classical

The conductor Susanna Mälkki (pictured, 3rd right) has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of the Arts Helsinki. Who knew the Finns went in for funny hats? Goodness, this one’s worse. The post […]

The festival, founded by the composer Gian Carlo Menotti, has the board at war once more with a bumbling chief executive. Since (Mark) Hanna took over, nearly all of the nonprofit’s established artistic and business […]

Here is a local review by Peter Marsh in the Totnes Pulse of the substitute ‘festival’ put on by the Dartington Estate after the traditional event was driven into exile. After the demise of the […]

We have been notified of the passing of Mikhail Muntian, a prolific Russian keyboard player who toured as regular accompanist to the violist Yuri Bashmet. Muntian started out as harpsichordist in Rudolf Barshai’s Moscow Chamber […]

The Canadian cellist Amanda Forsyth has taken to publishing pictures of herself enjoying the summer night life in New York, her fans report.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Amanda […]

We are hearing from several sources that Eberhard Friedrich resigned last night as director of the festival chorus. His resgination came in the interval of Parsifal and the chorus demonstratively applauded him from the stage […]

There are signs that Russia’s cultural isolation may be easing. The Bolshoi has been invited to Serbia and Thailand next month. Its new chief Valery Gergiev is pulling out all the stops to break out […]

Robert Jindra has resigned as chief conductor of the Košice State Philharmonic, in Slovakia. The Czech maestro had previouslky issued a blast at the country’s Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová for dismissing the heads of the […]

In my next Lebrecht Interview on BBC Radio 3, the conductor Sir Simon Rattle talks frankly about his often-turbulent 16 years at the head of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.   “You try lots of things,” […]

Statement by the organisation representing most European opera houses, relating to the political crisis in Slovakia: Opera Europa is deeply shocked and gravely concerned by the abrupt decision on August 6th by Slovakia’s culture minister, […]