Richard Mantle, OBE, is to retire as general director of Opera North next year after nearly 30 years in the job. He is among the U.K.’s most highly regarded artistic leaders. “He leaves an organisation that is radically different to … » Read

Although Russia likes to consider itself a global superpower, “the list today,” argues Elisabeth Braw in Foreign Policy , “mostly comes down to oil and gas, sports, and classical music.” The invasion of Ukraine and a … » Read

Kate Suthers [pictured] is to be the new concertmaster of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, effective later this month. She succeeds Natsuko Yoshimoto, now concertmaster of the Queensland Symphony after 12 years with Adelaide. Suthers leads the … » Read

PORTLAND, OR—Philip Glass’s The Fall of the House of Usher , based on the classic horror story by Edgar Allen Poe, received a fresh interpretation that successfully blurred the lines of repressed sexuality in a new production for … » Read

After four days of competition in front of a live and on-line audience, 24-year-old British tenor Laurence Kilsby on Wednesday night won the £10,000 first prize of Wigmore Hall’s biennial International Song Competition. Hardly a … » Read

In an age when a surfeit of material objects characterizes life for all but the impoverished, it is easy to lose sight of less tangible things—a relatable past, confidence in what is to come, and cultural richness that is more than just a … » Read

BAYREUTH—As described  yesterday in Part I, the first two operas of the Bayreuth Festspiele’s new Ring Cycle unfolded as a mix of a few powerful ideas brought down by silly, outlandish gestures, the entire cycle reimagined as … » Read

No doubt August 2022 is a month that Plácido Domingo would just as soon forget. An accusation of involvement with a sex crime ring in Buenos Aires early in the month,  later refuted in large measure,  nonetheless reminded the … » Read

Irish conductor Killian Farrell [left], 28, is to succeed Philippe Bach as general music director of the Meiningen State Theater in Germany as of 2023-24. The current Kapellmeister and assistant to the GMD at the Stuttgart State Opera, Farrell … » Read

Just a month ago an industry insider characterized the relationship between the music industry and the tech companies leading the streaming revolution as “deeply dysfunctional [and] symbiotic.”   The last negotiation over rates … » Read