Category: music

“The story of the theremin and its inventor has it all: drama, suspense, geopolitics, and, above all, tragedy. It’s a wonder Hollywood hasn’t yet made a movie about it.” – Quartz

It’s beautiful, but then there’s the obvious question … who in their right mind would open a record store now? There is no money in it. Even on this gentrified street there are empty shops, the rents are extortionate and landlords are keen to turn properties over to property developers. What about profit? “What about artistic profit, creative profit, intellectual profit?” replies Thurston Moore. – The Guardian

“While jazz-inspired music by the likes of Stravinsky and Weill has never been forgotten, the similar efforts of dozens of other composers from the same period have fallen into obscurity. Now some of those experiments are enjoying a fresh hearing.” Seth Colter Walls has a listen. – The New York Times

The academy announced Ms. Dugan’s removal in a letter from its executive committee, sent to the organization’s members. “We placed our trust in her and believed she would effectively lead the organization,” the committee wrote in the letter. “Unfortunately, that is not what happened.” – The New York Times

Long speculated about, but never before seen in public, the manuscript was apparently written after Hitler had had only a few months of piano lessons. And it clearly demonstrated the future dictator’s “inflated sense of his own abilities. The single sheet is believed to be the only surviving page of an ambitious project based on Germanic mythology that closely apes an unfinished work of the same name by Wagner himself. – The Local AT

“As a sexual assault survivor myself, my conscience would not allow me to be a party to an agreement than allowed the union to bury the details of Domingo’s decades-long abuse of female AGMA members,” wrote Samuel Schultz in his letter resigning from AGMA’s board and acknowledging that he gave the report to the AP. Schultz is the singer who accused countertenor David Daniels and his husband of drugging and raping him in 2010. – NPR

What’s new? Well, a new Dutchman (Bryn Terfel got hurt, preventing him from singing at the Met again), a new Senta, and an entirely new production that’s dream-like, “a heady mixture of painted elements, video and dance that continues throughout the intermissionless performance.” – The New York Times

The Strauss family were outraged by the 1970 film, which aired on the BBC, and withdrew permission for Strauss’ music. Now it’s out of copyright, and showing again in England. – BBC

MacArthur winner Yuval Sharon says it’s time for opera to reckon with the past. “Sweet Land has been described by its creators as ‘an opera that erases itself.’ It achieves an effect not unlike that of traveling back in time to witness the first Thanksgiving, then returning to the present to hear its story warped through the traditional, wholesome retelling.” – The New York Times

“You can have a bad experience whether flying with it in your hand or freighting. I’ve seen a forklift go right through a guitar case before. Airlines should be as explicit as possible on their websites about their policies. But if you’re not a platinum member, don’t expect any special treatment.” – Los Angeles Times