AIX-EN-PROVENCE— Prima la musica, dopo le parole as Richard Strauss affirmed in his last opera, Capriccio . ‘‘First the music, then the words.’’ In late 20th-century Europe, however, both composers and librettists … » Read

As artistic director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Elena Dubinets is walking a tight rope, trying to expand the classical canon while offering enough standard fare to keep longtime patrons happy. “We have to do both,” she … » Read

DETROIT (AP) — A massive pipe organ that underscored the drama and comedy of silent movies with live music in Detroit’s ornate Hollywood Theatre nearly a century ago was dismantled into thousands of pieces and stashed away. The Barton … » Read

Lara Downes, a Musical America Top 30 Professional for 2021 , is the first-ever creative partner of the Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) as of July 1. Downs is a celebrated pianist and recording artist with a deep commitment to arts advocacy and … » Read

On Friday and Saturday, July 12 and 13, German auto maker BMW joined up with the London Symphony Orchestra and Berlin’s Staatsoper Unter den Linden for a series of open-air concerts that together attracted more than 30,000 music lovers. The … » Read

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Bill Viola, a video artist who collaborated with director Peter Sellars on a groundbreaking production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde originally seen in Los Angeles, Paris and New York, has died at age 73. … » Read

CHICAGO—Thank heaven for not-so-grand opera. Grand in the financial sense, that is. Of course who doesn’t thrill to a stage-filling Triumphal March or a lavishly hellish Nibelheim? But in recent months, local opera companies with … » Read

ROME (AP) — Dominique Meyer has been appointed executive director of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, effective July 15, the orchestra’s board of trustees said on Friday. Meyer, however, will remain superintendent of Milan's … » Read

One of the several steps the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) is considering to try to right its financial ship is the reduction of the annual budget of its chorus by 80 percent, from $1 million to about $200,000. The choral group is composed of over … » Read

The Royal Opera House has received £10 million from the Julia Rausing Trust, one of the first recipients from the newly established foundation, now a distinct entity from the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust. Ms. Rausing died in April at age 63 … » Read