Mark Swed

Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Phil’s ‘Das Rheingold.’ The Industry’s ‘Comet/Poppea.’ Pacific Opera Project’s ‘Don Bucefalo.’ The year 2024 delivered great moments for classical music.

Leave it to the kids. Our classical music critic explains how the National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and the Colburn Orchestra stole the show in 2024.

The annual L.A. Phil “Noon to Midnight” new-music marathon this year includes Doug Aitken’s immersive “Lightscape,” which proves to be not exactly a crowd-pleaser.

Concerts by Wild Up at MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary and Brightwork newmusic at Monk Space help L.A. audiences come to terms with election results.

The L.A. arts community is already worried about slow planning for the cultural festival accompanying the 2028 L.A. Olympics. A festival in Austria shows just what can can be done with careful curation.

Independent Opera’s “The Stone Guest” is revelatory, L.A. Opera’s “Romeo and Juliet” is exhilarating and Pacific Opera Project’s super-rare production of “Don Bucefalo” proves a nutty delight.

Timur stars in David T. Little’s goth opera, “Black Lounge,” a CAP UCLA presentation that weirdly connects the composer with David Lynch, Antonin Artaud and William S. Burroughs.

The San Diego Symphony, one of the country’s rising orchestras, has renovated its formerly inhospitable concert hall with surprising success.

The L.A. Phil and Master Chorale open the new season with a celebration of the chorus’ 60th anniversary and a Spanish-language production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with actor Maria Valverde, Dudamel’s wife.

Davone Tines and Julia Bullock, leading singers of their generation, infuse theatricality into recitals centered on Paul Robeson and the Messiaen song cycle ‘Harawi.’