Classical music news: Opera audiences are still gray. 3-D is coming to the Met. Detroit Symphony cancels season. Anna Nicole Smith goes to the opera. A critic crosses over.

By Jacob Stockinger

This week brought a mix of serious news and goofy news in the world of classical music, especially opera.

Here is a round-up:

ITEM: 3-D is coming to the Metropolitan Opera:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/arts/music/16siegfried.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss

ITEM: Opera audiences — and, one presumes, classical music audiences in general — aren’t getting any less gray after all:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/met-backtracks-on-drop-in-average-audience-age/

ITEM: The Cleveland Symphony, under maestro Franz Welser-Most (below), hires a critic-in-residence to promote it:

http://theclassicalreview.com/2011/02/cleveland-orchestra-hires-its-own-critic-in-miami/

ITEM: An opera about Anna Nicole Smith (the real Anna on top, the opera version below) premieres in London, with major US critics there:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/first-night-anna-nicole-royal-opera-hous

ITEM: The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (below) cancels the rest of the season after a musicians strike cannot be settled:

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/detroit-so-cancels-the-remainder-of-the-current-season

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Posted in Classical music