ArtsCriticATL.com

The first concert of Atlanta’s fall classical season arrives early this year. New Trinity Baroque, viable despite the recession and cutbacks last spring, will perform a concert of Italian music Saturday, September 4 — mostly concertos by Corelli, Mandredini and Torelli, plus Antonio Vivaldi’s first masterpiece of sacred music, the Stabat Mater. Magdalena Wór, a promising mezzo-soprano, will sing the solo part.

Wór’s career is going international as she exits her 20s. She’s made substantive contributions to the local scene for a decade, first as a student at Georgia State University and later with countless local groups…

The death of the music industry. The sun setting on CDs. I feel like I read an article every month about yet another imminent demise. But apparently Atlanta jazz artists haven’t read the same news: this summer has been a busy season for jazz releases. And, if planned recording projects are any indication, next year’s crop will be even bigger.

While there aren’t many releases on the books before the end of the year, local musicians are busy recording and finishing projects. Next up will likely be the Joe Gransden Big Band’s Café 290 shows from July, set to…

In the months after his Atlanta concert last December, I listened so often to Tristan Perich’s new “1-Bit Symphony” — playing it for friends, playing it for pleasure — that I burned out the battery. Fortunately, the 3-volt lithium watch battery is easily replaced.

Perich’s five-movement symphony is not a recording in the usual sense. It’s not even an actual compact disc. Rather, it’s a little electronic “performer” glued into a clear CD case, a 1-bit digital microchip that Perich programmed with his music — plus a battery, on/off switch, volume control and headphone jack.

Assembled…

The future of the Atlanta Opera might look different from its recent past, thanks to the official arrival of conductor Arthur Fagen as music director.

The announcement was made this week by the opera’s general director, Dennis Hanthorn. It’s the latest in a series of recent administrative changes for the 31-year-old company, which has been on an artistic roll but is struggling financially and still doesn’t have a strong profile in the Atlanta metro region.

Fagen is booked to conduct two productions each season starting in 2011-12. The New York-born conductor will also help Hanthorn in…

The “Rapido! A 14-Day Composition Contest” has announced a slate of semifinalists for 2010-11, and what’s clear is that classical music in America is finally getting an overdue dose of the contemporary. From the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to the Metropolitan Opera, classical groups recognize that an artistically and intellectually vibrant arts culture can’t thrive by recycling a narrow slice of the repertoire. It’s unhealthy for art. It’s also bad for business: what industry can survive if it ignores R&D for more than a half-century?

Thus we’ve written a lot about the Atlanta Chamber Players’ “Rapido!,”

It took a moment to get over the surprise. Here’s what the ASO’s media relations department posted on Facebook today:

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Happy 60th Birthday to Maestro Yoel Levi, Music Director Emeritus of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra! Still making wonderful inspiring music.

33 minutes ago · Comment · Like · Share

Levi has been persona non grata with the ASO’s management for most of the past decade. His photos did not appear in ASO publications or on its office walls, although his predecessor’s (Robert Shaw) and successor’s (Robert Spano) were usually prominent…