In “The Yellow Tie,” a biopic about the Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache whose premiere I attended in London on Wednesday, things start badly and get steadily worse. We begin with old Celi (John Malkovich) discussing a future engagement with a group of Japanese record executives over lunch at his French estate. To his dismay, they […]
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In Art’s Company
Maria Kalesnikava, the flutist, conductor, arts manager, and activist, was one of the leading figures of the 2020 pro-democracy movement in Belarus. After her arrest in September 2020, she spent five years under arrest, held as a political prisoner. In December 2025, she was released as part of negotiations between the United States and Belarus, […]
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Surface Vibrations
The most important piece of a Steinway concert grand is one almost nobody ever sees. It lies beneath the strings, a thin sheet of spruce, at its center no thicker than a finger, arched and ribbed like the hull of a boat turned upside down. This is the soundboard, and it does the work of […]
Posted inBreaking
All Fired Up
Here is a sample of the headlines on articles published by Cadenza.work about the turmoil at the Boston Symphony Orchestra: “Boston Is on Fire. Its Orchestras Are Dying.” “They Fired the Best Conductor in America. The Evidence Points to Ideology.” “Fire Chad Smith. The Memo Is the Confession. The Orchestra Needs to Fight Back.” According […]
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Boosts and Bruises
In 2020, violist Wilfred Farquharson was preparing to move to California for The Los Angeles Orchestra Fellowship, a three-year fellowship “for musicians from underrepresented communities” co-organized by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (ICYOLA), and the University of Southern California. Then, a former participant called him out of […]
Posted inHistory
“Like, What The Hell Are We Doing Here?”
A few weeks ago, the conductor Robert Ames announced he was stepping down as co-artistic director and co-principal conductor of the London Contemporary Orchestra. It was a bit of a shock. Conductors come and go with major orchestras, but Ames, who co-founded the LCO 18 years ago, was synonymous with the group. Deciding to move […]
Posted inReport
Opera’s Siren Servers
In 2018, a little-known Danish tech startup called Truelinked bought the website Operabase, at the time the largest database of classical music and opera performances, theaters, festivals and artists. It served as a kind of IMDb for opera, with performance listings, casting tools, and a deep archive of past events, and was used widely by […]
Posted inInterview
Pre-Election Paralysis
On September 6, the citizens of Saxony-Anhalt, a state in the former East Germany, will vote in a closely watched election. Recent polls put the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party at an unprecedented 43 percent. Among the potentially profound consequences for the region if the party governs Saxony-Anhalt are changes to its artistic life, of […]
Posted inEssay
In Defense of the Program Note
On his first visit to London in 1851, Hector Berlioz attended several chamber music concerts at The Musical Union, a subscription series run by impresario John Ella. His dispatches from the city were effusive: “The London public is very attentive and serious in its tastes and I have been able to see for myself its […]
Posted inBreaking
Bach Festival Leipzig Stands By John Eliot Gardiner
Following allegations of inappropriate behavior against the conductor John Eliot Gardiner in June, the Bach Festival Leipzig informed employees today of its decision to continue its collaboration with the conductor. Gardiner will lead a performance of Bach’s B-Minor Mass at the festival in June 2027. The widely covered incident took place on June 16 at […]