Category: music

Time was, a Met concert performance of Rigoletto or Bohème could attract 35,000 people to Central Park. But this week’s three-singer-and-piano recital there only drew about 4,300 listeners, even with Tony-winning heartthrob Paulo Szot as the headliner. Will next month’s Summer HD Festival – outdoor re-screenings of past live hi-def broadcasts – be the future of the Met’s summer programming?

“The research papers, which describe a pilot study of cardiac surgery patients and an experiment featuring older adults undergoing hip or knee surgery, are both published in the inaugural issue of the journal Music and Medicine. Together, they suggest the much-discussed healing power of music can play a valuable role in the postoperative healing process.”

“Fan response to [Michael] Jackson’s death has illuminated the distinct needs that physical and digital formats serve. The immediacy and near-universal accessibility of digital music has made it the form of choice for millions today. But physical media still offer an emotional connection that digital music has yet to replace.”

“The music director of Moscow’s renowned Bolshoi Theater resigned suddenly on Monday, throwing the future of the institution’s grand $1 billion rebuild into chaos. Alexander Vedernikov, who had struggled for eight years to raise standards and inject new life into Russia’s best-known international music theater, announced his decision on the opening day of the Bolshoi’s summer tour of Italy.”

“Sitting in the enclosure was like hearing music from inside a supersize conical seashell. Between the gaps in the ribbon you could see the black gallery walls, so the effect was to create a sort of safe listening enclave within a much larger room. … All I know is that the space was a delight to be in and that the music sounded up-close and exceptionally vibrant.”

“One of the highlights of the classical music season, the Bayreuth Festival, which celebrates the music of Richard Wagner, may be played out in darkness this year. The scenery may also be shifted by members of the Wagner family because workers are fed up with being paid little more than €4 (£3.40) an hour.”

“Business is going very well. Orders are increasing, and our distribution network is expanding. We’re getting more inquiries from different countries, which is quite remarkable in this climate. In addition to the major markets, we are now entering into agreements with smaller countries.”

“Vinyl LPs, as has been breathlessly touted for months, are surprisingly resurgent in the midst of this analog twilight and the ascent of portable, digital technology. Looking at the most complete sales data available (for 2008), the sales of vinyl LPs jumped an eye-popping 89 percent, from 990,000 units sold to 1.88 million units sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan’s year-end report.”

Opera companies have to case roles years in advance. But the singer you book might not be the one you get by the time the production rolls around.

At age 42, Mr. Gilbert is nearly four decades younger than Mr. Maazel, who led the Philharmonic for seven years and ended his tenure last month. The orchestra is already considering new directions: an Asian tour this fall, with its first visit to Vietnam, and a possible trip to Cuba in October, which would be another first for the orchestra.