One librettist says, ""Opera just lends itself so well to Black stories because of its epicness, ... because of its fantastical ability to show the wonder and the power of such big feelings." - CBC
The story of the band Blood, Sweat & Tears' 1970 tour of Eastern bloc countries is bizarre, and sobering, a new documentary shows. "This isn’t a music doc, it’s a political thriller. ... It’s about a group of guys who unknowingly walked into this rat’s nest." - The New York Times
Bring on the metadata! "There feels like a genuine affection for the music in Apple Music Classical. ... But there are also just a lot of ways to find the music." - The Verge
In a recent survey, 71% of 2,000 participants reported that music was the strongest influence on their mood and almost 75% regularly listened to music to cheer themselves up. - The Conversation
"When the curtain comes down on the Music Venue Trust’s (MVT) #OwnOurVenues fundraising drive, it is expected to have raised close to £2.2m, a hemi-demi-semiquaver away from the £2.5m that it set out to achieve." - The Guardian (UK)
The Apollo Theater was hosting four heavy metal bands - meaning the audience and bands may not have heard the sirens - before the roof collapsed in on the venue on Friday night. - Variety
Apple has turned classical music’s diversity of metadata into the new app’s raison d’être. And, with so many of what Apple calls “data points”—over 50 million bits of information drawn from their database of recordings—it suddenly makes complete sense. - Van
"In my life, thanks to Philadelphia and Chicago, I’ve been to Wichita, Des Moines, Ames, Toledo… For me, to make music, it’s not that I conduct in Salzburg and I try my best. Because every time you try your best, it’s a disaster. Everything becomes mannered, exaggerated, chettera, chettera." - Van
The Symphony musicians formed the SA Phil almost immediately after their orchestra died, and their entire first season has been a rallying cry for the future of symphonic music in the state’s second-largest city. - Texas Monthly
The problem was the way that classical music is categorized. The structure of classical music is completely different from pop music’s, which makes it extremely difficult for it to function in the streaming era. - The Wall Street Journal
“The J6 is beating Taylor Swift,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday, two days after the rally. “It’s Donald Trump and the J6 prisoners, and on iTunes, and on Amazon, and on Billboard, which is the big deal,” he said, adding, “now I feel like Elvis.” - The Daily Beast
Most of his work is inspired by the natural environment, but in Vespers of the Blessed Earth, receiving its world premiere this week by the Philadelphia Orchestra and The Crossing, He's more direct than he's ever been about the damage caused by human activity. - The New York Times
In August 2021, Apple purchased the classical-only streaming app Primephonic and immediately shuttered it, announcing that it would be reconfigured as an Apple product; 17 months later, that product has arrived. Here's a look at what's included in the new version — and what's missing. - Musical America
"Most chorus members … would be forced to leave their jobs if the company relocates outside London, because of ties that include children at school, caring responsibilities, and partners with jobs in the capital. More than two-thirds would leave the profession altogether." - The Guardian
Elephants tend to keep a steadier beat than humans do, a study by the neuroscientist Aniruddh Patel later found, and Luk Kop’s sense of timing was uncanny. - The New Yorker
