Twelve Of 2016’s Biggest Classical Music Stories

MUSIC Posted: December 12, 2016 6:30 am

WQXR in New York recalls the biggest stories in classical music this year. Stravinsky’s back, baby! Plus strikes, deaths, promotions, conductors stepping down and much more.

Solomon Volkov on Stalin and Shostakovich
Of Joseph Stalin the culture-czar, Solomon Volkov comments: “People underestimate the level of control that Stalin maintained. I once tried to count the ... read more
AJBlog: Unanswered QuestionPublished 2019-10-20
This Week’s Top Audience Stories: Perils Of Letting Algorithms Dictate Taste
This Week’s Insights: Pinterest Is Changing Its Algorithm… Why We need curators, not algorithms… Instagram gets rid of “likes”… Background dancers are becoming stars (thanks ... read more
AJBlog: AJ Arts AudiencePublished 2019-10-20
Confronting the MoMA Monster: How Its Rehang Lynches the Collection
How do I not love the Museum of Modern Art’s reinstallation of its permanent collection in it expanded, renovated galleries? Let me count the ways. ... read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrlPublished 2019-10-18
Propwatch: the pig’s head in Mephisto [A Rhapsody]
When historians of the future chronicle the last days of Britain, a pig’s head may enjoy its own footnote. Assuming that there are still historians, ... read more
AJBlog: Performance MonkeyPublished 2019-10-18
Andrew O’Hagan on Nelson Algren
In a rave review of what he calls a “vastly insightful” biography of Nelson Algren, Andrew O’Hagan sums up his admiration for Algren this way: ... read more
AJBlog: Straight|UpPublished 2019-10-18
Recent Listening: Singers
Who is your favorite singer from the Canadian province of Newfoundland? Don’t have one? If you listen to Heather Bambrick, that could change. Ms. ... read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2019-10-18
The twenty-five record albums that changed my life (4)
Various forms of the records-that-changed-my-life meme have been making the rounds lately, so I came up with my own version, which I call “The Twenty-Five ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2019-10-18
Replay: José Iturbi plays Liszt
José Iturbi plays Liszt’s Eleventh Hungarian Rhapsody in a 1940 film: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2019-10-18
Almanac: Arturo Toscanini on the tragedy of the great performer
“No true musician can be satisfied with his performance, even through an audience is driven to a frenzy.” Arturo Toscanini (quoted by Halina Rodzinski in Our ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2019-10-18
Expensive laughter
In today’s Wall Street Journal I review the Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams’ The Rose Tattoo. Here’s an excerpt. * * * Were a visitor from ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2019-10-17
The twenty-five record albums that changed my life (3)
Various forms of the records-that-changed-my-life meme have been making the rounds lately, so I came up with my own version, which I call “The Twenty-Five ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2019-10-17
So you want to see a show?
Here’s my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2019-10-17
Almanac: Jon Hassler on the taste for poetry
“Sexton I still read, but Plath I gave up on. For some years I was very enthusiastic about her, but I don’t feel the attraction ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2019-10-17
The twenty-five record albums that changed my life (2)
Various forms of the records-that-changed-my-life meme have been making the rounds lately, so I came up with my own version, which I call “The Twenty-Five ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2019-10-16
Snapshot: Yeats reads “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”
W.B. Yeats reads “The Lake Isle of Innisfree.” This reading was originally recorded by the BBC on October 28, 1936: (This is the latest ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2019-10-16
Almanac: Yeats on old age
There’s not a woman turns her face Upon a broken tree, And yet the beauties that I loved Are in my memory; I spit into ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2019-10-16
Mission Creep??!!
A colleague recently shared that when they advocate for community engagement in their organization they get pushback about “mission creep.” Mission creep??!! If connecting ... read more
AJBlog: Engaging MattersPublished 2019-10-15
Is Porgy a “Stereotype”? — Take Three
Kevin Deas Kevin Deas, the exceptional bass-baritone who is the anonymous “Porgy” of my previous blog, has written to me at greater length about singing ... read more
AJBlog: Unanswered QuestionPublished 2019-10-13