Category: music

Tim Mangan: “Beginning on September 13, I will be writing the People column for the Orange County Register five days a week. I’ll be covering the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dr. Laura (did I spell those right?) and all the other worthies whom readers can’t get enough of. Drunken tirades, courtroom dramas and sex scandals will be the grist of my mill. No joke.”

Orchestra seats for nearly all Friday and Saturday performances this coming season will be available under the new program. While ticket buyers must wait in line at the box office for weekday rush seats, the $25 weekend tickets will be distributed by online lottery.

“Building an opera house in the middle of the African desert was [the stage director’s] biggest dream. Now that he has passed away, the opera project in Burkina Faso may be abandoned.”

“In a collaboration between BBC Productions, the Royal Opera House and Olivier award-winning composer Mark Anthony Turnage, the title role will be sung by Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek. The librettist is Richard Thomas and the director is Richard Jones, with Antonio Pappano on the podium.”

“By and large I think we’ve now found a fairly stable market for physical product. Beyond that of course we all look at where will it happen online – what is there beyond the physical business? And it looks like downloads will not be it.”

“The Canadian Opera Company is adding standing room only spaces to its new home after a number of sell-out shows in recent years. The Toronto-based company … has installed standing room spots for up to 60 people, with tickets priced at $12 each.”

“All of Scotland’s professional orchestras may need to change the contracts of their musicians to make classical music provision ‘more flexible’ in the future, the former head of Scotland’s arts funding body said last night.”

“As opera houses and orchestras simulcast their performances into movie theatres across the country, critics charge that it’s turning classical music into a cheap reality show. Fans say it’s as addictive as popcorn.” Tim Page and Drew McManus debate the matter on the air.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates: “[Former Secretary of State] Condi Rice used to say, ‘We have more people in military bands than they have in the Foreign Service.’ She was not far wrong.”

With the Charleston Symphony in limbo after running out of cash in March, conductor Lorenzo Muti (no relation) and former Spoleto USA impresario Charles Wadsworth are trying to launch a small orchestra/chamber ensemble in the Lowcountry. They insist that they pose no threat to a revival of the CSO, though many local musicians aren’t so sure.