Being appointed a state senator for life in Italy comes with a state salary.

Claudio Abbado was happy to accept the title. The money he has renounced. It will go to finance student scholarships at the music school in Fiesole. Nice.

Last night on Front Row, I ventured the opinion that politicians, as skilled users of voice, ought to let themselves sing a bit more in the public arena. Barack Obama, when he tried it, was seriously inhibited. Silvio Berlusconi was certainly not.

Someone has sent us this mash video of US politicians giving air to their lungs. The former attorney-general was pretty good.

Here’s Vladimir Putin in action:

Feel free to add some more.

The latest Nielsen Soundscan figures on US  music sales show that Hilary Hahn’s dominance with 27 new commissions was shortlived. She has been displaced by another Decca disc of singing nuns. Don’t they all sound alike?

Sales, overall, are worryingly low in Thanksgiving week, with the top three classics selling barely 500 copies each.

The musician, whose identity is being protected, was seized while travelling from Anzoategui province to Caracas. The victim, a member of the horn section, has played in the main el sistema orchestra for 15 years.

Lawlessness is rife in Venezuela, unchecked by a government that rules by decree.

UPDATE here.

The percussionist has gone Indiegogo to raise $85,000 for a recording.

Watch.

Read and donate here.

The deputy leader of the UK Labour Party is making a big noise about learning to play the piano. He has reached Grade 3 and is giving his first performance, just fancy.

Well, having let it be known that I’m discussing music-playing politicians on Tonight’s Front Row, Chris Russell in California has come up with this gem of a 1961 television show, featuring the defeated presidential candidate. On this occasion, the devil did not have the best tunes.

Popping into BH to chat to Mark Lawson about politicians who play instruments, I swung doors with a young man coming in to promote his album. A producer requested his autograph ‘for my kids’.

‘You should listen to him, Norman,’ said John Wilson, ‘great voice!’ So I did. And glad I did. Thanks, John!

The Teatro Bellini in Catania is under threat of closure. The artists and staff are not taking it lying down. Read more here (in Italian) and share across your social media.

The Philharmonia has upped the orchestral blog ante by filming tour comments from its players instead of just printing them. The one that caught our eye in this vlog is from principal bassoon, Amy Harman, at 00:50.

Philharmonia on Tour: Paris & The Rite of Spring (2013) from Philharmonia Orchestra on Vimeo.

Listen. Just listen. Don’t keep checking your pulse. You are still alive. Just about.

Here’s Deadhand Dude. Guess who?

h/t: Tristan Jakob-Hoff

Phil Hsu has got his work cut out with advanced medical studies. But he takes time out twice a month to play for kids on the ward.

Bad times are back in Roy Thompson Hall. The orchestra is suffering a box-office slump and can’t find a new chief exec. The actual loss of C$1.2m masks a ticket sales dive of C$1.5m. ‘We need a visionary,’ says one staffer. Rob Ford, anyone?