An effusive invitation from the Finnish ambassador:

Finland100 at the Bach Festival

The comedienne has released a promo for Die Walküre which her husband, Stephen Barlow, is conducting this summer at Grange Park Opera.

You see it here first.

Two releases coming up:

An online exhibition, The Toscanini Era, which will include rare footage of the maestro shot by principal trumpet Harry Glantz. This is scheduled to go live in the last days of March. Check the NY Phil website.

And, on April 7, New York Philharmonic—175th Anniversary Edition, a 65-CD Philharmonic box, 1917 to 1995, will be out from Sony Classical.

The music director of the recently jeapordised European Union Youth Orchestra tells the Observer today:

‘I am sorry about (Brexit), and I know it will be difficult to get used to a totally different situation, but for musicians many things will remain the same, simply because we will work to find a way to make agreements for the sake of music…

‘ In Germany classical music is, of course, incredibly strong traditionally. But it has become much stronger here in Britain, with a very high level of musicians who are, perhaps, more open to all sorts of new endeavours.

‘Brexit seems quite small compared to the changes you once saw in communist countries.’

Read full article here.

The early rock-and-roll star and his 1956 hit were a vital influence on the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

The singer – an LA Philharmonic board member – and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, have issued a gentle request on the CNN website.

Extract:

The arts are fundamental to our common humanity. Every time we attend the theater, a museum or a concert, we are literally feeding our souls, and investing in and preserving our collective future. To paraphrase the great Katherine Anne Porter, when all about us is lying in the ashes, it is the arts that remind us who we are, where we came from and what matters most.

We feel it has never been more critical to advocate for and support the arts — not just in our schools, but in our communities and our lives. We therefore respectfully request that every member of our society — individuals, educators, administrators, business leaders — do everything possible to preserve and advance this most precious and essential resource, and demand that our elected representatives do the same.

Read the full article here and send it to your elected representative.

Graham Spicer reports from Milan that the Teatro Communale di Bologna has ended its involvement with the Rossini Festival at Pesaro after 30 years.

Bologna felt it was not getting enough credit (read: subsidy) for its work.

The Rossini Festival now has four months to find an orchestra and chorus. Read here.

Geneviève Tschumi, 28, has beaten a strong field to win the Telemann competition in the composer’s birthplace, Magdeburg.

Franz Welser-Möst has announced plans for a Tristan and Isolde with Nina Stemme and Gerhard Siegel, along with a revival of Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen, as part of the orchestra’s centennial season in 2017-18.

There will also be a complete Beethoven symphonic cycle and two European tours.

Trombonist Max Isley steps down tonight after 43 and a half years with the Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Max met his wife Val in the orchestra, where she played harp; When she joined the BBC NOW, they relocated to Cardiff.

Max, with section partners.

We have also been informed that Brighouse & Rastrick, one of the leading brass bands, is losing cornet player and conductor Alan Morrison to retirement.

The Cincinnati Symphony has got its concertmaster back, reports Jane Gelfand.

Timothy Lees had suffered the kind of injury normally suffered on the sports field.

Read Janelle’s report and watch video here.

The annual Mercer rankings are out and Vienna comes top for the eighth year running as the best city in terms of quality of life, measured on public services, political climate and recreation (including arts).

London is 40th, New York 44th.

Here’s the top 20: