I'm afraid this is correct - it was reported on BBC radio yesterday
morning.

A couple of thoughts came to mind.  First, Sinopoli was an imaginative
and eccentric conductor.  Sometimes the results were risable, for example
the awful Elgar recordings with the Philharmonia and the pulling about of
tempos (stopping to sniff the flowers on the way) in Bruckner's 8th.  See
the section on Sinopoli in Norman Lebrecht's Maestro Myth.

However, there were recordings with moments of magic.  I love Sinopoli's
Salome.  The orchestra takes on real character.  Listen to the neurotic
itchy sound in Herod's final scene with Herodias or the dark howl of
delight from the horns when Salome finally gets John he baptists head.
Also, his Elektra is a controversial classic.  It is abolutely
uncompromising in the violence and weird beauty of sound.  Sinopoli
catches the propulsive power of the final dance magnificently and seems
to hold his Elektra (Allessandra Marc) in a trance-like state throughout.
As one critic said, a weird recording of a weird opera.

I am also grateful to have heard his Gurreleider.  I was initially put
off by reviews which said he conducted part 1 too slowly.  However, he
and his stunning orchestra (Staaskapelle Dresden) made me hear details in
the score for the first time.  The slow speeds in the first part, I would
argue, reflect the movement into night in the text.  Sinopoli's sunrise in
the final chorus is magnificent.  Strange that Sinopoli is criticised for
slowing tempos here by 10 - 20% when Furtwangler can slow tempos to a
proportoniately greater extent in works like Die Walkure or Don Giovanni
and be declared a genius.

Finally, I notice that after years of dire reviews from many UK critics,
his recording of Bruckner's 5th was editor's choice in this month's
Gramophone.  I hope he was able to read the glowing review which praised
the insights he bought to the score whilst building a powerful structure.

Perhaps others on the list could mention recordings by Sinopoli that caught
their attention.

Sad news.

PS.  Sinopoli's death got a 2-3 line mention on the radio.  A rock band
involved in an air rage incident got considerably more space on BBC
national radio the next day.

David Harbin
Nottingham, UK