Long-time New York Times classical music critic Bernard Holland is retiring from the paper, effective May 23. He accepted a buyout as part of the newspaper's desire to reduce its newsroom size. Many don't realize this, but Holland worked at the Post-Gazette in 1979 and 1980. He came to the Times in 1981.

According to Susan Elliott of MusicalAmerica.com, Holland "'drifted' into music writing after teaching piano privately. Early training included studies at the Vienna Academy of Music and the Paris Conservatory." He plans on retiring to Canada, with no immediate plans on what's next.

Holland's departure still leaves two full-time classical music critics at the Times -- Anthony Tommasini and Allan Kozinn -- with editor James Oestreich, free-lancers Steve Smith and Vivien Schweitzer and plenty of other freelance submissions on Sunday adding to its coverage.

Elliott reports that Oestreich said, "Since the goal of the buyouts is to decrease the size of the newsroom, it's not an automatic assumption that we can hire another staff critic."

Still, the paper's classical desk has an enviable staff size. But -- whatever you personally thought of Holland's writings -- the Times certainly loses a presence with his departure.

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In finding a photo to go with Robert Croan's obituary on soprano Frances Yeend we came across this amazing photo in the Post-Gazette archives. Here is its original caption:

"April 4, 1950, Frances Yeend of the City Center Opera Co., New York. She says bubble blowing is an excellent way to relax the throat muscles. She spends at least 30 minutes like this before each performance."

I had never heard of this as a warm-up technique, have you? It seems the sort of extravagant thing a diva would do, but also the kind of new-fangled technique that was typical of the '50s. Clearly, we lost a spirited woman when this talented singer died.

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Soprano Renee Fleming issued the following statement to our Robert Croan, too late for the obit he wrote on Yeend, so I include it here:

"Frances Yeend had a tremendous influence on me during a transitional period early on in my studies. She gave me my first real knowledge of a breath technique, and more importantly, piqued my interest in singing with the richness of her shared career experiences and the sacrifices she made. She sang gloriously and healthily for many decades even after she retired, and encouraged the many young musicians she taught. The press photograph of her CAMI trio including Mario Lanza and George London and stories of their cross-country tours inspired me tremendously. She will be missed as one of the great American singers."

-- Renee Fleming

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The National Endowment for the Arts has a new award, the NEA Opera Honors, which it calls "the highest award our nation bestows in opera." The award goes to "luminaries who have made extraordinary contributions to opera in the United States," and the first honorees are soprano Leontyne Price, composer Carlisle Floyd, administrator Richard Gaddes (general director of the Santa Fe Opera and co-founder of Opera Theater of Saint Louis), and conductor James Levine (music director of the Metropolitan Opera).

The Washington National Opera is partnering with the NEA in this inaugural year, which is why its general director and super tenor Placido Domingo is participating in the event. They should just give a lifetime achievment award to him right now.

Does classical music need another award? I say yes. The more recognition the better, and the more we can get the gov to show official appreciation for the arts, the better, too.

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Two weeks ago we ran this letter in the Weekend feedback:

Thank you, Post-Gazette, for sending a reviewer to our concert this past weekend ("Music Review: Camerata skillfully follows literary trail," April 21). I enjoyed meeting Burkhardt Reiter, and obviously I was very pleased with what he wrote. I believe in giving credit where credit is due, however belatedly, and I wanted to thank Andrew Druckenbrod for his part in the current artistic success of The Pittsburgh Camerata.

When he first joined the staff of the Post-Gazette in 1999, he reviewed our Christmas concert. Let's just say that he was disappointed in us and didn't pull any punches.

Naturally, I didn't enjoy getting such a review, and I wanted to think that his remarks were not justified. As it happened, though, that particular performance was recorded.

Thus does technology make fools of us all.

At any rate, it gave me a great deal to think about, and in the ensuing years I have modified certain aspects of my direction. As a result I am more able to help the singers to live up to their potential as individuals and as a group.

I expect that being a reviewer is a thankless task, and the position can certainly be abused. But thoughtful, informed reviews can provide useful feedback and information for the organizations being reviewed.

This provides an extremely valuable service to the arts community. So thanks to the Post-Gazette for continuing to review classical music when I'm sure there is tremendous pressure to use the space for more lucrative and/or popular content, and thank you for doing your job with integrity.

Rebecca Rollett
Artistic director, The Pittsburgh Camerata

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I was floored by this letter. A critic gets a comment like this only once or twice in a career. Someone telling me that, years later, she realizes I was right with a criticism and that I actually helped improve her group? Practically unheard of!

But I also was really touched by the letter. Indeed, Rebecca's willingness to fight instinctive defensiveness to take a hard look at what she was doing with her choir is rare in this biz. And to her credit her changes (and, of course, her natural growth as a conductor) have helped the Camerata vastly improve in the years following my first review.

Critics differ as much as people do, but I think the best ones write with a mind to educate and enable readers, on the one hand, and to improve performance quality and repertoire, on the other -- all with tactful and respectful writing. I am certainly imperfect at this, but it's a goal and I think it showed in our coverage of the Camerata, a chamber choir here in town.

While it is true I didn't "pull any punches" in the original review, I did include some bona fide positives to comment on. My goal then and now is not to crush groups or show how much I know, but to describe events truthfully (as I hear them) in a collegial style. These are, after all, concert reviews and not crime reporting. And for the record, I didn't revel in writing such a negative review, I actually hate when I feel I must.

In the years that followed, I let my freelancers review the Camerata to get some other voices into the discussion so I wouldn't just be hammering the singers. And in later reviews such as this one, I kept an open mind, which paid off, again, because the choir improved over the years.

It may have looked like Rebecca was buttering me up for future good reviews, but that was nowhere near the truth. She was simply divulging something that many directors would never have the guts to admit, if they would ever do it at all: that they learned from public criticism. I applaud her for that. In a perfect world, we would all not only learn from each other, but want to.

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The Pittsburgh Flute Club got international last week. It hosted its first Young Artist Competition, an event it intends to operate annually for flutists under 25. On April 26 at the Flute Academy, eight flutists from around the globe competed, with participants from Korea, Norway, Sweden and the United States. The winners:

First place ($1,000) -- Brit Halvorsen of Norway (studying at Carnegie Mellon University with Jeanne Baxtresser and Alberto Almarza).

Second place ($300) -- Heather Zinninger (studying at Eastman School of music and a student of Bonita Boyd).

Third place ($200) -- Erin McKibben (studying at the University of Michigan with Amy Porter).

Judges were Bernard Goldberg, Stacey Steele Semifinal round: Francesca Arnone, Jennifer Conner, Kathryn Umble, Alison Brown Sincoff, Damian Bursill-Hall and Rhian Kenny

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The Pittsburgh Opera is almost done with its move from its Downtown offices to its new, huge complex in the Strip District. Our intrepid videographer, Michael Henninger, shot a short video last week, if you want to get a sense of the enormity of the transfer. With many costumes, scores, computers, files and sets, this is not your standard house move.

I toured the spectacular-looking brick warehouse a few weeks ago and I truly think it has the chance to transform the company. The roughly 40,000 square foot building is really two separate long buildings adjoined. The space will allow for more rehearsals (because it won't be sharing the Benedum Center rehearsal space with other groups and because there will be two large rehearsal halls) and will reduce logistical problems since everyone and everything will be in the same space. There is a extensive second-floor space with everyone's cubicals and offices (very stylish, I might add, from an earlier renovation -- a sort of urban/rough-hewn look highlighted by a meeting room with at garage door!). It should help the organization financially, too, since the Pittsburgh Opera will own the building and not have to rent it or rehearsal space (it plans on raising $8 million to cover the sale, the renovation and maintenance of the building).

When I wrote for the Star Tribune of the Twin Cities in the 1990s, the Minnesota Opera had just moved into a massive space in the Minneapolis warehouse district which helped that regional company grow (even in fundraising since it could hold parties there). The Minnesota Opera eventually built sets there and while the Pittsburgh Opera isn't yet planning that yet, I would imagine it will be in its future.

In any case, there is something to be said for that horrid word that gets bounced around still, "synergy." If ever there is reason to apply it, it is in a case like this new building, in which efficiency will likely lead to even better artistry for the Pittsburgh Opera.

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