Ad van Zon, 64, principal trumpet of the Rotterdam Phlharmonic Orchestra, had his piccolo trumpet stolen from him in 2013 on the city metro. The police shrugged.

Last week they called him in the middle of the night.

Story here (in Dutch).

If anyone in Eugene, Oregon, thought the university could fire an internationally known music director and no-one would notice, they have been rudely awakened by the outcome.

Some classy, dogged local reporting – here’s the latest report – has been followed up by outrage in UK-based media, starting with Slipped Disc and followed by the Daily Telegraph and now the Spectator,  a weekly political magazine which has probably never mentioned the University of Oregon before in its 189-year history.

All agree that the University has been less than transparent and possibly downright dishonest in sacking Matthew Halls from the Orgegon Bach festival, and then covering up the reasons.

A false allegation of racism has not only muddied the waters, but cast aspersions on the music director’s integrity and (we hear) seriously upset a fine counter-tenor who got caught in the flak. The University has offered Mr Halls a paltry $90,000 to shut up and go away. A halfway decent New York lawyer could extract a tougher settlement.

But that’s not the point. Throughout these proceedings, the University has behaved like a village idiot who has been caught stealing from the sweet shop. Its default look is guilty, its denials lack credibility and its reparation offer is ridiculous.

A ‘flagship research university’ has been left looking like a college for dummies.

Here, on the basis of our local sources, is what we think happened. The festival has been losing money and shedding audiences. It renewed Mr Halls at a six-figure salary and then panicked. A hyped-up Provost, hired at vast cost from Michigan and unfamiliar with local loyalties, ordered Halls to be sacked. Then all hell broke loose.

What now? If the University comes clean, it can still redeem something of its reputation. If not, the festival is dead and the University is both culpable and foolish. Don’t even go there.

Yajie Zhang, 25, has been declared winner of the Internationaal Vocalisten Concours ‘s-Hertogenbosch 2017.

The oratorio award was taken by a British mezzo, Anna Harvey, 30.

The death of Brenda Lewis is reported in the parish sheet.

Brenda sang 38 times at the Met from 1952 to 1965, and many times more at City Opera. She enjoyed a concurrent Broadway career in musical, something that would be frowned upon today.

She also appeared in Montreal, Rio, Vienna Volksoper and Zurich.

Two years ago, the Minnesota Orchestra introduced a new principal oboe. It was a homecoming for Joseph Peters, who first played with the orchestra at 18 and was mentored by its associate principal oboe, John Snow.

Suddenly we learn that Peters is gone and Snow has replaced him as principal.

What happened?

Clearly, it did not work out for Joseph Peters. He has moved down to the North Carolina Symphony.

Fiona Maddocks of the Observer sat across the aisle from me, two rows back. We saw the same concert, heard the same notes, formed different opinions.

Fiona’s here:

Loud applause greeted Rattle at the start, a standing ovation at the end. He encouraged no gimmicks. A modest bow, a broad grin, then he raised his baton and got on with it. An all-British programme of quixotic and trepidatious variety launched This Is Rattle, an 11-day festival of 31 events celebrating his arrival. These include concerts programmed by composers to whom he has a particular loyalty….

This was a rigorous, uplifting kick-off for the LSO’s Rattle years, with all to play for.

Mine here.