The pianist has spent the last four years commissioning new arrangements of the Disney songbook, turning the company’s vast library of show tunes — from the 1930s operetta of “Snow White” to the modern salsa of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” — for his new album. - Los Angeles Times
Back in March, early in the invasion, Sergiy Ivanchuk was driving escaping civilians from the besieged city of Kharkiv when his car came under Russian gunfire. Six months later, thanks to remarkable luck and hard work, he is safe in German and studying voice once more. - The New York Times
"She has only 20 predecessors, most of whom held their positions for life. ... Over the centuries, the function of the master as primarily a musician composing and performing for the pleasure of the sovereign has evolved into something more akin to a poet laureate." - MSN (The Washington Post)
The longevity of old songs is an even greater mystery when what every era’s fans want is the fresh, the startling, the new. - The Wall Street Journal
It seems logical that an orchestra’s basic tools of sound production – tone colour, dynamics, rhythmic precision and articulation – are strongly influenced by their home concert hall, so much so that they continue to manifest those integrated sonic fingerprints in unfamiliar acoustical environments. - The Strad
"The prompter is invisible to the audience, and he may be only one person among the roughly 250-strong cast and crew, but he plays a major role in keeping everything from flying off the rails."Â Meet Matthew Piatt, San Francisco Opera's prompter for John Adams's Antony and Cleopatra. - NPR
The new online hub at sfopera.com/firstcentury features recordings from the company’s past, along with rare artist interviews, archival photographs, program articles, oral history excerpts and newly captured conversations among past and present San Francisco Opera creative luminaries. - Gramilano
Musicologist Imani Danielle Mosley surveys the music that's been used at the obsequies for Queens of England from Elizabeth I (the first to have an Anglican funeral) through Mary II (Purcell), Anne, Caroline (a major anthem by Handel), and Victoria — plus Princess Diana and Prince Philip. - The New York Times
We created a unique album solely for the pleasure of giving it to Queen Elizabeth. With the help of Billy Strayhorn, he composed The Queen’s Suite, had one record manufactured—and sent it directly to Buckingham Palace, solely intended for Her Majesty’s ears. - Ted Gioia
Rosália won Latin Grammys for her album El Mal Querer - a flamenco-pop fusion that also became her thesis project at the Catalonia School of Music in Barcelona. Now she says her new flamenco fusion album is based on "the fragmented chaos of the internet." - Los Angeles Times
"Writing with clarity of vision is tricky given how embedded Vaughan Williams is in British musical culture. He wore many hats in his time: symphonic composer, choral society conductor, folksong collector, hymn-tune compiler. ... He remains the nation’s favourite composer." - The Guardian (UK)
The average outdoor concert, powered by diesel generators, "releases 500 metric tons of carbon dioxide—that’s roughly the same as driving 100 gas-powered cars in the U.S. for an entire year." Not so the concerts of Lukas Graham. - Time
From modest beginnings in 1922, the company has grown and blossomed to become one of the preeminent organizations in American opera. - San Francisco Chronicle
“You are the last orchestra and the most important orchestra where I have been music director. Your memory will accompany me in my heart to the end of my life. You, Chicago, are the Symphony of my heart. Grazie.” - New City
