classical

Dear Alma, I have been on the sub list for an excellent summer orchestra and I’ve just had my first week of work. My problem is that I don’t quite know how to behave. My […]

Another day, another dose of media gush for Boston Symphony president Chad Smith, placed in the supine print media by his indefatigable publicist Amanda Ameer (pictured). Having groomed two hacks at the New York Times […]

Among the first recipients of a £100m handout from the estate of the philanthropist Julia Rausing is the ballet company she loved best. The money will go towards upgrades of stage and backstage facilities. Rausing […]

The composer has come out bitterly against the belated first Berlin staging of his 1987 opera. This @deutsche_oper production: painful to even think about. “Nixon in China” is so often mistreated or misunderstood. In 35 […]

It has emerged that the resignation of Francois-Xavier Roth as Generalmusikdirektor of the city of Cologne was secured on two conditions. The first was a payoff for his silence – 200,000 Euros, apparently. The other […]

The country’s pioneering saxophonist, founder of the instrument’s only specialist school, has died in Moscow, at 84. Margarita Shaposhnikova was born in Saratov in 1940 and became professor at the Gnessin school. Her proudest moment […]

Originally conceived by Carlo Collodi, the Pinocchio story has seen adaptations over the eras. Here Polish National Ballet presents a danced version to music by Mieczysław Weinberg, the Polish-born Soviet composer Mieczylaw Weinberg, who has […]

Frida Kahlo – A Life of Pain  On Sunday it will be 70 years since Frida Kahlo died. The ground-breaking Mexican artist was best known for her vivid and explorative self-portraits.  Her life was eventful, […]

What could possibly go wrong for Gary Ginstling. He’d worked with orchestras all his life and was ready for the ultimate challenge – running the uber-rich and self-regarding New York Philharmonic as it transitioned from […]

In a sudden and truly shocking development, Gary Ginstling has resigned after exactly a year as president and CEO of the New York Philharmmonic Orchestra. He said: ‘The New York Philharmonic is an extraordinary institution, […]