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The Top 10 Classical Music Stories of 2017
In 2017, classical music mirrored aspects of the turbulent world around it. Hurricanes, Brexit, the Trump administration, and allegations of harassment all left their mark on the field. Classical music also did what it often does best: providing a haven in these restless, plugged-in times. That being said, here are ten stories that rose to…
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Lincoln Center Festival, R.I.P.
The demise of the Lincoln Center Festival, reported last week in the New York Times, was not entirely surprising given the recent departure of its founding director, Nigel Redden. But it was nonetheless disappointing to those who savored its wide-ranging mix of cross-cultural fare each July.
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Formal Attire at the Opera? Here’s What Some Opera Houses Say
In a widely-circulated column in The Guardian, dated Oct. 14, writer Howard Jacobson argues that opera audiences have become too casual, and that men should wear suits and ties to performances in an effort to “commemorate the specialness of an occasion.” He recounts attending a performance of a Mozart opera in London recently and being…
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New York Philharmonic Can’t Get Enough of Mahler
The New York Philharmonic is entering a bold new era for fans of Gustav Mahler and other late-Romantic symphonists, if the opening-night gala concert, led by Jaap van Zweden, was any indication. The Sept. 19 program featured Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, performed days after van Zweden led the same work at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, where…
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Santa Fe Opera’s ‘The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs’ on Closing Night
SANTA FE, NM – Driving north from Santa Fe on Highway 285, a stadium-like structure appears perched above the left side of the road. Turn off at one of the two marked exits, pull into one of the tightly-packed parking lots, and soon you’ll encounter small groups of tailgaters beside their crossover SUVs and Subaru wagons. In…
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When Stravinsky Composed For a Broadway Revue
Guess which name doesn’t belong here: Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Stephen Sondheim, Gian Carlo Menotti, Kurt Weill and Igor Stravinsky.
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Five Things Every Orchestra Website Should Get Right
In compiling the BBC Music Magazine‘s North American concert calendar every month, I spend a lot of time scanning the websites of concert presenters and orchestras across the U.S. and Canada. Though I am not a marketer and admittedly know little about ticketing sales practices, it’s easy to identify potential improvements in website design and…
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Branding Classical Music to ‘Trick’ Younger Listeners
The Guardian recently reported that the BBC Radio 3 is considering whether to remove BBC branding from its new classical podcasts, in an effort to entice more young people into trying them out.
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Alan Gilbert Previews U.N. Project in Lincoln Center Finale
As Alan Gilbert prepares to close out his eight-year tenure with the New York Philharmonic, he’s laying the groundwork for a new project to be launched in collaboration with the United Nations, called Musicians for Unity.
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Streaming Classical Music Concerts: The Menu Grows
At a recent lunch for news media in New York, Hervé Boissière, the president and founder of the French concert-streaming service Medici.tv, showed off the beta version of his company’s new website. Gone was the old homepage dominated by a ginormous video player, which automatically started playing upon arrival (forcing you frantically reach for the pause button and/or…