When Franz Liszt performed, the audience got so caught up in the moment that it would applaud and cheer after every movement. Sometimes people would even clap during the performance. Liszt then might start to improvise and work the crowd like a Vegas performer. Nowadays such behavior would be unthinkable. But should it be?

In a recent article for the Huffington Post, Richard Dare, the CEO and managing director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, argued that classical concerts have become too devoid of such spontaneity. Audiences are stifled by ritual and protocol, he said, and are afraid of clapping between movements and attracting the scorn of fellow patrons. Dare's article, "The Awfulness of Classical Music Explained," was widely shared on social media and unleashed hundreds of comments.

It used to be that if musicians wanted to record an album or put on a concert, they had to go see people with money — foundations or angel investors.

A new production of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, directed by Graham Vick, just opened at the Mariinsky Theater in Vladimir Putin's hometown of St. Petersburg, Russia. It shocked audiences by drawing parallels between the title character – a ruthless 16th-century Tsar – and Putin. It’s a rare case of political protest finding its way into classical music.

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On June 4, Lincoln Center will open a new 112-seat theater that will feature work by emerging playwrights and directors and will do so at $20 a seat.

"Competitions are for horses, not musicians," Béla Bartók famously sneered. Many classical musicians would agree. But even the most high-minded of us find something compelling about these talent contests, which now number more than 700 worldwide.

The charges against competitions are familiar: they turn art into a sport; they are poor barometers of future potential; losing can damage morale and possibly even a career. And there is often least one verdict controversy − whether it's the audience disagreeing with the jurors, or the jurors disagreeing with one another.

And yet, competitions may have a newfound relevance in an era of televised talent contests like "American Idol" and the "X Factor."

As the 75th Queen Elisabeth Competition gets underway this week in Brussels, Naomi Lewin asks four guests whether competitions can help to identify talent in a crowded field, or if they are, as their critics argue, a weak measurement of artistry and potential.

Freelance musicians once provided the backbone of New York's classical music scene. Work was abundant for the top players and the lifestyle never routine. But faced with changing tastes and new technology, many of the regional orchestras, Broadway pits and jingle houses that employ freelancers have cut back or shuttered. This is forcing musicians to get a bit more creative and entrepreneurial. 

The San Francisco Symphony is to become the latest orchestra to set aside "tweet seats" in its concert hall. Patrons seated in the balcony for its summer concerts will be invited to turn on their phones and dish out 140-character missives about the performance as they hear it. The orchestra joins the Cincinnati Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, the Pacific Symphony and the Dayton Opera, among other arts organizations, to introduce Twitter sections in the hall.

Live-tweeting is one of many strategies orchestras are trying in an attempt to enliven the concert experience -- from holding contests via YouTube, to placing video screens in halls. Advocates say these efforts could help make concerts feel more welcoming and interactive; skeptics wonder if social media and other technology will become a distraction.

Osvaldo Golijov, one of today’s most successful composers, is facing accusations of plagiarism. Sidereus, a nine-minute piece commissioned by a group of 35 orchestras, contains a significant chunk of music from a 2009 work by Michael Ward-Bergeman, a close friend of Golijov’s. The similarity was discovered by Tom Manoff, a music critic for NPR’s All Things Considered and Brian McWhorter, a trumpet player.

They're considered New York's prime spots to hear the American Songbook in an up-close-and-personal setting. But in recent years the city's hotel lounges and bars have come under threat. The Oak Room, a vital part of New York City's jazz and cabaret scene, shut its doors this month after 32 years in the Algonquin Hotel.

The Four Seasons and the Pierre Hotel also dropped their lounge music, and the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center had its last dance in 2009. Insiders point to a combination of tough economics for cabaret venues and changing audience demographics.

But not all news for cabaret audiences is gloomy: A new nightclub and restaurant called 54 Below is scheduled to open in early June in the space below the legendary Studio 54.

Concert audiences may never know if a violinist is playing on a rare instrument from 18th-century Italy or a modern one that sells for the cost of a used sedan. But don't tell that to the owner of the "Lady Blunt," a 1721 Stradivarius violin that sold for $16 million at an auction last June. Or the recipient of a 1707 Stradivarius cello owned by the late Bernard Greenhouse that fetched $6 million in January.

Antique instruments are selling for astronomical prices these days, but some question whether they deserve all of the accolades. In a controversial study published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, blindfolded experts were unable to pick two Stradivarius violins from modern instruments, based on their sound alone.