Karita Mattila Out of Wednesday Night’s ‘Tosca’ at the Met

The Metropolitan Opera said that Maria Gavrilova will sing the title role in Wednesday evening’s performance of Puccini’s “Tosca.” She is replacing Karita Mattila, who is ill, the Met said in a news release. Ms. Gavrilova, a Russian soprano, made her Met debut in 2007, when she sang the title role of “Madama Butterfly” as a substitute for Patricia Racette. Ms. Mattila is still scheduled to sing “Tosca” on Saturday, the Met said.

Arts, Design Prizes Awarded

Tom Stoppard and Zaha Hadid were among the winners of the Praemium Imperiale arts awards, announced Thursday by the Japan Art Association. The awards, which come with a prize of about $163,000 each, are given for lifetime arts achievement in categories not covered by the Nobel Prizes. They were in established in 1988 to mark the association’s 100th anniversary and to honor Prince Takamatsu, its longtime honorary patron, who died in 1987. In a news release, the association said that in addition t

Pittsburgh Orchestra Extends Music Director’s Contract and Gets $1 Million Gift

Toshiyuki UranoManfred Honeck, the music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, has extended his contract there through the 2015-2016 season.It’s not all gloom and doom in the classical music world: The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra announced that it had extended the contract of its music director, Manfred Honeck, through the 2015-2016 season. In a news release, the orchestra said that Mr. Honeck’s current contract, which began in September 2008, was originally set to expire after three

Free Tickets for Dress Rehearsals at the Met

Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesKarita Mattila, seen here in “Eugene Onegin,” will star in “Tosca” at the Met.The Metropolitan Opera will continue its tradition of offering free tickets to final dress rehearsals of its coming productions, giving away a limited number of seats to rehearsals for Puccini’s “Tosca,” Offenbach’s “Contes d’Hoffmann” and Rossini’s “Armida.”In a news release, the Met said that at noon on Sept. 13, its box office would offer 3,000 free tickets to the Sept. 17 final dress

Boulez Wins Kyoto Prize

David Goldman for The New York TimesPierre Boulez conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in March.The French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez will be among the winners of the Kyoto Prize, awarded annually by the Inamori Foundation in Japan to recognize “contributions to the scientific, cultural and spiritual betterment of mankind,” the foundation said in a news release. Mr. Boulez, 84, will be the prize’s laureate in its arts and philosophy category. (Awards are also given