“What is respect for a score? Is it to play exactly what is written, or is it to play what is written and put your own life in it, your emotions, your feelings, which means sometimes you might need to take a bit of time? Why not?” - The New York Times
“Increasing demand for content from streaming services and social media make iconic music IP a scarce and irreplaceable asset,” said Angelo Rufino, a managing partner at Brookfield, pointing to how music is being licensed to Peloton, TikTok and the metaverse. - The Wall Street Journal
Michael Andor Brodeur: "I can at least say without getting too subjective or getting in any trouble that the difference in sound is immediate and arresting. ... Not once did I find myself leaning forward in my seat or squinting with my ears. The sound finds you." - The Washington Post
In the 1990s, Thielemann, now 63 and one of the world’s most acclaimed maestros — as well as one of the most divisive and drama-prone — appeared regularly with American orchestras and opera companies. - The New York Times
On the same day that he won a Gramophone Award for Lifetime Achievement, the conductor and pianist announced, "My health has deteriorated over the last months, and I have been diagnosed with a serious neurological condition. I must now focus on my physical well-being as much as possible." - BBC
The Bavarian State Opera also took honors for Hans Abrahamsen's The Snow Queen and, under Petrenko's baton, Mahler's 7th Symphony. Among other winners were Mitsuko Uchida's Beethoven Diabelli Variations; Quatuor Ebène's "Round Midnight"; singers Michael Spyres, Asmik Grigorian, and Emily D'Angelo; and the Raphaël Pichon/Pygmalion Bach St. Matthew Passion. - Gramophone
While COVID-19 was a box office disaster for every opera company, large or small, it did have an upside, said Mould. ‘COVID exposed and amplified what the hidden issues are in the system. - ArtsHub
"I always used to say that I observed this formalism to protect the music against the bad taste of the composer. And I still stand by that, but maybe the composer's taste isn't quite as bad as it used to be, because he's lived in this musical world for so long." - Van
If there's a cinema anywhere near you that shows them, you're out of luck. Streamed broadcasts will only be available in countries (and areas of North America) where the cinemacasts are not. - AP
What harm is done by letting conductors into our chamber music? More than you’d suspect. Collaborative pianists — we only recently stopped calling them “accompanists” — have struggled to acquire a modicum of dignity for their vocation. - The Critic
Musicologist Lily Hersh says that "people are still surprised that music can be used in negative ways: they think music is supposed to be sublime and uplifting ... but music can just as easily be destructive. That destructiveness is not something to cover up or shy away from." - Culture Study
Pettiford claimed, "Basically I’m a bass player. For kicks I play cello, for thought I play piano, and for odd moments I beat on the drums." His style would be "familiar to any modern ear, ... propelling the rhythm section to the front of the sound." - Sahan Journal
Latinx composers made Hollywood's scores, songs, and sounds, starting a century ago. Maria Grever "had studied with French composer Claude Debussy before returning to her native Mexico where she wrote boleros. ... Then, Grever composed songs for movies." - NPR
The trial is about "claims he copied his hit 2014 song Thinking Out Loud from Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On, after a federal judge rejected the pop star’s efforts to toss out the long-running copyright case." - The Guardian (UK)
Teodor Currentzis, who has ties to a Russian state-owned bank and has been criticized for it, will step down when his contract ends - in 2025, announced Stuttgart's SWR Symphony. - The New York Times
