The Baltic nation’s submission this year is “Espresso Macchiato,” in which Estonian singer-rapper Tommy Cash (who bills himself as the “Kanye East” of Europe) piles the stereotypes high. Many Italians are angry at the mockery, but Estonia’s ambassador to Italy says he hears the song played there often enough. - BBC
“They may be less all-encompassing than the famous symphonies, but Mahler’s songs are miniature masterpieces, ranking alongside the greatest by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Wolf. They are marvels: songs as expressive and finely crafted as the famous symphonies are visceral and overwhelming.” - The Guardian
The sheer size of Classical California’s listenership is remarkable in the face of algorithmic streams and the wide array of music available only a few clicks away. - San Francisco Classical Voice
“At times, it made him ‘very determined to therefore be on that stage’; at other times it made him feel that he wasn’t sure he could. ‘But my family, and particularly my parents, were very helpful, either talking to us very honestly or shielding us, depending on what was appropriate’.” - The Guardian
“Having a choice didn’t come into it as there was none and never had been. I couldn’t pretend to be anyone I wasn’t but somehow, I had to place Black and classical next to each other in a way that made perfect, undeniable and glorious sense.” - The Guardian
The most enthusiasm was reserved for Delta David Gier, who was closing out the South Dakota Symphony’s season with one of the ensemble’s great achievements, for the community and American opera alike. - The New York Times
Patricia Racette, who made her debut at the Met in 1995, is known for her portrayals of Puccini heroines. She has also ventured into other genres, including cabaret, which she said she hoped to bring to St. Louis. She said opera companies should not fear crossover repertoire. - The New York Times
Racette has a long history with the company: she first performed there in 1993 and has returned numerous times since; she made her debut as a stage director there in 2018 with La Traviata, and has directed the company’s young artist programs since 2019. - St. Louis Public Radio
At Berlin's Komische Oper, stage director Kirill Serebrennikov has replaced the opera’s moralizing final sextet with an epilogue: a solo dancer represents the dead lothario's soul as it struggles against, and then accepts, its fate — this as the soloists and chorus perform last rites using Mozart's final work. - The New York Times
It is, says the Pulitzer committee, “a work about ecosystems and biodiversity, that challenges the notion of the compositional voice by interweaving the profound musicianship and improvisational skills of a soloist as a creative tool.” - Avant Music News
When you don’t get what you want, you tend to look for someone to blame. That someone is usually Ticketmaster. The company, which merged with Live Nation in 2010 to form Live Nation Entertainment, sells about 70% of all concert tickets worldwide, and an even greater proportion of the arena and stadium market. - The Guardian
Three months on, the city’s own music community is still coming to terms with a fresh, complex lived reality. Not just the notable performing artists whose homes were destroyed – such as hip-hop producer Madlib or the rock-pop band Dawes – but the thousands of music workers who call LA home. - The Guardian
Just days after musicians leafleted the audience at Michael Tilson Thomas’s last-ever concerts, management released an open letter pointing out that the orchestra is facing down years of large deficits and charging that musicians’ attitude during negotiations has been “counterproductive and even immature at times.” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
