10 classical sites that really get read
mainUniversal Music today launches uDiscover Music Classical, its online showcase on classical music.
These things take time to find their feet. Some rise. Others – like Universal’s Sinfini Music – fall.
Broadcast sites – ClassicFM, NPR and the like – are simply pumping iron for their main business.
The independent sites that have been around for a while and really get visited are these:
Every singer everywhere and what they’re doing.
Digest of German classical media
Putinised news site
Music news from France Musique
Everything about music in Canada
Extensive worldwide reviews
Paid-for streamed performances
8 Idagio
World’s biggest archive of recorded music and streamed audio
9 Youtube
obviously
10 Slipped Disc
The #1 classical news site, 1.5 million monthly readers and rising.
Room for more?
Any we’ve forgotten?
How about Crescendo, Klassikheute, Opernglas, Opernwelt, Opera, etc. etc. etc.
Barihunks?
Hong Kong-based Interlude (http://www.interlude.hk) has very interesting contents.
Some things off the top of my head –
On an Overgrown Path
NPR (not exclusively classical)
WQXR
Whole Note (for more in depth analysis of what’s happening in Toronto and Southern Ontario)
The Rest is Noise
5 Against 4
I Care if You Listen
BBC Record Review
The Strad
Gramophone
Diapason
Presto Classical
La Scena Musicale (Montreal and Quebec)
Musicworks (Canadian new music)
New Music Box
Plus, the headline is misleading. I think people go to Medici, Idagio and YouTube for streaming, not reading, just as some of my recommendations lend themselves to streaming and not reading per se.
Also a note on Ludwig van – be sure and specify which city you’re searching as there’s Ludwig van Montréal (French) and Ludwig van Toronto. Both of those sites largely focus on the two cities of their names and don’t really reflect all of Canada.
“8 Idagio
World’s biggest archive of recorded music and streamed audio”
Is it really bigger than the Naxos Music Library … ?
Qobuz is the biggest classical website – and of top of that they have all the other répertoires when you are fed up with classical music !
myscena
Of course you forgot Qobuz where not only you have more music than Idagio by far
But also a lot of neWs, videos, original biographies and reviews.
Yes. My new venture; http://www.theartschannel.online
Launched in May
Arts curated for the curious. Take a look, lots of interesting stuff.
In Spain, we enjoy Scherzo, Platea, Codalario, Beckmesser and Mundoclasico. These are all online classical music news sites usually with a focus on what’s going on in Spain and news about Spanish musicians but also with a good overview of international music news. And of course, reviews.
I’d put Scherzo and Platea at the top of the list for quality. Sometimes in Spain there’s a delay in the press about covering major international music news. Platea is very quick to report and often parallels what’s in Slipped Disc. Platea is frequently the only Spanish news site reporting on big international music news.
Scherzo is excellent for content and quality with a good international focus. I believe they run an in-print edition which quite elegant and very popular.
Codalario is relatively new, and only appears online. Big emphasis on Spanish musicians, esp. Spanish musicians working abroad, reviews and good coverage of the Spanish music scene. They have contributors from around Spain, so there’s often a good diversity of opinions. International coverage is a little eclectic and often features random minor newsbites from around the world.
Beckmesser is a Madrid-based blog, with a particular emphasis on opera. This author is a Madrid insider with knowledge of the inner workings of Madrid’s Teatro Real and the politics of opera in Madrid. His presentation style is unique: he culls music news from around the world and posts the articles in a list in his blog. When he offers opinions, they reflect his long and intimate relationship with the Madrid music scene, which can be enlightening.
Mundoclasico mostly publishes reviews from around Spain and some international ones. They have a huge team of excellent critic contributors – including a terrific guy who reviews in English from time to time. The editor in chief is a highly respected music critic and author from northern Spain.
Spain is a huge consumer of classical music and people like to know what’s going on. There is no shortage of knowledgeable music critics and scholars who write about it, and do so very well in these publications.
I know the first three, and they are very good.
concertonet.com has a great many up to date reviews from many major cities.
Other sites: Classics Today, Pristine
Boston Musical Intelligencer.
In the string industry, the only one that is read is The Violin Channel. The rest don’t really exist.
Violin Channel
I haven’t heard of most of these. The Violin Channel is pretty much definitive in the string industry.
https://www.worldconcerthall.com/
For live or non-live streamed concerts
http://conradlosborne.com/blog/
Osborne on opera
https://ionarts.blogspot.com/
Ionarts for well-written cd reviews
What do you mean ‘putinized’. God Norman, leave your biased at home!
There’s The Classic Review (www.theclassicreview.com) which I enjoy reading and is actually one of the better looking websites from the list. It can be a bit more thorough with the editing, but I find the two reviewers there quite knowledgable.
I had to check whether Universal were still owned by Vivendi, as the look of the new website suggests Classic FM might have bought them.
Musicweb International for all the articles and reviews of the quality that you used to find in Gramophone magazine, Diapason etc
http://www.muzlifemagazine.ru The oldest notable Russian periodical about music and musicians which covers the most recent events of musical life in Russia and in the world
I produce The SOUNDLAB New Music Podcast, which may of interest to readers here.
A fin repository of archived concerts:
http://orchestraondemand.blogspot.com/