The forthcoming Broadway production of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess has dropped plans for a new happy ending, following public criticism from composer Stephen Sondheim.

With Gustavo Dudamel at the forefront, LA has emerged as the national flagship of the US version of El Sistema, which in just four years has grown to encompass programs in more than 50 cities.

How do you prefer Beethoven symphonies: with the massive string sections and beefed-up choruses of the modern orchestra or the gutsy, lean sound of period-instrument groups? Weigh in here.

EMI Group Ltd., the iconic British music company that is home to Simon Rattle, Sarah Chang and The Beatles is being split and sold for $4.1 billion.

Owned by conductor Lorin Maazel for 66 years, the violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini has been featured in a number of his recordings and in concerts.

At Tuesday night’s WQXR Comedy Contest at Caroline’s on Broadway, not every joke or act hit the right note, but when the audience liked what it saw, the applause was raucous.

In a new exhibit at the Miami Art Museum, the multimedia artist Enrique Martinez Celaya offers a chilling perspective on the final days of Beethoven's life. 

If you're looking for the "one percent" of classical music, the Los Angeles Philharmonic leads the pack. But highly-paid conductors are a more universal phenomenon.

James Levine has canceled conducting the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Wagner's Goetterdaemmerung and is in danger of missing an entire season at the company for the first time since he made his debut in 1971.

Germany's transport minister is sharing one of his own stress-reducers - the slow movements of Mozart's piano concertos - with drivers in hopes the soothing music will help reduce road rage.

In advance of the New York City Marathon on Sunday, we've created a workout mix of particularly high-energy Beethoven moments that are sure to inspire -- and get you across that finish line.

Signaling the end of an era, the two remaining Japanese members of the Tokyo String Quartet – including its founding violist – will retire in June 2013, the ensemble announced.

Doctors who listen to Mozart while performing colonoscopy may increase their detection rates of precancerous polyps, a small study has found.

Stafford Hartman, a soprano and artist in residence at Memphis Opera, performed from a wheelchair during Saturday night's performance of Tosca at the company.

Despite reports of government funding cuts, Saturday night's concert at Carnegie Hall with pianist Andras Schiff should find the orchestra in excellent artistic shape, if recent reviews are any guide.

Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater reopens today after a six-year, $800 million renovation. Placido Domingo, Angela Gheorghiu and Natalie Dessay are among the performers.

The New York City Ballet has announced that its principal dancer is retiring after 16 years.

Schubert’s song “Der Erlkönig," is a perennial favorite for Halloween concerts. The Anderson-Roe Piano Duo have found that it's best not to play when lurking around an empty piano factory.

WQXR's Nimet Habachy reveals how she faked an accent, lied about the weather, entertained cabbies -- and became a fixture on WQXR's overnight shift for the better part of three decades.