Category: music

“The news of [the Canadian Opera Co. director’s] return to the Opéra national, where he worked more than a decade ago, comes after the months of speculation in opera circles about Neef’s future, peaking with last month’s reporting from Le Figaro that Neef’s place at the helm of the Paris opera was a sure thing. … Neef’s new post also means he will relinquish his role as Santa Fe Opera’s artistic director, a job that he accepted just last year.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)

Tianxu An, the Curtis Institute of Music student, just 20, was ready to play the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in June. When conductor Vasily Petrenko brought in the orchestra for its brief introduction, the sound that came at An was that of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. – Philadelphia Inquirer

“[Keitaro] Harada will replace founding Artistic Director Peter Shannon, who resigned last year. Harada, who has signed a multi-year contract, is set to conduct the opening and closing concerts of the 2019-20 season as director designate and take over the full title and responsibilities … beginning with the 2020-21 season.” – Savannah Morning News

That line at the bottom of the screen of a digital music player that shows the length of the recording at the right and has a cursor showing how far along you are? That’s the scrubber bar. And you can use your mouse on that cursor to skip ahead or behind to any particular point in the recording. That gives a listener control over the time element of a piece of music — and, music being a time-based art form, this (though we may not realize it) completely changes a listener’s relationship to music. Brandon Lincoln Snyder digs into that change. – NewMusicBox

“We’ve become very well-grounded in traditional education theory, techniques and subject matters. But being culturally responsive means teaching music where kids are, and with what interests them. It means using songs by Bebe Rexha or Wiz Khalifa before an American folk song. It means teaching kids to play a synthesizer, electric guitar or drum kit, not just a violin or recorder.” Washington Post

Bossa nova had a golden age, ushered in by its creator, João Gilberto – and “the reign of bossa nova — as it was originally intended — was brief. It was an engagement with and a rejoinder to the samba that preceded it, and by the late 1960s, the Tropicalia movement had captured the center of Brazil’s creative imagination. But bossa nova has had a long and not always substantive afterlife; it has become the stuff of car commercials, beach bars and other places a dash of cosmopolitanism is needed.” – The New York Times

The short answer: Money. Longer answer, well, still money: “The reason for the sudden glut is not only that documentary makers have been inspired by the surprise success of documentaries such as 2012’s Searching For Sugar Man, or Asif Kapadia’s Amy in 2015. What investors have also noticed is the great power of these films to promote a music label’s back catalogue. … ‘A compelling synergy exists between movies and music.'” – The Observer (UK)

At multi-day music fests, just like at Disneyworld, cashless wristbands prepare the way for ‘gamifying’ listeners’ experiences. And sure, it’s for pop music now, but could this also be the future for BBC Proms and other classical music multi-day festivals? – BBC

Sure, there are a lot of mothers (or, as The Guardian has it, mums) in opera, but Rosa Mamai in L’arlesiana has a command and power that’s all too rare. – The Guardian (UK)