Music

A ‘Messiah’ as Handel Might Have Heard It

With each presentation of Handel’s “Messiah” since the New York Philharmonic began to perform the work a few years ago has come a greater ease and authority.

Bearer of Good Tidings in the Lions’ Den

The Cloisters was the setting for an anniversary for “The Play of Daniel,” a path-breaking 12th-century musical drama that is now considered a prototype for opera.

He May Have Left His Heart, but He Brought His Hands

On Tuesday night at the Apollo Theater, where he performed with the Count Basie Orchestra, Tony Bennett kept demonstrating the meaning of lyrics with perfect hand gestures.

Mahler Fan With Baton Cues Unrest in the Ranks

To some of the musicians who perform for Gilbert Kaplan, he is a talentless conductor who brings little to the work.

Coward’s Alchemy: Forging Rage and Sadness Into Wit

To watch Simon Green trot through more than 20 Coward songs is to understand why Anglophilia persists within a certain upwardly mobile stratum of New York society.

Touch of New-Music Vigor for Slate of Romantic Works

In important ways Chamber Music at the Y has maintained the Chamber Music Society’s original spirit better than the society has.

Davy Graham, Influential Guitarist, Dies at 68

Mr. Graham’s musical fusions, technique and tuning shaped generations of musicians.

He Has a Heart of Gold and a Car of Biodiesel

Near the midpoint of his sprawling, deeply satisfying show at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, Neil Young asked a simple question: “Where did all the money go?”

Mimi and Friends Return, Larger Than Life

Franco Zeffirelli’s production returned to the Metropolitan Opera on Monday for the first performance this season, with a fine cast that was not overshadowed by the gargantuan sets.

Warning: A Certain Wolf Continues to Be in Danger

For this year’s Works & Process production of “Peter and the Wolf,” the Brazilian artists and brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana stacked wooden slats into models representing Prokofiev’s characters.

Despite the Competition, Still Finding an Audience

There seems to be a “Messiah” onstage somewhere in New York every few nights between Thanksgiving and Christmas; yet for all that competition, the best of them have no trouble finding audiences.

Opera Buff Conjures Bel Canto on the Piano

On Sunday, Daniel Barenboim gave the first piano recital presented in the Metropolitan Opera house since Vladimir Horowitz’s 22 years ago to the day.

If Hopper’s Freeze-Frame Magic Sprang to Life

“Later the Same Evening” is a one-act opera inspired by five of Edward Hopper’s paintings.

A Lifetime of Music, a Weekend With Old Friends

Among the challenges that Elliott Carter has faced during a long, distinguished career as a composer, popular approval might be the one he least expected to grapple with.

A Monumental Messiaen Speaks Many Languages

On Sunday, Reinbert de Leeuw took the Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale to Carnegie Hall to play the “Turangalila-Symphonie,” as part of the Yale in New York series.

Music in Review

Reviews of concerts by the Clarion Music Society and the Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt and the German cellist Daniel Müller-Schott.

Nary a Carol in Earshot, and a Santa in Heels

At the Z100 Jingle Ball, if you weren’t approximately 14 and approximately a girl, the chances were high that you were a bored father, a sympathetic mother or a responsible boyfriend.

New CDs

New releases from Keyshia Cole, the All-American Rejects, Anthony Hamilton and Sean Conly.

Some Rigor, Some Sensuousness and a Blend of Old and New

Mixing old and new works in the same recital has long been a fruitful strategy for the pianist Peter Serkin.

For Messiaen, All the World Was Sound

The Axiom Ensemble is a flexible group of Julliard School students who have palpable enthusiasm for challenging contemporary music and the technical skills to play it.

A Bernstein Songfest Looks Back and Smiles

Perhaps Leonard Bernstein would have written an amusing, slightly off-color song about this festival in his honor.

Spectral Songs, Confessional and Slow

Susanna, a singer-songwriter from Norway, approaches music making with the composure of a conjurer.

George Brecht, 82, Fluxus Conceptual Artist, Is Dead

Mr. Brecht was a core member of Fluxus, the loosely affiliated international group of playful Conceptual artists that emerged in the early 1960s.

The Frontman in the Background

He may be the lead singer of Fall Out Boy, but Patrick Stump is happy to let the band’s bassist, Pete Wentz, be the center of attention.

A Voice in the Ear Proclaims Change

Prompting, a venerable tradition at the opera house, goes electronic, like a not-so-venerable tradition at the football stadium.

Lucky Days and Marvelous Times

On this week’s playlist, releases by Bruce Springsteen, Angelica Sanchez, Mos Def, Cat Power, Buffalo Collision and Alice Russell.

Concerts That Rock Around a Menorah

Yo La Tengo’s always sold-out Hanukkah show at Maxwell’s in Hoboken features mystery — the guest artists that will appear are kept secret.

Hey, Kids! Care for a Little Minimalism With Your Dance Grooves?

Dan Deacon, a renowned party starter, worked as a composer first and an entertainer second at Brooklyn Masonic Temple on Thursday.

Composing From the Left

On Thursday at Avery Fisher Hall, the pianist Leon Fleisher performed with the New York Philharmonic led by Lorin Maazel.

Conservative Generation, at Least When Composing

Six recent pieces by five Young Concert Artist composers, past and present, shared a program on Wednesday evening at Merkin Concert Hall.

Turning 100 at Carnegie Hall, With New Notes

Elliott Carter, who has had an extraordinary burst of creativity since turning 90, was honored on Thursday.

• Times Topics: Elliott Carter

Celebrating a Birthday as Well as a Score

Elliott Carter’s “Interventions,” which had its New York premiere at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, the day the composer turned 100, is the work of a living master in full command.

Covert Winehouse Video Leads to Jail Time

The man who sold video footage to a London tabloid showing Amy Winehouse engaged in what appeared to be drug use was sentenced to jail on Friday.

Springsteen Fans Return Memorabilia

A group of Bruce Springsteen fans have returned more than 1,100 pieces of Springsteen memorabilia to the Asbury Park Public Library in New Jersey.

Between City and Country, a Commuting Christmas

“The McGarrigle Christmas Hour,” which featured performances by Rufus Wainwright, continues to be a celebration of extended family and the intermingling of musical dynasties.

• UrbanEye Video: The McGarrigle Christmas Hour

Sounds Mixed and Matched

A trio equally grounded in folk tradition and jazz improvisation, Indo-Pak Coalition, who performed at Le Poisson Rouge on Tuesday night, proposes a social pact as well a musical ideal.

Reclaiming a Poet: Old Words, New Music

Michael Gordon’s new multimedia work, “Lightning at Our Feet,” is built around Emily Dickinson’s poetry.

A Bagel-Flavored Beat Rocks Its New Fans

Today Roger Bennett is part of an informal scene of performers and music aficionados who hope to introduce the category of Jewish music 2.0.

King of Annual Oratorios, in Kingly Style

The annual St. Thomas version of Handel’s “Messiah” is a king among the innumerable performances in New York.

A Passionate Young Cellist Engages the Ear and the Eye

The cellist Alisa Weilerstein is great fun to watch, a point made over and over during a recital she presented with Inon Barnatan, a stylish young pianist, at Zankel Hall on Tuesday.

Two Variations on an Acoustic Theme

A soloist billed as a band, like the Tallest Man on Earth, who headlined the Mercury Lounge on Tuesday night, is headed for indie-rock.

Backed by a Brass Band, He Celebrates Himself

Outlets have been mobilized for Howard Fishman’s 10th-anniversary celebration, slated to run through Dec. 18 at a handful of different spaces.

One Diva to Another: This Role Is Divine

On Monday night, Renée Fleming delivered a vocally sumptuous and unabashedly show-stealing “Thaïs.”

A Stew of Rock and Pop Influences, Mixed Well and Served Slickly

Bradford Cox, the singer and songwriter of Deerhunter, is a hot person into cool things.

Verdi’s Requiem Becomes Memorial to a Conductor

There were plenty of spine-tingling moments in a Carnegie Hall performance of Verdi’s Requiem on Monday by the Collegiate Chorale and the New York City Opera Orchestra, led by the dynamic conductor Daniele Callegari.

Dark Side of the Metal, Played Deep Into the Night

The Chicago-based group Nachtmystium is one of the most promising in American black metal, a subgenre known for no-fi, hissing production; savage, throaty vocals; and an abiding sense of horror in its lyrics.

A Centennial Moment for a Mahler Epic

Amid the myriad festivities cramming the calendar this year, the milestone observed by the New York Philharmonic on Monday night might easily have been overlooked.

Dennis Yost, 65, Singer for the Classics IV, Is Dead

In the late 1960s and early ’70s, Mr. Yost’s rock group challenged the then-ascendant music of drugs and protest with a more laid-back, softer sound.