The Telegraph

Peter Maxwell Davies: The old rebel has a new cause

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies talks about the inspiration for his Ninth symphony.

The Guardian

Carmen in the desert: Israeli Opera promises hot staging at Bizet

Dead Sea and Massada fortress form backdrop for ambitious performance of fiery, romantic opera.

Interview: Sergei Leiferkus

Baritone Sergei Leiferkus, singing the Forester in Glyndebourne’s current production of the Cunning Little Vixen, talks about the opera.

Classical Music Magazine

Clandeboye’s former young musicians to return to celebrate tenth festival

Booking has opened for the tenth Clandeboye Festival, taking place 13 – 18 August at the Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava’s Clandeboye estate near Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland.

Gramophone

Universal’s ‘Bass Hunter’ search uncovers what may be the world’s lowest singing voice

For singer Tom Stroms, the low E is effortless.

Arts Journal – Slipped disc

Naked Spencer Tunick is modifying his art for Munich’s Ring

Bavarian State Opera have just announced that the naked flash mob it is preparing for Wagner’s Ring will not be in the altogether. The American artist Spencer Tunick has been persuaded to cover prudish Muncheners with body paint.

Cathedral fires choirmaster for ‘being rude about Scotland’

Ian Simcock has been sacked by Glasgow Cathedral for merciless teasing of singers and ‘being rude about Scotland’.

Jessica Duchen

On the future of music journalism

Here are a few thoughts I’ve cobbled together in the wake of last week’s panel discussion at Classical:NEXT.

The New Yorker

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s Art Songs

As everyone knows, Fischer-Dieskau, who died on May 18th, was the reigning master of the art song.

(Written on June 7, 2012 )

The Telegraph

Thomas Blumire: young composer who defies barriers

At 19, Thomas Blumire is a promisingly talented and already accomplished composer, currently hoping to study for a degree in music.

Ian Bostridge on Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: ‘I’d never have sung without him’

English tenor Ian Bostridge tells how the late Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau came to inspire him.

Classical music dead? Nico Muhly proves it isn’t

The Manhattan-based composer Nico Muhly – the hottest talent in contemporary classical music – is so attracted to everyday drone noise that he’s composed an album in tribute.

The Guardian

How Maurice Sendak helped me stage his operas

Months before his death, the children’s author met director Netia Jones to discuss opera versions of his famous stories.

ArtsJournal – Slipped disc

‘I don”t do crossover’, says YouTube’s most watched pianist

One of the things I like best about Valentina Lisitsa is her lack of guile.

Gramophone

Baritone Derek Hammond-Stroud has died

The English singer Derek Hammond-Stroud has died; he was 86.

Obituary: Alexander Arutiunian, composer

Alexander Arutiunian has died at the age of 91 in Yerevan, the city of his birth.

LA Times

Jazz impressions with Chris Botti

Trumpeter Chris Botti tours constantly with his instrumentals. He dishes on his career, his latest album, ‘Impressions’, and musical collaborations.

(Written on May 29, 2012 )

The Telegraph

Online piano star Valentina Lisitsa gets Royal Albert Hall debut

YouTube star and and virtuoso pianist Valentina Lisitsa signs record deal and will play a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

Jessica Duchen

A Music World Fair

This year’s International Wimbledon Music Festival is ‘A Music World Fair’ – a tremendously international job, lighting up South West London with performances by the Kopelman String Quartet, Alina Ibragimova, Nicholas Daniel and Sam West, Christine Brewer, Zuill Bailey, Cristina Ortiz, Mark Padmore and many more.

NY Times

Philadelphia Orchestra Submits Plan to Cut Debt

The Philadelphia Orchestra has laid out its plan to erase debts and cut costs in a major step toward exiting bankruptcy court.

The Guardian

King Priam, a pacifist’s opera, can still shed light on the trauma of war

Half a century after its first showing, Michael Tippett’s libretto based on the lliad is a fitting work for today.

Fischer-Dieskau’s 12 best recordings

Martin Kettle’s pick of the great baritone’s recorded output.

LA Times

Glenn Dicterow leaving New York Philharmonic, joining USC faculty

Glenn Dicterow, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic for more than 30 years, will be leaving the venerated orchestra and joining the faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles.

New West Symphony names Marcelo Lehninger as new music director

Marcelo Lehninger, the young Brazilian German maestro who serves as an assistant conductor for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has been named music director of the New West Symphony, which is based in Thousand Oaks.

Classical Music Magazine

Classical singles chart greeted with scepticism by industry

The launch of a weekly classical singles chart, the first of which will be released on 28 May, has been greeted enthusiastically by crossover artists but more sceptically by the core classical sector.

Gramophone

Anne-Sophie Mutter receives Distinguished Leadership Award

Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter has been awarded the Atlantic Council’s 2012 Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award, recognising her as ‘one of the most significant leaders of our society’.

(Written on May 25, 2012 )

The Telegraph

David Munrow: Tragic genius who brought early music to the masses

The short but brilliant life of David Munrow blazed a trial for his passion.

Become part of the virtual Philharmonic Orchestra

An interactive digital installation allows visitors to step inside and become part of a virtual orchestra, taking on the role of a musician or even the conductor.

The Guardian

Leslie Baruch Brent on Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: ‘He inspired my love for lieder, especially those of Schubert’

Like thousands of others, my lifelong love for lieder, especially those of Franz Schubert, was inspired by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the 1950s.

Andrew M Rosemarine on Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: ‘The war helped him understand the transience of life’

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was uncertain of his legacy. But he recognised the change in himself from his earliest years and the difficulties he had surmounted in adolescence during the Hitler years.

John Birch obituary

John Birch, who has died aged 82 after suffering a stroke, was interested in – but by no means limited to – every aspect of the organ and its world.

NY Times

Philadelphia Orchestra Submits Reorganization Plan

More than a year after resorting to bankruptcy court, the Philadelphia Orchestra laid out its plan to erase debt and cut costs on Wednesday.

Arts Journal – Slipped disc

Silly, superficial, true to life: a Baroque lion’s take on the Met’s Enchanted Island

The purist Baroque pioneer Joel Cohen has been watching the Met’s potpourri on a television relay. Expecting irritation, he found a certain truth.

Classical Music Magazine

The Listening Machine launches as part of The Space

The Britten Sinfonia has teamed up with composer and cellist Peter Gregson and technologist Daniel Jones to create The Listening Machine.

Gramophone

Winners of NCEM 2012 Composers Award announced

Composition to be performed by Tallis Scholars and broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

Cycling with the Olympianist

Joining Anthony Hewitt on (one of a bit) Land’s End to John O’Groats concert tour.

Wigmore Hall expands commissioning programme 

Up to 15 new chamber commissions per season from 2013.

(Written on May 24, 2012 )

The Telegraph

Franciscan Friar becomes first to sign major record deal

A Franciscan tenor has become the first ever friar to sign a major recording contract, after music executives heard him sing in his native Italy.

Interview: composer Jonathan Dove talks about his new opera, The Walk From the Garden

Jonathan Dove tells how Adam and Eve meets Paradise Lost in his new opera, The Walk From the Garden, premiering at Salisbury Festival.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: touchstone of perfection

Ivan Hewett pays tribute to the masterful German classical singer Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who has died aged 86.

The Guardian

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was a revolutionary performer

Fischer-Dieskau reorientated our listening experience, writes Daniel Barenboim in a personal tribute to the great baritone.

A guide to John Zorn’s music

Anything and everything goes in Zorn’s constantly evolving musical world: his pieces are a vision of what happens when postmodern practices become something much more meaningful.

World’s youngest conductor? Boy, 14, to direct Venezuelan orchestra

José Ángel Salazar, part of the country’s successful El Sistema music programme, is not old enough to earn a wage.

NY Times

Latest Met Aria: Bad Opera News Is No News

Opera News, 76 years old and one of the leading classical music magazines in the country, said on Monday that it would stop reviewing the Metropolitan Opera, a policy prompted by the Met’s dissatisfaction over negative critiques.

LA Times

Carl Davis joins L.A. Chamber Orchestra for a silent film special

Composer Carl Davis and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra take on the music of silent films at a Royce Hall event on Sunday night.

Gramophone

Dublin International Piano Competition winner announced

Nikolay Khozyainov has been named the ninth winner of the Dublin International Piano Competition. The 19-year-old Russian receives €15,000.

(Written on May 22, 2012 )