The Spectator

Six Of The Best Young Opera Singers.

First it was the policeman who seemed to get younger every year. Then it was the conductors. Now it’s the opera singers, writes Jessica Duchen.

The Guardian

Alice Goodman: The Furore That Finished Me.

Two decades ago, Alice Goodman wrote the libretto to The Death of Klinghoffer, an opera about a Jewish American murdered by Palestinian terrorists. It ended her career. Does she have any regrets?

Gramophone

Conductor Paavo Berglund Dies At 82

Born April 14th, 1929; died January 25th, 2012.

The Independent

‘These people have never sung an opera in their lives’.

Baritone launches attack on lowbrow music industry and performers of classical ‘greatest hits’.

New York Times

Not Everyone’s In Tune Over Precious Violins.

The value of valuable violins.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/sunday-review/the-value-of-valuable-violins.html?ref=classicalmusic

(Written on January 30, 2012 )

New Yorker

My Favourite Records: Alec Baldwin.

The eminent actor and New York Philharmonic announcer lists his favourite music.

Washington Post via the LA Times

La Scala Manager Says 7-Year Streak Of Balanced Budget Difficult To Hold In 2012.

La Scala general manager Stephane Lissner’s first goal when he arrived at the renowned opera house in 2005 was to balance the budget, which he did that year and every year since. This year could be different, he warned Tuesday.

The Independent

Sir Thomas Allen Is Still Fresh, Four Decades On.

Thomas Allen talks about his role as ‘Don Alfonso’ to Michael Church.

The Guardian

Jonathan Harvey: Touching The Void.

Jonathan Harvey’s music has always contained visions of the beyond. As he faces death himself, he talks to Tom Service.

Gramophone

Nicholas Daniel To Receive Queen’s Medal For Music.

Oboist and conductor is the seventh winner of the award.

Must We Witness Denmark’s Great Operatic Decline?

Tough Decisions Face The Royal Danish Opera But It Doesn’t Have To End In Tragedy.

Telegraph

The Opera Novice.

Until last year Sameer Rahim had little interest in classical music – but now he is hooked on opera. In a new column he offers a novice-eye’s view of this seemingly forbidding but truly magical art form.

New York Times

Carnegie Hall’s 2012-13 Season Includes A Latin American Festival.

An Arab-Israeli orchestra, a Latin American festival and the crowning ensemble of Venezuela’s music program aimed at helping the poor will be major presences at Carnegie Hall next season, examples of the growing urge to make classical music socially relevant.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/arts/music/gustavo-dudamel-part-of-carnegie-halls-2012-13-season.html?_r=1&ref=classicalmusic

(Written on January 27, 2012 )

Gramophone

Shostakovich Fragment To Receive UK Premiere.

Violin sonata section performed at Manchester University.

New York Times

New York City Opera Announces Deal With Unions.

New York City Opera cleared a major obstacle in its effort to forge ahead in reduced form and without its Lincoln Center home, saying on Wednesday that it had reached agreements with both of its major unions.

Public Domain Works Can Be Copyrighted Anew.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a federal law that restored copyright protection to works that had entered the public domain.

The Times

Mozart And Da Ponte – Why We Adore You.

Five star singers choose the dream roles created by opera’s ultimate double act.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/article3286143.ece

(Written on January 19, 2012 )

LA Times

L.A. Opera Makes Early $7-Million Payment On Country Loan.

Plácido Domingo and other leaders of Los Angeles Opera appeared before the L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to announce that the company has paid back $7 million of the $14 million emergency loan it received in 2009.

Blue Whale Turns Over Its Wednesdays To L.A. Jazz Collective.

Every Wednesday evening will be given over to the music of three composer/instrumentalists in the Los Angeles Jazz Collective.

Operaworld.com via LA Times

Opera America Awards Audience Development Grants To 16 Opera Companies.

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, has announced that it has awarded nearly $200,000 in Audience Development grants, as part of The Opera Fund, to 16 U.S. opera companies.

San Antonio Express-News via LA Times

S.A. Opera Cancels ‘Don Giovanni’.

Money woes have prompted a restructuring.

BBC News

Artist Director Responds To Kim Novak Vertigo Claim.

The director of The Artist has defended using music from Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo in his Oscar-tipped film after a complaint from its star Kim Novak.

Placido Domingo And Simon Rattle Win Israeli Wolf Prize.

Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo has become the first vocal artist to win Israel’s prestigious Wolf Prize for the arts, organisers have announced.

New York Times

Washington National Opera To Present ‘Ring’ Cycle In 2016.

The company announced on Tuesday that it would present the complete Wagner “Ring” cycle that it had commissioned with the San Francisco Opera but suspended because of money problems.

A Last-Minute Substitution For ‘Faust’.

The tenor Roberto Alagna is stepping in for an ailing Joseph Calleja in the title role of “Faust,” by Gounod, at the Metropolitan Opera on Monday evening.

The Guardian

The Enchanted Island: The Isle Is Full Of Mash-Ups.

A new opera, made from chopped-up bits of baroque music and The Tempest, is about to hit UK cinemas. Its creator Jeremy Sams relives a labour of love.

Portrait Of The Artist: Thomas Allen.

‘Opera can be a difficult thing to understand: shouting, albeit in a musical way, is an odd way to express oneself’.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/jan/09/thomas-allen-baritone

(Written on January 11, 2012 )