Ring! Ring! It's Rossini Calling!

Cell phone follies at La Scala recital.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Gioachino Rossini and his little digital friend.

Anybody who goes to classial music concerts or opera performances knows that the modern, digital age has introduced the annoyance of cellular ring tones as unwanted accompaniment to the music of Mozart, Beethoven and Rossini. But on Sunday night, opera star Joyce DiDonato found a new way of coping with the digital menace.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Resolves Strike

Musicians, management reach agreement.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The rest is silence: the empty stage of Orchestra Hall, home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Image from Music Acoustics and Architecture © 1962 Leo Baranek.

UPDATED: The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has resolved its labor issues for the moment. A tentative agreement has been announced between the Orchestra Association and the players, meaning that the first part of the 2012 season will go ahead as planned. This includes the orchestra's season-opening concerts at Carnegie Hall under Music Director Riccardo Muti.

Ratification of the contract by all parties was completed on Sept. 25, according to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times. The new contract will apply retroactively from Sept. 17, 2012.

The ensemble will open the season with a performance of Carl Orff's ever-popular cantata Carmina Burana on Oct. 3.

Pierre Boulez Nixes BBC Proms

Composer will not conduct his Le marteau sans maître.

Composer and conductor Pierre Boulez.

A recent report on Norman Lebrecht's Slipped Disc revealed that Pierre Boulez, one of the most important conductors and composers still active on the international classical music circuit, has been forced to withdraw from this year's BBC Proms He is unable to fly to the United Kingdom due to recent eye surgery.

Francis Xavier-Roth will take his place on the podium, leading Boulez' iconic Le marteau sans maître ("The Hammer without a Master") on July 26. Other concerts, featuring Boulez' experimental music paired with Beethoven symphonies, will be conducted by Daniel Barenboim.