The Metropolitan Opera initially scheduled “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” for the autumn of 2023 but brought it forward after the nationwide Black Lives Matter demonstrations econ.st/3ojA6dy

The great Bernard Haitink died today. My obit: nytimes.com/2021/10/21/art…

After the Climate Summit and as concert life resumes, composer-activist @GabrielaLFrank reminds us how the music biz impacts climate. Plus hearing loss, cultural appropriation, and how an "emphasis on perfection leads to a perfect imperfection of soul." buzzsprout.com/1628491/9560279

Driving home tonight, I thought about Republicans' floor speeches today on the "sanctity of life". And how this concern for "life" apparently doesn't extend to the kids who were shot today in a school in Michigan. So I turned the car around, and went to the Senate floor.

Beyond thrilled to see my book (A Mad Love: An Intro to Opera) included in this list! A most pleasant shock indeed. Basic Books newyorker.com/culture/2021-i…

"A sparkling cultural history... I found myself tearing through it in the bathtub..." Thrilled to see Vivien Schweitzer's intro to opera A MAD LOVE on The New Yorker's The Best Books We Read in 2021 list bit.ly/3s8S84a 🙏 rachel syme cc Basic Books @briandistelberg #opera 🎼🎵🎶

Tis the season of covers. Was deeply moved by Michael Chioldi’s powerful performance on Tues, and he’ll also be singing the role on Jan 7 and 11.

George Crumb, composer of wonderfully imaginative, deeply expressive music and creator of extraordinarily notated scores, has died at 92. My obit for the NYT: nytimes.com/2022/02/06/obi…

Love this!

Lise Davidsen on seeing her first opera: “It sounds weird because it was just 15 years ago and I was studying music, but to stand on the stage like that seemed as impossible as if I would speak Chinese tomorrow.” My interview for The Economist. economist.com/culture/2022/0…

“There are times when the piano is not well, or you are not well, but you go on anyway” said the Georgian pianist Alexander Toradze in 2002. He kept on playing after suffering heart failure during a concert last month. My obit: nytimes.com/2022/05/19/art…

My obit of the musician and scholar Mick Moloney

“I really heard details I've never heard before.” Vivien Schweitzer tells “The Intelligence” of a young Korean virtuoso’s prizewinning Rachmaninoff performance econ.st/3Qf4Wyr

I wrote about Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 for The Economist recently, and enjoyed chatting about Yunchan Lim's amazing performance for The Intelligence podcast. Starts at 16:15 play.acast.com/s/theintellige…

Lincoln Center is one of New York City's most storied cultural institutions, but its controversial founding was a story of a different sort. Read more from Vivien Schweitzer: theamericanscholar.org/not-your-paren…

As the Taliban resumes its clampdown on women, Roya Sadat-رویا سادات says this new opera underscores the value of female loyalty and determination in a terrible world. My article for The Economist: The tragic timeliness of “A Thousand Splendid Suns” economist.com/culture/2023/0…

I interviewed the courageous Roya Sadat-رویا سادات and the creative team at Seattle Opera about this important new opera, which opens tonight. My article:

“I think that musical performances should be free...should invite danger, should tell a story, should court the madness of art." My obit of Russell Sherman: Russell Sherman, Poetic Interpreter at the Piano, Is Dead at 93 nytimes.com/2023/10/05/art…

Read @vivschweitzer’s take on the hauntingly beautiful Cavatina, arguably the emotional apex of Beethoven’s Op. 130, and  the magnificent Grosse Fuge, which perplexed the listeners who first heard it in 1826. theamericanscholar.org/beethoven-unde…

A Traviata in Transylvania and a Puccini extravaganza in Bucharest, where stagehands worked around the clock to enable ten opera companies to perform on ten consecutive nights. My report: classicalvoiceamerica.org/2024/06/25/puc…