BACKGramophone
The essence of chamber music
LA Times
Salvatore Licitra, the unexpected tenor, dies at 43
Salvatore Licitra’s singing career began just over a decade ago in Parma, Italy, and ended Monday in a Sicilian hospital, where he died at 43 of injuries from a Vespa accident 10 days ago.
The New York Times
Strike at La Scala Forces Cancellation of Vienna Staatsoper Performance
Citing “the extremes of an anti-union attitude,’’ workers at La Scala opera house in Milan have announced a strike that will cause the cancellation of a performance of Beethoven’s “Fidelio” by the Vienna Staatsoper this week.
The Telegraph
Busoni Piano Competition, Bolzano, Italy, review
Geoffrey Norris reviews the major international contest in which the 22-year-old Ukrainian Antonii Barischevsky was particularly impressive.
The Times
Rory Bremner: Orpheus in the modern world
Setting the opera in a time of sex scandals, banking crises and riots is an exciting challenge, says Rory Bremner