Among the fascinating objects associated with major artists and historical figures are a narwhal-tusk flute made for Frederick the Great, a 16th-century Amati violin made for the marriage of Philip II, guitars owned by Segovia, and a clarinet that belonged to Benny Goodman.

The venerable original-instruments orchestra presented familiar and seldom-heard works, including Brahms's 'Alto Rhapsody' and music by Schubert and Ferdinand Ries.

All told, these are some of Bach's most compelling and beautiful works, and it's hard to imagine a finer performance than this.

Western Europe's earliest known dream-vision poem, newly translated from the Anglo-Saxon and adapted for the stage.

There's a feeling of fine control you get when you listen to a Kim Richey album. Her songs dig outward in two directions from country/americana, into both folk and pop. And her silvery vocals, burnished with a constant, cool vibrato, lack twangy affectation, sounding almost weirdly non-manipulative – to paradoxically emotional effect.

This wondrous musical show from Canada defies genre, yet sweeps you up in the tale of two Jewish refugees who more than a century ago made a new home in a new world.

Uneven pacing and lengthy diversions derail this loving musical tribute from the multitalented Legere to the cross-dressing lesbian oil heiress and speedboat champion.

The play buffets us from patient to patient, crisis to crisis, and dream sequence to real-life therapy. Artifice this skillful glows with a heightened authenticity. The glittering cast including Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Rhea Perlman, Mark Linn-Baker, and F. Murray Abraham.

The a capella singers presented a succinct, enlightening survey of Thomas Tallis's groundbreaking 16th-century music. The concert also offered a reminder of why the composer's best-known works, such as the 'Lamentations,' remain popular after more than four centuries.

Frightened girl, earth mother, rusty old wreck, fallen angel, Dean's central character has lived a life larger than life, yet feels as real as cemetery dirt. Amidst a brilliant production, Deirdre O'Connell helps make 'Terminus' one of the best shows I've seen in a long time.