Charley Pride, the first African-American country music star, has died of COVID-19 complications at 86.

Dolly Parton tweets:

 

 

 

From the Lebrecht Album of the Week:

You know how the best music grips you by the throat and won’t let you do anything else until it’s over? That’s what you will find in these miniatures. Some are for piano solo, others for piano and flute. Ostensibly gentle and relaxing, the music conveys an inner tension, an unstated mortal threat…

Read on here.

And here.

En francais.

In Spanish.

In Czech.

 

The international baritone Boris Statsenko has posted that he is in hospital with 50 percent lung function.

Prayers might help.

 

The outstanding Ukrainian-born violinist Nicolas Chumachenco died today of cancer.

He was leader of the Zurich Quartet, professor of violin at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and music director of the Queen Sofía Chamber Orchestra in Madrid.

 

A verdict of suicide has been returned on David Ffoulkes-Williams, a film and broadcast composer who was found hanged at his Surrey home. He was 62 and was under police investigation for domestic violence.

His film credits include The Salvation, Connected, A Short Story about Love and At the Edge of Winter.

 

 

The Leipzig Thomanerchor has called off all performances during Advent and Christmas after singers tested positive for Covid.

‘Christmas without the Thomaner, that’s actually inconceivable,’ said the city’s culture mayor, Skadi Jennicke.

Dresden has also stopped singing.

 

The busy conductor Kenneth Alwyn died yesterday at 95.

He made numerous recordings for Decca and EMI of mostly popular repertoire and he was much in demand at the BBC.

Less well known were his breathrough recordings on CBS of the symphonies of the Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim.

 

Although very few British musicians work as long in orchestras as their American colleagues, we learn that Richard Peake, viola, has been a member of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House since 1969, as sub-principal for some 28 years. He continues at the age of 73 to play in the orchestra, completing 50 seasons in July.

The ROH timpanist Alan Taylor served 51 years at Covent Garden.

 

photo© ROH/Sim Canetty-Clarke, 2014