Category: music

Mark Swed likes the new $200 million hall on first encounter. “I like the way it feels. The light and airy interior is hospitable, the silver organ pipes (the instrument itself is still a year away from installation) intriguing. Architect Cesar Pelli’s undulating glass exterior has a welcome, outdoorsy transparency. I like the firm, upright seats. I like the way I imagine Segerstrom will sound once it finds its bearings.”

Maybe what ails the Toronto music scene is too many orchestras, writes Robert Everrett-Green. How about combining them? “Simply put, a super-orchestra of 150 would be large enough to handle the increased schedules of opera and ballet, and to perform a shorter TSO season. That’s how the Vienna Philharmonic functions, as one emanation of a 163-member pool that also provides players for all the ballet and opera performances at the Vienna State Opera.”

“Where Toronto opted to build an opera house that serves its purpose and nothing beyond, Norwegians understood that such a project must address more than the narrow spectrum of opera lovers. Oslo is also in the process of burying its elevated waterfront highway and its railway tracks. The objective is to reintegrate the old harbourlands back into the city, and transform it into a mixed-use neighbourhood where people live and work. What better way to launch the regeneration than by building an opera house?”

Metropolitan Opera “General Manager Peter Gelb said on Friday the September 25 opening night performance of Puccini’s ‘Madama Butterfly,’ directed by filmmaker Anthony Minghella, would be beamed live to Times Square on a giant screen.”

The Indianapolis Symphony has a new contract with its musicians. It provides for wage increases in each of its three years, a contast to the previous contract, which got significant compensation concessions from the players.

New To classical music and looking for a good introduction? Sure there are the classics, the greats to recommend. But Andrew Adler has an alternative list to try to tempt you.

David Runnicles will leave his post as music director of San Francisco Opera after 14 years. “We came to the conclusion that it was in mutual best interest of Donald and the company to maintain our relationship, but to give each party the freedom to pursue other options.”

“In the contract, the BSO agreed to increase the orchestra’s size by one musician, to 91 full-time players, and to maintain a full season – both factors that will help preserve the orchestra’s reputation and ability to retain and recruit members. There are 17 full-time orchestras in the U.S.”

A new report says that “on average, only 20 of the tracks on an iPod will be from the iTunes shop. Far more important to iPod owners, said the study, was free music ripped from CDs someone already owned or acquired from file-sharing sites. The report’s authors claimed their findings had profound implications for the future of the online music market.”

The lead bidder for Tower Records has offered $90 million for the bankrupt chain. The company is more than $200 million in debt. “To put a human face on it, Harmonia Mundi USA is out $1.2 million worth of inventory to Tower, which, even if liquidated, the label will not get back.”