"I feel uneasy about the hundreds of playlists I’ve taken the time to compile on the company’s platform: 10 or 20 years from now, will I be able to access the music I care about today, and all the places, people, and times it evokes?" The Atlantic
These so-called earworms — gross — are annoying but useful, as new research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology in June helps illuminate the exact function these loops play. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
One young musician: "What you want to do is play with people—you don't want to record iPhone videos and upload them to a cloud! ... A lot of people have had the experience of just feeling really relieved." - NPR
Record Store Day 2 was Saturday, but between production issues and the pandemic (and Brexit, for Britain), vinyl isn't doing as well as it should be. - The Guardian (UK)
Whew, this time has been weird. "It was a fun challenge, and also, it just hit differently because we were in lockdown living in our fantasy world." - Variety
Pauline Viardot played duets with Chopin; thrilled Europe with her Rossini and Mozart; had George Sand as a friend and Turgenev as a lover. Berlioz and Brahms wrote for her voice. And, as we're now rediscovering, she composed impressive songs, operettas, and chamber music. - The New York Times
“This is about whether one of the U.K.’s most successful industries, worth £111 billion a year, is allowed to prosper and contribute hugely to both our cultural and economic wealth, or crash and burn.” - The New York Times
Mark C. Hanson gave no reason for his decision beyond a statement that "with the San Francisco Symphony now back up and performing …, I have decided that this is the right time to pursue my next professional opportunity within a different environment." - San Francisco Chronicle
During the Cold War, jazz was seen as a tool of cultural diplomacy, and the likes of Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, and Dizzy Gillespie were sent on tour to Karachi, Lahore, and other cities. Their concerts sparked the development of a Pakistani style of jazz. - The Guardian
The 45-year-old Slovakian maestro, currently music director of the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples and for seven years chief conductor of Italy's national radio orchestra in Turin, will take up the post upon Andrés Orozco-Estrada departure at the end of next season. - Houston Chronicle
His baton technique was, er, idiosyncratic; he couldn't conduct complex meters; he could be cruel. And after 44 years as music director, seemingly everyone was relieved to see him retire. Yet he and the Philadelphia Orchestra became worldwide legends together. - Classical Voice North America
Our unreliable memories of musical events are only partly the result of faulty powers of recall. Another contributing factor is the aging process. - The Nightingale's Sonata
The company, which was having money troubles even before the pandemic, finally has agreements with the unions for onstage (AGMA) and backstage (IATSE) workers. But negotiations over pay cuts with Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians, which represents the orchestra, drag on. - The New York Times
What if, after 90 years, we took a diagnostic check on this venerable musical document to see whether it still works as intended? - San Francisco Chronicle
