Category: music

“The New York City Opera said on Friday that it had raided its endowment of a total of $23.5 million to pay off debts and right the troubled company’s finances, leaving little left in its coffers. … [T]he company’s endowment now stands at $10.4 million.”

“In a rare performance by a prominent Israeli musician in Egypt, Daniel Barenboim has received a rapturous reception at the Cairo Opera House. Mr Barenboim conducted the Cairo Symphony Orchestra playing Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.”

Scott Terrell, 38 and currently resident conductor of the Charleston Symphony, takes the podium at the Kentucky orchestra beginning this June. He succeeds retiring music director George Zack, who held the position for 37 years.

“The Nashville Opera will unveil its new $6 million headquarters with an April 30 ribbon-cutting. The 26,000-square-foot Noah Liff Opera Center includes office, studio and warehouse spaces, as well as large community spaces for special events.”

“Although it always operated on a much smaller scale, Patelson’s (affectionate patrons inevitably add the possessive) was something of a sheet music version of The Strand. Many times it was impossible to find what you were looking for there, but inevitably other things found you.”

“Festival organizers across the continent are voicing concerns that tough times could soften ticket sales in an era when corporate sponsorships — a critical source of revenue — are increasingly difficult to secure and competition to book performers with proven box-office drawing power has never been more fierce.”

“No city on earth has more nightly performance than London and none can approach its depth and diversity. Yet, in the premier league of music capitals, London struggles for recognition beside Vienna, Paris and Milan. It is regarded as a bit of a parvenu, a place of skimpy traditions, capital of what Germans used to call the Land Without Music.”

“Seeking new audiences and mindful of crushing economic times, the [New World Symphony] orchestral academy has launched a new mini-concert series, for the mini price of 2.50 dollars. Each concert runs 20 to 30 minutes, and dress is casual. You are welcome to walk in from the beach in Bermuda shorts and baseball cap, but skateboards must be checked.”

“Abide With Me, Amazing Grace and Jerusalem have been eclipsed by the strains of Frank Sinatra, Celine Dion and Robbie Williams, according to the latest figures. A survey of 30,000 funerals conducted last year found that hymns were the most popular requests at only 35 per cent of services, down from 41 per cent in 2005. Contemporary songs accounted for 58 per cent of requests, up from 55 per cent, with classical pieces making up the remaining seven per cent (from 4 per cent).”

“Not surprisingly, the Boston Symphony Orchestra has decided not to tour Europe in 2010. The jaunt had reportedly included planned stops in Paris and Vienna.” The BSO says it “will not resume international touring activity until [an economic] recovery is well under way.”