The 2010s: Classical Music's Decade Of Reckoning

Is classical music dying? No. But its institutions, artists and promoters took some hits in the past decade, from bankruptcies to sexual harassment. Still, along the way, we heard a lot of terrific music.

On this episode of All Songs Considered, we look at the roller coaster ride of high points and derailments in classical music. Symphony Orchestras and opera companies floundered financially, some going belly up and others rebounding as newly created organizations flourished. Women seemed to take a few steps forward and a few backward: While five of the last ten music Pulitzers were awarded to women, their music was conspicuously absent from our symphony halls. And tragically, both women and men, in many facets of classical music, were victims of sexual abuse and harassment.

Anne Midgette, the author and classical music critic for The Washington Post, joins NPR Music's Tom Huizenga for this discussion.