Message received: Houston Grand Opera mourns the passing of our longtime principal percussionist and orchestra personnel manager, Richard Brown. ️ “He was one of the most important engines of the artistic growth of the Houston […]
This was both an impressive concert in its own right and a more comfortable fit for the RPO’s ongoing ‘Lights in the Dark’ series than some of its scheduled instalments. All three featured composers, obliged […]
The Polish pianist Rafal Blechacz went into the 2005 Chopin Competition with a strategy to isolate himself from all other performers and from the outside world. He read no newspapers, heard no radio. ‘I found […]
There’s room at the top of Canadian Opera Company. Look at the admin board and you’ll find that COC Deputy General Director Christie Darville has been erased. No word from anyone. Darville has been with […]
On Friday 21 March, Opera Rara released the first ever studio recording of the original 1857 version of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra (ORC65). Follow the link for a cornucopia of Verdian deliciousness: aria after aria, including this, Amelia’s Cavatina sung […]
Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, born February 27, 1932, died 14 years ago this week on 23rd March, aged 79. She was much more than “the girl with the violet eyes”. Elizabeth Taylor was […]
These “Complete String Quartets” by American composer John Zorn aren’t really string quartets – at least not in the traditional sense. These are, more accurately, a collection of 8 named pieces for string quartet. (There is […]
The Venetian musicologist Michele Girardi has died in his home town after a long illness. An international authority on the operas of Puccini, he recently stepped down as chair in the History of Music at […]
The Málaga Film Festival has premiered a documentary on Beethoven’s Fidelio, directed by the Spanish actor María Valverde, who is married to the conductor Gustavo Dudamel. The project, originally presented in Barcelona last year, features […]
The Moldovan soprano Valentina Nafornița, who was twice honoured with opening the Vienna Opera Ball, has announced a happy event. Sometimes miracles come in pairs! Life has given us another reason to be grateful, and […]
