The tenor has been explaining why Anna Netrebko (who speaks little German) pulled out of their Manon Lescaut in Novmber.

‘There were communication problems,’ he reveals. ‘Hans Neuenfels does not speak English and that became part of a really tedious rehearsal process. At times I, too, was getting desperate.’

Full interview here (auf Deutsch).

Pino Daniele, one of the first Italian singer-songwriters to embrace other cultures, died of a heart attack this weekend.

A neapolitan guitarist, he played in 197s bands before releasing Terra mia (my country), which crossed tarantella rhythms with blues and rhumba. He followed it with Nero a metà (half-black), an important early marker in Italy’s engagement with multiculturalism.

He worked with Bob Marley, Richie Havens and a range of Arab and African musicians.

Mark Minkowski and the Musiciens de Louvre, told last month that Grenoble is ending a 438,000 Euro subsidy, have responded by cancelling their January concerts.

Minkowski’s statement: ‘”L’Orchestre devrait accuser un déficit de 400.000 € en 2015. Malgré son désir de poursuivre ses actions sur Grenoble, mais afin de limiter ces pertes, tenter de pérenniser la structure et restreindre l’impact sur l’emploi, l’Orchestre se voit contraint d’annuler” des concerts dès janvier.’

Details here.

Irwin Steinberg, whose death was reported today, founded Mercury Records in 1945 together with Irving Green in Chicago. Green’s family owned a plastic plant that supplied the vinyl for their records. Steinberg was a super salesman.

The label was soon a leader in r&b, jazz and country. Quincy Jones joined as an a&r man. A classical division, founded in 1951, was revered for the clarity of its sound.

In 1963, Mercury was sold to the Dutch firm Philips, later PolyGram, now Universal.

Irwin Steinberg served as US CEO of Polygram Records for the next 30 years. He was a quiet player in a gaudy world, mostly seen at signings (3rd right, below). He died at 94.

The dominant German violinist has pitched headlong into the row over building a new concert hall in Munich, a debate that has been running without resolution for more than ten years.

Here’s what she told the Süddeutsche Zeitung: ‘Dortmund hat uns akustisch absolut in die zweite Liga verdrängt. Viele international renommierte Orchester kommen nicht mehr nach München, weil ihnen diese Räume fehlen….

Dortmund absolutely relegates us to the second division in acoustic terms. Many international orchestra no longer come to Munich because these facilities are missing.’

That’s telling ’em.

Our social secretary reports the birth of a baby boy to the popular Vienna Opera mezzo, Zoryana Kushpler. Mother and baby are doing well.

The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia’s most respected newspaper, has given a kicking to Lyndon Terracini, the ‘outspoken and polarising’ artistic director of Opera Australia who (as we reported) has effectively banned two leading critics from performances.

Harriet Cunningham, the SMH chief reviewer (pictured), was told she would not receive review tickets, while Diana Simmonds of StageNoise was taken off the media list altogether, denying her access to production information.

The SMH has avoided responding in kind with a boycott of Opera Australia. Instead: ‘The Herald’s position is that the paper will not have our critics chosen for us by companies, and Cunningham, whether with a comp ticket or one that the Herald purchases, will review Faust for our readers.’ More here.

Congratulations to Minnesota Orchestra music director Osmo Vänskä and concertmaster Erin Keefe, who have announced their engagement on social media.

Vänskä had been questioned about their relationship earlier this year by a prurient New York Times reporter, at a time when Keefe was auditioning for the front-seat vacancy at the Philharmonic.

Both have been previously married.

We have received more than the average torrent of cynical abuse this year in response to our articles and observations on the Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s concert.

Unlike these tunnel-visioned respondents, Slipped Disc tries to see both sides of most stories. We report verbatim the claims by Vienna Philharmonic directors that they are trying to practice equal opportunity employment and we record with regret their repeated failure to do so.

We have no axe to grind against this excellent orchestra. We have friendly contacts with several of its members.

However, what is wrong remains wrong, no matter how beautiful it sounds. An orchestra that selects just five or six women players for its greatest showcase is making a statement about its identity.

If discrimination against women and minorities is an offence in the sight of God and law, then the VPO is a flagrant, persistent offender. It must change its ways or face the condemnation and disgust of civilised humanity.

If, on the other hand, you happen to think discrimination is right and reasonable and ought to be ignored, please leave this site. You are, in the classic Viennese phrase, nicht erwünscht.

Bob Gilmore, editor of Tempo, the contemporary music magazine, has died of cancer, aged 53.

He took over after the death last May of the magazine’s veteran editor, Malcolm Macdonald.

Tribute here.

She was about to sing La ci darem la mano from Don Giovanni when, instead of her intended duet partner coming on stage, up popped her boyfriend on bended knee.

She is Finnish soprano, Marjukka Tepponen. He is British baritone, Kevin Greenlawn.

Well, what could she say?

The pop-up happened during a New Year’s gala concert in Jyväskylä, a small Finnish town with its own opera and symphony orchestra.

photos: Lasse Allonen

Peter Kaldor left Hungary aged 16 in 1956, taking with him two rounds of sandwiches and his most important possession, his trumpet mouthpiece.

A refugee, he tells the BBC, ‘loses everything except his accent’. And, in Peter’s case, his mouthpiece.

‘One way or another, I spent the rest of my life in music,’ he says.

Watch his moving story here.