Stories We Like: Archive of Reader Recommendations

These classical music and arts-related stories have been recommended by members of the Music Critics Association of North America and the editors of Classical Voice North America. Members — do you have a story to recommend? Send the headline and link to cvna.desk@gmail.com

March 2015

Jordi Savall’s never-ending repertoire — By Zachary Woolfe at the New York Times

Handel and Haydn Society exhibits its wares on anniversary day — By Elissa Birdseye at the Boston Musical Intelligencer

Crafty Stephen Cohn Premieres in Pacific Palisades and Pasadena — By Rodney Punt at LA Opus

Emerson Quartet inspires affection — By Anne Midgette at the Washington Post

Canadian Opera Company general director Alexander Neef on the intersection of art and music — By Jared Bland at the Globe and Mail

Tilson Thomas leads London Symphony in victory lap at Disney Hall — By Richard S. Ginell at LA Times

A Fight at the Opera: Peter Gelb has a bold vision. Can the Met afford it? — By James B. Stewart at The New Yorker

MusicNOW, Cincinnati Symphony Partner for Second Year — By Mary Ellyn Hutton at Music in Cincinnati

‘Written on Skin,’ an opera in concert at the Toronto Symphony — By Colin Eatock at Eatock Daily

David Geffen paid $100 million to get his name on Lincoln Center, and that`s kind of gross — By Felix Salmon at Slate.com

Interview with Paavo Järvi: Globe-Trotting Maestro — By Mary Ellyn Hutton at Music in Cincinnati

The future of orchestral music in two pieces — By Justin Davidson at Vulture.com

L.A. Phil’s Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla lights a fire at Disney Hall — By Mark Swed at the L.A. Times

February 2015

Pulitzer winner Kevin Puts returns to Minnesota Opera with high expectations — By Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune

How should artists engage with times of crisis? — By John Luther Adams at Slate

Opera is dead? — By Alan Fletcher at Huffpost Arts and Culture

Exploratory ‘First Take’ presents six operas in progress — By Mark Swed at the L.A. Times

An award to honor Julius Rudel — By Michael Cooper at the New York Times

Memorable work from Jacobs, Bronfman and the Cleveland Orchestra — By Daniel Hathaway at ClevelandClassical

LPO returns to Orpheum Theater and sets a ‘Resurrection’ season for 2015-2016 — By Chris Waddington at NOLA.com

The (new) golden age of classical music — By Richard Todd at Wolfgangs Tonic

Alan Gilbert to leave the New York Philharmonic in 2017 — By Michael Cooper at the New York Times

‘Don Giovanni’ in New York, Paris and Toronto — By Anthony Tommasini at the New York Times

Edmonton Symphony shines under conductor Bill Eddins — By Mark Morris at the Edmonton Journal

Grammys 2015: ‘City Noir,’ L.A.’s Partch take home awards — By Saba Hamedy at the L.A. Times

America’s orchestras grapple with lack of diversity — By Brian Wise and Naomi Lewin at WQXR

Gergiev and Mariinsky: Sparkling Prokofiev, Searing Shostakovich, and Some Tchaikovsky on the Side — By Geoffrey Simon at CVNC

January 2015

Chicago SO at Carnegie with Muti, a story-teller, and an operatic one at that — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

Winnipeg puts New York, California to shame with new music festival — By Teghan Beaudette at CBC News

Yannick Nézet-Séguin signs with Philadelphia Orchestra through 2022 — By Peter Dobrin at the Philadelphia Inquirer

Dallas Opera hits a double with ‘La Wally’ and ‘Everest’ — By David Weuste at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Mason Bates named composer-in-residence at the Kennedy Center — By Jaime Prisco at Classicalite

Protester climbs on to stage at Met Opera — By Michael Cooper at the New York Times

The Pleasures of Richard Strauss — By Tim Page at the New York Review of Books

Mozart’s Don Giovanni falls hard under COC’s heavy hand and curtain — By Arthur Kaptainis at the National Post

New York City Opera board prefers lower bid — By Michael Cooper at the New York Times

Kent Nagano and Toronto’s Tafelmusik deliver Beethoven at his best — By Michael Vincent at the Toronto Star

Composer Michael Gordon to celebrate Miami Beach with New World Symphony premiere — By Sarah Hucal at South Florida Classical Review

Opera conductor Karen Keltner broke the gender barrier — By John Patrick Ford at the San Diego Source

‘The Song Continues’ celebrates the art of song — By Vivien Schweitzer at the New York Times

Paul Jacobs carries torch for organists — By Elijah Ho at the San Francisco Examiner

21-year-old Atlanta Symphony bassoonist wins post as new principal with Chicago Symphony — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

In Paris, a New Music Hub Hums — By Anthony Tommasini at the New York Times

A New Festival for New Music — By Allan Kozinn at the Wall Street Journal

L.A. Opera tackles immigration with `Figaro 90210`— By Josie Huang at Southern California Public Radio

National Symphony Orchestra hits the clubs, and scores — By Anne Midgette at the Washington Post

Top 25 pianists in Canada — By Matthew Parsons at CBC Music

Leadership and the art of orchestra conducting — By Shelley Karabell at Forbes magazine

New York’s Prototype Festival offers a mix of opera and theater — By Heidi Waleson at the Wall Street Journal

Four nights of contemporary music in Vancouver — By David Gordon Duke at the Vancouver Sun

Canadian Opera Company unveils homegrown products — By Kate Taylor at the Globe and Mail

Two California opera companies to merge — By Marijke Rowland and Donald Munro at the Fresno Bee

Carlos Kalmar nails American music plan for Grant Park Music Festival — by Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

December 2014

Then and now, L.A. women get things done in classical music — By Mark Swed at the Los Angeles Times

Lyric chief Anthony Freud plots new directions for Chicago opera — By Mike Silverman at U.S. News

How the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra wants to re-invent the modern chamber orchestra — By Doug Grow at MinnPost

Pianist Simone Dinnerstein goes beyond Bach at the Met — By James R. Oestreich at the New York Times

Excellent biography of composer Claude Vivier is long overdue — By Arthur Kaptainis at the Montreal Gazette

Edmonton composers Alissa Cheung and Vivian Fung finding success on bigger stages — By Mark Morris at the Edmonton Journal

Cincinnati Music Hall gets $25 million tax-credit — By Janelle Gelfand at the Cincinnati Enquirer

Why failing orchestras are the problem of every American — By David Donnelly at the Huffington Post

John Adams’ ‘Death of Klinghoffer’ at the Met — By Anthony Tomassini at the New York Times

Four New Yorkers offer different perspectives on ‘Klingoffer’ — By Moustafa Bayoumi, Kayla Epstein, Alan Yuhas and Eli Valley at the Guardian

Minnesota composer Stephen Paulus dies at 65 — By Ian Holubiak at Classicalite

Newly created Pennsylvania Philharmonic launches season — By David Patrick Stearns at the Philadelphia Inquirer

November 2014

Boston Symphony’s Andris Nelsons: maestro of emotionality — By Christopher Lydon at Radio Open Source (audio interview)

Finally, a Max Reger moment at the L.A. Philharmonic — By Mark Swed at the L.A. Times

Alasdair Neal returns to New World Symphony for thrilling Dvořák — By Lawrence Budmen at South Florida Classical Review

Jahja Ling to leave San Diego Symphony — By James Chute at the San Diego Union-Tribune

Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra launches in Los Angeles — Rodney Punt at Huffington Post

L.A. Opera Revives Florencia en el Amazonas — Rodney Punt at San Francisco Classical Voice

Roll over, Mahler: U.S. orchestras are shrinking — By Michael Cooper at the New York Times

The shape of opera to come: ‘The Fool’ at issue project room — By  John Chiaverina at ArtNews

Andras Nelsens energizes the Boston Symphony — By Alex Ross at the New Yorker

 “The Death of Klinghoffer” is already a different experience than it was at its Brussels premiere 23 years ago — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

Langrée-CSO Mahler First Resplendent — By Mary Ellyn Hutton at Music in Cincinnati

Atlanta Symphony returns to applause and criticism — By Mark Gresham at ArtsATL.com

A tale of two Bohèmes — By Janos Gereben at San Francisco Classical Voice

Czech Philharmonic comes to Fairfax — Robert R. Reilly at Ionarts

Vancouver SO conductor loses scores to theft — By Marsha Lederman at the Globe and Mail

LA Opera’s double-bill of Bluebeard’s Castle and Dido and Aeneas frustrates — By Timothy Mangan at the Orange County Register

Virgil Thomson, the greatest music critic — By Jeff Simon at the Buffalo News

Comedic Riccardo Muti leaves ’em laughing — By Lawrence B. Johnson at Chicago On the Aisle

Boston SO to celebrate 75 years at Tanglewood — By Jeremy Eichler at the Boston Globe

Atlanta Symphony musicians agree to a four-year contract — By Howard Pousner at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Happily in tune with CSO, Muti nixes idea of position at Vienna State Opera — By Nancy Malitz at  Chicago On the Aisle

October 2014

Pianist asks the Washington Post to remove concert review — By Caitlin Dewey at the Washington Post

Vienna Aisle: Inside reeling mind of Tannhäuser via a bold psychological thriller at the Staatsoper — By Lawrence B. Johnson at Chicago On the Aisle

Dido & Aeneas , Bluebeard’s Castle in a Duo at LA Opera — By Rodney Punt at LA Opus

Portland Opera makes move to summer seasons — By David Stabler at the Oregonian

Why failing orchestras are the problem of every American — By David Donnelly at the Huffington Post

John Adams’ ‘Death of Klinghoffer’ at the Met — By Anthony Tomassini at the New York Times

Four New Yorkers offer different perspectives on ‘Klingoffer’ — By Moustafa Bayoumi, Kayla Epstein, Alan Yuhas and Eli Valley at theGuardian

Minnesota composer Stephen Paulus dies at 65 — By Ian Holubiak at Classicalite

Newly created Pennsylvania Philharmonic launches season — By David Patrick Stearns at the Philadelphia Inquirer

Aidan Lang’s Seattle Opera debut — By Ronald Holden at Crosscut.com

Canadian Opera’s Falstaff is a fine figure of a performance — By Arthur Kaptainis at the National Post

Four types of cranky letters from readers — By Scott Cantrell at the Dallas Morning News

Lyric’s ‘Capriccio’ embraces ensemble flair, patrician milieu of Strauss’ high-minded lark — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

A conversation with Pinchas Zukerman — By Lenny Cavallaro at Stay Thirsty magazine

Has veneration of Beethoven stifled his successors? — By Alex Ross at the New Yorker

United focus, local talent, help Utah Opera find success — By Whitney Butters at the Deseret News

Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society celebrates 200 years — By Andrea Shea at the Artery (WBUR)

At the Toronto Symphony, subtle Chopin from Khatia Buniatishvili — By Arthur Kaptainis at the National Post

Verdi’s ‘Masked Ball’ Returns to S.F. Opera — By Rodney Punt at San Francisco Classical Voice

Does classical music sound better when you’re high? — By Chris Walker at OC Weekly

Stop sanitizing, and show the great works as they were created — By Philip Kennicott at the Washington Post

Protesters disrupt St. Louis Symphony with song for Michael Brown — By Ed Mazza at the Huffington Post

Joshua Bell at Washington’s Union Station — By Robert Pohl at Ionarts

Gustavo Dudamel leads Mahler’s Fifth in Los Angeles — By Mark Swed at the Los Angeles Times

Dark, funny, musically vibrant ‘Don Giovanni’ raises the curtain on new Lyric Opera season — By Lawrence B. Johnson at Chicago On the Aisle

Toronto’s $32-million Integral House was built for music — By Robert Everett-Green at the Globe and Mail

Alan Gilbert nears completion of his Carl Nielsen cycle with the New York Philharmonic — By Anthony Tommasini at the New York Times

Robert Spano and Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed urge ASO and musicians to resolve conflict — By Jenny Jarvie at ArtsATL

Boston overdue for a proper opera house — By Jeremy Eichler at the Boston Globe

Inaugural concert ushers in the Nelsons era for the Boston Symphony — By David Wright at Boston Classical Review

Quire Cleveland presents exquisite vocal exhibit of Flemish Renaissance Polyphony — By Daniel Hathaway at Cleveland Classical

Mozart, Adams Combine for Perfect Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Opening — By Mary Ellyn Hutton at Music in Cincinnati

Happy ending for Toronto Symphony Orchestra Ninth — By Arthur Kaptainis at the National Post

Bach, Played in Living Color: From Christian Tetzlaff, Violin Sonatas and Partitas — By James R. Oestreich at the New York Times

Musicians go to bat for threatened Conservatoire, seen as valuable training ground for top Quebec talent — By Arthur Kaptainis at the Montreal Gazette

September 2014

In Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni,’ director Robert Falls sees a complex figure worthy of Shakespeare — By Lawrence B. Johnson at Chicago On the Aisle

New Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal disc is more crossover than classical — By Arthur Kaptainis at the Montreal Gazette

Miami Lyric Opera offers vibrant, semi-staged ‘Un ballo in maschera’ — By Lawrence Budmen at South Florida Classical Review

Author Robert Freeman says schools aren’t building classical audiences — By Mark Kanny at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Gazette

Montreal Symphony launches Bach cantata cycle — By Arthur Kaptainis at the Montreal Gazette

Will artists be squeezed out of SF Bay area? — By Mark MacNamara at San Francisco Classical Voice

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s crisis matters everywhere — By Tom Service at the Guardian

The trouble with ‘Klinghofer’ isn’t quite what you think — By Justin Davidson at New York magazine

Miami Lyric Opera offers vibrant, semi-staged ‘Un ballo in maschera’ — By Lawrence Budmen at South Florida Classical Review

Author Robert Freeman says schools aren’t building classical audiences — By Mark Kanny at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Gazette

Montreal Symphony launches Bach cantata cycle — By Arthur Kaptainis at the Montreal Gazette

Will artists be squeezed out of SF Bay area? — By Mark MacNamara at San Francisco Classical Voice

Atlanta Symphony Orhcestra’s crisis matters everywhere — By Tom Service at the Guardian

The trouble with ‘Klinghofer’ isn’t quite what you think — By Justin Davidson at New York magazine

Met opera with new contract gears up for season that nearly wasn’t — By Anne Midgette for the The Washington Post

Interview with soprano Christine Goerke — By Anne Midgette at the Washington Post

Size is an issue in Atlanta Symphony dispute — By Howard Pousner at the Atlanta Journal Constitution

South Carolina Philharmonic funds commission through Kickstarter — By Amanda Coyne at the State

‘The Canticle of the Black Madonna’ brings post-traumatic stress disorder to the opera stage — By James Bash at Northwest Reverb

Dallas’s Myerson Symphony Center at 25 — By Scott Cantrell and Mark Lamster at the Dallas News

‘The Persians’ of Aeschylus premieres at Getty Villa — By Rodney Punt at LA Opus

Chicago Symphony’s new chief Jeff Alexander is battle tested by long, productive career in orchestra world — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

The top 30 Canadian classical recordings — By Michael Morreale at CBC Music

Cellist Carmine Miranda brings Piatti into focus — By Mary Ellyn Hutton at Music in Cincinnati

White Lights Festival presents spiritual journey in New York — By Anthony Tommasini at the New York Times

Franz Welser-Möst resigns from Vienna State Opera — By Zachary Lewis at the Cleveland Plain Dealer

August 2014

Colorado Symphony drops tuxedos and brings drinks into the hall — By Ray Mark Rinaldi at the Denver Post

St. Teresa Honored in Dolora Zajick’s ‘Roads to Zion’— By Rodney Punt at San Francisco Classical Voice

Ottawa’s Opera Lyra fires tenor over Facebook comments — At CBC News

14 Artists who are transforming opera — By Priscilla Frank at the Huffington Post

Classical CDs: a flourishing of young pianists — By Scott Cantrell at the Dallas Morning News

The best of all possible ‘Candides‘ — By Cashman Kerr Prince  at the Boston Musical Intelligencer

The Met is too grand for today’s operas — By Joseph Horowitz at the Wall Street Journal

Barbara Pentland’s opera ‘The Lake’ is adapted to lakeside site — By Marsha Lederman at the Globe and Mail

Wolf Trap Opera closes season with surreal double-bill — By Charles T. Downey at Ionarts

Santa Fe Opera’s sustained high note — By Anne Midgette at the Washington Post

Cleveland Orchestra hits the mark with first Summers@Severance concert — By Mark Satola at the Plain Dealer

Speight Jenkins recalls highs and lows at Seattle Opera — By Melinda Bargreen at the Seattle Times

Louisville Orchestra back in the black — By Elizabeth Kramer at the Courier-Journal

A chorister speaks to the Met’s financial challenges —  By Mark MacNamara at San Francisco Classical Voice

Amid all the fretting about classical music’s future, some worries about its past  — By Tim Smith at the Baltimore Sun

Pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico finds peace in contemporary music — By Natasha Gauthier at the Ottawa Citizen

Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera scrap fall season — By Edward Ortiz at the Sacramento Bee

LumenoCity Encore Thrilling  — By Mary Ellyn Hutton at Music in Cincinnati

Immortal Beloved: Review of Jan Swafford’s ‘Beethoven’  — By Jeremy Denk at the New York Times Sunday Book Review

Book Review: Jan Swafford’s ‘Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph’  — By Edmund Morris at The Wall Street Journal

Book Review: Stephen Budiansky’s ‘Mad Music’ and David C. Paul’s  ‘Charles Ives in the Mirror’  — By Leon Botstein at The Wall Street Journal

July 2014

‘Baby Doe’ remains relevant through Chautauqua Opera’s remarkable staging — By Arthur Kaptainis in The Chautauquan Daily

Longtime Chicago symphony executive named CEO of San Diego Symphony — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

Dr. Sun Yat-sen Triumphs in American Premiere — By Rodney Punt at San Francisco Classical Voice

The curious case of Peter Gelb — By Zachary Woolfe at the New York Observer

Shut up, please — By Joe Queenan at the Weekly Standard

Wolf Trap Carmen could use more edginess — By Tom Huizenga at the Washington Post

Riccardo Muti and the Critics — By Paul E. Robinson at Musical Toronto

Too Little Gershwin in ‘The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess at the Muny —  By Chuck Lavazzi at KDHX.org

Houston Grand Opera delivers powerful experience with ‘The Passenger’ — By George Grella at Classical Review

The Met’s decision to present but not broadcast ‘The Death of Klinghoffer’ is the opposite of Solomonic — By Marty Peretz at the New York Observer

What do opera singers actually get paid? — By Jennifer Rivera at the Huffington Post

Recitals at the Banff Centre offer outstanding performances — By Stephan Bonfield at the Calgary Herald

Next Wave Audio: The Affordable Revolution in High Resolution Recording — By Jason Victor Serinus at San Francisco Classical Voice

Not over till overtime’s due? Met labor strife bares secrets — By Michael Cooper at the New York Times

Imaginative programming at Fort Worth’s Mimir Festival — By Scott Cantrell at the Dallas Morning News

Odd choices sink Renee Fleming’s performance at Tanglewood — By Priscilla McLean at the San Francisco Chronicle

Violinist Midori is expecting a child — By David Ng at the L.A. Times

Creating world-class acoustics in Kingston, Canada — By Michael Morreale at CBC Music

On the state of opera — By Speight Jenkins at OperaSleuth

A symphony of clangor, and an early modern dream — By Jeremy Eichler at The Boston Globe

NANOWorks (North American New Opera Workshop) Closes Season Powerfully — By Mary Ellyn Hutton at Music in Cincinnati

‘Baby Doe’ remains relevant through Chautauqua Opera’s remarkable staging — By Arthur Kaptainis in The Chautauquan Daily

Longtime Chicago symphony executive named CEO of San Diego Symphony — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

Dr. Sun Yat-sen Triumphs in American Premiere — By Rodney Punt at San Francisco Classical Voice

The curious case of Peter Gelb — By Zachary Woolfe at the New York Observer

Shut up, please — By Joe Queenan at the Weekly Standard

Wolf Trap Carmen could use more edginess — By Tom Huizenga at the Washington Post

Riccardo Muti and the Critics — By Paul E. Robinson at Musical Toronto

Too Little Gershwin in ‘The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess at the Muny —  By Chuck Lavazzi at KDHX.org

Union Avenue Opera’s La Traviata is the Toast of the Town — By Chuck Lavazzi at KDHX.org

Vancouver opera scene is on a roll — By David Gordon Duke at the Vancouver Sun

Classical musicians and the terror of the audition — By Donna Perlmutter at the L.A. Times

John Luther Adams blends his music with city noise — By Justin Davidson at Vulture.com

New Orford Quartet presents a premiere to remember — By Arthur Kaptainis at the Montreal Gazette

Military bands face challenges — by Anne Midgette at the Washington Post

The love of ‘La Calisto’ — By Janelle Gelfand at the Cincinnati Enquirer

Lorin Maazel dies at 84 — By Elizabeth Bloom at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Eminent conductor Lorin Maazel dies at 84 — By Tim Smith at The Baltimore Sun

June 2014

Non-stop action adds distraction to Opera Theatre’s ‘The Magic Flute’  — By Chuck Lavazzi at KDHX.org

To wisdom framed in memorable songs, Sting’s musical ‘The Last Ship’ adds mystery of grace — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

Opera Theatre of St. Louis “Elixir of Love” is intoxicating — By Chuck Lavazzi at KDHX.org

Jacaranda Music: Still Edgy After All These Years — By Rodney Punt at LA Opus

Cellist Samis Makes the Case for Reinecke Concerto — By Mary Ellyn Hutton at Music in Cincinnati

New organ for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s hall — By Arthur Kaptainis at the Montreal Gazette

Musicians for 2013 Chicago Beethoven Festival still unpaid — By Ellen McSweeny at NewMusicBox

Gertrude Stein in St. Louis — By Heidi Waleson at the Wall Street Journal

Steven Stucky’s ‘The Classical Style: an Opera (of Sorts)’ in San Francisco — By Jeff Dunn at Classical Voice San Francisco

Toward livelier orchestra programs — By Scott Cantrell at the Dallas Morning News

Jocelyn Morelock appointed Vancouver Symphony’s new Composer-in-Residence — By David Gordon Duke at the Vancouver Sun

Origins of Canada’s national anthem revealed in Mozart — by Michael Vincent at Musical Toronto

A new symphony for former Canadian prime minister Joe Clark — By Marsha Lederman at the Globe and Mail

Digital-music Ring Cycle in Connecticut generates anger — By Michael Cooper at the New York Times

Let’s get American about our music — By Zoe Kennerling at NewMusicBox

Los Angeles Master Chorale wraps season 50 — By Douglas Neslund at LA Opus

Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow says goodbye to the NY Philharmonic — From WNYC

Met Opera stands on a precipice, says Peter Gelb — By Tom Service and Maev Kennedy at the Guardian

Boston’s Odyssey Opera makes debut — By Harlow Robinson at the Boston Globe

Summer music festivals in the East — By Mark Kanny at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Montreal Annoints a New King — By Barbara Jepson at the Wall Street Journal

St. Louis Opera Theatre’s ‘Magic Flute’ is more about dance than singing — By Sarah Bryan Miller at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

May 2014

Philadelphians reach across East-West divide — By David Patrick Stearns at the Philadelpia Inquirer

Critics ‘weigh in’ on critique of body size in opera — By Michael Cooper at the New York Times

Maestro Franz Paul Decker passes away at 90 — By Arthur Kaptainis at the Montreal Gazette

Carnegie Hall is Too Damn Big — By Justin Davidson at Wondering Sound

Ludovic Morlot makes waves with the Seattle Symphony — By Steve Smith at the Boston Globe

“Song of Sorrows” (A look at Contemporary Requiems) — By Barbara Jepson at Opera News

San Diego Opera rides again — By Anne Midgette at the Washington Post

Florian Boesch performs ‘Winterreise’ at Carnegie Hall — By James R. Oestreich at the New York Times

Q&A with Canadian composer Christos Hatzis — By Robert Rowat at CBC Music

Christian Tetzlaff and S.F. Symphony devour Bartók concerto — By Jeff Dunn at San Francisco Classical Voice

Atlanta Chamber Players and Sonic Generator end seasons on a high note — By Mark Gresham at ArtsATL

No, classical music isn’t dead — By Colin Eatock at 3 Quarks Daily

Sarah Billinghurst retires from the Met — By Zachary Wolfe at the New York Times

Warmth and precision from the Cleveland Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä — By Daniel Hathaway at Cleveland Classical

Protests greet Moscow Virtuosi in Toronto and Vancouver — By Michael Morreale at CBC Music

Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia winds up season with a bang — By David Patrick Stearns at the Philadelphia Inquirer

Alessio Bax tackles a pianistic challenge — By Ken Iisaka at Classical Voice San Francisco

Antonio Pappano interview: ‘This elitist label is tiresome. Opera is so visceral’ — By Fiona Maddox at The Guardian

Baltimore Symphony and Alsop deliver explosive account of Shostakovich’s Twelfth — By Tim Smith at the Baltimore Sun

After double exposure in Met HD roles, Susanna Phillips ready for  more in Chicago — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

Green Bay Symphony to play one last season — By Paul Srubas at the Green Bay Press Gazette

Lessons learned through the Minnesota Orchestra lockout — By Bill Eddins at Sticks and Drones

Cellphones at a Philadelphia Orchestra concert — By Anthony Tommasini at the New York Times

Pianist Eleanor Sokoloff turns 100 this year — By Peter Dobrin at the Philadelphia Inquirer

April 2014

Colorado Symphony and cannabis industry find harmony — By Ray Mark Rinaldi at the Denver Post

Crowdfunding for San Diego Opera off to a strong start — By Mike Boehm at the L.A. Times

Peter Gelb talks about the Met’s challenges — By Gero Schliess at Deutsche Welle

Orchestras in Upstate NY stay nimble — By Zachary Woolfe at the New York Times

American cellist Zuill Bailey talks about his life in classical music — By Ben Finane at Listen

A Conductor,  Rehired, Now Must Rebuild — By James Oestreich at the New York Times

Cellist Paul Watkins on his first year with the Emerson Quartet — By Colin Eatock at the Houston Chronicle

China, a classical colossus, ready for BSO tour — By Jeremy Eichler at the Boston Globe

A scorching, go-for-broke performance of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony — By Andrew Clark at the Financial Times

Austin: Mozart Requiem — Undead — By Andrew Sigler at NewMusicBox

Startup Bets on Millennials and House Parties to Save Classical Music — By Francesca Trianni at Time

Toronto Symphony lands a new CEO — By Martin Knelman at the Toronto Star

Tenor Ben Heppner announces retirement from singing — At CBC News

Jeffrey Kahane to step down from L.A. Chamber Orchestra — By David Ng at the L.A. Times

Architect Frank Gehry to design tribute to Pierre Boulez in Chicago — By Louise Burton at Classicalite

Osmo Vänskä is back as music director of Minnesota Orchestra — By Graydon Royce at the Minnesota StarTribune

Berlin Philharmonic Starts Its Own Record Label — By Michael Cooper at the New York Times

Canadian musicians unhappy with U.S. ivory ban — By Brad Wheeler at the Globe and Mail

Could a new plan save the San Diego Opera? — By Paul Kragen at the Union-Tribune

American organist barred from the U.K. — By Alan Travis at the Guardian

Met Opera puts the squeeze on chorus salaries — By Rachel L. Swarns at the New York Times

Bach Passions shine in Montreal — By Arthur Kaptainis at the Gazette

Conductor Osmo Vänskä considers his options — By Anne Midgette at the Washington Post

John Luther Adams wins 2014 Pulitzer Prize in music — By Frank J. Oteri for New Music Box

MacMillan’s St. Luke Passion has dramatic US Premiere — By Geoffrey Simon at CVNC

Book Review: Evan Baker’s “From the Score to the Stage” — By Rodney Punt at LA Opus

How the South Dakota Orchestra was saved — By Jodi Schwann at the Argus Leader

Cincinnati Opera presents world premiere of ‘Morning Star’ — By Janelle Gelfand at the Cincinnati Enquirer

Composer Oliver Knussen curates a program at the Library of Congress — By Anne Midgette at the Washington Post

Uchida plays Schubert and Beethoven at Carnegie Hall — by James R. Oestreich at the New York Times

Toronto Symphony reveals capacity for metamorphosis — By Lev Bratishenko at the Montreal Gazette

Mark Stryker: MOT’s ‘A View From the Bridge’ has drama, believability — By Mark Stryker at the Detroit Free Press

Father-Daughter team shine in ‘A View From the Bridge’ in Detroit — By Lawrence A. Johnson at Classical Review

Kwasi Enin wins admission to eight Ivy League colleges with his essay ‘A Life in Music’ — By Alex Heigl at People

Contentious labor talks at the Met — By Michael Cooper at the New York Times

Baltimore Symphony takes on Czech composers — By Simon Chin at the Washington Post

Portland Baroque Orchestra offers the riches of Germany before Bach — By James McQuillen at the Oregonian

Esa-Pekka Salonen  talks on multi-tasking, Northwestern and the CSO — By John Von Rhein at the Chicago Tribune

March 2014

‘Copland and Mexico’ in Austin — By Paul E. Robinson at La Scena Musicale

Rocking the Symphony — By E. Tammy Kim for Al Jazeerah America

Semi-staged Rusalka enchants in Raleigh – By John W. Lambert at CVNC

Songs for lute and voice enchanting in Vancouver — By David Gordon Duke at the Vancouver Sun

Itzhak Perlman abandoned at Toronto airport — By Tristin Hopper at the National Post

Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music grads win at Met Opera competition — By Janelle Gelfand at Cincinnati.com

S&R Foundation establishes the base of a classical music empire — By Anne Midgette at the Washington Post

Ravishing pianism of Mitsuko Uchida in Berkeley — By Jerry Kuderna at San Francisco Classical Voice

Charlie Parker’s life inspires new opera — By Culturekiosk Staff at Culturekiosk

Riccardo Muti sets personal seal on Schubert with Chicago Symphony project — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

Philadelphia is the new Brooklyn — By David Patrick Stearns at the Philadelphia Inquirer

Cleveland Orchestra shines under former director Dohnányi — By Zachary Lewis at the Cleveland Plain Dealer

Osmo Vänskä takes spin at old job in Minneapolis — By James Oestriech at the New York Times

Indianapolis Opera cuts ‘Albert Herring’ — By Dan Human at Indianapolis Business Journal

Noseda, orchestra and cast make a case for the Met’s ‘Andrea Chenier’ — By George Grella at New York Classical Review

Cleveland Chamber Orchestra launches NEOSonicFest — By Mike Telin at Cleveland Classical

Arditti Quartet’s displays nostalgia for complexity — By Benjamin Pesetsky at the Boston Musical Intelligencer

Dudamel and LA Philharmonic cheered in Toronto — by Arthur Kaptainis at the National Post

Eschenbach’s contract with the National Symphony Orchestras is extended through 2016-17 — By Anne Midgette at the Washington Post

With Hensons departure, Minnesota Orchestra faces many questions beyond Vänskä’s fate  — By Doug Grow at the MinnPost

Augusta Read Thomas on Ringing In the New — By Kyle MacMillan at the Wall Street Journal 

Classical music’s shocking gender gap — By Michael Morreale at CBC Music

San Diego Opera closes its doors — By David Ng at the Los Angeles Times

What’s really wrong at the Metropolitan Opera — By “La Cieca” at Parterre Box

St. Paul Chamber Orchestra names Jeremy Denk as artistic planner — By Kristin Tillotson at the Star Tribune

Musicologist Joseph Kerman dies — By Joshua Kosman at SFGate

Looking for boldness in a new era at the BSO  — By Jeremy Eichler at The Boston Globe

Pianist Richard Goode to play ‘kaleidoscopic’ program in Seattle — By Tom Keogh at the Seattle Times

Our moral expectations of conductors — By Anne Midgette at the Washington Post

Svelte Systems for Spinning Vinyl — By Jesse Will at the Wall Street Journal

Conductor Robert Spano on 12 years in Atlanta (Part 1) — By Mark Gresham at ArtsATL.com

Reiner’s oboist of choice, Ray Still, was virtuoso career model for two who came after — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

Yefim Bronfman launches Beethoven series in Boston — By David Wright at Boston Classical Review

Kevin Mallon appointed interim artistic director of Opera Lyra Ottawa— By Peter Robb at the Ottawa Citizen

Violinist Daniel Hope to pay tribute to Joachim in Fort Lauderdale — By David Fleshler at South Florida Classical Review

Taking inspiration from opera visionary Gerard Mortier – By Mark Swed at the Los Angeles Times

A Valentino Not Worth Fighting Over — By Heidi Waleson at the Wall Street Journal

Mandelring Quartet gives flawless presentation — By David Gordon Duke at the Vancouver Sun

Metropolitan Opera seeks pay cuts from unions — By Jennifer Maloney at the Wall Street Journal

Dominic Argento’s revised ‘Valentino’ is a triumph for Minnesota Opera — By Michael Anthony at the Star Tribune

February 2014

Classical radio station WQED in Pittsurgh reduces its staff — By Megan Harris at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Shanghai Quartet plays Bright Sheng and Robert Aldrich — By Charles T. Downey at the Washington Post

Vancouver Symphony focuses on new music — By David Gordon Duke at the Vancouver Sun

Violinist Lara St. John fixes ‘Game of Thrones’ theme — By Jennifer Van Evra at CBC Music

Ives Quartet deconstructs Henry Cowell’s ‘Mosaic’ — By Richard Scheinin at the San Jose Mercury-News

Vladimir Jurowski illuminates Rachmaninoff — By Peter Dobrin at the Philadelphia Inquirer

Stirring ‘St. Matthew Passion’ in Seattle — By Melinda Bargreen at the Seattle Times

How African-Americans changed classical music — By Leonard Slatkin at the Detroit Free Press

North Carolina based composer-physicist Bill Robinson showcased with new works — By Chelsea Huber at CVNC

Why don’t composers win cash prizes when they need them most? — By Ivan Hewitt at the Telegraph

Chicago Lyric Opera’s first ‘Rusalka’ a winner — By John Von Rhein at the Chicago Tribune

Minnesota Orchestra Drama Plays On — by James R. Oestreich at the New York Times

The minor greatness of Benjamin Britten — By Philip Kennicott at the New Republic

Dudamel defends concert in Venezuela on day of protests — By 

Prince Igor at the Metropolitan Opera — By Martin Bernheimer at the Financial Times

Memphis Symphony to cease operations — By Brian Wise at WQXR Blog

Osmo Vänskä asks Minnesota Orchestra president Michael Henson to step down – By Marianne Combs at Minnesota Public Radio

World premiere double cello concerto by Giovanni Sollima unveiled at Chicago Symphony — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

That Unmatch’d Form: A new opera explores Ophelia — By Baynard Woods at Baltimore’s City Paper

Boston Symphony Chamber Players celebrate 50 years — By David Weininger at the Boston Globe

Gerard Mortier reflects on NYCO — By Anthony Tommasini at the New York Times

Riccardo Muti agrees to Chicago extension, muses on role of CEO — By Lawrence B. Johnson at Chicago On the Aisle

Renee Fleming at the Superbowl — By Anne Midgette at the Washington Post

Montreal Opera gets ‘Porgy and Bess’ right — By Arthur Kaptainis at the Montreal Gazette

Met Opera Reports Falling Attendance — By Michael Cooper at the New York Times

January 2014

Strad violin stolen in Milwaukee — By Ashley Luthern at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Matter of Interpretation: Cultural Conversation with Alisa Weilerstein — By Barbara Jepson in The Wall Street Journal

New Music at the Classical Grammys — By Tom Huizenga at Deceptive Cadence (NPR Music)

The Classical Grammys — By Anne Midgette at the Washington Post

Charles Wuorinen adapts ‘Brokeback Mountain’ as an opera — By Zachary Woolfe at the New York Times

Violist-composer Brett Dean appears with the St. Louis Symphony — By Sarah Bryan Miller at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Lyric Opera of Chicago’s diamond anniversary season will spotlight Fleming, Serjan — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

Tugan Sokhiev leads the Philadelphia Orchestra — By David Patrick Stearns at the Philadelphia Inquirer

Osmo Vänskä will be part of Minnesota Orchestra’s abbreviated season — By Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune

Claudio Abbado dies at 80 — By Chris Pasles at the Los Angeles Times

Chamber Music Northwest announces 2014 season — By David Stabler at the Oregonian

American composers neglected by U.S. orchestras — By Scott Cantrell at the Dallas News

Vancouver Symphony launches new music festival — By David Gordon Duke at the Vancouver Sun

 Anna Netrebko returns to the Met’s ‘L’Elisir d’Amore’ — By Anthony Tommasini at the New York Times

Showing 2020 vision, Lyric Opera reveals plan for new production of Wagner’s ‘Ring’ Cycle — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

Washington music presenters reach beyond the concert hall — By Anne Midgette at the Washington Post

Will Osmo Vänskä return to Minneapolis? — By Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune

Canadian singers to shine in Canadian Opera’s 2014-15 season — By Arthur Kaptainis at the National Post

Detroit Symphony ratifies three-year contract — by Mark Stryker at the Detroit Free Press

Minnesota Orchestra lockout ends with deal — by Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune

Ignat Solzhenitsyn adrift with Toronto Symphony — By Arthur Kaptainis at the National Post

Canadian Border Services seizes violin — By Jason Proctor at CBC News

San Francisco Opera back to full strength — By Janos Gereben at San Francisco Classical Voice

Multi-sensory concerts from BitterSuite — By Lyndsey Winship at the Guardian

Lafayette Opera approaches 20th anniversary — By Anne Midgette at the Washington Post

A Day inMy Life  – By character tenor David Cangelosi at DavidCangelosi.com

That Other Musical Minority – Young Conductors  — By Leonard Slatkin at the Huffington Post

Opera Hamilton ceases operations — By Leonard Turnevicius at the Hamilton Spectator

 Pianist Louis Lortie in Philadelphia — By Peter Dobrin at the Philadelphia Inquirer

 American Hollywood Film Orchestra in China — By Julie Makinen at the Los Angeles Times

Conductor on Canadian Opera’s neglect of native works — By Bramwell Tovey at MacLean’s magazine

Tomorrow’s Valhalla: standout operas of recent decades — By Anthony Tommasini at the New York Times

Gotham Chamber Opera’s Orphée aux enfers — By Martin Bernheimer at the Financial Times

Debate over Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis — By Jake Anderson at MinnPost

MoMA’s ‘There Will Never Be Silence,’ About John Cage — By Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim at the New York Times

2013

New classical radio station on air in Winnipeg — By Alexandra Paul at Winnipeg Free Press

In search of Van Cliburn — By Prudence Mackintosh at Texas Monthly

Italian opera houses face financial crisis — By Elizabeth Braw at Newsweek

Ten best 2013 performances in Dallas — by Scott Cantrell at the Dallas News

Flutist Clare Chase addresses young musicians — by Anthony Tommasini at the New York Times

Bernard Rands work inspired by Beckett poetry renews composer’s time-honored link to CSO — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

Margaret Atwood’s libretto has first hearing in Vancouver — By Marsha Lederman at the Globe and Mail

Taylor Swift donates $100,000 to Nashville Symphony — By Allan Kozinn at the New York Times

Minnesota Orchestra musicians announce ten-concert season — By Kristin Tillotson at the Star Tribune

Mohammed Fairouz is a composer of the world — By Jeffrey Fleishman at the Los Angeles Times

Leopold Stokowski in Houston — By Colin Eatock at the Houston Chronicle

Deborah Rutter Named President of Kennedy Center — By Charles T. Downey at Ionarts

L.A. Phil tries something new with Green Umbrella Concert — By Mark Swed at the Los Angeles Times

The best classical music apps — By Charlotte Gardner at Gramophone

Rufus Wainwright Receives Commission From the Canadian Opera Company — by Robert Harris at the Globe and Mail

Bramwell Tovey to Leave Vancouver Symphony in 2018 — by David Gordon Duke at the Vancouver Sun

Del Tredici in Wonderland: DSO premieres ‘Dum Dee Tweedle’ — By Mark Stryker at the Detroit Free Press

Mahlerite Michael Tilson Thomas brings newly sharpened Ninth to Chicago Symphony podium — By Lawrence B. Johnson at Chicago On the Aisle

Love that kills: Mourning Becomes Electra at FGO — By Sebastian Spreng at KnightArts

Conductor Bernard Labadie travels to bridge old, new music — By Colin Eatock at Kansas City Star

The seventh music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra will be its youngest ever — By Peter Robb at Ottawa Citizen

Joyce DiDonato on her crowd-sourced CD — By Elizabeth Davis for Classical-music.com

Zappa’s Bogus Pomp is full of fun for Orchestre symphonique de Montréal — By Arthur Kaptainis at The Gazette

New World Symphony hints at brave new future of classical music — By John von Rhein at the Chicago Tribune

Impressive debut by Avner Dorman with CityMusic Cleveland at Fairmount Church — By  Daniel Hathaway at ClevelandClassical.com

Composer Ned Rorem at 90: Still playing — By David Patrick Stearns at The Inquirer

Superb singing and spectacular staging mark Piedmont Opera’s Der fliegende Holländer —  By Peter Perret at CVNC

Young Opera Singers: Who will sing Aida? — By “E.H.B.” in The Economist

Ben Heppner looks back on a life of opera — By Richard Ouzounian at the Toronto Star

Seiji Ozawa’s Focus Is on Winning Classical-Music Accolades for Japan — By Hiroko Tabuchi at the New York Times

Chicago Symphony’s MusicNOW focuses on Donnacha Denney, Benedict Mason and Anders Hillborg — By Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle

Work for Hire: Piano Man — By Jeremy Denk in The New Yorker

In conductor Susanna Mälkki’s return to Chicago Symphony, her place with the world’s elite is confirmed — By Lawrence B. Johnson at Chicago On the Aisle

Verdi as Icon for Contemporary Composers? — By Marion Lignana Rosenberg at WQXR.org

Bartók’s Monster: Stalking the dead composer through Transylvania — By Jay Kirk at Harper’s Magazine

A Plucky Opera’s Poignant Death Rattle: Tracing City Opera’s Missteps and Triumphs — By Anthony Tommasini at the New York Times

‘Eugene Onegin’: Lively Protests, Dull Production — By Heidi Waleson at The Wall Street Journal

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts opens Fort Worth’s Cliburn at the Modern series — By Gregory Sullivan Isaacs at Theater Jones

Plácido Domingo & Jonas Kaufmann: Ser o no ser (Plácido Domingo & Jonas Kaufmann: To be or not to be) — By Sebastian Spreng at Miami Clásica

As Good as It Gets: The Reopening of Duke University’s Baldwin Auditorium — By Jeffrey Rosman at CVNC.org