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Year of the Wigglesworths: Conductor and Composer Ryan Wigglesworth, Son to Mark Wigglesworth, Wins Halle’s New Principal Guest Spot

It has been a good year for the Wigglesworths! First, Mark Wigglesworth is named Edward Gardner's successor at English National Opera, now Ryan Wigglesworth has been picked to succeed Markus Stenz as the Halle Orchestra's new principal guest conductor.
Los Angeles Master Chorale Promotes Grant Gershon to Artistic Director, Extending Him to 2020

Some good news for the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Grant Gershon has agreed a contract extension that sees him consolidate his leadership by stepping up from Music Director to Artistic Director. The new contract will keep him at the choir until the 2019-2020 season
What If: Eric Whitacre Launches Fifth Virtual Choir for 'Paradise Lost' Musical

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir is back, and this time it's the musical! Whitacre, the American composer who found fame with his uplifting online choral projects--in which strangers from across the world are invited to film themselves taking part in one of his works...
Harrison Birtwistle's 'Moth Requiem,' Daniel Barenboim's 'Ring,' Levit, DiDonato, Southbank Win Big at Royal Philharmonic Society Awards

Five times a charm, or at least it is for Harrison Birtwhistle, who has just won more prizes than anyone else (as he did in December for the British Composer Awards) in the Royal Philharmonic Society's long history. In the just-announced awards, he picked up the gong for Chamber Scale Composition, for The Moth Requiem.
Peral Music: Universal Group Gives Conductor and Pianist Daniel Barenboim a Vanity iTunes Label for Bruckner Early Symphonies, Stravinsky's Rite

PERAL MUSIC, a new digital-only label from UMG, will document Daniel Barenboim's work as a conductor, pianist and chamber musician. "I want to try and look at the future. I want to really get myself into the mentality of the digital world," Barenboim said.
10 More Years: Alberto Vilar, Met Opera Money Manager and Valery Gergiev Crony, Gets Longer U.S. Prison Sentence

Judge Richard J. Sullivan recently granted an extended curfew to disgraced businessman Alberto Vilar, so that he could attend the Metropolitan Opera's own scandal-ridden performance of 'Eugene Onegin.' Now...Sullivan is extending Vilar's sentence for 10 more years.
Conductor Kent Nagano Talks California Surfing, WWII Internment, Messiaen Internship, Not Speaking Japanese and Frank Zappa

"Nearly every child I knew surfed because there's no admission to the sea." -- Kent Nagano
REVIEW: Disney's 'ALADDIN' Broadway Musical Is Better Than 'FROZEN' Will Be

Another Disney movie bound for Broadway is "Frozen," this year's Oscar-winning best animated film which has generated $1 billion at the global box office since November.
REVIEW: Andy Karl Throws a Wicked Balboa (Book by Stallone, Bloody Alex Timbers Director) in New Broadway Musical, 'ROCKY'

Both an adrenaline-infused spectacle and a surprising tale of blossoming romance between two lonely outsiders, ROCKY is a visceral and heart-stopping theatrical experience for everyone brave enough to follow their dream.
Moldovan Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja: "Art Should Be Alive"

But performing a piece that at times seems to require the violin to disintegrate along with the shuttle is not enough for the restless and questing Kopatchinskaja. For her 37th birthday later this month, she will give the premiere of her first violin concerto in Berne, Switzerland.
German Violinist Linus Roth Champions Mieczysław Weinberg's Forgotten Holocaust Opera, 'The Passenger'

"[The Passenger] is probably the only opera about the Holocaust that's really worth watching." -- Linus Roth
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Age 70, to Retire from Opera Stage After Donizetti/Puccini at Covent Garden (Or So She Says)

Kiri Te Kanawa has said in a British television interview that she will retire from the opera stage. She's currently giving a cameo as the Duchess of Crackentorp in Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment at Covent Garden--and the staging has been massaged to give her an aria (from Puccini's Edgar, since...
Unanswered Question: Will Academy of Arts and Letters Exhibit, Chicago Symphony Efforts Mark New Dawn for Charles Ives?

A year or so ago, American music fans were decrying the fact that Charles Ives, in many ways the godfather of American classical music, was relatively little known among the American public. His house was up for sale by property developers and faced the very real threat of being bulldozed and turned...
Rhinegold Publishing Launches Free Concert Series, Six a Year, at London's Conway Hall with Julian and Jiaxin Lloyd Webber

A nice initiative from the folks at Rhinegold Publishing, the house behind specialist music titles such as Classical Music, International Arts Manager and International Pianist. They have announced the creation of a series of free concerts, six a year, at London's Conway Hall.
Don't Let It Go: Disney's 'Frozen' Soundtrack Nabs No. 1 Spot on Billboard 200 for Fifth Week, Looking to Sink OST 'Titanic'

'Frozen: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack' features 10 original tunes from Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, as well as 22 score pieces composed by Christophe Beck.
Pianist Evgeny Kissin "Unforgettable" in Concert of Jewish Music and Poetry at Kennedy Center, Writes Washington Post's Anne Midgette

Evgeny Kissin has pulled off a brilliant coup with his latest project, an exploration of Jewish music and Yiddish poetry--both performed by him. And the performance, at Washington's Kennedy Center, was hailed by Washington Post critic Anne Midgette as one of the finest things she had ever witnessed.
UPDATE: Alice Herz-Sommer, World's Oldest Pianist and Holocaust Survivor, Dead At 110

UPDATE: Classicalite is indeed deeply sadened to report that pianist Alice Herz-Sommer has passed away. She was, as we last reported, 110 years old. Of the fount of tributes pouring in, we like this one from Haaretz best.
Roald Dahl's 'Dirty Beasts,' Music by Benjamin Wallfisch, Premieres at London's Southbank Centre

"In these times when kids have so many options, I was hoping with this piece aimed at people under the age of 10 to inspire them to explore the orchestra," said Wallfisch.
Era of the "Fat Lady" is Over, Says American Soprano Danielle de Niese

The American soprano Danielle de Niese, has told the Daily Telegraph newspaper that the era of the "fat lady" stereotype in opera is over. Or rather that it has no basis in fact, though it might linger in the media and people's imaginations.
Irony Bites Man: Israeli Protester Ran Carmi Ruins Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra's Non-Wagner Concert

A shame, really, because the JSO has worked out a fascinating way to present a Richard Wagner symposium...without actually playing any of his music.
Saul Zaentz, Controversial Record Executive and Lauded Producer Behind 'Amadeus,' Dead at 92

"He was an amazing man," said nephew Paul Zaentz, who is also a movie producer. "He always taught me to only make films I am passionate about."
Q&A: Metropolitan GM Peter Gelb Dishes Stats on Live Opera Broadcasts

"I think there were a lot of people who expected us to fall on our face with this program." -- Peter Gelb
GIFT GUIDE: Top 6 Classical Music Recordings to Buy in 2014

It's too late now to order a classical music CD or DVD for Christmas, but why not take the New Year as a cue to freshen up your musical tastes?
From the Met to Covent Garden, Even with Glitches, Live Opera Broadcasts Are Here to Stay

"There is this cultural kind of gladiatorial aspect to opera singing and opera singers because they are out there, they are singing into [hidden] microphones for the purpose of the audiences in movie theatres but they are not being amplified, they are on their own." -- Peter Gelb
Vienna Philharmonic Revokes Awards for Six Big Nazis, Is Hitler Next?

The Vienna Philharmonic has revoked awards bestowed upon six Nazis, news agencies, including Reuters, are reporting. This will be seen as a big step in the orchestra's coming to terms with a dark chapter in its past.
Robin Hood Youth Orchestra of Nottingham Stopped Mid-Christmas Concert for Playing "Too Loudly"

The Robin Hood Youth Orchestra of (where else?) Nottingham was engaged to give a three-hour Christmas concert at the Victoria Centre, only to be ejected after a third of their allotted time.
REVIEW: Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Stephen Ward' Musical, Orgies and All, Redeems Profumo Affair

Stephen Ward was something of a playboy, enjoying the company of attractive young women, the rich and powerful and the lifestyle that went along with this.
'Grand Piano, Starring Elijah Wood and John Cusack, to Open in 2014

In a packed theater, in front of the expectant audience, Tom finds a message written on the score: "Play one wrong note and you die."
Glenn Greenwald, Barton Gellman, Luke Harding: Who Writes the Book for Edward Snowden's Musical?

Since James Bamford's not interested, let's say: Greenwald gets the book, Gellman handles the music...with Harding on lyrics? No matter how you divvy them up, it's only a matter of time before some enterprising repertory group stages a Snowden musical...
Sir Mark Elder Joins the List of Acting Musicians

The leading British conductor Sir Mark Elder reportedly gave his London acting debut this week. Sir Mark's inner thesp came out during a performance at the Royal Festival Hall of Offenbach's Fantasio, where he gave the spoken lines of Le Tailleur. Whether his cameo makes...