Classical Music
Nicola Benedetti Prepares Her Next Star Turn: Festival Leader
“Too many times in my life I’ve seen, ‘Let’s have the whole nation playing the violin in two years,’ and people saying, ‘Our world will be fixed if that happens,’” Benedetti said of the organization’s constructive role within the wider education ecosystem. Within minutes, she flipped from arch idealist to blunt realist: “I’m in a […]
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The Classical Music Event of the Summer Is in Salzburg’s Shadow
That Shostakovich concert — played by the Mahler Youth Orchestra under the baton of Teodor Currentzis — was about as traditional as the Ouverture Spirituelle got this year, aside from Handel’s “Messiah,” which was led by Jordi Savall but with smaller, clearer forces than usual and at the less-than-400-seat Kollegienkirche. With its pride of place […]
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Conductor Dies After Collapsing During Performance in Munich
“He took this Central German theater in Essen and he turned it, in 17 years, into one of the best ensemble houses in Europe, and he turned the Essen Philharmonic into an absolute A-grade orchestra,” the Australian opera director Barrie Kosky, who collaborated with Mr. Soltesz on four productions at the Aalto Theater in the […]
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Amid Ukraine War, Orchestras Rethink ‘1812 Overture,’ a July 4 Rite
With its earsplitting rounds of cannon fire and triumphal spirit, Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” has been a staple of Fourth of July festivities across the United States for decades, serving as a rousing prelude to glittering displays of fireworks. But this year many ensembles, concerned about the overture’s history as a celebration of the Russian military […]
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What Is American Music? Three Classical Albums Offer Answers.
What is American classical music, exactly? When crafting their answers, programmers have historically chosen one of two approaches: cautious, piecemeal efforts or risky, all-in-one fusion. The piecemeal strategy could concede that items by jazz composers like Duke Ellington needed to be in the mix, but as a separate concert or album, rather than with the […]
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At Cliburn Competition, Pianists From South Korea, Russia and Ukraine Triumph
For 17 days, the young artists competed in what some have called the Olympics of piano-playing: the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Texas, one of classical music’s most prestigious contests. On Saturday, the results were in: Pianists from South Korea, Russia and Ukraine prevailed in this year’s contest. Among the winners are Yunchan Lim, […]
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Two Gems of June: Premieres at Carnegie Hall and Harlem School of the Arts
This month, you might feel the momentum in classical music swinging to the domestic festival circuit, with splashy premieres and revivals coming courtesy of Spoleto, Ojai and the Opera Theater of St. Louis. But New York isn’t finished yet, either. Two premieres here over the weekend — one loudly trumpeted and one that enjoyed comparatively […]
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Klaus Mäkelä, 26, Takes Podium at Storied Concertgebouw Orchestra
Klaus Mäkelä, a 26-year-old Finnish maestro on a rapid rise, will be the next chief conductor of the storied Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, the ensemble announced on Friday, after a several-year search following the dismissal of Daniele Gatti over sexual assault allegations in 2018. “It means very much,” Mäkelä, who currently leads the Orchestre […]
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American Modern Opera Company Takes Over the Ojai Festival
The policy is built into the company’s contracts. Sometimes, it’s too expensive — most often at dance institutions, which tend to be chronically underfunded. So when it can, AMOC makes up the difference with subsidies. (That Mellon grant will help.) In the end, Winokur said, “everyone enters the room feeling the same way.” Usually, Winokur […]
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