The release of a number of movies about musicians—Aretha Franklin, Freddie Mercury, Elton John, among others—over the past year led The Guardian to compile its own list of the 30 best films about music and musicians. The newspaper … » Read

Offerings at the Salzburg Festival are so wide ranging that a uniform theme is often impossible to discern, but this summer its seems to be classical mythology. And what better diversion from the travails of Medea and Oedipus than an Offenbach … » Read

The Pittsburgh Opera has been on a roll. Attendance grew by 13 percent during the past season, bringing total participation up to 67,500. Dr. Donald Fischer, newly elected to a three-year term as chairman of the board, is eager to build on the … » Read

Simon Rattle kicks off his third season as music director of the London Symphony Orchestra in a blaze of contemporary British music. The opening concert, on Sept. 14, starts with the world premiere of Antisphere by Emily Howard, commissioned for … » Read

Arts Council England published its annual report yesterday [Aug. 22], painting as positive a picture as possible in uncertain times. But hidden on page 63 is a stark warning: “A reduction in our Grant-in-Aid income from 2020 would result in … » Read

The Baltimore Symphony musicians yesterday said they would not go back to work in September without a new contract, despite management’s indication earlier in the summer that the lockout would end as of Sept. 9 . In a statement, they … » Read

SALZBURG--The Grosses Festpielhaus was the venue for Simon Stone’s new production of Cherubini’s Médée ( Medea ), a less successful exercise in updating (seen on August 16) than the previous evening’s Simon … » Read

It might take more than practice, practice, practice to get to Carnegie Hall. A new study concludes that natural talent plays a bigger role in differentiating between good and excellent violinists. The study sought to reassess a similar 1993 … » Read

Representatives from 52 major orchestras have gathered in Park City, Utah, for the three-day annual meeting of the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM). They have a lot on their menu. Foremost, perhaps, is the need to … » Read

Abigail Rollins is to be the executive director of the Berkshire (MA) Opera Festival as of September 3. She succeeds Claudia d’Alessandro, serving as interim; previously, cofounders Artistic Director Brian Garman and Director of Production … » Read