1Apr

Do you tweet in rehearsal?

Or send texts? Or go on Facebook? A colleague reports seeing players in the New York Philharmonic doing just that this morning. Valery Gergiev has been known to read his phone screen while rehearsing the LSO. Some players found that disrespectful – to them, and to the music. Others feel it’s no different to using […]

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1Apr

Itzhak Perlman is maltreated at Toronto airport

The violinist, who requires wheelchair assistance, says he was abandoned by staff at Pearson airport and forced to carry his own baggage on crutches for a considerable distance. Oh, Canada… Read more here. Video interview here.

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1Apr

A stalwart of English opera

We have been informed of the death last week of Ann Howard, a mezzo-soprano who performed and recorded in many important productions with English National Opera and other leading UK companies. She sang 250 Carmens and was a memorable Fricka. Ann, who died on March 26th at her home in Surbiton, near London, was 79 years […]

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1Apr

At last, some sense about women in classical music

In the past few weeks we’ve heard the head of London’s South Bank announce that women are suffering discrimination in orchestras, a London college founding a special programme for women conductors and various antediluvian men protesting that women can’t conduct. So along comes Nicola Benedetti with a refreshing dose of common sense and a ticking […]

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1Apr

Cellist becomes head of orchestras

John O’Kane, once of the Royal Liverpool Phil, is the new head of Ireland’s music ensembles:       31 March 2014: Following a public competition, John O’Kane has been announced as the new Executive Director of RTÉ Orchestras, Quartet and Choirs. Taking over from Aodan Ó Dubhghaill, Head of RTÉ lyric fm, who oversaw […]

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1Apr

Susanna Mälkki: My old teacher has changed his tune

The Finnish conductor has responded coolly to a statement by her professor, Jorma Panula, that women were biologically disabled from becoming great conductors. His comments, reported by Slipped Disc, have aroused a conflagration across Finnish media. Ms Mälkki told the Helsingin Sanomat: ‘A few years ago, Jorma had a different opinion. I feel lucky that […]

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1Apr

The silliest of instruments receives its most profound concerto

The centenary of Andrzej Panufnik, a Polish fugitive who settled in England in the mid-1950s, is driving a reassessment of his diverse, original and ever-restless music. One of the most revealing recordings so far is of the concerto he wrote for Milwaukee’s Bob Thompson (pictured) and an instrument that is seldom treated as seriously as […]

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1Apr

Musical spoof of the day

No boys were harmed in the making of this video…

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1Apr

Your body needs a new conductor (open to both sexes)

Research at Michigan University suggests that the circadian rhythms that govern our sleep and waking patters are more complex than previously assumed. It had been thought that eight neurons controlled our body clocks. Now it seems the process is more chaotic. ‘The finding shows that instead of the entire orchestra following a single conductor, part […]

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1Apr

A Swarowsky protégé has died in Minnesota

Aside from his conducting studies in Vienna with Hans Swarowsky (who taught Abbado, Mehta and many more), Ed Forner also spent time with Nadia Boulanger, Igor Markevitch and Pierre Monteux – quite a roster of influences. He worked at the Stadttheater, in Rendsburg, Germany, and with the orchestras of Netherlands Radio and Radio Madrid and Monte […]

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1Apr

Youngest music director appoints ‘creative chair’

Lionel Bringuier, 27, incoming music director of the Zurich Tonhalle, has announced the appointment of a senior colleague as Creative Chair. The man he has chosen is Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Finnish maestro who brought Bringuier as his own assistant to the Los Angeles Philharmonic eight years ago. This may seem a little cosy. The pair […]

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