ACE’s initial, uncosted announcement that ENO should abandon its acoustically rich, 2,359-seat home with the widest stage in London housing internationally renowned opera wasn’t just a smokescreen. It was a farce, albeit one with zero laughs. - The Stage
Isaac Thompson will be leaving his position as the NY Phil's managing director (overseeing operations, artistic matters, business, and DEI work) to begin his new job in Portland in October. - The Oregonian
In Bayreuth’s modern era, perpetual workshopping prevails. New productions usually play for five summers before cycling out, and the expectation is that directors will keep futzing through that time. Sets change; sequences are adjusted and eliminated; details are added and subtracted. - The New York Times
The classical label's founding father and son, Ted and Simon Perry, insisted for years that they'd allow their recordings to be accessed only by purchase of a physical disc or a download. With the purchase of Hyperion by Universal Music this past March, the change was inevitable. - Classical Music (UK)
Hillary Simms, the first woman in the American Brass Quintet, would like to solve that by inspiring more girls and women - which involves ending the "token woman in brass" idea. "We are pitting ourselves against each other, which is the absolute opposite of what we need." - The New York Times
London achieved its musical status in the 1930s, during the Great Depression, adding two new symphony orchestras and drawing a surprised endorsement from Arturo Toscanini that they ranked among the best. Today, star maestros shun London and one of its symphony orchestras came within a matter of days of being abolished. - The Critic
"I can’t put myself in the unisex Crocs of a young person exploring classical music for the first time, but Apple Classical strikes me as an oddly clumsy point of entry." - The New Yorker
Felix Klieser, who was born without arms, at the Proms: "When I see myself it looks very interesting and very spectacular. But when I play by myself it's a very comfortable position. ... It's something I can do for hours." - BBC
It should, right? Well, that depends. "The wider concern is that any price rise will benefit record labels and services, with platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music typically taking 30% of all subscription income, much more than the artists." - The Guardian (UK)
Why? Well ... "Your videos are terribly lit. The room you are in is very, very dark. ... That’s before we even get into the audio quality. Even concerts recorded by professionals with high-quality equipment often don’t sound all that great." - The Verge
Well, OK, "seismic activity," anyway. Turns out "it’s actually 'quite common' for humans partying to create such vibrations, sending 'a lot of energy into the ground.' That energy travels as sound waves through the Earth." - Washington Post
From the start, the word was often deployed as a slur, a way of mocking bands for dealing in “soft” subjects, like heartbreak. To this day, multiple waves and revivals later, the term is still shorthand for immature, melodramatic angst. - The New Yorker
"Treemonisha experiments seem to be everywhere these days: Three very different versions have recently been presented, in the United States, Canada and France. Their timing is a coincidence, and all were envisioned before the widespread calls for diversifying the canon over the past few years." - The New York Times
All the fears and complaints that Hollywood actors and writers have are a reality for musicians and songwriters, too. Yet the rockers, pop singers and hip-hop artists are not on strike to protest their paltry royalties or AI inroads. One big reason? They’re not unionized. - Los Angeles Times
New music for old instruments is, of course, nothing new. Nor is the engagement by composers with varying degrees of historically informed performance. But in scouring the internet, there appear to be new directions revealing unknown aspects of old instruments. - Early Music America
