Category: music

“Even the largest ensembles are looking to innovate, whether it’s preconcert happy hours, performances in unorthodox spots like grungy warehouses or collaborations with rap, jazz and blues singers.”

The Jerusalem-born, Berlin-trained maestro, widely experienced in opera as well as symphonic repertoire, says of the Perth-based band, “They are a wonderful orchestra, they play anything you put on their stands in a very professional way, and it’s an orchestra I can really shape and give a playing style and a profile.”

“The appointment of a new concertmaster is always a landmark in the life of an orchestra, but for the DSO the stakes are even higher. A standout hire would signal an artistic and psychological turning point in the drive to rebuild the ranks after last season’s tumultuous strike.”

“Though [the] post has been scrubbed from the WQXR site, a cached version can be viewed here as a PDF. La Cieca invites the cher public to decide for themselves whether the piece was inflammatory enough to provoke an act of what can only be called censorship.”

“If you’ve attended the Ring this season at the Met, or have seen one of the HD broadcasts, give us your review below. Once the Ring concludes, we’ll post a final collective article with your opinions.”

The Cairo-based Al Nour Wal Amal Blind Girls Chamber Orchestra … is composed of sightless women from all walks of life who study the notes in Braille and learn the musical pieces by heart. … The women, who play both Western and Oriental classical music, are also singers and the orchestra doubles as a choir.”

“Granted, music editing software and even some apps are better than they used to be. But while musicians and industry buffs occupy themselves with apps such as Sound Hound, Turntable, or even the I Am T-Pain app (which makes your voice sound like that of rapper T-Pain), or with mastering Pro Tools, do classical composers get anything out of the new iPad?”

“Conductor Kurt Masur fractured his shoulder blade when he lost his balance and fell off the stage at a concert in Paris on April 26, his assistant said on Monday. He remains in Paris’s Pompidou hospital and has canceled his scheduled concerts through June.”

“The orchestra has a new labor agreement reducing minimum musician salaries by about 15% and cutting the size of the ensemble by about 10 musicians to 95. It also is close to finalizing a new lease agreement with Kimmel Center Inc., where since 2001 its home has been the 2,500-seat Verizon Hall, to reduce operating costs. Performances have continued during the [bankruptcy] proceedings, and orchestra officials say attendance is up.”

Stephen Costello: “Because [wife Ailyn Pérez] sees me wake up in the morning – bad breath, bad hair and all – we have a comfort level with each other that we don’t have with other people.” On the other hand … Anna Netrebko: “No, on the stage we are colleagues, nothing else. We have nothing to do with the couple thing.”