The Telegraph

Culture and arts: what to see in May 2013

From The Passion Play to Laura Marling, our critics pick out the cultural highlights of May 2013.

The Independent

Terry Gilliam to make ENO comeback as opera bosses express cuts fears

The chiefs of the English National Opera believe that next month’s spending review will be “crucial” in shaping the future of the arts in Britain.

The Spectator

Interview with the musician Paul Lewis

Michael Henderson meets the musician Paul Lewis.

Classic FM

Cellist performs live at 39,000 feet

Musicians have long been campaigning to be allowed to carry instruments on planes, but one American cellist took this a step further with a solo performance above the clouds.

Gramophone

England’s In Harmony joins forces with Venezuela’s El Sistema programme

Two programmes, which promote social through music, strengthen their ties with a new collaborative agreement.

Classical Music Magazine

ENO and Opera North announce plans for 2013/14

English National Opera and Opera North today announced their 2013/14 seasons, while also addressing various ‘extra-curricular’ issues…

The Spectator

(Written on May 2, 2013 )

BBC News

Welsh National Opera singers raise Wrexham Maelor patients’ spirits

Opera is probably still seen by many people as a very exclusive art form

The Telegraph

David Pountney interview: An old radical with new ideas

David Pountney is bringing adventure back to Welsh National Opera, he tells Rupert Christiansen

The Independent

Event cinema: live screenings of opera and ballet are the British new wave

Today’s blockbusters are more likely to be live screenings of opera or ballet than the latest Hollywood movie. Jonathan Owen reports

The Guardian

The echoes of Benjamin Britten’s ‘composing walks’

Benjamin Britten used to take ‘composing walks’ around Suffolk. What would he have heard? Chris Watson spent a year finding out – armed with a microphone

Huffington Post

Jose Antonio Abreu, El Sistema and His Worldwide Influence On Music

The binding, the bonding effect of music on people, few other arts can achieve. It brings men together, it soothes the spirit, it frees us of despair, it calms down the inner strife of man with himself and it does give definite answers to our eternal questions.

Classical Source

English Heritage Blue Plaque For Mendelssohn

One of Europe’s greatest composers, and a frequent London visitor, is honoured

Music Week

2013 UK music sales already outperforming 2012

Sales of music have been higher in each of the first four weeks of 2013 than in the corresponding weeks of 2012, according to Official Charts Company data.

Billboard

YouTube to Experiment with Paid Subscription Option This Year, Source Confirms

YouTube will be experimenting with an option over the next few months that will let a handful of channel partners charge a subscription fee for their content, according to sources knowledgeable with the plans.

The Independent

(Written on January 31, 2013 )

Newstatesman 

Classical Music should be about more than elite parties and Private Schools 

“Exclusion in the classical music world stretches far beyond race” Andrew Mellor explores the existing tensions in the world of classical music.

Arts Journal- Slipped Disc

Oh Yuk! Smut author takes credit for classic chart success

Thomas Tallis’ Spem in Alium reaches number one in the charts after its feature in E L James’ Fifty Shades of Grey. 

Going Down: London gets an underground Orchestra 

Musician Shaun Boswell tries to remedy the lack of good music on London’s underground.

Listen Up: It’s a post-modern take on Rite of Spring 

Composer and viola player Lev Zhurbin gives a 21^st spin to folk music that Stravinsky used.

The Guardian – Music Blog 

Proms 2012: My Opera Highlights 

Tom Service picks his Opera Highlights from the programme of this year’s Proms.

BBC News 

Former Steel Worker Inspires Opera Cycle Song 

A former Steel worker and Olympic medalist Albert White inspires a community opera in Scunthorpe which featured as part of the London 2012 festival.

England’s Sistema youth orchestra programme expands 

Four new youth orchestras launch across England as a part of the In Harmony Programme inspired by Venezuela’s famous El Sistema.

Classic FM

Vivaldi’s “Bombshell” opera discovered 

A new version of Vivaldi’s Opera Orlando Furioso has been discovered in manuscript form almost 300 years after his death.

Higgs boson sounds like habanera

Newly discovered Higgs boson particle has inspired quite a different piece by Domenico Vicinanza.

Soprano’s live longer than altos  

Recent study by two doctors in Detroit suggests that Soprano’s live longer than altos.

(Written on July 16, 2012 )

The Telegraph

New music scholarships for London’s talented children

Talented children who might otherwise slip through the music education net are fulfilling their promise thanks to a new scholarship scheme.

The Guardian

Damon Albarn’s opera Dr Dee – video

Dr Dee, an opera about the Elizabethan mathematician, astronomer and astrologer Dr John Dee, opened at the Coliseum on Monday night.

Gramophone

China holds its first Li Delun National Conducting Competition

Designed to inspire young Chinese conductors of the future.

BBC Music Magazine

Tower Bridge as a musical instrument

Composer Samuel Bordoli has written a piece to be performed on London’s Tower Bridge as part of the City of London Festival’s 50th anniversary.

Arts Journal – Slipped Disc

German theatre chief: Give the Ring a rest

In a perfect curtain-raiser to the Bayreuth festival and the Wagner bicentenary, the president of the German Theatre Association Klaus Zehelein says there are too many productions of the Ring.

New artistic director at Ensemble Intercontemporain

It’s the composer Matthias Pintscher.

 LA Times

El Sistema produces a new, younger Gustavo Dudamel

Gustavo Dudamel, 31, seems practically middle-aged compared to Jose Angel Salazar, a 14-year-old El Sistema student who has gained attention recently for his talent as a conductor.

(Written on June 29, 2012 )

The Telegraph

Damon Albarn interview: the magic and mystery of Dr Dee

Damon Albarn and Rufus Norris have let the subject of their opera Dr Dee – part of London 2012 Festival – become an obsession, says Shakespeare scholar Jonathan Bate.

How Ivor Novello’s songs may become old friends to his listeners

Ivor Novello gave much pleasure to millions, but why has he been forgotten?

El Sistema and Gustavo Dudamel: rescuing children with music

As Gustavo Dudamel’s Simon Bolivar Orchestra helps launch London 20120 Festival, Ivan Hewett travels to Venezuela to witness the music system of El Sistema that produced it – and helps to save children from lives of violence and crime.

El Sistema timeline: from a Caracas garage to the Albert Hall

The history of El Sistema, the Venezuelan musical education programme which has produced the Simon Bolivar Orchestra.

BBC Music Magazine

All BBC orchestras and BBC Singers to stay open

Newly published report recommends all ensembles continue but with ‘substantial savings’.

The Guardian

Dudamel’s heroic Beethoven challenge

Beethoven’s third symphony – the Eroica – is an exposing piece for any orchestra. Will the newly matured Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra make the grade?

LA Times

Gustavo Dudamel in talks to compose score for Simon Bolivar film

Conductor Gustavo Dudamel is expected to lend his musical talent to a new movie about the life of Simón Bolívar.

Gramophone

Takacs Quartet, Sir Mark Elder, Andrew Litton and Rachel Podger

The latest edition of the Gramophone Podcast is now online.

Arts Journal – Slipped Disc

US orch hires new music director after 25 years

The Illinois Philharmonic played happily for more than two decades with Carmen DeLeone, who retired last year.

Criticising the critics: Only one UK newspaper reviews Youtube’s hottest pianist

Somehow none of London’s critical pack found time to attend Valentina Lisitsa’s groundbreaking debut at the Royal Albert Hall.

Cologne fires opera chief

The saga of who runs opera in one of Germany’s biggest cities – and whether there will be any opera at all next year – took an upturn last night when the city fired the opera intendant, Uwe Eric Laufenberg.

NY Times

Late-Night Drinks With a Pianist

David Greilsammer, known for his inventive programs of piano works, will play one of the late-night concerts at the Mostly Mozart Festival.

(Written on June 22, 2012 )

The Telegraph

The opera novice: Richard Strauss’ Salome – a Biblical family romance

Strauss’ opera Salome is a psychosexual drama full of excruciatingly beautiful music.

The Independent

Simon Bolivar Orchestra: Kids aloud

As the orchestra returns to Britain, Matthew Bell sees how music continues to change lives in Caracas… and in south London too.

The Guardian

Pianist Valentina Lisitsa: believe the hype

I suspected Lisitsa – about to debut at Royal Albert Hall – was a case of promotion over profundity. Then I joined her online audience and was wowed by her self-assured virtuosity.

BBC Music Magazine

Haiti launches a music initiative modelled on Venezuela’s El Sistema

Haiti’s government has launched a new project to provide music education for all ages and to encourage the formation of youth orchestras across the country.

Financial Times

The modern maestro

Conductors used to be famously autocratic, inaccessible – and old. Not anymore.

LA Times

Simone Dinnerstein – classical music’s ‘wandering bard’

The pianist isn’t following rules; she’s simply telling a story that begins with Bach.

Jessica Duchen

A good honours day for musos

It’s a bumper year for classical music and opera in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for the Diamond Jubilee.

Szigeti speaks

“The unforgivable sins of big business” – Joseph Szigeti’s opinion of the fact that the record catalogue contained only four recordings of Bartok playing the piano.

Gramophone

Classical music is honoured in the Birthday Honours

A knighthood for opera director David McVicar.

The Times

Gianandrea Noseda triumphs in Britten

He loves the orchestra. The orchestra loves him. So could the Italian maestro take over permanently at the LSO?

The ultimately difficult Troy story returns

War, suicide and pantomime – the Royal Opera House is braving Berlioz’s Trojan masterpiece.

What I’ve learnt: Carl Davis

New York-born conductor Carl Davis, 75, took his first music lessons aged 7 and moved to London at 18.

(Written on June 18, 2012 )

The Guardian

José Antonio Abreu on Venezuela’s El Sistema miracle

In a rare interview, José  Antonio Abreu talks about his passion for Venezuela’s extraordinary musical programme that gives children a route out of poverty.

BBC Music Magazine

Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott set up charity

Soprano Anna Netrebko and bass-baritone Erwin Schrott have created a charitable foundation to support disabled and disadvantaged children.

LA Times

Spectrum Road to pay tribute to Lifetime at Playboy Jazz Festival

Spectrum Road will explore the music of Tony Williams’ Lifetime at the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl.

Arts Journal – Slipped Disc

The Water Music the BBC wouldn’t let you see or hear

The Academy of Ancient Music has published a video of its performance of Handel’s Water Music in the Royal Flotilla.

Wales thinks it has found the next Bryn Terfel

You’d expect the Welsh to be first to put up a candidate for next year’s Cardiff Singer of the World content and, sure enough, their man is on the starting line while other nations are still stuttering in rehearsal rooms.

NY Times

The American Symphony, at 50, Harcks Back to Stokowski

When Leopold Stokowski formed the American Symphony Orchestra 50 years ago, he wanted to create, in part, a training ground for young musicians.

The Times

London 2012 Festival: best classical and opera

Chief cultural critic Richard Morrison on the classical music and opera he is most looking forward to.

The New Yorker

A legendary Mendelssohn recording

Oliver Knussen, the great British composer and conductor, turned sixty on Tuesday.

Gramophone

Bach cantata manuscript sells for £337,250 at Christie’s in London

Rare example of Bach’s musical hand sells to private collector.

Missy Mazzoli named Composer-in-Residence of Opera Company of Philadelphia

Missy Mazzoli has been selected as the second Composer-in-Residence of the Opera Company of Philadelphia, in collaboration with Gotham Chamber Opera and the Music Theatre Group in New York.

(Written on June 15, 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 )

NY Times 

Kid Rock to Team Up With Detroit Symphony

Kid Rock has agreed to do a benefit concert with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to help raise money for that cash-strapped symphony

LA Times 

South Korean conductor to travel to North Korea

Classical music has often served as a form of soft diplomacy in cases of Cold War detente.

Gramophone 

Get ready for Music Nation!

Amateurs and professionals join together for a music-packed weekend across the UK

The Telegraph 

Hayley Westenra shocked by proposal

Hayley Westenra, the soprano, reveals exactly what transpired when her French boyfriend, Arnaud Sabard, proposed to her on a secluded spot in New Zealand.

BBC Music Mag 

Beautifully performed Strauss from Christianne Stotijn

Download a free track performed by the mezzo-soprano

Yuja Wang on YouTube

Watch the brilliant young pianist play the Flight of the Bumblebee and Stravinsky’s Petrushka 

The spread of Venezuela’s ‘kindly virus’

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/9548baa8-612a-11e1-a738-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1nfvPJqat

(Written on February 28, 2012 )

BBC Music Magazine 

David Finckel announces plans to leave Emerson String Quartet

British cellist Paul Watkins to take up position in 2013

Charles Anthony (1929-2012)

Tenor who performed at the Metropolitan Opera more than any other singer

The Guardian  

In praise of … young people’s concerts

The New York Philharmonic Orchestra remains an example to learn from

NY Times 

A Musical Exchange in Venezuela: El Sistema Performs for the Los Angeles Philharmonic

El Sistema, Venezuela’s national music program aimed at young people, put on a major show of orchestra playing and singing for the visiting Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Making Music For a Ghost Town

Music From Japan at Merkin Concert Hall

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/arts/music/music-from-japan-at-merkin-concert-hall.html?ref=music

(Written on February 17, 2012 )