“The Grammy Award-winning ensemble, which concentrates on works by living composers, is one of numerous orchestras and artists who perform late 20th- and 21st-century music in Scorsese’s psychological thriller. But the Cleveland Chamber Symphony hasn’t given a concert since last fall, and it’s struggling to stay alive.”
Category: music
Can Leonard Slatkin Survive Met Opera Reviews?
“The episode is a major embarrassment for Slatkin, who still has something to prove to the wider classical music world after his tenure at the National Symphony Orchestra ended less than triumphantly. You can’t belly flop on a much grander stage than the Met. But some perspective: The real shame would be if this incident diverts attention from the transformative leadership Slatkin has brought to the Detroit Symphony in his young tenure.”
Orchestras Take Recording Into Their Own Hands
“The two main trends for orchestras these days are to sell their own CDs and to deliver their performances to personal computers, where the developments are livelier. The New York Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic offer two of the most ambitious programs, although their approaches differ.”
An Assault On A Music Sanctuary
“For the past 110 years, the Wigmore has stood inconspicuously behind the heaving department stores of Oxford Street. All the great pianists and violinists have played beneath its Pre-Raphaelite cupola, along with many of the top-C divas. It is a prestigious stage with a pin-perfect acoustic. There are few such places left. It was this precious freedom that the demonstrators set out to destroy.”
Honolulu Symphony Announces Plan For Leaner Operation
“Three months after filing for bankruptcy protection, the management team behind the Honolulu Symphony Society says it has a plan to emerge as a smarter organization with a reduced budget ‘that Honolulu can afford’.” The scheme involves fewer formal concerts and more education and community outreach and maintains a core of 63 players
In Classical Recordings, Orchestras Are Doin’ It For Themselves
“The modern symphony orchestra has thudded out of bed, stretched its lumbering limbs and woken up to the new reality of recordings: the industry has faded away. It’s do-it-yourself time.”
Mass. Music School Shrinks Staff In Bid For NY Partnership
“After years in the shadow of Boston’s major classical music schools, the Longy School of Music is looking to change course, transitioning from a small institution to a more significant player, perhaps as a satellite of Bard College in New York. The change … has involved shedding more than 20 percent of its teachers, many of whom have taught for decades.”
Finding The Funny In Classical Music
“People think classical music is supposed to be taken terribly, terribly seriously, but in fact there has been quite a lot of funny classical music over the years. Musical jokes that make you smile, or laugh out loud.”
Peter Gelb Goes For Broke (Ahem) At The Met
Is the Metropolitan Opera’s general manager “presiding over a leap into the 21st century, or the slow decline of the world’s greatest (and most extravagant) opera house? Examining the Met’s $47 million deficit, the horrendous economics of opera, and the effort to sell high culture to the masses, the author reveals what a huge risk the controversial impresario is taking.”
The Corporation Feeding Turkey’s Growing Appetite For Classical Music
“So, enter Borusan Holding. The name isn’t snappy, and nor is the company’s raison d’être – the supply of steel pipes around the country. But, motivated by its philanthropic founder, it endows its cultural foundation with some $8 million (£5.3 million) a year. The orchestra, possibly the first in the world to be both owned and run by a private company, is its prize asset.”