Classical music news: Lyric Opera of Chicago announces new season. Tenor Ben Heppner drops out of the Met’s “Ring” cycle. New York Philharmonic opens Leonard Bernstein archives. Maestro Riccardo Muti recovers from a broken jaw. Arts education draws strong reactions.

By Jacob Stockinger

Some of the big news this week happened right nearby in Chicago, where events in the symphony and opera worlds will interest many.

ITEM: Lyric Opera of Chicago announces its new season:

http://www.lyricopera.org/

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-02-01/entertainment/ct-live-0202-classical-lyric-20110201_1_lyric-opera-series-of-four-operas-civic-opera-house

ITEM: Tenor Ben Heppner (below), a friend of UW tenor James Doing who gave a master class here in Madison while he was performing in Chicago, has dropped out of the Metroplitan Opera’s new and acclaimed , if controversial, “Ring” cycle by Wagner. See the story and some really snarky comments here:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/ben-heppner-drops-out-of-the-mets-ring/

ITEM:  The New York Philharmonic has launched its digital archives on line, with Leonard Bernstein’s annotated scores, plans for his first season, and other memorabilia including images of composers used for young people:

http://archives.nyphil.org/

ITEM: Deutsche Grammophon signs Austrian pianist Ingolf Wunder, who many thought should have taken first prize, not second, at the recent Chopin Competition:

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/deutsche-grammophon-signs-ingolf-wunder

Could this also signal a trend toward signing more young classical artists? That would be welcome.

ITEM: How important is arts education?

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/how-important-is-arts-education/?src=twrhp

ITEM: Italian maestro Riccardo Muti (below), 69, has had nothing but trouble since he started his tenure with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

First, it was gastric problems that caused him to withdraw right after he began; then he recently fainted on the podium and fell and broke his jaw, which required surgery and being wired shut.

Here’s an update:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g4O6Q2ZBJfeSnE-UZcAR3CMzjNkA?docId=cd6104eb976d4cb0b91d001367c9caf9

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Posted in Classical music