [violins], Richard O’Neill [viola], András Fejér [cello]), Jeremy Denk (piano). Stephen A. Schwarzman Auditorium, Frick Collection, New York, 1.5.2025. (ES-S)

The Takács Quartet © George Koelle

Read more

Much to admire at Aix about Les Talens Lyriques’s Bach cantatas

by

FranceFrance Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival [4] – Bach: Anna El-Khashem (soprano), Mari Askvik (alto), Nick Pritchard (tenor), Adrien Fournaison (bass), Namur Chamber Choir, Les Talens Lyriques / Christophe Rousset (conductor). Grand Théâtre de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, France, 20.4.2025. (CC)

Tenor Nick Pritchard and conductor Christophe Rousset © Caroline Doutre/Festival de Pâques

Read more

Aix’s carefully programmed Haydn, Tchaikovsky and Mozart is an afternoon of great beauty and power

by

FranceFrance Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival [3] – Haydn, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Grand Concert pour les Aixois: The Strings of Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra / Gábor Takács-Nagy (conductor). Cathédale Saint-Saveur, Aix-en-Provence, France, 20.4.2025. (CC)

Gábor Takács-Nagy conducts The Strings of Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra © Caroline Doutre/Festival de Pâques

Read more