The Scotsman, Edinburgh-based newspaper of Caldeonian nationhood, has decided to stop reviewing classical, jazz and world music recordings.

The editorial decision seems a tad odd at a time when Scots musicians are rising high in all three genres, but print newspapers these days can barely afford to pay for a cup of Horlicks let alone a record review. The result: in the run-up to the independence referendum, Scotsman readers have no way of knowing what their musicians are up to.

One Scottish jazzman, Tommy Smith, has published an online protest. James MacMillan and Nicola Benedetti – let’s be hearing it from you.

The Minister of Education and Culture in Andalusia, Luciano Alonso, has voiced outrage at the fees paid to Pedro Halffter, music director of the Royal Seville symphony orchestra. ‘I disagree with his salary, which is excessive. No one in the public sector of Andalusia should earn more than the president,’ said Alonso. The regional president is paid a salary of 69,000 Euros. The maestro makes 250,000 Euros.

Halffter, who also heads the philharmonic orchestra of the Canary Islands, has a contract in Seville that ends this summer. It seems unlikely to be renewed.

The President of Cornell University, David J. Skorton, has endorsed the growing recognition of the importance of arts and music in the making of young scientists. In tune with Nobel Prizewinner Thomas Südhof’s declaration last week that ‘training in the arts prepares a growing child just as well for a scientific or technical career as [does] training in STEM subjects, if not better,’ Skorton – head of a university with campuses at Ithatca and Qatar – writes the following in Scientific American:

… to be truly effective, …what we really need is a much broader humanistic education for scientists (and nonscientists), beginning in K–12 education and continuing through the undergraduate/graduate and professional years. It is through the study of art, music, literature, history and other humanities and social sciences that we gain a greater understanding of the human condition than biological or physical science alone can provide.

UPDATE: Dr Skorton (below) practises what he preaches (h/t Dianne Winsor):

The  Teatro comunale in Ferrara will be known from today as the Teatro Claudio Abbado.

The meastro, who died last week, conducted 41 concerts in the town, including an emotional benefit concert in 2012 dedicated to the theatre’s restoration after damage by earthquake.

John Ranald Stainer, former registrar of the Royal College of Music who has died aged 98, was the grandson of Sir John Stainer, composer of The Crucifixion. That much we knew.

But diligent family research by his local newspaper, the Shropshire Star, reveals that two of his grandchildren are outstanding members of the music community. Edward Dusinberre leads the Takacs String Quartet and Dickon Stainer is president of Decca.

Here’s John, playing the piano a few days before his death.

And here‘s a link to his RCM profile.