Gramophone

Opera for the homeless in Cardiff

Streetwise Opera and Welsh National Opera launch a new programme for homeless people

Classic FM

Pub opera’s Boheme transfers to Charing Cross theatre

OperaUpClose’s version of La Boheme is to transfer to London’s Charing Cross Theatre from October 30th.

Miloš’ success “very good for air miles”

Miloš Karadaglić revealed that he has circled the globe three times in the last year as part of his promotional schedule

Marvin Hamlisch honoured in tribute concert

The late film composer Marvin Hamlisch was honoured in a memorial service featuring performances from Barbra Streisand, Liza Minelli and Aretha Franklin

Arts Journal: Slipped Disc

Why US orchestras need to change their language

As a new concert season starts, two famous orchestras – Atlanta and Indianapolis – have locked out their musicians and three more are heading down the same dead end.

LA Times

‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ album tops classical-music chart

Trash juggernaut “Fifty Shades of Grey” continues to rake in the dough, and not just through book sales.

The Wall Street Journal (found on Arts Journal)

So Long, Ingénues

No singer today more sharply divides opera fans than does the Russian soprano Anna Netrebko. Her admirers thrill to her robust stage presence and plush, vibrant tone; they celebrate her distinctive fashion sense and crave details about her glamorous private life.

DW (found on Musical Chairs)

Turkey’s youth orchestra bridges cultures

They are the best young musicians in Turkey. The Turkish National Youth Orchestra is a springboard for emerging talent. Now the young performers are stepping into the spotlight at the Beethovenfest in Bonn.

New Music Box

Lembit Beecher—To Tell a Tale, To Sing a Story

When Lembit Beecher was named composer-in-residence with the Opera Company of Philadelphia (in collaboration with Gotham Chamber Opera and Music-Theatre Group of New York) in 2011, he didn’t bring a large portfolio of operatic work with him to the brand new three-year program. An instinct and affection for storytelling, however, already infused his compositions.

DW

(Written on September 20, 2012 )

The Telegraph

Milos Karadaglic: a guitar lesson from the classical maestro

A latecomer to the classical guitar, Adam Sweeting seeks inspiration from Milos Karadaglic, one of the best players in the world.

Classical Music Magazine

BBCSSO gets permanent leader, after long search, in Laura Samuel

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra has appointed Laura Samuel as its new leader.

John Ireland in Chelsea festival runs 21-25 June

The English composer John Ireland lived in Chelsea for more than 50 years and died in a converted windmill in Sussex in June 1962.

Gramophone

The accidental birth of ATMA Classique

Because Johanne Goyette couldn’t make a living on the ondes Martenot.

Arts Journal – Slipped Disc

Khatchaturian prize split between Russian and Japanese

The Japanese violinist Ayako Tanabe shared first prize with the Russian Pavel Milyukov. The grand prix went to another Russian, Fedor Roudine.

BBC Music Magazine

Music increases children’s empathy 

New research suggests importance of playing music together.

The Guardian

Portrait of the artist: Edward Gardner, conductor

In the interview, Edward Gardner points out: ‘Orchestras are going to become more female – boys aren’t learning instruments’.

(Written on June 14, 2012 )

The Independent

Independent podcast: Naxos 25th anniversary

In just a quarter of a century Naxos has created “a catalogue comprising the largest number of individual works and the widest available repertoire of any classical label since the beginning of the recording era.”

The Guardian

A guide to Harrison Birtwistle’s music

Harrison’s elemental and powerful music feels both ancient and modern.

Classical Music Magazine

BBC Young Musician: the winner

The winner of BBC Young Musician 2012, the final of which was held at the Sage, Gateshead on 13 May and broadcast on Radio 3 and BBC2, is 15-year-old cellist Laura van der Heijden.

Jessica Duchen

There can only be one BBC Young Musician of the year

For every musician whose lifelong public career is launched in the arena of BBC Young Musicians, there are maybe 100 more, at least, who vanish.

The Times

Spira mirabilis: The orchestra where everyone’s in charge

Does an orchestra where all players have an equal say mean a recipe for amity or anarchy?

The NY Times

David Robertson to Lead Sydney Symphony

David Robertson, the music director of the St. Louis Symphony, has taken on a position on the other side of the world, becoming artistic director and chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony in Australia starting in 2014.

Financial Times

To marry the heart and the head

The prolific Catalan musician Jordi Savall talks about grief, memory and building bridges.

ArtsJournal – Slipped disc

Saxon sings out to save Bach ensemble

The theatre in Eisenach, Bach’s birthplace, is under threat of closure. Hundreds gathered to stage a peaceful protest in song.

Gramophone

Miloš: new champion of the classical guitar

A classical guitarist’s debut recording remained at the top of the Specialist Classical Chart for much of the past year. That artist is Miloš Karadaglić – or Miloš as he’s known simply – who was named Gramophone’s Young Artist of the Year at our 2011 Awards.

Venezuelan Rafael Payare wins Malko Competition

32-year-old Venezuelan Rafael Payare won the Malko Competition for Young Conductors in Copenhagen on Saturday in an atmospheric final round broadcast live on Danish radio and television.

(Written on May 15, 2012 )