ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

MUSIC

Vienna Stages A Gender-Bending Jazz-Age Operatic Work Banned By Franco

Benamor, by Pablo Luna, “featured cross-dressing characters and risqué humor that was largely tolerated during the Roaring Twenties in Madrid and premiered just months before a military coup that brought an end to the constitutional monarchy.” - The New York Times

The Shakers Created A Musical Culture, And Composer Daniel Blumberg Wanted A New Movie To Reflect That Legacy

“The entire tapestry of this film is musicalized — from the emphatic breathing, chest thumping and floor stomping that make up the worshipers’ rituals, to the songs, inspired by Shaker traditionals and performed by star Amanda Seyfried and the cast.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)

Kennedy Center Says It Will Sue Chuck Redd For Canceling Christmas Eve Concert After Board Adds Trump Name To Building

The spokesperson at the Kennedy Center told NPR, "Any artist cancelling their show at the Trump Kennedy Center over political differences isn't courageous or principled—they are selfish, intolerant, and have failed to meet the basic duty of a public artist.” - NPR

Heated Rivalry Is Not Just That Gay Hockey Show, It Also Can Teach You More About Canadian Music

“Streaming numbers have reflected the craze, with multiple tracks from featured Canadian artists ‘jumping tens of thousands of per cent in streams and thousands of new playlist adds in a matter of days’ — most notably for Feist and Wolf Parade.” - CBC

The Ukrainian City Where ‘Carol Of The Bells’ Was Born Has Been Destroyed By Russia

Pokrovsk’s displaced choir had to distill “the complex choral melody for just three singers this Christmas, down from the usual 30. Hearing the arrangement performed by three singers gives a sense of Ukraine at the moment after years of war: depleted, persistent, still beautiful.” - Washington Post (Yahoo)

Is The Music Of The Future One Unencumbered By Structures Of The Past?

Busoni proposed the notion of “Ur-Musik.” It is an elemental realm of absolute music in which composers have approached the “true nature of music” by discarding traditional templates. Sonata form, since the times of Haydn and Mozart a basic organizing principle governed by goal-directed harmonies, would be no more. - The American Scholar

Chicago Classical Station WFMT Fires Longtime Host Bill McGlaughlin

Composer-conductor McGlaughlin, now 82, is known to public radio listeners as host of numerous classical music programs over several decades. He's been founding host of WFMT’s Exploring Music since 2003. Now station management has told him it won’t renew his contract; no reason or rationale was given. - Symphony Magazine

Kennedy Center’s Christmas Eve Jazz Concert Canceled With Only Few Days’ Notice

“The show’s host, musician Chuck Redd, says that he called off the performance in the wake of the White House announcing last week that President Donald Trump’s name would be added to the facility.” - AP

Conductor Lorenzo Viotti Will Be Zurich Opera House’s Next Music Director

The Lausanne-born maestro will take up the position in August 2028 for two seasons; the short contract term aligns him with that of the house’s superintendent, Mathias Schulz. Viotti will succeed Gianandrea Noseda, who will remain at the company through the 2027-28 season. - Moto Perpetuo

Floods Of Music: AI Swamps The Music Market

While the technology quietly reshapes the industry, the first-order effect of AI’s ease of use is simply the existence of more music—a lot more. Suno users generate 7 million new tracks a day, which every two weeks nets out to about as many songs as exist on Spotify.  - The Atlantic

Pirate Group Says It Copied All Of Spotify’s Catalog

The world’s largest music streaming service has been scraped by a pirate activist group. According to a blog post from Anna’s Archive, it says it gained access to over 250 million pieces of metadata and millions of audio files from the streamer. - PC Magazine

The Met Opera Is Courting Influencers (And The Young People Who Follow Them)

“Newcomers to opera (many are self-described theater enthusiasts), … they share with their followers their delight and surprise at what they have found: the lack of a dress code; the English-language translations on the backs of seats; the Hollywood-worthy projections and videos; and, yes, the existence of cheap seats.” - The New York Times

Turns Out Organ-Tuning Books In English Churches Are A Record Of Global Warming

“Organ tuners make brief records of their visits and often jot down observations, including the temperature and humidity inside the building. Materials within organs are sensitive to climatic changes, which can knock the majestic instruments out of tune.” - The Guardian (UK)

When Tragedy Strikes Near An Entertainment Venue, Should The Show Go On?

“We didn’t have a lot of information before the show started, and the local authorities were telling our team that the best and safest course of action for everyone present was to proceed with the show and not have large crowds of people out on the streets.” - Boston Globe

This Year’s Best Music Was Inspired By Grief

"Death, collapsed relationships, the passing of youth and the inexorable passage of time: these are sombre themes that fit a quite spectacularly grim year. But in the broader context of what’s happening to music, these albums about loss are, oddly, cause for optimism.” - The Guardian (UK)

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