Fire at the Berlin Philharmonie

Terrible news in Berlin.  Knowing all too well the toll that fire and fire fighting can take on instruments, music and archives, I fear not only for what the orchestra has lost, but what the world may have lost.  UPDATE- Somewhat more encouraging news from the...

Classical goes naked

Well- the classical world has finally caught on to the sheer power of naked. Hot on the heels of my naked recital post and related commentary, tonight on Channel 4’s “How To Look Good Naked,” the conductor and musicians of Stratford’s Orchestra of the Swan...

Quote of the day

“Otto Klemperer, Sir Adrian Boult, Carlo Maria Giulini and Walter Legge made up the panel which awarded James Loughran the first prize of the televised final of the Philharmonia Conducting Competition in 1961. They seem as gods on Olympus in comparison to the...