Category: music

Scratch ‘n sniff music? Why not, say the organizers of this year’s Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in the UK. “An electronic chamber opera that breaks new ground in the field of concert-going by combining sounds and smells” is the headline-grabbing phenomenon of the season. “Scent diffusers that look like spotlights are mounted on a heavy steel frame, controlled by a converted light mixer. There are 120 of these diffusers ranked above the audience’s heads, ready to produce bursts of specific aromas during the performance. Yet the audience is unaware of them, as this is a performance that takes place in pitch darkness.”

At a closed rehearsal with the musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra, outgoing music director Christoph Eschenbach revealed that his decision to leave was sparked by a conversation with the orchestra’s CEO in which Eschenbach was told that “80 percent of the musicians did not agree with his artistic interpretations; that 80 percent of the musicians left concerts feeling great anger; and that the orchestra was a ‘ticking time bomb.'”

The relationship between Eschenbach and the Philadelphia Orchestra may have had its bumps, but Peter Burwasser says that it’s a shame the maestro will be departing so soon. “Eschenbach has, on so many levels, fulfilled his commitment splendidly. He has infused the Philadelphia Orchestra with a lively sense of innovation and connection to living music that hearkens back to the storied Stokowski era. More significantly, he has given us a beautiful sounding orchestra.”

South Korea is prime territory for touring orchestras these days, with a seemingly insatiable classical music audience lining up for tickets in numbers that most Western ensembles would kill for at home. But the popularity of the form has led to an explosion in ticket prices – how does $260 for a seat at the New York Philharmonic’s concert sound? Or $400 for the Berlin Phil? And the numbers don’t actually add up: there simply aren’t enough music fans in Korea to justify the price spike. So who’s buying the tickets, and who’s getting shut out of the hall?

Keith Lockhart will step down from his position as music director of the Utah Symphony & Opera following the 2008-09 season. “The orchestra has struggled financially in recent years and is in the middle of a recovery program. Some patrons have been perturbed by what they see as Lockhart’s lack of community involvement; a professional consultant’s study in 2005 said Lockhart needed to be more engaged with the orchestra.” Lockhart has no plans to leave his other gig, as principal conductor of the Boston Pops.

How do you get kids interested in opera? Well, writing one directed specifically at them wouldn’t hurt – and if the main characters could all be gross (but lovable) bugs, that’d probably score you some points, too. For composer Geoffrey Hudson and librettist Alisa Pearson, the quest to bring their “Bug Opera” to life has been a five-year journey, with seemingly every aspect of the production kid-tested along the way.

The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has balanced its budget for the third year in a row, and posted a healthy increase in both donated income and ticket sales as well. In addition, the orchestra says it is only two years away from completely retiring an accumulated deficit that ballooned to nearly $800,000 as recently as 2003.

Greg Sandow reports some success: “You combine classical music with alternative pop (an umbrella term that may not really exist, but which I’m using here to mean all kinds of pop music that isn’t on the pop charts, including alternative rock and electronica).”

A Seattle composer is writing “a 31-part, concert-length baroque oratorio titled, rather theatrically, Mackris v. O’Reilly. The libretto opens with a reading of the original complaint filed by Mackris and runs through seven chorales, four recitatives, and numerous arias before the denouement, which features a dramatic reading of the settlement.”

Solidifying its commitment to working with a diverse array of “artistic partners” rather than engaging a traditional music director, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has extended its relationship with two of its more successful partners. Conductors Douglas Boyd and Roberto Abbado will continue leading the SPCO regularly through 2010 and 2011, respectively.