Category: music

The ambitious website tried to be an important online magazine for the classical music world. But its business model was ultimately unsustainable…

How do you get more than one performance of new music? A couple of new projects band together dozens of orchestras to give new music multiple performances. “The project originated during a meeting of the leaders of small-budget orchestras belonging to the American Symphony Orchestra League. Wanting to make the presence of their orchestras felt, they decided to pool their resources to commission a new work. Each of the initial participants contributed $1,000, and those presenting four regional premieres kicked in a few thousand more.”

A new film about musicians in the Philadelphia Orchestra gives glimpses inside the life of an orchestra. “Although no one can quite articulate it, being part of an orchestra puts the individual in constant contact with music so grand and utopian that it can either ennoble or wreck the soul. It demands from those who make it essentially the same bargain that the religious must make with God: You submit and serve, in return for a deeper sense of participation in the sublime.”

“The choir that started in the basement of a Harlem church and grew over nearly 38 years to become famous internationally is scrambling to find a new home. At an emotional rally of about 100 supporters outside the school on Wednesday, choristers and parents said they hoped to revive the group.”

“The dialogue between the composer, the orchestra and the audience was based on an understanding that the composer would primarily serve the needs of the listener and performer by providing music for worship or entertainment. Tension arose when composers began to express themselves overtly as individuals, and the contract started to break down at the end of the 19th century when – straining against the bounds of conventional tonality – composers started to make demands on players and audiences that required an ability to focus and specialise that was generally beyond the non-professional or social listener.”

A dog shelter in England has begun playing classical music to calm its canine guests. “The animals are said to respond well to the strains of Beethoven and Mozart, but are not fans of pop or dance music.”

What ails music? Recording company execs say its illegal file-sharing. But a new poll of music consumers has plenty of criticism for the music industry. “Eighty percent of the respondents consider it stealing to download music for free without the copyright holder’s permission, and 92 percent say they’ve never done it. Meanwhile, three-quarters of music fans say compact discs are too expensive, and 58 percent say music in general is getting worse.”

The UK Musicians Union is pressing British broadcasters to institute an on-air system to notify viewers when a musical performance is being lip-synched, saying that such a system would encourage more bands to perform live. “Just as when you buy a can of beans and it tells you what’s in the beans, we think if you are going to buy a ticket for a show or watch a band on the TV, you should know exactly what it is you are buying and what you are watching.”

Stephen Kovacevich has made a series of moves thta conspire against his being more well known. But, wonders Charles Michener, isn’t he one of America’s best pianists? “In a poll of New York music lovers and critics, the names most frequently mentioned would probably be Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Richard Goode, Garrick Ohlsson, Murray Perahia and Peter Serkin. Few would think to nominate Stephen Kovacevich.”

Conductor Seiji Ozawa, 70, has canceled all his winter engagements with the Vienna State Opera, where he is music director, due to a severe bronchial infection and a case of shingles. Ozawa, who has led the VSO orchestra since 2002, is expected to recover, and plans to keep all his summer engagements.