WRTI Picks from NPR Music

The Mendelssohns grew up making music together in Berlin at the beginning of the 19th century. Felix, younger by four years, became one of history's most brilliant composers. Fanny, a strong-willed pianist but worried about her worth as a composer, has been neglected.

The popular and prize-winning play Doubt has already been transformed into an award-winning film. Now, the Minnesota Opera is premiering an operatic version of the tricky morality play. Doubt's playwright describes the new project as the "fullest telling" of his work.

Anne Akiko Meyer's newest super-pricey fiddle and leadership changes from the Munich Philharmonic to the London Symphony to The New York Times. Plus: Classical music might be good for your heart and a demonstration of teamwork but still detrimental to your safety behind the wheel.

A new face for the Houston Symphony, an acid attack on the Bolshoi Ballet chief and that nine-day tenure in NJ: a digest guide to all the news you need to know. Also, Rochesterians rally to reinstate Remmereit and Bizet's getting the Bollywood treatment.

We all know about the power of music — the songs that make you happy or trigger a poignant memory. But once in a while music can be even more intoxicating, as in a stunning performance that will be broadcast live to movie theaters worldwide this Saturday.

The Berlin Phil's Simon Rattle says the clock is ticking and the Chicago Symphony's Riccardo Muti has the flu. All the classical music world's news, collected for your pleasure. Plus: Sotheby's lets others sell violins and a tenor gripes about models.

Starting around the 1960s, the music's advocates increasingly turned to institutions of higher education. Within a few decades, college campuses became an unavoidable part of the modern jazz world, training generations of musicians, providing employment and shaping the future audience.

Hear an excerpt from a new recording of Beethoven's violin sonatas by the violinist and his collaborator, pianist Enrico Pace, that keeps the spotlight on the compositions, not the soloist.

How the season opener of the worldwide smash television series reminded one viewer of an orchestral piece by Maurice Ravel — 'La Valse' depicts an elegant world gone to pieces in the aftermath of World War I. Ravel's experiences in the war left him as shattered as the show's characters.

Classical fraud on the small screen, maybe the best classical app ever and much more: what you need to read, watch and hear this week. Plus: "obscene" Britten, a scary Nutcracker and operatic takes on both "Gangnam Style" and extreme pizza.