BACKGuardian
Revealed: the violent, thuggish world of the young JS Bach
John Eliot Gardiner’s research has shattered ‘sanitised’ versions of the composer’s life
Telegraph
Mozart music best for council calls put on hold
Local authorities use Mozart’s pieces more than those of any other artist when making callers wait in a queue on the end of a phone line, according to a Freedom of Information survey.
New York Magazine
Hecklers at the Met Call for Gay Rights in Russia
The opening night of a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, conducted by Valery Gergiev, Putin’s kapellmeister, and starring Anna Netrebko, who signed Putin’s election manifesto, was greeted by hecklers inside and outside of the building. Objecting to Putin’s anti-gay laws, four protesters were escorted off the premises of the New York Metropolitan Opera.
Los Angeles Times
‘Set Chopin Free’ Kickstarter campaign surpasses its goal
Observing Chopin’s 200th birthday in 2010, composer Aaron Dunn conceived an ambitious project: Raise money with a Kickstarter campaign to hire a professional orchestra to record the 245 works of Chopin and make them available free on his open culture website Musopen. The campaign has surpassed its goal with 31 days remaining.
Classic FM Online
BSO becomes Classic FM’s latest partner orchestra
The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra has been announced as Classic FM’s Orchestra in the South of England. The new partnership intends to extend the orchestra’s music-making to even wider audiences.
“Mozart fulfils me” says Pope Francis
Pope Francis is known for his love of opera, but now he’s revealed his wide-ranging taste in other classical music in the first major interview of his papacy. “Among musicians I love Mozart, of course,” the Pope said. “The ‘Et incarnatus est’ from his Mass in C minor is matchless; it lifts you to God!”
Classical Music Magazine
Unfit for purpose? Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall in the CS spotlight
The inadequacies of Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall as a concert venue have once again come under scrutiny in a Music Sector Review commissioned by Creative Scotland. This latest report points out that the venue is ‘by its nature, insufficiently flexible and not well suited for many events because as a listed building any major alterations are not possible’.
New York Magazine