The Guardian

Tale of two epoch-defining classical music titans born in the same year

Operatic face-off shows that in Milan at least, Verdi v Wagner is still more of a cultural draw than Strictly v The X Factor

The Telegraph

Move over, Maestro: Spira Mirabilis, the democratic orchestra

The orchestra Spira Mirabilis is making a bid for artistic freedom by playing without a conductor

Casablanca piano could fetch £650,000

The piano used in the Humphrey Bogart film Casablanca is up for auction in New York in December 2012.

The Independent

Why arias in the multiplex fall flat

Screening operas at cinemas is helping to bolster the popularity of this frail art form, but it’s no substitute for the emotional intensity, acoustic quality and excitement of live drama

Slipped Disc

Just in: London orchestra turns in a six-figure deficit

The orch, which receives £2,245,000 in Arts Council and other public grants, registered a deficit of £189,824.

NPR

Classical Lost And Found: Hubert Parry’s Glorious England

Composers Hubert Parry, Charles Villiers Stanford and Edward Elgar dominated the British musical scene in the latter half of the Victorian age through the Edwardian era.

Bach, Beatboxed

What happens when you get a teenage piano whiz and the 24-year-old, multi-talented winner of NBC’s The Sing-Off in a rehearsal room together?

The Strad

Baltimore Symphony grows Academy

Orchestra receives $950,000 to develop amateur musicians programme

The Telegraph