New in VAN
Essay
New Masters
Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst’s “Starmirror” and the future of AI in music
Turned-On Bach
Violist Shasta Ellenbogen’s performance of Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 on OnlyFans, reviewed at the bar
Most read last week
Perceptual Astronomy
Maryanne Amacher’s prescient, unperformed AI grand opera “Intelligent Life”
“The Music Still Has to Go On”
Composer Carlos Simon on continuing his work at the Kennedy Center
Posing The Question of Palestine at Crisco Disco
On Luca Guadagnino’s staging of “The Death of Klinghoffer” at the Maggio Musicale in Florence
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AI everywhere
The Intelligence of Bodies
The philosophical and musical failings of “Beethoven X: The AI Project”
“A Call To Action, Disguised As A Symphony”
Through her “Alan” project, lyricist, philanthropist and controversial former surgeon Susan Lim puts forward her ideas about transhumanism. Does the UK’s classical music scene have the strength to push back?
Machine in the Gods
For Bayreuth’s next “Ring” cycle, AI will “play a role on stage.” What exactly does that mean?
The Nobility and Carelessness of Humans
Reimaginings of “Così fan tutte” in Detroit and Minneapolis
California dreamin’
Exotic Educational Experiences
Why the San Francisco Conservatory of Music has gone on a buying spree
City of Beasts
Esa-Pekka Salonen leads his last concerts as the San Francisco Symphony’s music director this week amid turmoil at the institution. Can the billionaire capital of the U.S. save its orchestra?
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New in VAN
Filling the Map
How revival directors keep operas interesting long after their original directors have moved on
Incoherence and Indignity in the Classic FM Hall of Fame
An enraging weekend with the world’s most relaxing music
Mozart as Snake Oil
How pseudoscience advocates exploit classical music in their campaigns against autism
From five years ago…
A Demonstration of a Physical Fact
Listening to Alvin Lucier’s “I Am Sitting in a Room” from a vaccination recovery room.
I Know, But: “The Four Seasons”
Revisiting the atmospheric pressure in Vivaldi’s visceral chart-topper
Having a Miserable Time
An interview with “Composers Doing Normal Shit” curator John Nolan
From ten years ago…
Last But Not Least
