Classical Concert Reviews Cinci

@cincinnatiopera opened its 2025 summer season with a spectacular production of one of Giuseppe Verdi’s most popular operas, Rigoletto.First performed in 1851 and based on Victor Hugo’s 1832 play Le roi s’amuse, it’s story centers on the tragic loves and lives of the Duke of Mantua, his jester Rigoletto and…

@mayfestivalcincy concluded its 2025 season with one of the most unique concert experiences I have encountered in recent years, coupled with an appearance by one of the most renowned sopranos of our time, Renée Fleming. Under the direction of guest conductor Robert Moody, music director of the Memphis Symphony, the…

@cincysymphony concluded its 2024-25 season with a wonderfully mixed menagerie of music highlighted by Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto and a swinging masterpiece by Duke Ellington.Under the direction of Damon Gupton, Cincinnati Pops Principal Guest Conductor, the orchestra opened with a lyrical and dramatic reading of The Noon Witch, one of…

Any performance of a Gustav Mahler symphony in Cincinnati is an experience one should partake in at least once in their lifetime, if not more. Tonight’s performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 by @cincysymphony exceeded expectations in every conceivable metric, from the level of musicianship displayed to the drama and…

@qqcincysymphony continued its concert offerings for April 2025 with a wonderful program headlined by one of the most popular symphonies in the repertoire, Ludwig von Beethoven’s Eroica.Under guest conductor Case Scaglione, music director of the Orchestre national d’Île de France, the orchestra opened with a seldom-heard jewel of a work…

@cincysymphony opened April 2025 with a thrilling program headlined by one of the true masterpieces of early 20th-century German orchestral music, Richard Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie.Under the direction of guest conductor Donald Runnicles, the orchestra opened with a vibrant reading of one of the most uniquely obscure pieces by an equally…

@uc_ccm concluded its Opera Series for the 2024-25 academic year with a gorgeous performance of Nico Muhly’s chamber opera Dark Sisters, a showcase for six of the finest sopranos of our generation.Inspired by the events surrounding the most infamous raids on compounds controlled by the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, Stephen…

@kentuckysymphony and @nkusota joined forces this afternoon for a wonderful performance of what may be the most popular opera in all of Western classical music, Georges Bizet’s Carmen.First performed in March 1875, only three months before Bizet’s untimely death at the age of 36 and based on a novella by…

@cincysymphony thrilled a near-capacity audience at @musichallcincy with a program featuring one of the most popular of all Russian symphonic works, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s suite Scheherazade.Under the direction of guest conductor Keitaro Harada (@khconductor), former CSO associate conductor and incoming music director of @daytonphilharmonic, the orchestra opened with a thrilling performance…

What a fantastic celebration of Robyn Lana’s 30-plus years as founding artistic director of @cincinnati_youth_choir. With a program titled Roots and Wings, the choir’s six ensembles explored a diverse sampling of the more than 80 works Lana as commissioned during her tenure.Standout highlights included dynamic performances by CYC’s flagship ensemble,…