Enlarge this image Sufjan Stevens, onstage during the Academy Awards on March 4, 2018 in Los Angeles. Kevin Winter/Getty Images Kevin Winter/Getty Images In 2012, Sufjan Stevens released a cover of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Far from the reverent, vampy and vocally pyrotechnic renditions that ritualistically precede American sporting events, Stevens' version was instead muted and ominous. He had rewritten the leaping melody into something more straightforward, which is not as sacrilegious as it might seem: The song we so readily attribute to Francis Scott Key was, in fact, not an original musical composition but rather a poem he set to the tune of an existing melody, "The Anacreontic Song," a late-18th century ode to a British gentlemen's club. The dulcet, ASMR tones of Stevens' ...

Nézet-Séguin chose Verdi's Requiem for his 2012 inaugural performance as music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He says the piece now helps him find a sense of connection during the pandemic. Let's block ads! (Why?)

Enlarge this image A view of the Metropolitan Opera ticketing office in 2018. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images New York's famed Metropolitan Opera announced on Wednesday that the house will remain closed until September 2021. In a press release, the Met said that it had made its decision to cancel the rest of the 2020-21 season based on the advice of "health officials who advise the Met and Lincoln Center," and keeping in mind the hundreds of performers and staff members required for rehearsals and performances as well as its audiences. The Met added that it will not be able to resume performances "until a vaccine is widely in use, herd immunity is established, and the wearing of masks and social distancing is no longer a medical ...

Enlarge this image Real Estate Jake Michaels/Courtesy of the artist Jake Michaels/Courtesy of the artist "Gone" "Also A But" "You" Ridgewood, N.J., rock band Real Estate put out its first album in 2009, but the group started playing together a lot earlier than that. Like so many suburban rock bands do, the founding members met in high school and played in backyards and basements. Now, its five members are all grown up and have five full-length albums under their collective belt, including 2020's The Main Thing. In this session, you'll hear my conversation with Real Estate singer Martin Courtney and bass player Alex Bleeker about how they've ...