STAFF FAVORITESStravinsky Gets His 'Rite: Remixed'July 24, 2008 In an interview with host David Garland, Greg Saunier of the forward-thinking indie-rock band Deerhoof admits that he's been borrowing ideas from Igor Stravinsky. So it's hard to imagine a better pairing than this Wordless Music Series concert combining Deerhoof with a wild re-imagining of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring by the Metropolis Ensemble. The unlikely playbill was recorded live by WNYC at the Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn, N.Y., as part of Celebrate Brooklyn.
@Future of Journalism: New Yorker music critic and blogger Alex Ross July 22, 2008 The New Yorker's classical music critic, Alex Ross, has built a small but intense following of readers on his extra curricular blog therestisnoise.com, not least from our own editor. He was inspired by (and slightly envious of) other music writers, like New Yorker pop critic Sasha Frere-Jones.
Bard SummerScape: A Chat with 'King Roger' Director Lech Majewski July 21, 2008
A Sane Sister: Gluck's 'Iphigenie En Tauride' July 18, 2008 There are plenty of dysfunctional families in opera. But few have ever had more serious family "issues" than the one that provides the backdrop for Christoph Willibald Gluck's Iphigenie en Tauride. It's the same psychotic clan that Euripides made famous in his play and that Richard Strauss showcased in his psycho-drama Elektra.
Author's awful orchestra is hitting all the wrong notes July 16, 2008 ALEXANDER McCall Smith sat in the orchestra playing his bassoon with gusto, but noticed the sound coming from another musician didn't seem quite right. It wasn't sharp or flat or out of time. He looked over to see that his fellow musician was actually playing a completely different tune.
Kenya: Magazine Strikes a Chord With Classical Music Lovers July 15, 2008 It is a magazine for classical music lovers with a difference in taste and content. Classic, which was launched last month, has got many wondering if it is a Kenyan publication. Yes it is.
Death in Venice: Verdi's 'I Due Foscari' July 13, 2008 
Like virtually every opera, Giuseppe Verdi's I Due Foscari is a vehicle for opera's true stars — its singers. But this opera also showcases a star of a different kind: the legendary city of Venice.
The arts - and audiences - move (really) July 12, 2008 The classical arts - which have safely huddled in posh theaters in all their stately, stationary dignity - are suddenly on the move, literally, in ways previously unimaginable.
New York Philharmonic: New York’s Hometown Orchestra July 10, 2008 The New York Philharmonic is as deeply embedded in the life of New York as any cultural institution in the city. It was founded in 1842 by a group of local musicians, and nobody has been around longer: not the Bronx Zoo (1899), not The Metropolitan Opera (1883), not even Central Park (1859). The Orchestra's achievements in musical history are the stuff of legend, from the impressive list of world premieres and the Hall of Fame roll-call of music directors, to the national and international tours that culminated most recently in its groundbreaking visit to North Korea. Yet the breadth and depth of what the Philharmonic gives to its home town has not been as much in the spotlight.
The Great American Opera: 'Porgy and Bess' July 09, 2008 
"Is it an opera, or a musical?" For some 50 years after its premiere, that's the question people asked about George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.
Pianist Freddy Kempf's Oceanic Music July 08, 2008 Pianist Freddy Kempf's meteoritic career owes itself, ironically, to not winning the top prize at the 1998 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition. The Russian public heavily protested when Russian virtuoso Denis Matsuev won the title rather than the young Briton, ``the hero of the competition.''
20 (PLUS) QUESTIONS WITH: Pianist David Greilsammer July 06, 2008
Wu Han Plays Tchaikovsky, Month by Month July 03, 2008 You've got to love Wu Han. I've been lucky to work with her on several projects, so I've seen her in many roles: solo pianist, chamber musician, teacher, lecturer, administrator, producer, mother. In every situation, in every interaction — whether she's chairing a meeting of hardnosed New York power brokers or entertaining a room full of her daughter's 12-year-old friends — Wu Han possesses a disarming combination of discipline and tenderness, always leavened by her matchless sense of style.
Researchers make noises of pre-Columbian society July 02, 2008 Scientists were fascinated by the ghostly find: a human skeleton buried in an Aztec temple with a clay, skull-shaped whistle in each bony hand. But no one blew into the noisemakers for nearly 15 years. When someone finally did, the shrill, windy screech made the spine tingle.
Love and Ruin: Saint-Saens' 'Samson and Dalila' June 26, 2008 Camille Saint-Saens had one of the most extraordinary careers in the history of music, and witnessed some truly amazing advances, both musical and technological.
Robert Schumann: Music amid the Madness June 26, 2008 Hear Marin Alsop discuss Schumann with NPR's Scott Simon.
Keyboard moment in China's cultural evolution June 25, 2008 The Pearl River Piano Company says it's now the world's largest: 3000 staff work on eight production lines, and it feels more like a car factory than a place making things as delicate and tactile as pianos.
New York Philharmonic: A Truly Grand Finale June 24, 2008 The New York Philharmonic’s 2008-09 season, titled Lorin Maazel — A Grand Finale, is a yearlong celebration of the Music Director’s tenure at the Orchestra.
Love and Anchovies: Catan's 'Salsipuedes' June 15, 2008 
Somehow, Hitler and the Third Reich don't seem like natural material for musical comedy. But Mel Brooks managed to pull it off.
Now, one might think that would be just about all there is when it comes to musical comedy evoking the Nazis. Wrong.
Free instruments for poor children June 14, 2008 Children living on England's poorest estates will be provided with musical instruments and taught for free how to perform works by composers such as Bach and Beethoven. They will then be encouraged to join full-scale orchestras as part of a government scheme, spearheaded by internationally renowned cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, that aims to tackle disaffection and boost aspiration.
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