Blog

The recording label recently lost a lawsuit that has put the company on the verge of bankruptcy. “Hyperion generates intense affection among classical listeners the world over for its esoteric mix of lesser works by great composers and discoveries by minnows. An American fan offered to buy all of its 1,100 recordings for Hyperion to deposit in countries that lack access to western culture. Perry is negotiating a first delivery to the Baghdad School of Music and Ballet, with help from local fixers and the British Embassy. He will do whatever it takes to put the company on its feet again after a catastrophe that would have driven most family businesses to bankruptcy.”

John Adams previews his new opera about the atomic bomb. “Adams’s third opera, which has been in the making for five years, is his first return to the medium 14 years after achieving worldwide notoriety with two provocative and now seminal works, Nixon in China and The Death of Klinghoffer. According to Ms. Rosenberg, it took a bit of persuading to lure Adams, whom she described as ‘the greatest composer alive today,’ back to the world of opera. But ultimately the saga of the bomb’s conflicted inventor J. Robert Oppenheimer, which Rosenberg proposed to Adams, proved too operatic to turn down. Sellars described recently declassified government documents, incorporated into the libretto, which might fundamentally change everyone’s perception of this world-changing event.”

Fifteen years ago, Sofia Gubaidulina was little-known outside the Soviet Union. But “With the fall of the Soviet Union and a spate of large-scale commissions from orchestras in Europe, North America and Japan, Gubaidulina, now in her 70s, has become one of the most sought-after composers in the world. Success has brought modest independence and a small house outside Hamburg, where she lives quietly and simply, with close friends nearby. All she wants is to write music.”

The waves are still rolling from the Baltimore Symphony’s appointment of Marin Alsop as music director. “Ms. Alsop’s appointment is known to have been deeply controversial. If this is simply sexism, then it isn’t worth worrying about, as she will know how to ride it out. If it’s concern about a change in repertoire–Baltimore’s former conductor Yuri Temirkanov represented a very traditional outlook and Ms. Alsop champions a more diverse approach–then three cheers for the Baltimore board. But if it’s about the psychology of leadership, then this is a story the whole orchestra world will want to follow.”