Classical Music
Soprano Katarina soars as a heart-breaking Violetta in Utah Opera’s “Traviata” – May 10, 2026
Lydia Katarina as Violetta and Isaac Hurtado as Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata at Utah Opera. Photo: Dana Sohm
Utah Opera is closing out its season with Verdi’s La Traviata. Saturday night’s opening performance in the Capitol Theatre was most notable forsoprano Lydia Katarina’s compelling performance as Violetta Valéry.
Dramatically, Katarina was utterly convincing as the doomed Violetta, charting the character’s arc from the carefree, live-for-the-moment courtesan, to a woman deeply in love, and lastly to a shell of her former self as … Read More
Ives provides the highlight in Robertson’s American program with Utah Symphony – May 02, 2026
Gretchen Menn was the guitar soloist in Steven Mackey’s Aluminum Flowers, performed with the Utah Symphony Friday night.
Creative partner David Robertson led the Utah Symphony Friday night in a program of American music featuring works by Aaron Copland, Steven Mackey and Charles Ives.
The highlight of the concert is Ives’ Symphony No. 2. Written between 1897 and 1902, and revised in 1909, the work exemplifies Ives’ eclectic approach to classical music. Within the overall … Read More
Conductor, soloists make impressive debuts in Utah Symphony’s “Carmina Burana” – Apr 11, 2026
Tianyi Lu conducted the Utah Symphony and Chorus in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana Friday night at Abravanel Hall. Photo: Marco Borggreve
Conductor Tianyi Lu made an auspicious Abravanel Hall debut Friday night, leading the Utah Symphony and Chorus in a luminous account of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.
The German composer’s large scale cantata is a work of primal, visceral energy, unbridled emotional intensity and rhythmic drive.
Carmina Burana has appeared with some regularity on the symphony’s programs. And at Friday’s performance, … Read More
Utah Symphony mixes cello rarities with colorful showpieces – Mar 28, 2026
David Danzmayr conducted the Utah Symphony Friday night at Abravanel Hall. Photo: Victoria H. Hills
Conductor David Danzmayr is once again back on the podium in Abravanel Hall. This weekend he leads the Utah Symphony in two large-scale works: the Suite from Richard Strauss’s opera Der Rosenkavalier and Respighi’s tone poem The Pines of Rome.
At Friday’s concert, the Austrian-born conductor gave a richly textured and rhythmically engaging reading of the suite that captured the late romantic sensibilities of Strauss’s music.
After … Read More
Utah Opera serves up a fine cast, clever updating with “Elixir of Love” – Mar 08, 2026
Katrina Galka and Daniel O’Hearn star in Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love at Utah Opera. Photo; Dana Sohm
Utah Opera’s production of Donizetti’s two-act comedy The Elixir of Love, which opened Saturday night,, is a clever re-imagining that transports the setting from early 19th century Italy to the orange groves of Southern California a century later.
Oftentimes moving an opera to a different locale and time period fails miserably. But this new staging — premiered at Minnesota Opera in 2024 and … Read More
A pair of Utah Symphony debuts deliver vibrant Mendelssohn, Debussy – Feb 28, 2026
Nicholas Carter conducted the Utah Symphony in music of Bax, Mendelssohn and Debussy Friday night at Abravanel Hall. Photo: Douglas W. Carter
This weekend, two newcomers to the Abravanel Hall stage made impressive Utah Symphony debuts. On Friday evening, pianist Nelson Goerner gave an electrifying reading of Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and conductor Nicholas Carter led the orchestra in a vibrant account of Debussy’s La mer.
Mendelssohn’s brief 20-minute concerto opens with fiery, romantic passion. The Argentinean-born pianist put on a … Read More
Adkins shines with Adams in Utah Symphony’s American program – Feb 21, 2026
Madeline Adkins performed John Adams’ Violin Concerto with David Robertson and the Utah Symphony Friday night at Abravanel Hall. Photo: Seth Ian Mower
David Robertson, the Utah Symphony’s creative partner, led the orchestra in an all-American program Friday night at Abravanel Hall. The program featured works by Christopher Rouse, John Adams, Elliott Carter and Roy Harris, with concertmaster Madeline Adkins soloing in Adams’ Violin Concerto.
Adkins is a marvelous violinist and it’s always a treat to see her in the soloist’s … Read More
Hough returns to Utah Symphony with impassioned Rachmaninoff – Feb 07, 2026
Stephen Hough performed Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with conductor Alpesh Chauhan and the Utah Symphony Friday night at Abravanel Hall. Photo: Douglas W. Carter
Sir Stephen Hough is no stranger to Utah Symphony concertgoers. The British pianist has collaborated with the orchestra countless times over the years, most recently in January 2024 when he gave the local premiere of his Piano Concerto, “The World of Yesterday.”
This weekend, Hough is back onstage in Abravanel Hall playing Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody … Read More
Conlon’s mastery makes for memorable Mahler with the Utah Symphony – Jan 31, 2026
James Conlon conducted the Utah Symphony in music of Mozart and Mahler Friday night at Abravanel Hall. Photo: Seth Ian Mower
Thierry Fischer, the Utah Symphony’s music director emeritus, was scheduled to lead the orchestra this weekend; however, delays in getting his visa forced him to cancel.
Instead, James Conlon, making a long overdue Utah Symphony debut, agreed to replace him. The program remained the same, except for one substitution: Mozart’s Symphony No. 32 replaced the originally scheduled Ser by Cuban-American composer … Read More
Fine singers done in by Utah Opera’s disastrous Dummy’s Guide to “Fidelio” – Jan 19, 2026
Wendy Bryn Harmer as Leonore and Thomas Kinch as Florestan in Utah Opera’s production of Beethoven’s Fidelio. Photo: Dana Sohm
Utah Opera’s new production of Beethoven’s Fidelio, which opened Saturday night in the Capitol Theatre, is notable for some fine vocal performances. Yet the worthy vocalism is done in by an utterly disastrous staging that shows interventionist opera direction at its worst.
First and foremost, stage director Tara Faircloth jettisons the opera’s spoken dialogue for this production and replaces it with her … Read More
