Serene ancient music, crossing centuries Trio Mediaeval, the Oslo-based vocal ensemble, made a rare local visit on Sunday afternoon for a hypnotically beautiful sold-out performance at the Gardner Museum. These stars of the early music movement combine exquisite, pure-voiced ensemble singing with a vital and freshly contemporary approach to music of the distant past. The repertoire may be ancient but nothing about Sunday’s program had ... (Page G5, 357 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 24, 2009

Yes, Handel’s “Messiah’’ is back but there’s a lot more on the holiday classical calendar. Here is a brief roundup of a few notable local events. (Page N6, 499 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 22, 2009

Janacek’s haunting final opera finally arrives at the Met NEW YORK - Like the prisoners in the Dostoyevsky novel on which it is based, Janacek’s darkly transfixing final opera “From the House of the Dead’’ languished for too long in the operatic equivalent of Siberia. Introduced to the world in 1930, this remarkable score waited a full six decades for its first staged performances in this country, a 1990 ... (Page G6, 721 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 21, 2009

BSO celebrates birthdays of Haitink and Galway Reprinted from late editions of yesterday’s Globe The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s conductor emeritus Bernard Haitink is back on the podium this week. The conductor turned 80 in March, an occasion the orchestra is officially celebrating with these concerts. Thursday night in Symphony Hall, a stool on the podium, used only during breaks, seemed the one concession to Haitink’s ninth decade; ... (Page B12, 351 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 21, 2009

The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s conductor emeritus Bernard Haitink is back on the podium this week. The conductor turned 80 in March, an occasion the orchestra is officially celebrating with these concerts. Last night in Symphony Hall, a stool on the podium, used only during breaks, seemed the one concession to Haitink’s ninth decade; the conductor generally looked vital and as ... (Page B14, 344 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 20, 2009

One of the most important unions in the orchestral world - Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic - is looking strong these days. After rumors of some marital bickering, orchestra and conductor have agreed to a partnership that will last until at least 2018. EMI Classics has also renewed their recording contract. And, most importantly, evidence of the musical chemistry ... (Page B16, 400 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 17, 2009

A congress of noise convened in Jordan Hall The human desire to produce a loud noise by striking one object with another must be as old as communication itself, and like all histories, it has its high points and lows. The period between the two world wars, for instance, was a very good time for the art and science of banging. The Boston Modern Orchestra Project reminded us ... (Page G7, 653 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 16, 2009

BERLIN PHILHARMONIC Boston is extremely lucky to have the Berliners back again so soon after their last Celebrity Series visit in 2007. Simon Rattle leads this mighty orchestra in two symphonies by Brahms (Nos. 3 and 4) as well as Schoenberg’s “Accompaniment to a Cinematographic Scene.’’ Today at 3 p.m., $52-$148, Symphony Hall, 617-482-6661 or www.celebrityseries.org. (Page N2, 58 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 15, 2009

Thursday night in Symphony Hall, fate was not apostrophized, universal brotherhood was not declared. But there was plenty of music for dancing - courtesy of Stravinsky's "Petrushka" ballet. (Page B12, 397 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 14, 2009

Last night in Symphony Hall, fate was not apostrophized, universal brotherhood was not declared. But there was plenty of music for dancing - courtesy of Stravinsky’s “Petrushka’’ ballet. (Page B14, 390 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 13, 2009

Jack returns, bracingly modern Any young string quartet that presents a complete program of music by the formidable German avant-gardist Helmut Lachenmann is, shall we say, not messing around. That was what the New York-based Jack Quartet brought to the Goethe Institute last year for a concert in the composer’s presence. On Tuesday night, the Jack returned to town, this time for a bracing ... (Page B16, 353 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 12, 2009

The violinist Marylou Speaker Churchill, a deeply admired performer and teacher who, in 23 years as a principal player in the Boston Symphony Orchestra came to be seen as a beacon of engaged and empathic musicianship, died late Tuesday at her home in Newton. The cause was cancer, according to her husband, the cellist, conductor, and music educator Mark Churchill. ... (Page B14, 920 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 12, 2009

Ghost opera Tucked away in a simple gray box within a basement archive at Northeastern University there is, curiously enough, a single red brick. It is close to all that remains of the original Boston Opera House, a magnificent “temple of music’’ that once stood in the middle of the city’s cultural corridor, on Huntington Avenue between the Museum of Fine Arts ... (Page N1, 1957 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 8, 2009

Boston Lyric Opera’s general director Esther Nelson has promised more homegrown new productions for the company, and she is keeping her word. Last night at the Shubert Theatre, BLO opened its season with a new “Carmen,’’ presented in a stripped-down, theatrically intense staging by Nicholas Muni. (Page B12, 394 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 7, 2009

The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies has entered its home stretch, as Thursday night the BSO unveiled the fourth and final program of the series, featuring the Eighth and Ninth Symphonies. (Page B12, 393 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 7, 2009

The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies has entered its home stretch, as last night the BSO unveiled the fourth and final program of the series, featuring the Eighth and Ninth Symphonies. (Page B16, 386 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 6, 2009

Honoring a wartime legacy with new music, young voices One of the admirable things about the Boston-based Terezin Chamber Music Foundation is that it sees its mission as going beyond the curatorial. At its core the foundation works to preserve the musical legacy of the composers and artists interned at the Nazi concentration camp. But in recent years it has also begun commissioning young composers to write music that ... (Page G4, 377 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 3, 2009

Revolutionary on Beacon Street The other day I went out to buy some milk and passed Arnold Schoenberg’s home. (Page N2, 1437 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Nov 1, 2009

It is truly unfortunate that, in the end, James Levine’s recovery from back surgery has forced his withdrawal from the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s entire Beethoven cycle. It must surely be frustrating for him personally (he spoke about the project with his self-described “kid in the candy store’’ enthusiasm); it is a missed opportunity for the orchestra, which stood to gain ... (Page B12, 408 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Oct 31, 2009

OPERA BOSTON The remarkable Polish contralto Ewa Podles (left) makes her local stage debut in Rossini’s “Tancredi,’’ directed by Kristine McIntyre and conducted by Gil Rose. Oct. 25 and 27, Cutler Majestic Theatre, 617-451-3388 or www.operaboston.org. (Page N5, 167 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Oct 25, 2009

Reprinted from late editions of yesterday’s Globe. The BSO’s complete Beethoven cycle finally pulled out of port Thursday night, albeit without its anticipated captain. Music director James Levine is scheduled to return midcycle. In the meantime, the popular guest conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos is on the podium this week leading the First, Second, and Fifth Symphonies. (Page B12, 387 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Oct 24, 2009

Opera Boston introduced its compelling new production of Rossini’s rarely heard opera “Tancredi’’ last night at the Cutler Majestic Theatre. Part of the company’s proclaimed mission is to mount deserving works that too rarely make it to the stage, but in this case, the worthy opera had the added benefit of serving as a star vehicle for the magnificent Polish ... (Page B12, 387 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Oct 24, 2009

The BSO’s complete Beethoven cycle finally pulled out of port last night, albeit without its anticipated captain. Music director James Levine is scheduled to return midcycle. In the meantime, the popular guest conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos is on the podium this week leading the First, Second, and Fifth Symphonies. (Page B16, 380 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Oct 23, 2009

The Borromeo String Quartet seems restless, in the most positive sense of the word, always engaged in new projects or new approaches to older ones. These days the Borromeo has had Bartok on its mind as it prepares to record the complete string quartets. It has been digging into archival manuscripts and parsing the composer’s own cryptic notations in an ... (Page G4, 373 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Oct 20, 2009

BORROMEO QUARTET While two other quartets are sailing through the complete Beethoven cycle this season, the Borromeo is chipping away at Bartok’s epic set of six quartets. The Second, Fourth and Sixth are scheduled for today’s performance. Oct. 18 at 1:30 p.m., $23, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 617-278-5156, www.gardnermuseum.org (Page N6, 177 words)By: Jeremy Eichler|Date: Oct 18, 2009