Featured Articles and News

Geoffrey Newman in conversation with conductor Leonard Slatkin

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Distinguished American conductor Leonard Slatkin talks to Geoffrey Newman

Leonard Slatkin © Nico Rodamel

Leonard Slatkin has been a force in the American classical music scene for almost fifty years and will celebrate his eightieth birthday in 2024. Born into a distinguished musical family and trained at Aspen and Juilliard, Slatkin has been Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony (1979-1996), the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington (1996-2008), the BBC Symphony (2000-2004), the Detroit Symphony (2008-2018) and Orchestre National de Lyon (2011-2017).

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The Three Choirs Festival from 27 July to 3 August 2024 in Worcester

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Three Choirs Festival celebrates nature in Worchester with a thrilling programme

The Three Choirs Festival has announced a thrilling new programme for its 2024 edition, with a celebration of nature and its enduring influence on composers and musicians at its heart. Taking place in and around Worcester from 27 July to 3 August, the festival features a superb selection of works old and new by composers including Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, Bob Chilcott and Judith Weir.

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Five Singers win top prizes at the Metropolitan Opera’s 2024 Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition

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Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition: Metropolitan Opera, New York, 17.3.2024. (RP)

2024 Laffont Competition Grand Final Winners – [l-r] Daniel Espinal (tenor), Meridian Prall (mezzo-soprano), Emily Richter (soprano), Lydia Grindatto (soprano) and Navasard Hakobyan (baritone) © Karen Almond/Met Opera.

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You needed to be there: a (p)review of NT Live’s The Motive and the Cue as Gielgud and Burton clash in 1964

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom NT Live – Jack Thorne’s The Motive and the Cue: Currently on at London’s Noel Coward Theatre until 23.3.2024. It was filmed live in 2023 (directed by Matthew Amos) at London’s Lyttleton Theatre and it will be available in cinemas from 21.3.2024. (JPr)

The Motive and the Cue © Mark Douet

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SF Symphony in 2024-25 and news about Esa-Pekka Salonen

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Esa-Pekka Salonen and San Francisco Symphony to part ways after one final season

Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen © Drew Altizer

Esa-Pekka Salonen surprised almost everyone in 2018 by signing a five-year contract to be San Francisco Symphony’s music director after he had told the world that he did not want to have that role again. His tenure began in 2020 – unfortunately coinciding with the onset of COVID-19 – and now there will not be another term. He will leave the post when his five-year contract ends in June 2025. The organization has just over a year to decide who might be next to lead the orchestra.

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San Francisco Opera in 2024-2025

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San Francisco Opera takes a step back in the 2024-25 season

Music director Eun Sun Kim and general director Matthew Shilvock © Cody Pickens

After a 2023-24 season that featured three significant and well-received new operas, San Francisco Opera this week announced a 2024-25 season with fewer performances and only one company premiere – The Handmaid’s Tale, which dates from 2000.

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R.I.P. Claire Seymour (1970-2024)

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It is with great sadness that we announce the recent sudden and unexpected death of Claire Seymour. After falling ill at the New Year and after a spell in hospital all seemed well and she was as active as ever working with students, marking exams, reviewing, researching and being an invaluable help to Gary Hoffman’s Opera Today and my Seen and Heard International.

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The Callas Imprint: A Centennial Biography available now

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In December 2023 Sophia Lambton’s The Callas Imprint: A Centennial Biography finally came out

Twelve years in the making, reaps 3395 sources spanning 80 years across twenty-one countries to swivel readers through the singer’s on- and offstage scenes — escorting them through the confounding double life of all performers.

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