Category: music

“The longest-lasting lesson in modern Georgia politics, the event that cracked the state’s official wall separating white and black, has become what it always was: An opera. The opera chronicles Governor Eugene Talmadge’s 1941 assault on the state university system, and his persecution of two academics for their alleged advocacy of race-mixing at Georgia’s all-white institutions of higher education.”

“The record industry has reached a strange pass when it makes more economic sense to give away an entire album than to spend the money needed to persuade people to buy it. But, when it comes to the process of downloading, it seems that the cost of providing tracks and the profit margins from them are slender enough often to make giving music away the only worthwhile option.”

“Baseball is celebrating the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s debut by adding new programs to encourage more African American youngsters to play ball. But there is no such concerted effort among America’s top symphonies. Even the Philadelphia Orchestra, which 16 years ago announced with great fanfare that it was on a mission to shed its “lily-white” label, appears stuck.”

“Charles Dutoit succeeds Daniele Gatti, who steps down as the orchestra’s music director when his contract expires in the summer of 2009. The position has an illustrious pedigree: the list of the Royal Philharmonic’s previous principal conductors includes Thomas Beecham (who founded the orchestra), Rudolf Kempe, Antal Doráti, Walter Weller, André Previn and Vladimir Ashkenazy.”

“Playing from memory in public is a fairly recent fashion. Before the late 19th century, playing without the score was often considered a sign of casualness, even of arrogance. The custom of playing from memory developed along with the growth of a body of classics that everyone agreed were worth preserving exactly as their composers had intended. Teachers encouraged students to memorise them.”

“ENO’s job cuts and momentary move to smaller venues seem to indicate that it is downsizing. That may be a good thing. The Coliseum is an enormous theater for a company that has traditionally relied on younger, smaller voices. Downsizing may also be a disaster. If the ENO shrinks too much, it’s unlikely that grand works like ‘Aida’ or ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ will survive for long in the repertory.”

Kent Nagano was “hired to rejuvenate Montreal’s premier orchestra after its reputation, and its relationship with its audience, suffered in the wake of a bitter and lengthy labour dispute in 2004-2005. His plans include not only touring the country but also bringing Canadian themes and content to the orchestra’s programming, as his 2007-2008 repertoire shows.”

The battle between Austrian chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer and the dedicated opera fans who want him to stop sticking his nose into the search for the next director of the Vienna State Opera is getting awfully operatic itself. “The leftist Green Party labeled him ‘an operetta chancellor who considers art important only if he can put himself on center stage.’ Thomas Trenkler, an editor of the Vienna newspaper Der Standard, wrote that Mr. Gusenbauer was misusing ‘art as a political stage.'”

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra has announced that music director Stephane Deneve has extended his contract through the 2010-11 season. Deneve has been a major hit in Scotland, as attendance at RSNO concerts has jumped by a whopping 30% since his arrival.

The City of London Sinfonia has tapped an executive with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra to be its next CEO. Barry Kempton, a UK native, had been with the SPCO as a vice president since 1995, before which he worked for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.