Category: music

Not too long ago, music journalists and industry observers were speculating that the music single was on its way out, and that no one bought anything but full-length albums anymore, anyway. But now, with downloading accounting for an ever-increasing chunk of music sales, the opposite may wind up being true. “As downloading becomes universal, the singles charts (for too long in thrall to the marketing power of record companies and tastes of teenagers) will once more start to reflect the real listening experience of the general population.” And with that change could come the death of the traditional album.

The BBC made international headlines when it announced that it would broadcast Wagner’s complete “Ring” cycle in a single day. But how many people could actually stand to sit through such a thing, even in the comfort of their own home? One London critic decided to give it a go, and did just fine for the first seven hours or so. Then, well… “Whimper. Make the nasty music go away, mummy! … This is apocalyptic, disturbing stuff, and it’s rolling madly around in my head.”

Russia’s St. Petersburg Philharmonic will be playing a reduced home schedule and increasing its touring beginning this July, as the city’s premiere concert hall closes for a major renovation. “The renovation is all the more challenging now that the [music director Yuri Temirkanov] has just removed the company’s executive director Vladimir Gronsky. The Philharmonic hasn’t had much luck with its managers, having changed three directors over the past ten years, with all of them being forced to resign before the end of their contracts.”

Russian conductor Valery Gergiev will take the reins of the London Symphony Orchestra next January, and anticipation is building in Britain’s capital city. But what does Gergiev plan to do with his new toy? Well, for one thing, he plans to explore some of the Russian music that has fallen out of fashion since the collapse of the Soviet Union. But more importantly, he won’t “pretend to take the orchestra to other planets” and would hope “never to block a truly artistic statement” from any musician. Gergiev seems particularly sensitive to the burnout that some music directors face with the world’s great orchestras as a result of fundraising and gladhanding duties, and stresses that he wants his relationship with the LSO to be “purely musical.”

To hear some classical music administrators tell it, you’d think that getting young people to a performance was a task worthy of Hercules and Sisyphus combined. But Washington National Opera doesn’t seem to be having any trouble. “The company’s sold-out performance of Gaetano Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore showed that it is about more than low-price tickets, though that certainly helps. It is about creating a social atmosphere and making sure the quality of the artistry is there.”

Six years ago, Joseph Rescigno was fired from his position as artistic director of Orchestre Metropolitain du Grand Montreal. “Rescigno sued for lost salary, moving expenses, defamation of character and moral damages. The Quebec Superior Court ruled in Rescigno’s favour in 2003 and this year the Quebec Court of Appeal upheld the lower court judgment in January. The orchestra now owes Rescigno more than $250,000. Early last week, demands for payment escalated. Letters of seizure were sent to the orchestra’s bank,” and the organization filed for bankruptcy protection. A benefit concert raised $200,000 for the orchestra, but like the rest of the orchestra’s assets, that money can’t be touched until the dispute with Rescigno is settled.

As everyone even peripherally aware of the world of classical music knows, 2006 is the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth. It’s also the 100th for Shostakovich, and you probably knew that, too. But two other influential composers would have been celebrating a century this year, and no one seems to care a bit. How could this be so, in an industry so in love with anniversary celebrations? Well, for one thing, they were both women. Beyond that, “there are, as you might suspect, a clutch of personal reasons, along with a whiff of scandal.”

Several years ago, the 42-year-old Philadelphia musical institution known as Concerto Solists changed its name to the more formal Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and ever since, the ensemble has been moving towards becoming a major professional ensemble. “Some of the 2006-07 repertoire, from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 to de Falla’s El Amor Brujo, could easily appear in Philadelphia Orchestra programs across the Kimmel Center plaza. In fact, the 2005-06 season opened with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, programmed the same week the Philadelphia Orchestra played it.”

Palm Beach Opera’s new chief executive, William Ryberg, has spent the last several years developing something of a reputation as a turnaround artist. He cut his teeth on an endowment drive at Michigan’s Grand Rapids Symphony, then helped to stabilize a precarious fiscal situation with the Oregon Symphony. In Palm Beach, he takes on an organization with big plans, but not a lot of money to accomplish them.

The New York-based Orchestra of St. Luke’s, a much-lauded ensemble made up of freelance musicians, has received an anonymous $5 million gift intended to allow the organization to start an endowment fund. “Orchestra of St. Luke’s has an annual budget of $5 million… The organization expects to raise about $280,000 this year from individuals and $250,000 to $300,000 from the board, with the rest coming from foundation gifts and ticket sales.”