The Guardian

Royal Opera music director rails at young opera stars’ ‘weakness’

Antonio Pappano claims that ‘they are weaker in their bodies or don’t care’ and are too ready to pull out of productions

The Independent

Justin Bieber song ‘Beauty And A Beat’ gets classical revamp on Radio 3 for Comic Relief

Teen pop idol Justin Bieber is unlikely to be heard on highbrow Radio 3, but he will be this week when one of his hits gets a classical makeover.

Gramophone

Royal Opera to stage Verdi’s Les Vepres siciliennes with the ballet intact

Covent Garden premiere is the highlight of a busy 2013-14 season including seven new productions

Classic FM

Pope Francis loves opera

Never mind pop music, we’re talking Pope music – and it seems the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergolio is a particular fan of opera.

BBC Music Magazine

Winners of South Bank Sky Arts Awards announced

Scottish Opera and London Philharmonic Orchestra take home prizes

Music Week

Twitter Music app to launch within weeks – report

Social media platform Twitter is to launch its own standalone app after acquiring music discovery platform We Are Hunted.

Classic FM

(Written on March 14, 2013 )

The Independent

Baroque hour on Radio 3 as Dominic West takes to the airwaves to read poetry

Heartthrob actor Dominic West is to go from The Hour to turning back the clock by reading a daily poem from the Baroque era for Radio 3.

The Guardian

The Rest is Noise: out of the shadow of Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner

The Southbank Centre’s Gillian Moore on what February holds for the festival – and how a rising nationalism inspired composers from Janáček to Holst to embrace folk traditions

Gramophone

The Queen awards Regius Professorship of Music to Royal Holloway, University of London

One of 12 Professorships awarded in different fields to mark the Diamond Jubilee

New Music Box

Composer Assistance Program Awards $33,118

Twice a year, New Music USA receives an influx of applications from composers across the United States who are seeking support for their newly created works.

Classical Source

Whoopi Goldberg And Pamela Thomas-Graham Elected To New York Philharmonic Board Of Directors

Two distinguished women have been elected as new members of the Board of Directors of the New York Philharmonic.

On An Overgrown Path

The buildings in which you play are seen as forbidding

Now let me try to understand this one more time… Universal Music’s chief executive Max Hole tells us that classical musicians “need to think about the way they dress, and to appear more excited and engaged” and “the very buildings in which they play are often seen as forbidding and not places many people think they’d be comfortable entering”.

Slipped Disc

Just in: ‘Unsafe’ Bolshoi pulls out of centennial Rite of Spring

Wayne McGregor’s choreography for Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, scheduled for the work’s 100th anniversary in March, has been indefinitely postponed by the Bolshoi.

Music Week

HMV CFO Ian Kenyon among 190 new job cuts

Fired HMV employees have taken to the retailer’s official Twitter account to offer a live blog of 190 job losses across the firm’s head office and distribution network.

Generator

Record Store Day cut vinyl in 2013

The organisers of Record Store Day have announced that this year will see a 10% reduction in special physical product releases, with BBC 6Music dedicating a day of programming to the celebratory day of independence.

On An Overgrown Path

(Written on February 1, 2013 )

BBC News

What is Silent Opera?

A new English version of Monteverdi’s Italian opera L’Orfeo is set to open in London – but audience members going along should expect a very different experience.

The Guardian

What pop music owes to the classical masters

All styles of music feed into each other. Which is why Adele’s songs owe everything to Schubert and sampling wouldn’t exist without Dvorák

The Telegraph

Black Swan choreographer: shock appointment as director of Paris Opera Ballet

Choreographer Benjamin Millepied, who met his wife Natalie Portman on the set of Black Swan, has been made director of the Paris Opera Ballet in a surprising move, says Sarah Crompton.

Is it time for players to put away their penguin suits?

Orchestras are being told they must liven up. Ivan Hewett has heard it all before

The Times

Why it’s no ordinary encore with Hilary Hahn

Be careful about shouting “encore!” after a Hilary Hahn recital. You may get more than you bargained for.

Classical Music Magazine

ABO/Rhinegold awards honour UK’s backstage talent

The second ABO/Rhinegold awards, honouring the backstage talent in the UK’s classical music industry, were announced on 23 January at the Association of British Orchestras conference in Leeds.

Gramophone

Silent Opera presents Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo

One of the world’s earliest musical dramas receives a 21st century makeover

The Arts Desk

Special guest presenters announced for Radio 3′s ‘The Choir’

Whitacre, Christophers and Mealor among hosts for the choral music showcase

Music Industry News Network

Sound Magic Release Orchestral Strings One For Windows V1.3 And For MAC V1.2

Orchestral Strings One was recorded utilizing the legendary acoustics in the famous Berliner Hall – home of the world class BERLINER PHILHARMONIKER.

The New Age

Music industry finally on road to recovery

News that the global music industry has finally turned the corner and is on the road to recovery should help get the annual four-day gathering of many of the world’s top music execs at the MIDEM trade fair that opens in Cannes Saturday off to a good start.

Gramophone (Oliver Hyde-Tetley)

(Written on January 25, 2013 )

Classic FM

Personal Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Gershwin letters to be auctioned

Letters from composers including Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Gershwin are to be auction in LA next month.

Classic FM launches new Baroque timeline

Explore a fully interactive musical journey from 1600 to 1750, and get to the best Baroque composers with Classic FM’s brand new timeline.

Classical Music Magazine

Royal Philharmonic Society announces 200th birthday plans 

The Royal Philharmonic Society has announced a year of events to mark its bicentenary in 2013.

Slipped Disc

The Royal Opera House gets into bed for a quickie with Murdoch’s Sun

Should we, as most decent citizens would, avert our eyes from the celebrity shag of the century?

Exclusive: English orchestra to be abolished in savage local cuts

We’ve been leaked a report, going out tomorrow, which confirms that the Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra is ti be abolished under local authority cutbacks.

Sydney violin, stolen in Vienna, is returned to despairing owner

Emma West, assistant leader of the second violins in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, had her violin grabbed by a thief as she rode the Vienna subway in September.

The Independent

The Week In Radio: Radio 3 needs an audience beyond this tiny elite

Is classical music really for everyone? This was the question posed by the writer and presenter Tom Service, chair of a live debate at the Sage in Gateshead as part of Radio 3′s Free Thinking festival, to which the answer is: if only.

Gramophone

Vladimir Ashkenazy to appear on BBC Radio 4’s ‘One to One’ – hear an excerpt!

Pianist and conductor speaks to Olivia O’Leary about how aging affects his career

Classic FM

(Written on November 8, 2012 )

Gramophone

Jurowski to bow out of Glyndebourne with a new Ariadne

French opera joins the repertory for Glyndebourne 2013 and the boss’s wife sings Norina

Telegraph

Alexander Sprague – New Faces

Rupert Christiansen introduces promising young tenor Alexander Sprague, who will make his professional stage debut at Edinburgh Festival.

Classic FM

André Rieu new concert DVD with Anthony Hopkins

‘Under The Stars’ is the latest live DVD from the hugely popular André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra, released on September 10th.

Gibbons on helium are like opera singers, research says

Gibbons use the same vocal projection techniques as opera singers, according to a new study carried out in Japan.

Adès slams “fungal” Wagner, “waste of space” Brahms

Wagner and Brahms come under fire from Thomas Adès in a new book, with the British composer taking them to task.

Open Democracy

Radio 3 – why it matters, and why it shouldn’t dumb down classical music

The BBC is happy to present classical music as light-weight reality TV – it’s vital that the unique mission and role of Radio 3 shouldn’t slip down the same route.

La Times

Pianist Van Cliburn reveals bone cancer diagnosis

The only classical pianist who has received a ticker-tape parade in New York City, Van Cliburn has announced through his publicist that he has been diagnosed with advanced bone cancer.

Classic FM

(Written on August 29, 2012 )

Congratulations to Music in Offices who were yesterday shortlisted for a RPS Award.

The announcement was made on Radio 3′s In Tune, where Ivan Hewett, Classical Music Critic from the Telegraph pipped the education scheme as his one to watch.

Music in Offices offer instrumental and vocal lessons to offices in and around London, offering employees the chance to learn a new skill, de-stress and socialise within their working environment.

Other nominations include Claudio Abbado, Harrison Birtwhistle and Eva-Maria Westbroek.  For a full list of nominations visit the Royal Philharmonic Society website.

The winners will be announced on May 8th – good luck to all involved!

(Written on April 18, 2012 )

The Times

Mark-Anthony Turnage: A Constant Obsession.

Geoff Brown finds ‘these Turnage premiere recordings of recent works bouncing along in superb sound; superb artistry too, with pungent playing from Chamber Domaine, conducted by Thomas Kemp’.

The Independent

Anthony Hopkins: Hannibal Hits The High Notes With A Classic Performance.

The Oscar-winning actor Anthony Hopkins has composed a collection of classical works. Many of the pieces are inspired by memories of his childhood in south Wales, he tells Jessica Duchen.

New York Times

Ringing Finally Ended, But There’s No Button To Stop Shame.

They were baying for blood in the usually polite precincts of Avery Fisher Hall after an iPhone marimba ring tone interrupted a performance of Mahler’s 9th Symphony.

LA Times

Composer Andrew Norman Joins Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Composer Andrew Norman will be joining the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra as its new composer-in-residence.

BBC News

BBC Radio 3 To Premiere Unheard Brahms Work.

A recently discovered piano work by the composer Johannes Brahms is to be given its world premiere by Radio 3.

The Guardian

Birmingham’s Symphony Hall Celebrates 21 Years.

The country’s best hall for orchestral music? No contest: Birmingham’s Symphony Hall. And it’s celebrating its 21 years in style writes Tom Service.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/tomserviceblog/2012/jan/12/birmingham-symphony-hall-simon-rattle

(Written on January 13, 2012 )

New Yorker

The Best Classical Music Recordings of 2011.

Alex Ross rounds up his choice recordings.

The Guardian

The best classical music of 2011: Tom Service’s choice.

Tom Service rounds up his.

Classical Music Magazine

Gove: Dropping music from the National Curriculum would be ‘eccentric’.

Michael Gove’s appearance on Radio 3′s Music Matters sounds a positive note for music lovers.

Slipped Disc: Norman Lebrecht

Guess who’s been nominated for Nobel Peace Prize…it’s the Dude’s own Dude.

José Antonio Abreu receives the backing of the International Academy of Hagiography.

http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/12/guess-whos-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize-its-the-dudes-own-dude.html

(Written on December 7, 2011 )

The Telegraph

I don’t hate Bach

I suppose the only way to avoid being misunderstood in print is to avoid writing anything at all.

Gramophone

Three Years of Kings Place

As Kings Place prepares for its fourth festival, its founder reflects on the highs and lows of the launching a new arts space

The Arts Desk

BBC Proms: Missa Solemnis, LSO, Davis

Sir Colin Davis: his Beethoven speaks of many decades of exploration and understanding

The Guardian

Top classical picks for autumn

The Leipzig Gewandhaus descend on London for all nine Beethoven symphonies, ENO goes French baroque with Castor and Pollux, and Glasgow gets minimal

Los Angeles Times

Music review: Juanjo Mena and Labeques at the Hollywood Bowl

There is a moment in Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos, which Katia and Marielle Labèque played at the Hollywood Bowl Thursday night, that is stunningly other.

The Telegraph

Radio 3 is getting out of tune with its audience

The row over the new schedules shows how the station is edging ever nearer to the comfortable banality of Classic FM.

The Times

Is there a cure for being tone deaf?

After a lifetime of mangling tunes, Sathnam Sanghera sought advice. Is he actually tone deaf and is there a cure?

(Written on September 5, 2011 )

To raise money for Comic Relief, yesterday 6 brave BBC presenters took to the stage to perform a 3-minute stand-up routine, including BBC Radio 3′s Tom Service. Tom is the presenter for Music Matters, Radio 3′s flagship classical music magazine programme,

Take a look at Tom’s 3 minute routine below. The WildKat team will be cheering him on whilst helping to raise money for Comic Relief by voting for him on: 0904 95 96 003

Visit the Stand up for Comic Relief website for videos of the 5 other presenters who took part: Radio 1′s Dev, Radio 2′s Tony Blackburn, Radio 4′s Jenni Murray, Radio 5 Live’s Tony Livesey and 6Music’s Shaun Keaveny.

(Written on March 10, 2011 )