Who’s conducting the Olympics?
The Romanian Cristian Măcelaru will conduct the Orchestre National de France at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games on Friday. ‘I never believed in my life that I would have this opportunity. It’s […]
classical music
Summer’s a time for wearing silly hats
The University of Exeter has awarded a degree of Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) to Dougie Scarfe (centre), chief executive of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. The award is for his ‘commitment to breaking down barriers […]
Just in: Mother of 3 wins conducting competition
The Spanish conductor Noemí Pasquina has been pronounced winner of the Bucharest International Conducting Competition, directed by John Axelrod. Pasquina, a grduate of the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, is married with three small children. […]
Katharina Wagner to direct in Beijing
Journalist Sebastian Hammelehle gets some strong news breaks out of an interview with the Bayreuth chief in Der Spiegel. Katharina Wagner says Christian Thielemann will return in 2027 to conduct Parsifal, having resigned as music […]
Seeking professional Global Majority musicians and composers based in the North of England and the Midlands: Opera North’s Resonance residency programme 2024/25
Jasdeep Singh Degun performing Arya: concerto for sitar and orchestra with Orchestra of Opera North (Photo Justin Slee) Opera North’s Resonance residency programme was launched in 2017 to offer funding, space, time and technical support […]
Bayreuth loses its Brangäne
The Russian mezzo Ekaterina Gubanova has missed too many rehearsals with illness to take part in Tristan und Isolde, the festival has announced. She will be replaced as Brangäne by Christa Mayer. It is still […]
Flower of Cities: a new festival celebrates the City of London with a distinctly Italian flavour
A new festival will be enlivening the City of London in October. The rather awkwardly named City Festival of Music, Invention & Knowledge runs from 10 to 24 October 2024 with a series of evening […]
A vividly realised recording which does full justice to the complexity and vivid imagination of this music: rediscovering music by Latvian-American composer Gundaris Pone
Gundaris Pone: La Serenissima, seven Venetian portraits for orchestra, American Portraits, Avanti!; Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Guntis Kuzma, Normunds Šnē; SKANIReviewed 22 July 2024 The first studio recordings of three of Gundaris Pone’s large-scale orchestral works reveal a […]
Bridgerton makes stars of UK string quartet
If you’ve watched more than ten minutes of Bridgerton – or are forced to admit it under torture – you will be aware that the background music to the early-q9th century social events consists of […]
When Walt Disney faked a meeting with Prokofiev
The Hollywood illusionist made a film of himself meeting, supposedly, the composer of Peter and the Wolf. You don’t have to look too closely to see that it’s not Prokofiev but a body double. He […]
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