Category: music

John Adams’ new opera is getting its premiere at Chicago Opera Theatre. “The Adams coup is just the latest accolade for Chicago Opera Theater, which has evolved exponentially ever since 1999, when Brian Dickie took over as its general director.”

The traditional recording industry might be in crisis. But the music isn’t dying. The answer to the business, suggested by the recent SXSW in Austin, might be right out in the open – live performance.

While many mid-size American cities struggle to field an opera company, Denver boasts two – Central City Opera and Opera Colorado. “The two companies are also strikingly similar. They have nearly parallel 2007 budgets – $5.4 million for Central City and $5 million for Opera Colorado. Both enjoy solid national reputations. But along with those commonalities come significant differences, none more obvious than their principal venues.”

With the departure of Tower Records, independent recording retailers are what’s left. Is there still a business left for the littl silver discs?

“You can’t pick up a newspaper without reading about the impending demise of the CD. Yet, just two months ago, without much fanfare, Silver Platters expanded into the deserted shell of the old Tower Records, at the southeast foot of Queen Anne Hill. Other CD stores like Easy Street are doing fine in Seattle, but none has been so daring as to take on an additional 42,000 square feet of retail space. Does this spunky little business know something no one else knows — again?”

There is a “vast underground world of amateur chamber music, whose members meet through friends, at parties and seminars, in community orchestras and on the Internet to share a common passion and a unique social network. Some have switched careers after a disappointing job hunt as pros, while others dust off old instruments as a hobby. But many plan on music as a satisfying avocation from the start — viewing their musical interests as a way to provide balance to demanding if often lucrative professions.”

The Period Instruments movement has been well established for decades. With a sound distinct from modern ensembles, is it any surprise that Period Instrument ensembles should start commissioning contemporary music?

“The South has the synchronicity of diverse and talented singers, combined with people who watch and vote for their favorite religiously…”

“Eighty-nine million CDs were sold in the first three months of 2007, compared with 112 million during the same period in 2006. The growth in digital music failed to compensate, with album sales dropping by 10% overall.”

Christopher Orlet comes out swinging against attempts to promote diversity in orchestras. “If ever there was a case for elitism it should be made on the world’s great orchestral stages, where perfection should never be held hostage to political correctness. If you want mediocrity, look to the government and the public schools. Plenty there to go round.”