Interchanging Idioms

It is a season of momentous anniversaries for the Metropolitan Opera Guild: the Guild began the season-long celebration of its 75th anniversary this fall; as publisher of Opera News, the Guild celebrates the magazine’s own diamond anniversary in 2011; and the January issue of Opera News marks the 40th anniversary of James Levine’s Metropolitan Opera debut (which was June 5, 1971, conducting Tosca). The cover feature sees Scott Rose take on the difficult task of choosing 40 highlights from Levine’s 40 storied years at the Met. The Guild enjoyed its own starry tribute in December, when its annual luncheon saw the organization itself take center stage for its 75th anniversary. The annual luncheon has been a highlight of the opera season for decades, as an unparalleled community gathering that brings top artists and passionate opera fans together to celebrate leaders in the art form. December’s luncheon at the Waldorf=Astoria’s Grand Ballroom had spoken and sung tributes to the Guild ...

The Metropolitan Opera Guild and Montclair State University (MSU) have partnered to host the first Curtain Call Awards. The Curtain Call Awards, an opera vocal competition, is available to talented high school juniors and seniors in New Jersey. They will start accepting submissions now for a March 29 deadline, and finals for the top five high school singers will take place at the new Jed Leshowitz Recital Hall at Montclair State in June. Metropolitan Opera Guild Communication Director Jesse Cohen explains the purpose of the talent competition: “We hope the Curtain Call Awards will offer a stepping stone to young talented singers, by showcasing their talents in a highly prestigious and public venue. Our hope is to make the Curtain Call Awards an annual event and ultimately help many young singers realize their musical dreams.” Paul Hostetter, Director and Interim Chair of MSU’s John J. Cali School of Music, comments on the inaugural event: “The John J. Cali School of Music is ...

The fifth annual Opera News Awards are the cover story of the November 2009 issue of Opera News. Other feature articles in the new issue include an introduction to Janacek’s From the House of the Dead, just in time for the Met’s production on November 12; a profile of New York City Opera’s George Steel; and a tribute to the incomparable Hildegard Behrens. This month’s offerings from the Metropolitan Opera Guild include lectures on From the House of the Dead; “Puccini the Popular”; French, German and English opera style; and “French Connections”. Honored for their distinguished achievement in and contribution to opera, this year’s Opera News Award recipients are Martina Arroyo, Joyce DiDonato, Gerald Finley, Philip Glass and Shirley Verrett. Each of these singular artists receives a tribute in the new issue of Opera News, written by one of its editors: Brian Kellow (Arroyo), Oussama Zahr (DiDonato), Louise T. Guinther (Finley), Adam Wasserman (Glass), and F. Paul Driscoll (Verrett). ...

In the year of its 40th anniversary, ECM Records has been named both Classical and Jazz Label Of The Year by the world’s leading publications in these genres, Gramophone and Downbeat respectively. On October 2nd, ECM’s founder and producer Manfred Eicher accepted The Classic FM Gramophone Award 2009 at a presentation ceremony in London. Writing in the special Awards Issue of Gramophone , editor James Jolly says, “In an age of increasing standardisation, it’s good to salute genuine individuality. Each year we pay tribute to a record label that demonstrates a winning blend of creativity, imagination, business acumen, style – all adding up to that word again: individuality. This year we turn the spotlight on a label that has been ploughing its particular furrow with notable success for 40 years, ECM, and more particularly for “classical music” fans, its New Series... While many companies shy away from contemporary music, Manfred Eicher seeks it out – and again it’s a tribute to his...

The September/October issue of Listen: Life with Classical Music features conductor Michael Tilson Thomas on the cover, celebrates the 80th birthday of American composer George Crumb, and includes interviews with musicians Leif Ove Andsnes, Joshua Bell, Angèle Dubeau, and José Serebrier. The magazine travels to Norway to report on an unusual collaboration at the Risor Chamber Music Festival, Chicago to spotlight the city’s eclectic music scene, and Toronto to cover a recording session of 17th-century music with the Canadian Brass. These are just some of the subjects in the fall issue of the new bimonthly print magazine published and distributed by the online classical music retailer ArkivMusic, The Source for Classical Music™. September/October 2009 contents of Listen magazine: Cover story: Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas talks about Mahler, Stravinsky and the future of contemporary music – in real space and cyberspace Features: At a chamber music festival in the fishing vi...