MUSIC

"I had reached a point where I didn't have the physical time to digest everything that was going on in my professional and personal life. I wasn't happy, and I think that was the main reason I made the decision I did." - Le Monde (in English)

Max Brod, the friend who disregarded Kafka's dying request to burn all of his writings, heavily bowdlerized the author's personal journals before he published them. A new, complete edition "reveals Kafka warts and all – as a sexual, troubled, sometimes self-loathing, literary experimenter and a man knowingly compromised." - The Guardian

Opera, too, is no stranger to intersections of camp and politics, and some of Eurovision’s campest entries have been sung by opera singers. - Van

The superstar conductor, currently of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and soon to be of the New York one, spent spring break week with a specially assembled orchestra of 95 students from public schools across New York City, and reporter Javier Hernández was there. - The New York Times

"The orchestra’s associate principal trumpet, Matthew Muckey, and the principal oboist, Liang Wang, are each suing the Philharmonic and the musicians’ union Local 802 after being ousted for the second time in four years." - New York Post

Kim Noltemy’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for the L.A. Phil, which must find someone to take the reins as the organization’s music and artistic director when Gustavo Dudamel leaves for the New York Philharmonic in 2026. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)

There has long been a disconnect between how music critics and Swifties consume Taylor Swift’s work, but never before has that split been so pronounced. - The New Yorker

More and more, science is allowing us to understand our attraction to music and what it does for us — and consequently, what makes us human. - San Francisco Classical Voice

"Puccini is typically seen as representing the end of a tradition, but might he actually have sown the seeds of a variety of new traditions? We can hear nods to his style in works by Janáček, Korngold, Orff and Berio." - Bachtrack

"We had the framework of the Nativity story, so we didn’t have to worry a great deal about devising a new narrative structure. … Over a period of several months, we met several times with piles and piles of books and sketched out what I call a flowchart." - The Paris Review

After 34 renowned seasons and acclaim around the world, the SLSQ will disband as an ensemble this year, but its members will remain active at Stanford University, where the Quartet has been in residence since 1998. - San Francisco Classical Voice

“A headline tour usually comes out with a deficit. The only thing that we ever make any kind of profit on is festivals, because the fees can be higher, but any money left over just goes towards the next outgoings.” - The Guardian

“Music provides an opportunity for people to process trauma in a different mode of expression.” - The New York Times

Some instruments needed to be treated rather like field dressings for soldiers. - The Strad

Hundreds of artists signed a letter objecting to the out of control secondary market for tickets, which is bad for fans. On the other hand, there’s actually good news: "Live music sales are booming.” - CBC