A privileged voice - Alfredo Kraus

One of opera's most famous lyric tenors, Alfredo Kraus, died of cancer on September 10 in Madrid, aged 71. Kraus was born on 24 September 1927 in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, the son of a Spanish-naturalised Austrian. Following his 1956 debut in Cairo as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, he sang and acted around the world's stages and screens for more than 40 years. Montserrat Caballé said that Kraus had a 'privileged voice', and that his death leaves a huge void in the opera world.

Bernstein Center aquired by NARAS

Leonard Bernstein believed that the experiencing and creation of art could be a model for learning, and his belief was used as the basis for the founding of the Leonard Bernstein Center for Learning. Since its creation in 1992, the Center has produced a teacher-training course - 'the Bernstein Artful Learning Approach'. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) has recently announced its acquisition of the Bernstein Center, and NARAS president Michael Green considers that the Center's aims are in-line with those of NARAS.

and information previously published here (and there) ...

Scriabin in the Himalayas

An unusual new CD from pianist John Bell Young offers recording premières of music by Scriabin, by his lecture-recital partner Hugh Downs, by Leo Tolstoy (!) and by concert pianist Michel Block. Young arranged for Scriabin's dying wish - that his uncompleted final work, the ceremonial Mysterium be performed in the Himalayas - to be satisfied. Alpine climber Carlos Buhler scaled Himalayan Mount Melungtse in August 1999, with a copy of Young's new CD, and played both Scriabin's 7th sonata and a recording of a 'completion' of Mysterium by Russian composer Alexander Nemtin from the summit. Further information from Americus Records or from John Bell Young.