At the Met, “the typically villainous Alberich — the dwarfish Nibelung of the title — is portrayed with nobility and nuance by Tomasz Konieczny, in a stunning company debut.” – The New York Times
Category: music
The Woman Who Single-Handedly Created An Indian Style Of Opera Constructed On Indian Classical Music
Shanno Khurana first became a star performing in Punjabi folk operas in 1950s Delhi, but she was a fully classically trained singer who wanted to do serious classical work. So she devised and composed fully through-sung music-dramas based strictly on classical ragas and following their rules, and she toured her operas all over India right through the 1970s. (She’s still alive today, and still occasionally concertizing at age 91.) – Scroll (India)
Baritone Lucia Lucas Becomes First Transgender Woman To Sing Lead Opera Role In U.S.
Lucas, who is based in Germany and has her career largely in Europe, began rehearsals this week for the title role in Don Giovanni at Tulsa Opera. And this is not her first time playing Mozart’s antihero. – Tulsa World
Frederic Rzewski: We Should Abolish All The Conservatories (And Other Provocative Opinions)
“I could never find my own style, no. I have never done anything original. Everything I’ve done I’ve stolen from other people. I mean, Mozart also stole right and left, and so did Bach. All good composers were thieves. It’s totally normal. You pick up something, do it your own way and it no longer belongs to anybody. This idea of genius is absolutely irrelevant to art. Genios in the original latin means daemon. It is something that everybody has! So it is the opposite of our concept of it. It is a meaningless word today.” – Van
The Number Of Music Teachers In Scottish Schools Has Fallen 40 Percent In Seven Years. Here’s Why
The reason? Funding, of course. And more and more schools are charging for lessons, and now, even for instruments. This has decimated the number of students who sign up. It’s a vicious circle. – The Scotsman
“Chill” Music? Seriously? This Is Where Muzak Went To Die
This has become a popular music genre. But “the music wasn’t for anything. It merely existed to facilitate and sustain a mood, which in turn might enable a task: studying, folding laundry, making spreadsheets, idly browsing the Internet. Spotify presently classifies chill as a genre, and there are an incredible number of playlists devoted to insuring a chill experience.” – The New Yorker
Music Is Ephemeral: That Makes It Difficult To Write About. Also To Understand How A Conductor Does What S/he Does
Conductor Mark Wigglesworth wrote a book to try to explain the latter. Robert Philip wrote another that tries to make music comprehensible in words. These aren’t meager tasks. – Times Literary Supplement
After 40 Eventful Years, Gay Men’s Chorus Of Los Angeles Tries To Fight Off Bankruptcy
“Fiscal mismanagement, as well as recent sexual misconduct allegations leveled at former board chairman and former West Hollywood Mayor John Duran (accusations that Duran denies), have left the chorus on life support … The chorus has reduced its paid staff, dramatically cut production costs and promised to settle debts to vendors as quickly as possible, but the misconduct allegations have presented other challenges.” – Los Angeles Times
New Violin Design (Only Somewhat Unorthodox) Gets First Major Demo
The “Santa Cecilia” violin — so named because it was developed in the instrument-making program at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome — makes its debut on Thursday at a conference in Lisbon. Its main differences from a standard violin are an asymmetrical shape at the top of the body (to provide more room for fingering) and additional harmonic holes and soundpost (better acoustic projection). – The Strad
Artists Slam Spotify In Open Letter After Company Appeals Copyright Decision That Would Make Them Pay Songwriters More
“We’re hurt and disappointed,” begins the letter, which is addressed to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. Their reason for calling out Spotify alone, while Google, Amazon, and Pandora were also listed on the appeal, is because the artists say it was “the only provider that made us feel we were working to build a modern music industry together.” – New York Magazine