Category: music

By this time, it shouldn’t come as news to anyone who follows the classical music business that pianist Chris O’Riley has developed a fairly major side career as a keyboard interpreter of the works of the alt-rock band Radiohead. But to anyone who isn’t already a fan of the band, it can be difficult to put into words exactly what it is that O’Riley does with the preexisting material. “The songs are recognizable as Radiohead’s, but their materials are deconstructed, tweaked, expanded into new time frames, new structures, new expressive possibilities.”

Classical music may not be as elitist as some claim, but there’s no disputing the obvious fact that it attracts almost none of America’s famous racial diversity. In fact, an African-American musician in a symphony orchestra is such an unusual sight as to be jarring, and token attempts to bridge the racial gap have generally been short-lived and unsuccessful. So when an entire ensemble of minority musicians starts to achieve commercial and critical success with a classical product, it’s worth taking note, and Imani Winds, which brings together African-American and Latino composers and performers with an interest in serious new music, is establishing itself as a unique voice in the lily-white classical wilderness.

Pianist Lang Lang is much in demand these days, and like any soloist, his schedule generally demands that he flit from city to city, with barely enough time to accustom himself to the piano placed in front of him before it’s time to move on to the next one. And yet, there Lang was in Detroit this week, taking an entire day off to entertain 80 schoolchildren at a private home. “It’s difficult to convey how rare it is for a pianist of Lang’s celebrity to find his way to an anonymous suburban home to play a free concert disconnected from any corporate sponsorship or commercial agenda or the kinds of formalized outreach and education programs that have become de rigueur in classical music. Maybe Brad Pitt accepting an invitation to your daughter’s birthday party would be a similar jaw dropper.”

Succeeding an orchestral legend is no small undertaking, and the Chicago Symphony has proven itself most determined to find the perfect fit for the principal trumpet chair once occupied by 53-year veteran Bud Herseth. One hopeful was given the job in 2001, but failed to acheive tenure. Now, the CSO is preparing to announce the hiring of the Atlanta Symphony’s young principal, Chris Martin.

What did Mozart look like at the age of 34? Not good. “At the age of 34, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a chubby, greying man with heavy bags under tired eyes, according to a painting which has been authenticated this week by German art experts.”

John Adams’ new opera about the nuclear bomb has a debut date at San Francisco Opera. “I basically don’t have much interest in opera. But I do think it’s an art form that can grapple with the deepest, most unknowable subjects. ‘Doctor Atomic’ is about that moment in history, July 6, 1945, when we went from being a species that inhabited the planet along with other species and with the flip of a switch became capable of destroying it.”

Three women conductors lead orchestras in New York this weekend. “These artists represent a new wave of female conductors in their late 20’s through early 40’s. Others are Joana Carneiro, Sara Jobin, Sarah Ioannides, Sarah Hicks, Keri-Lynn Wilson and Anne Manson. They confront significantly less prejudice than did their counterparts who are only a few years older: Gisèle Ben-Dor, Catherine Comet, Rachel Worby, JoAnn Falletta, Marin Alsop and others, performers who have made women a familiar presence on the orchestra podium.”

After attracting a huge audience for a BBC broadcast, Jerry Springer, The Opera is set to close down in London. But it will be showing up on stages around the UK. “The show will end its West End run on 19 February and head to regional theatres around the country. Its broadcast on BBC Two on Saturday prompted 47,000 complaints to the corporation ahead of broadcast from people who saw it as blasphemous. And a motion has been tabled in the House of Commons condemning the BBC for the “mocking portrayal of Jesus”.

English National Opera’s Sean Doran announces the company’s new season. But there are plenty of questions about how well the company is doing (and why it’s taking so long to find a new music director).

It’s looking like a tough year for UK opera. Scottish Opera just lost its director, English National is having difficulty finding anyone to take its music director job, Welsh National is precarious, and Opera North is out of its home…