Classical News

The New York Times
Metropolitan Opera Clears Last Hurdle in Labor Talks
The Metropolitan Opera and the union representing its stage hands reached a contract deal early Wednesday morning.

The Guardian
Peter Maxwell Davies at 80: ‘The music knows things that I don’t’

Last year Peter Maxwell Davies was given six weeks to live. Despite ‘absolutely revolting’ chemotherapy and a blood clot that almost killed him, he went on to complete his 10th Symphony, and now he’s about to celebrate his 80th birthday

The Telegraph
The fear of performance that can lead us to ecstasy

Most of us need this form of nervous excitement, this whiff of danger, to be at our best

Daniel Barenboim: My orchestra is a political laboratory

As Daniel Barenboim brings his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to the Proms, he talks about the problems of the Middle East

The Times

If you want a bargain, avoid shops piping classical music

Having classical music on in the background turns people into less savvy shoppers, a study found, while pop makes us sharper at finding a bargain.

Kulturport.de
Festivalleitung zieht positive Bilanz nach außergewöhnlicher Ausgabe von Young Euro Classic 2014
Ein außergewöhnlicher Jahrgang des Festivals Young Euro Classic ist am Sonntag (17. August) in Berlin mit großem Erfolg zu Ende gegangen.

Classicalite.com
Italian Soprano, Puccini Star Licia Albanese Dies Aged 105
Licia Albanese, one of the great Italian sopranos of the 20th century, has died.

Symphony Space Announces New Artistic Director, Fulbright Scholar and Carnegie Hall Exec Andrew Byrne
The latest from Symphony Space comes to us via DotDotDotMusic, who is pleased to announce that Andrew Byrne will be hopping on as the new Artistic Director on September 15.

Twitter:

Classic FM: @ClassicFM Is the symphony orchestra doomed, or alive and well? – there have been robust comments from both sides: http://classfm.co/20oHm1

English National Opera: @E_N_O  How do you reinvent familiar repertoire? Conductor @TimMurray5 explains all: http://ow.ly/Awj7L

Telegraph Classical: @TeleClassical Why horn players are terrified of Richard Strauss http://fw.to/ijtOBxH

Sinfini Music: @SinfiniMusic  Great balance between hi-tech and art:@sfballet principal Maria Kochetkova (@balletrusse) on Ballet meeting Robotics: http://vimeo.com/96030980

Photo : Logan K. Young