Miscellany: Heart of Darkness, etc.

"Ever since I began to write, it has been my highest ambition to have one of my stories made into an opera, and when you suggested that use for Heart of Darkness, I was so moved I could not speak," Joseph Conrad once wrote to the American composer John Powell. Nothing came of the plan, although Powell had Heart of Darkness in mind when he wrote his Rhapsodie Nègre of 1917. (Powell was a horrendous, politically active racist, and it is surely for the best that he left Heart of Darkness alone.) Finally, after more than a century, the tale has found its composer: a chamber opera by Tarik O'Regan receives its premiere at the Royal Opera House tonight. Tom Service has a preview.... Grass-roots competitions are all the rage: Hilary Hahn is inviting submissions for her Encores Contest, while David Lang is running a piano competition. By the way, Molly Sheridan's NewMusicBox interview with Hahn is very much worth a read.... Schott introduces PSNY— "a curated, highly selective collection of works by contemporary composers, instantly available for download by ensembles, programmers, and music fans alike." ... You know you've made the big time when you get to appear on Sound Notion.... Metaphor of the week: Matthew Guerrieri writes that Lang Lang's attempt at the great Schubert B-flat Sonata was "like touring a mansion with a magnifying glass."