classical music news stories on Newser

World's 'Finest' Interpreter of Art Songs Dead at 86

Neal Colgrass — Sat, 19 May 2012 13:32:05 CDT

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, perhaps the greatest singer of art songs in the 20 th century, died yesterday at home in Bavaria, the New York Times reports. He was 86. The German son of a classical scholar and a schoolteacher, Fischer-Dieskau (pronounced FEE-sher DEES-cow) studied voice in Berlin and got two years...

Stradivarius' Powers Just a Musical Myth

Kevin Spak — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:10:05 CST

They’re famed far and wide as the finest violins on the planet (one recently sold for $16 million) , but do Stradivarius violins actually sound better? A study suggests they don’t, NPR reports. Researchers assembled a group of six violins—two Stradivariuses, a Guarneri, and three modern violins—and invited a...

Lost Beethoven Piece Performed After 2 Centuries

Matt Cantor — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 05:45:41 CDT

After Beethoven scrapped a movement from a string quartet, it was lost to the world’s ears for two centuries. No longer: A music professor in Britain has recreated the piece using the composer’s sketches for every measure. The movement of String Quartet in G, Opus 18, No. 2 was performed...

How to Save Record Labels

Matt Cantor — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 08:25:25 CDT

As the music industry navigates a path for the digital era, a tiny Swedish label has proven itself an excellent guide. Though it has just 43 employees, X5 Music Group topped the classical charts last year, its sales on par with Universal, the biggest label there is. Its strategy is...

So You're a Piano Virtuoso? Get in Line

Tim Karan — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:37:03 CDT

So you can effortlessly play all of Chopin's piano études with flawless precision, style, and personality. Join the club. Being a young piano virtuoso is not the amazing feat as it used to be, writes Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times . "The overall level of technical proficiency in instrumental...

Yes, Classical Music Can Still Change the World

Sarah Whitmire — Sat, 21 May 2011 15:14:22 CDT

Before YouTube or Twitter, composing a symphony was a great way to get your revolution going—the French one inspired Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, and Shostakovich wrote such controversial music that he would wait outside for the Soviet regime to arrest him so his family wouldn't be disturbed. "History is...

Epilepsy Likely Fueled Chopin's Visions

Matt Cantor — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:59:06 CST

The 19th-century composer Frédéric Chopin suffered frightening hallucinations, ranging from ghosts to creatures coming out of his piano. Now, researchers believe the visions may have been prompted by temporal lobe epilepsy, the Daily Telegraph reports. The disease can cause short, detailed hallucinations, and “could easily have been overlooked by Chopin’s...

Beach Boy Wilson to Complete Gershwin Songs

Harry Kimball — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:08:23 CDT

Beach Boys songster Brian Wilson will put a gloss on unfinished tunes by revered Jazz Age composer George Gershwin. Gershwin’s estate tells the Los Angeles Times that dozens of fragments, from “a few bars to some almost finished songs and everything in between,” have been in limbo since Gershwin’s death...

LA Shows the Love to 28-Year-Old Maestro

Jason Farago — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:49:29 CDT

The Los Angeles Philharmonic greeted its new music director yesterday with waves, cheers, and bursts of brass and strings, and cameras tailed the new boss as he hugged his principal musicians. It wasn't a standard first day, but Gustavo Dudamel of Venezuela isn't a standard maestro—he's only 28 years...