Is historical performance practice facing a ‘correction’ — a downscaling that reflects a more accurate valuation of its current worth — or, instead, are we heading toward a paradigm shift, where a familiar old model proves to be inadequate and is overturned by a new, workable, and perhaps revolutionary replacement?

Pygmalion, the period instrument ensemble led by visionary French conductor Raphaël Pichon, again leads the way with an incisive and inspired account of the Bach ‘St. John Passion’ in its final 1749 version.

There was once a dismissive, even hostile, attitude toward period instruments and scholarship-based approaches to technique and interpretation. Most of those complaints now seem like dated artifacts of the late 20th c., or were a reaction (let’s be honest) to unrefined instruments and wobbly playing. But that’s now all behind us, right?

Ambition, regicide, fratricide, false accusations, betrayal, conspiracies, love, honor — and that’s just Act 1 of Leonardo Vinci’s ‘Artaserse,’ a 1730 opera seria with a sensational libretto by Metastasio. Chicago’s Haymarket Opera Co.’s production was a popular and critical hit on stage in 2025. Now, with the same cast, it’s a compelling new recording.