I have been visiting the Huffington Post for years, but I was still surprised when I googled “classical music news” and Huffington Post’s Classical Music section was one of the first results.  Prior to today, I did not know about it at all.  As my first post on musical news mentioned, I am not interested in sensationalism and “entertainment news” culture, and knowing that quite a few sections of the Huffington Post certainly do enter that fray, it was with a bit of hesitation that I clicked through.

The site does try to come up with extreme headlines –  “WATCH”  (which, by the way, I almost never do on Huffpost) “WATCH: The Piano Guys Will Blow You Away with Angels We Have Heard on High,” and others that start with “The Most” and  “The Only.” It seems many web writers can’t get through the day without imagining that the story they just came up with is the most impactful ever in the history of the universe.

But in all fairness, there are plenty of measured, interesting, and informative articles on the site.  I read two pieces (I tend to eschew videos on news sites), the first by renowned mezzo soprano Suzanne Mentzer, writing a tribute to the longstanding Metropolitan Opera in New York’s production of Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, which is stopping production after 42 years.  I was taken with such a star being taken herself with walking in the footsteps of by sharing costumes with great singers from the past.

The other was an interview with singer Andrea Bocelli, one of the most renowned in the world, on finishing his master’s thesis for his degree in Vocal Performance just now, at the age of 55, at a school in Italy.  His first degree, when he was a younger man, was in law, and the legendary singer wanted to deepen his musical knowledge.  It somehow tickles me that, on a tiny little scale, I share his desire to gain a better understanding of music later in life myself.  I also found it touching that his son attended the same conservatory, for piano, at the time Bocelli was doing his coursework.

I’m quite happy to have discovered this slice of the Huffpost pie – it’s probably the least sensationalized of any section on the site, and it’s a great resource for learning about the more popular side of classical music.

Thanks for reading.

Ryan