Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to good things in Blogville and Beyond.
- Donald Rosenberg, demoted classical music critic of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, has lost his lawsuit against the paper and the Cleveland Orchestra -- to no one's surprise except possibly the critic himself. This is a case where, in the court of public opinion, the orchestra was clearly guilty of attempting to meddle with the concept of a free press and where the paper was clearly guilty of damnable cowardice. In an actual court, however, there was nothing actionable. [New York Times]
- As widely reported and commented elsewhere, the Supreme Leader of Iran announced this week that "music is 'not compatible' with the values of the Islamic republic, and should not be practised or taught in the country." Not just Western popular music, which by and large is indeed not compatible with Islamic teaching, but all music, presumably including Iranian music of all genres and periods. This ruling did not come out of the blue but was made in response to a 21-year-old Iranian who asked Ayatollah Ali Khamenei if it was acceptable for him to take music lessons. "It's better that our dear youth spend their valuable time in learning science and essential and useful skills and fill their time with sport and healthy recreations instead of music," was the cleric's response. As someone who teaches music and art, I cannot tell you how many times small-minded parents have said exactly the same thing to their children and to me as their teacher. [Baltimore Sun]
- In a not unrelated story, Alex Ross points out the admirable speech of Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaking in support of building an Islamic center near where the World Trade Center once stood. [The Rest Is Noise]
- We hear that the new kid on the Washington media block, TBD.com, will launch sometime next week. [Washington Post]
- We took note of Bertrand Chamayou's new Franck CD a couple months ago. Marie-Aude Roux has written a long appreciation of the pianist's work. On September 7 Chamayou will give an unusual concert at the Musée des Abattoirs in his native Toulouse, as part of the Festival Piano aux Jacobins: the plan is to have the audience walk around during the concert viewing modern artworks in the museum's main hall, while he plays music at three different pianos, accompanied by a video projection. The program of all contemporary music reportedly includes pieces by Kurtág, Cage, Crumb, Nono, Harvey, Stockhausen, Lachenmann, Rihm, and Scelsi. [Le Monde]
- Not able to travel to the best summer music festivals? Plenty of options remain for online watching and listening, including a preview of Deborah Voigt's Salome (her planned debut this fall with Washington National Opera), conducted by Valery Gergiev to close the Verbier Festival. [ARTE]
- In case you missed it, we also recommend the rest of the programming from the Verbier Festival (Evgeny Kissin, Yuja Wang, Anne Sofie von Otter, Angelika Kirchschlager, Lera Auerbach, Paul McCreesh, and many more) and the online video of the Glyndebourne Don Giovanni. [Medici.TV]
- Via French radio, festival concerts from La Roque d'Anthéron, Lugano, the Rencontres musicales de Hautes-Provence, the Rossini Festival in Pesaro, La Chaise-Dieu, and others. [France Musique]
- Particular gems you may have missed: Cavalli's 1657 opera Artemisia, with La Venexiana in Montpellier, a recital by Simone Dinnerstein in Montpellier, and the radio broadcasts from Bayreuth. [Bayreuth 2010]
- Follow the Proms with the reviews by Mark Berry and the online audio broadcasts from the BBC. [BBC Radio 3]
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