DISCUSSION: John Dante Prevedini leads a discussion about Classical Music and Politics, including contributions from Béla Hartmann and James Ross.
CENTRAL ENGLAND: Mike Wheeler's concert reviews from Nottingham and Derbyshire feature high profile artists on the UK circuit - often quite early on their tours.
The Swedish conductor Sixten Ehrling, born in Malmö on 3 April 1918, studied piano and violin at Stockholm's Royal Academy of Music, and was awarded the Jenny Lind Scholarship in 1939. He worked as a repetiteur at Royal Swedish Opera, and was an assistant to Karl Böhm at Dresden State Opera.
Following some criticism, Ehrling left his job as principal conductor at Royal Swedish Opera, and worked in the USA, conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for 10 years from 1963. He later taught conducting at Juilliard, and worked with the Denver Symphony and the San Antonio Symphony. Known for his focus, clarity and perfectionism, he also had a notoriously short fuse, which sometimes lost him contracts. Ehrling died in New York City on 13 February 2005, aged 86.