In a genre that has always valued volume as much as it loves liberation, the elders still compete over the story’s beats, much as they once battled over musical ones. It is a very hip-hop thing: a history written by the loudest. And loudness is one Herc contribution that no one disputes. - The Wall Street Journal
Several locks confirmed as far more likely to be from the composer's head demonstrate his death was probably the result of a hepatitis B infection, exacerbated by his drinking and numerous risk factors for liver disease. - Science Alert
“Most of us enjoy that; that’s why we come back. We want to be in that very demanding, high-achieving environment, where most of us, 90 percent of the time, feel like we’re impostors. You’re surrounded by brilliant players, and then you talk to the other players, and they feel exactly the same.” - The New York Times
A 2018 Government Accountability Office study shared by the White House earlier this year found service fees to hover around 27 percent of the face value of a ticket, on average. But the soaring price of concert tickets isn’t just going away with a corporate vow of transparency and some senators sniffing around. - Pitchfork
"Specific contract details were not made available. But the announcement stated, 'The new contract restores traditional annual wage growth going forward and includes a 'catch-up' increase for the musicians following a three-year pandemic pause in their wages under the existing contract approved in 2020." - The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, MA)
"What I am constantly trying to be aware of is that we are serving a community, and that community includes donors, that community includes civic leaders. Being able to just have conversations, understand what they have seen in the past, what they want to see in the future." - Gothamist
In Herat, agents of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (yes, that's what it's called) had a public burning of instruments and speakers seized by authorities, saying that music causes "vanity among the youth and corruption in the society in Afghanistan." - Vice
Too many books about Schoenberg are overly technical for the general reader, or else they assume a kind of hagiographic defensive crouch. Sachs can be refreshingly candid, sharing his feelings at times as if he were whispering confidentially in your ear during a concert intermission. - The New York Times
When the programme started in 1943, under its original title of This Week’s Composer, the style was simple. Just a handful of records, only 30 minutes’ worth, introduced economically by whichever Radio 3 announcer happened to be on duty. - The Guardian
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
