Slipped Disc

Boulez: it’s his eyes

Norman Lebrecht — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:08:43 +0000

Pierre Boulez with drew from Thursday night’s Cleveland concert and is in doubt for the weekend. The medical problem has been made public: it’s the consequence of an opthalmic operation. We wish him better.

US virtuoso plays heavy metal in Polish jail

Norman Lebrecht — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:40:26 +0000

Rachel Barton Pine is on tour. Three dates with the Krakow Academy in Poland. What to do in-between? She played Metallica, AC/DC and Led Zeppelin in a Nowa Huta prison.

Rock musician joins Israel boycott

Norman Lebrecht — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:18:56 +0000

Cat Power has called off a Tel Aviv gig at 48 hours’ notice, citing political ‘confusions’. Yep, she’s that clear about it. More here.

Just in: Musicians Union urges Government to force airlines to accept instruments

Norman Lebrecht — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:07:31 +0000

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s change in US policy, the Musicians Union in Britain has called on the government to change the rules by which airlines can refuse to carry instruments, or put them in the hold. ‘For a working musician, the fee can mean the difference between a concert or gig making or losing [...]

‘Oldest jazz club in Germany’? Pull the other one…

Norman Lebrecht — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:58:44 +0000

The Hot Club Iserlohn, marking its 60th anniversary in Darmstadt, claims to be the longest-running jazz club in the land. Bill Coleman once gigged there. I find the claim pointless and hard to believe. Berlin had a huge jazz scene right up to 1939 and resumed pretty much on the dot in 1945. There must [...]

Want a concerto date? Apply via Youtube

Norman Lebrecht — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:30:44 +0000

The conductor Manfred Honeck, once a member of the dinosaurian Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, has not stopped breaking moulds since he became music director in Pittsburgh. The first US music director to volunteer a pay cut before his players felt the pinch, Honeck is now casting around for new soloists by soliciting video submissions from unknown [...]

Big Italian baritone is gone

Norman Lebrecht — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:16:25 +0000

Giangiacomo Guelfi has died in Bolzano, aged 87. A pupil of Tito Ruffo, he performed all over Western Europe and, in the US, at the Met and Chicago Lyric. He was probably the loudest male singer of his time, always with volume to spare. Here’s how he sounded:

Hot: Russian site runs Detroit concert livecast with Ford cash

Norman Lebrecht — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:22:06 +0000

Messianic times? Lions lying down with lambs? A Moscow firm is partnering the Ford Motor Company to the bring the Detroit Symphony Orchestra tonight to the world. Here‘s the full McCoy (or Makosky)

Orchestra for a New Century? Could be….

Norman Lebrecht — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:11:24 +0000

The last time I met up with the New York Mahler Society, one of its leading lights, Gary Schneider, told me about an orchestra he was setting up. Gary’s idea was to assemble a group of young professional musicians who are basically, too enterprising to want to spend all of their lives in an orchestra. [...]

A new wave of cuts at EMI – but these are quite good

Norman Lebrecht — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:55:45 +0000

The latest batch of EMI releases landed on the mat, a lot thinner than usual. Probably as a cost-saving measure, EMI has abandoned the plastic jewel case and downsized to cardboard covers. Actually, I much prefer the slimline version, easier to handle and store, never likely to break. Who says austerity is a bad thing? [...]