The death is reported of Martin Isepp, who coached two generations of singers at Glyndebourne over forty years and was greatly responsible for the festival’s enduring success.

He was the son of a Viennese singer, Helene Isepp, who came to Britain as a Hitler refugee in 1938 and taught many fine singers, most notably Dame Janet Baker. He also taught at Juilliard and the National Opera Studio.

Martin, who was 81, will be sorely missed.

During the course of 2011, this site has undergone radical change.

It has metamorphosed from an early-model, one-track opinion blog to an international, often multi-lingual, crowd sourcing and crowd sharing highway for breaking news and major issues in the lively arts. Plus a good deal of fun along the way.

We will shortly publish a list of the year’s ten top stories, but it is gratifying to note that Slipped Disc interventions in 2011 have helped to resolve ugly orchestral disputes in Brazil and Russia and to shed light on other abuses that might otherwise have been silenced.

To our gratified surprise, Slipped Disc is currently receiving 200,000 hits a month, and rising. Over the next year, we are planning further improvements.

So here, for the time being, are four key tips on how to get more out of what is fast becoming one of the biggest cultural online communities.

1 Click the orange ‘sign up here’ button, on the middle-right of your screen, to receive instant updates of breaking stories.

2 Follow @NLebrecht on Twitter for feedback.

3 Send breaking stories and ideas to norman@normanlebrecht.com.

4 Watch daily for further developments.

Happy New Year, everyone, especially to our friend Tommy Q. who is due for a big bounce-back.

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