Nicola Ghiuselev, one of a succession of dominant Bulgarian bass singers, died in Friday, aged 77.

He sang major roles in all the great houses and left many recordings.

It’s the Boris Christoff centenary.

Born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, on 18 May 1914, Christoff made his operatic debut on 12 May 1946 as Colline in La Bohème at Reggio Calabria. After the Communist takeover, he never sang again in his homeland.

Boris Chistoff was the outstanding Boris Godunov after Chaliapin.

Official biography here.

It was one of the great English contributions to the Sixties folk revolution. ‘Oh, you are a mucky kid…’

Judy Collins, the Spinners and Cilla Black rushed it onto record. The composer was so keen on anonymity that he changed his name twice, migrating to America to pursue a successful career in computer science.

Stan Kelly-Booth has died in Oswestry, Lancs, aged 83. His death, last month, passed unnoticed outside his local newspaper

That’s the word from the opening night at Glyndebourne of Richard Jones’s new production. Old fogyes were outraged.

No reviews in yet.

UPDATE: First review from Ed Seckerson here.

Expect more heat. Eagle-eyed attenders say Kate Royal was wearing a body suit. Some say it was not tight enough.

This is an advertisement for ‘the entirely new collection of barre-ready dancewear and ethereal warm-up essentials’. Any dancer can instantly spot ten things that are wrong, some of them dangerously so. The dancer is not a dancer. Her ankles are not supporting her body. And look at her ankles, look at her feet. Blemish free.

The dancer is a model. Fake as fake can be.

Truth in advertising? Don’t buy their stuff.

On opening day, 110,000 concert tickets were sold. See BBC press release below.

Booking for the BBC Proms 2014 opened at 9am this morning (Saturday 17 May) with close to 109,000 tickets sold in the first 12 hours. In addition, over 1,600 Promming Season Tickets and Weekend Promming Passes, which for the first time went on sale a day early, were sold yesterday, bringing the total number of tickets sold to more than 110,000.

Over 96,000 tickets were sold online, while the remainder were purchased by music lovers who used telephone or postal booking, or went to the Royal Albert Hall in person. Within the first hour of booking more than 27,000 tickets were purchased online, over 10,000 more than in previous years.

Roger Wright, Director, BBC Proms and Controller, BBC Radio 3, said:

“The BBC Proms remains the world’s largest music festival and it is a thrill that the demand for tickets has been extremely high. However, it’s important to remember that there are still tickets available for the vast majority of events and that you can always come and Prom on the day. With every Prom live on BBC Radio 3, and many broadcast on BBC television, there are lots of ways to enjoy the Proms in 2014.”

The fastest selling Proms included Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 and music by Cerha with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly (12 September), two Proms by the Berliner Philharmoniker with Sir Simon Rattle (5 & 6 September), the first ever War Horse Prom (3 August) and a Late Night Prom by the Pet Shop Boys (23 July). For those who were unable to buy tickets for these Proms, there are other ways to hear the concerts. Up to 1,400 Promming tickets are released on the day of each Prom, priced at just £5 for the ninth consecutive year, and returns are often available via the Royal Albert Hall box office. Tickets for the majority of the 2014 BBC Proms are still available and every Prom is broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 with many also televised.

Ivry Gitlis is a legend among violinists.

Few understand why he is not more famous than Menuhin and Stern. Watch. Listen.

Ivry understands.

from photographize.org

Extravagant claims are being made for the Belgian singer Stromae, whose baritone delivery melds balladry with rap rhyhms. The track below has received close to 150 million hits. Can’t get the obsessive refrain out of mind…. Ou est ton papa?

A viral classic from our Russian friends.

Co-Opera Co. will celebrate Felicity Smith’s life and career on Friday 27th June 2014 at St James’s Piccadilly. Felicity died, aged 33, of a pulmonary embolism.

The programme includes pieces which held particular significance to Felicity and the second half of the programme will be Mozart’s Requiem with international soloists
Yvonne Howard
Diana Montague
John Graham Hall
Martin Nelson

Laura Mvula is a jazz-rock singer who graduated from the Birmingham Conservatoire and used to play in a string trio. Her husband is an oratorio baritone. We love what she does. Enjoy.