Category: music

– is deeply in debt. So why has it just decided to stage Wagner’s “Ring,” the most lavish project it could think of? The government is investigating. – BBC

– drags on. Negotiations “aren’t going very well.” – CBC

This critic nominates the century’s best in chronological order (with explanations). – Orange County Register

Last month Kent Nagano turned down a date leading the Berlin Philharmonic so he could conduct his Berkeley Symphony. He’s much in demand these days – how long can he (will he) stay home? –
San Francisco Chronicle

The future of opera on the internet (but for now it’s frustrating). – Dallas Morning News

Michael Rouse’s piece fuses opera, rock and television, making for some “spectacular fluidity” – Los Angeles Times 

Reports that Yehudi Menuhin’s Guarneri sold at a Zurich auction this week for $3 million. – CBC

After a limp Halloween performance, critic wonders if Diamanda Galas – “among the most searingly direct and original artists of our day” – has lost it. – San Francisco Chronicle

Opera houses were the last bastion of unamplified sound. No longer. In recent years more theaters have turned to amplification – subtly yes, but some critics hear a difference. – New York Times

Who’s to blame for the mess at the Royal Opera House? Memoirs from two former directors point the fingers of blame. – London Telegraph