RECENT NEWSCamilla Williams, black opera pioneer, dies at 92January 31, 2012 Camilla Williams, believed to be the first African-American woman to appear with a major U.S. opera company, has died. She was 92.
Audiences flock to 'difficult' contemporary classical music January 31, 2012 When Swiss conductor Baldur Brönnimann was a student 25 years ago, "if you had more than 30 people at a concert it was a failure because it was populist crap". Today, there are growing signs that contemporary classical music is shrugging off its elitist reputation, with audiences flocking to work previously regarded as austere and impenetrable.
Pint, pork scratchings and Purcell in a classical music pub crawl January 24, 2012 Classical music is going on a pub crawl, bringing bawdy drinking songs by Henry Purcell - as well as more refined pieces by the Baroque composer - to new audiences.
St. Louis Symphony announces first European tour in 14 years January 24, 2012 The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra announced Monday it will go on its first European tour in 14 years, and the first under the leadership of music director David Robertson.
Anthony Hopkins: Hannibal hits the high notes with a classic performance January 17, 2012 The Oscar-winning actor Anthony Hopkins has composed a collection of classical works. Many of the pieces are inspired by memories of his childhood in south Wales, he tells Jessica Duchen.
Ringtone halts NY Philharmonic performance January 12, 2012 It's the dreaded sound at any live performance—a ringing cellphone. That's what happened Tuesday night at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall during the final movement of Gustav Mahler's Ninth Symphony by the New York Philharmonic. Maestro Alan Gilbert stopped the orchestra until the phone was silenced.
Thomas Quasthoff Leaves The Stage January 12, 2012 Devastating news came yesterday: One of the world's great geniuses of song, bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff, announced that he was retiring from concert life at age 52 due to persistent health concerns. He had announced last September that he was cancelling his singing engagements through the end of 2011; now that decision has been made permanent. With an incredibly empathic feel for text and a tone my colleague Tom Huizenga rightly called "burgundy-colored," Quasthoff's presence onstage will be very sorely missed.
Israel Baker, noted violinist, dies January 10, 2012 As concertmaster for the orchestra that recorded the soundtrack for the movie “Psycho,” classical violinist Israel Baker helped create a piece of pop culture that is regarded as one of Hollywood’s most terrifying. He led the piercing attack of the violins that accompanies the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film’s chilling shower scene.
Alexis Weissenberg, Pianist of Fire and Ice, Dies at 82 January 10, 2012 Alexis Weissenberg, a charismatic Bulgarian-born pianist known for his thundering aggressiveness and rational detachment at the keyboard, and for his unapologetic defense of those traits in interviews, died on Sunday in Lugano, Switzerland. He was 82.
In Memoriam: Musicians We Lost In 2011 December 22, 2011 NPR Music remembers the singers, instrumentalists, songwriters and producers who died in 2011. Explore the musical legacies they leave behind.
We Know Siri Can Do A Lot Of Neat Things, But Never Saw This Coming December 20, 2011 Of all the things Siri does, this is by far one of the coolest things we’ve seen yet. In the video below, you will watch as Siri works wirelessly with a Yamaha Disklavier piano, and an Apple AirPort Express, to play whatever song you tell her to — as long as it’s in your music library.
A Frankenstein Monster That Is Here to Stay December 15, 2011 HK Gruber joins Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic Dec. 16-17, this time with his work Frankenstein!! Frank J. Oteri spoke with the composer/chansonnier about the genesis of this creature.
Elliott Carter, Still Composing At 103 December 13, 2011 Elliott Carter turns 103 today. Amazingly, he's still composing, still doing fine. At the end of the birthday concert given in his honor last Thursday, the composer trundled up to the stage of Manhattan's 92nd Street Y to receive a resounding rendition of "Happy Birthday," which, in Carter-like fashion, devolved into clusters of wild sounds.
Washington Park fountain will have interactive music feature December 08, 2011 Soon, Cincinnati will be alive with music not only indoors at Music Hall, but outdoors in Washington Park, right across the street.
Italian Premier Attends La Scala Season Opener December 08, 2011 Italian Premier Mario Monti took a short culture break from promoting his package of austerity and growth measures to attend La Scala's gala season premiere of "Don Giovanni" on Wednesday — a presence that La Scala's general manger hopes bodes well for the future of culture in the country that invented opera.
Some Enchanted Evening December 06, 2011 On New Year’s Eve, the Met will usher in 2012 with The Enchanted Island, a world premiere Baroque extravaganza. The creative team and members of the cast explained what it took to bring this captivating new work to the stage.
Welcome To The Classical Grammy Cutbacks December 01, 2011 As we wrote back in April, Grammy categories were whittled down substantially for 2012, and with the announcement last night of this year's nominees, we can see the results of those changes. Among the deletions were Best Classical Crossover Album, merged vocal and chamber/small group music categories and – most importantly – the dissolution of the Best Classical Album category.
Strikes and call for donor boycott are threatened at troubled New York City Opera December 01, 2011 New York City Opera has declared an impasse in contract negotiations with unions for its musicians and singers and is threatening to present its abbreviated season without them.
Esa-Pekka Salonen wins the 2012 Grawemeyer Award November 29, 2011 Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Violin Concerto has won the 2012 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. The award is generally considered the most prestigious international honor for a new score; past winners have been several such masters of modern music as Witold Lutoslawski, György Ligeti and Pierre Boulez.
The ballad of Rasha and Devorah November 22, 2011 Ms Hamad, a 36-year-old Palestinian from the northern West Bank, is blind, mentally disabled and severely autistic. That she is able to play at all is thanks to an unlikely pairing with Devorah Schramm, an Orthodox Jew, which began when Ms Hamad was 11.
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