Category: music

What does it mean to be a conductor at the various ages of one’s life?

The British Library has reconnected a Mozart manuscript that was torn apart by the composer’s widow. “The single sheet of music was produced by Mozart when he was 17. One one side of the manuscript are two piano cadenzas and on the other a minuet for string quartet. But in 1835, 44 years after her husband’s death, Constanze carefully cut up the manuscript so that the two cadenzas ended up on separate sheets – bar one note that she lopped off the upper piece by mistake.”

Who did we buy tickets to hear last year? “Top honors go for the second time to the Rolling Stones, who posted a combined gross of almost $168 million, the vast majority of which came at the concert box office. U2 wasn’t far behind with $150 million, and then Kenny Chesney at $109 million, the only other acts to top $100 million.”

“James Crowder was a Boeing engineer whose primary work concerned flow visualization — making it possible to see the movement of air over solid surfaces — that required the use of the 1939 wind tunnel. For this, he achieved international recognition. He was also a tuba player and interested, not surprisingly, in the air flow inside the instrument. After his death in 2002, his widow, Sandra, an ardent connoisseur of music, wanted a vehicle to commemorate her husband.” So she commissioned Samuel Jones…

Are U.S. and European orchestras facing an oversupply of qualified young musicians? AJ blogger Drew McManus doesn’t think so, since more musicians competing for fewer jobs can also mean a fresh supply of musically knowledgable individuals who might move into other areas of the industry. But “instead of seeing greater numbers of musicians as a benefit to the business, too many people may consider this as an ‘oversupply problem’ and attempt to force established musicians into accepting lower wages or, even worse, begin to establish new ensembles bent on taking advantage of inexperienced, yet highly trained, labor for personal or organizational gain.”

A recent British study declared that the era of downloadable music and portable MP3 players is creating “producing a generation that doesn’t seriously appreciate songs or musical performance.” But hasn’t the real impact of music-on-demand been the newfound ability of consumers to bypass an increasingly marketing-driven music industry which insists on promoting style over substance? “Today, discerning music listeners aren’t at the mercy of a few label bosses, marketing gurus and program directors. If they’re willing to invest even a small amount of effort, they can go online, confer with other fans and have at their fingertips every imaginable artist in every imaginable genre. The result is that, more so than generations past, the current one really is appreciating musical performance.”

Pinchas Zukerman is having an unusually newsworthy season, even for him. Always an outspoken critic of people and music he sees as “mediocre” (don’t get him started on the period performance movement), Zukerman has been taking some heat of his own lately for his decision to pull out of what remains of his obligations as music director of the Ottawa-based National Arts Centre Orchestra’s 2005-06 season. Zukerman calls the journalists questioning his decision “mediocrities,” but he admits to what has long been rumored within the industry: that his NACO is not a happy place at the moment. “In every orchestra, in every institution that has climbed to prominence quickly there’s always going to be a few rotten apples. And they have created an atmosphere that has to be eradicated, quite frankly.”

The new general director of the San Francisco Opera, David Gockley, has moved quickly to bring in his own administrative staff, appointing to two high positions men he had worked with in his last job at the Houston Grand Opera. Gockley took over the directorship from industry icon Pamela Rosenberg late last year. Rosenberg has moved on to a job with the Berlin Philharmonic.

Last fall South Florida’s Renaissance Chamber Orchestra abruptly closed, leaving patrons and subscribers angry. Now a new group has formed led by the old orchestra’s president. “Normally a new musical organization arising from the ashes of a failed one would be a positive development greeted with enthusiasm. In this case, former Renaissance musicians and audience members are reacting to the new venture with emotions ranging from disbelief and consternation to intense anger.”

An anonymous donor has come forward with $200,000 to help members of the Audubon String Quartet pay a judgment against them and avoid having to sell their instruments. Former quartet member David Ehrlich won the judgment last year: “Why am I settling at this point? It’s bothersome to me. I don’t want them to lose every little thing that they had. If they can come out of this with something, then I would feel better about it too.” He has said he never wanted the other members to lose their instruments but needed the funds from the judgment to pay lawyers.