Soundbites
Baton changes
The Ulster Orchestra has announced that Daniele Rustioni is to be its new chief conductor. The Italian, who was formerly the principal conductor at Opéra National de Lyon, will succeed Rafael Payare in September. And in another maestro move, Dalia Stasevska is to become the new principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. There, she will be joining her fellow Finn Sakari Oramo, the orchestra’s chief conductor.
Little farewell
If either Rustioni or Stasevska want to conduct Tasmin Little in their new positions, they’ll need to be quick about it. The popular violinist has announced that she is to retire from the stage in the summer of 2020, bringing an end to a top-flight career of more than 30 years. In ‘bowing out’ (her pun), she says that she will be focussing her attention on other activities such as media work and championing music education.
Classical rise
Recently released figures have revealed that sales of classical music in 2018 increased at a faster rate than any other type of music. Streaming of classical music rose by a huge 42 per cent over the year as listeners explored the wealth of recordings that are now available online. However, commanding 60 per cent of the market, CDS still lead the way and show no sign of slowing down – sales rose by 6.9 per cent.
A case for the future
The Swedish record label BIS is to start packaging its CDS in a more environmentfriendly type of case. Instead of plastic boxes, BIS will instead start using ‘ecopaks’ made of certified cardboard, soy ink, ecofriendly glue and water-based varnish. ‘If this helps the recording business move away from plastic packaging in favour of more ecological alternatives, I will be happy,’ says the label’s owner, Robert von Bahr.