classical music

Stories 21 - 40 | << Prev   Next >>

So You're a Piano Virtuoso? Get in Line

More and more musical geniuses crowding the field

(Newser) - So you can effortlessly play all of Chopin's piano études with flawless precision, style, and personality. Join the club. Being a young piano virtuoso is not the amazing feat as it used to be, writes Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times . "The overall level of technical...

Yes, Classical Music Can Still Change the World

New symphony a 'call to action' on the environment: DB Grady

(Newser) - Before YouTube or Twitter, composing a symphony was a great way to get your revolution going—the French one inspired Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, and Shostakovich wrote such controversial music that he would wait outside for the Soviet regime to arrest him so his family wouldn't be disturbed....

Epilepsy Likely Fueled Chopin's Visions

Composer saw creatures emerging from piano

(Newser) - The 19th-century composer Frédéric Chopin suffered frightening hallucinations, ranging from ghosts to creatures coming out of his piano. Now, researchers believe the visions may have been prompted by temporal lobe epilepsy, the Daily Telegraph reports. The disease can cause short, detailed hallucinations, and “could easily have been...

Beach Boy Wilson to Complete Gershwin Songs

Project a 'weird dream come true' for fans of 2 seminal American composers

(Newser) - Beach Boys songster Brian Wilson will put a gloss on unfinished tunes by revered Jazz Age composer George Gershwin. Gershwin’s estate tells the Los Angeles Times that dozens of fragments, from “a few bars to some almost finished songs and everything in between,” have been in limbo...

LA Shows the Love to 28-Year-Old Maestro

Gustavo Dudamel takes up baton at leading American orchestra

(Newser) - The Los Angeles Philharmonic greeted its new music director yesterday with waves, cheers, and bursts of brass and strings, and cameras tailed the new boss as he hugged his principal musicians. It wasn't a standard first day, but Gustavo Dudamel of Venezuela isn't a standard maestro—he's only 28 years...

Strep Throat Likely Killed Mozart

'Minor epidemic' hit Vienna

(Newser) - Some have speculated Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died of eating undercooked pork; others have said he was poisoned. Now researchers believe he may have died of strep throat, Reuters reports. There was a “minor epidemic” of strep in Vienna when Mozart died, and findings suggest “Mozart was one of...

Newfound Mozart Works Written in Sister's Book

(Newser) - Two pieces by a 7- or 8-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart went undiscovered for more than a century because they were written in his father Leopold’s hand, the New York Times reports. Austrian researchers have disclosed new details about the works after announcing the finding in July: The music consists...

Tweeting Beethoven a Noteworthy Development
Tweeting Beethoven a Noteworthy Development
analysis
Jul 30, 2009 10:23 AM CDT

Tweeting Beethoven a Noteworthy Development

Tech assist enhances classical experience

(Newser) - In a bid to win over multitaskers and technophobes, the National Symphony Orchestra will tweet along with tonight's performance of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, the Washington Post reports. Audience members with appropriate gadgets can sit in a special section on the lawn at Wolf Trap, in suburban Virginia, and follow...

2 New Mozart Pieces Found

Two piano pieces surface in Austria

(Newser) - Two pieces of music found in the vaults of the International Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg, Austria, have been confirmed as the work of Mozart himself, the BBC reports. The compositions are for solo piano, but other details are being kept under wraps until a formal announcement next month, said a...

'Beckham of Classical Music' Is Hit on Charts, With Ladies

David Garrett loves Metallica, sets world records

(Newser) - He covers Michael Jackson songs, and considers Mozart and Metallica equally influential—David Garrett is not your average classically trained violinist, but perhaps that’s why his self-titled debut has sat atop the classical crossover charts for three weeks. The German-born 28-year-old—who modeled on the side during his time...

Conductor Downes, Wife End Lives in Swiss Suicide Clinic

Couple faced failing health

(Newser) - British conductor Edward Downes and his wife, Joan, have died at a Swiss suicide clinic, ending their lives “under circumstances of their own choosing,” the couple’s children said today. Downes, 85, was largely blind and Joan, 74, had cancer, the Times of London reports, which their children...

Opera Sounds Good, But How Does It Smell?

New work opening at Guggenheim blasts 23 scents at audience

(Newser) - A new opera premiering at the Guggenheim Museum in New York later this month will be a feast for the ears, the eyes—and the nose. Green Aria, a 30-minute "scent opera" years in the making, pairs music with 23 distinct odors blasted at the audience via individual...

Polish Pianist Launches Rant Against US at LA Concert

Zimerman vows never to return to America

(Newser) - Famed Polish concert pianist Krystian Zimerman vowed to never again return to the US after his concert in Los Angeles last night, the Guardian reports. Dozens of audience members walked out as Zimerman, hailed as one of the greatest living pianists, delivered an anti-American tirade, accusing the US of wanting...

At Most Brit Funerals, Pop Music Plays You Out

(Newser) - Pop songs are handily beating out traditional hymns in England as the preferred soundtrack for the final goodbye, the Telegraph reports. A survey by a funeral-services company shows that 58% of funerals feature popular music as the top request, versus 35% for hymns; classical grabs just 7%. The top request?...

YouTube Orchestra Makes Strong, if Not Subtle, Debut

Symphony orchestra was selected by YouTube viewers voting on clips

(Newser) - YouTube's "crowdsourced" symphony orchestra made its debut at Carnegie Hall last night. Its 90-plus members played like "a finely tuned instrument," a BBC reviewer found, despite the fact that they had only met in person a couple of days earlier. The musicians, from 30 countries, were picked...

Few Blacks Followed Anderson's Lead
 Few Blacks Followed 
 Anderson's Lead 
analysis
Apr 6, 2009 5:01 PM CDT

Few Blacks Followed Anderson's Lead

(Newser) - Marian Anderson shattered a racial barrier when she sang at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, 1939—70 years ago this week—yet despite planned tributes, the power of the moment has faded, Alex Ross writes in the New Yorker. Most young people know nothing of Anderson, and "black...

High-Concept Sonnambula Misses at Met

 High-Concept 
 Sonnambula 
 Misses at Met 
opera review
Mar 23, 2009 2:35 PM CDT

High-Concept Sonnambula Misses at Met

(Newser) - Most operas weave pretty far-fetched tales, but that isn't license for directors to retell them in ironic or mocking ways, Alex Ross writes in the New Yorker. Reviewing two recent productions at the Met, Ross hails a faithful staging of Verdi's Il Trovatore—but dismisses a high-concept version of Bellini's...

YouTube Musicians on Their Way to Carnegie Hall

Viewers vote 90 players onto orchestra

(Newser) - Even Internet boosters who predicted that the Web would democratize everything probably weren’t including classical music. The first YouTube Symphony Orchestra has completed auditions, and is set to perform April 15, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Ninety musicians—ages 17 through 55—from some 30 countries were voted onto...

Rebel Singer Out to Save 'Dusty' Operas

(Newser) - Natalie Dessay is still butting heads with opera purists after twenty-some years in the business. The zesty soprano, an actor at heart, upsets some critics by adding theatrical gestures and even screams to her roles. "At least it's alive," Dessay says of her style. Opera, on the other...

Wonder Delivers Classical Opus
 Wonder Delivers Classical Opus 
OPINION
Feb 24, 2009 10:48 AM CST

Wonder Delivers Classical Opus

Performs 20-minute composition before receiving US award

(Newser) - Stevie Wonder performed an original classical piece last night at the Library of Congress, where he is due to receive the second Gershwin Prize for Popular Song tomorrow, the Washington Post reports. He played piano, keyboard, and harmonica along with a 21-piece ensemble performing “Sketches of a Life,”...

Stories 21 - 40 | << Prev   Next >>