Category: music

South Florida classical station WKAT went out of business in August. Was it because the region couldn’t support a classical station? “The fact is WKAT’s failures were largely self-inflicted, a result of disastrous managerial decisions and the inherent problems faced in presenting symphonic music on AM.”

The James Levine era begins at the Boston Symphony this evening, and to say that expectations are high would be a gross mischaracterization of the situation. “Levine has such a strong artistic vision it will reach beyond the BSO players and audiences. BSO audiences will take their ears to other organizations and will be listening in a different way.”

The Boston Pops has made a lot of money from recordings over the years. But with the recording industry all but getting out of the business of recording orchestras, the Pops had a big void to fill. So the orchestra has decided to self-record and produce its own recordings…

What’s wrong with music instruction in the UK? Well, for starters, students from poor families are largely shut out of lessons. A study also found that there was “clear gender stereotyping” in the choice of instruments, and found little being done to tackle this.

“With many opera companies facing stagnating ticket sales and aging audiences, composers and producers are turning to contemporary conflicts and headline news in a bid to lure new crowds. A new batch of contemporary operas — from rappers rhyming about Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to an experimental musical about Microsoft boss Bill Gates — sets out to change that image.”

Simon Crookall has been named executive director of the Indianapolis Orchestra. “A 44-year-old Englishman who has worked in Scotland for nearly half his life, Crookall has been with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra for nine years, eight as chief executive.”

Just where is music going at the moment? One journalist decides to take the industry’s temperature by listening to every CD released in the month of October. “I’m struck not just by the sheer quantity – 25,793 CDs were released last year, over double the figure produced in 1994 – but also by the variety. The cost of entry into the market is lower than it ever was before. It costs less to manufacture CDs, and it costs less to record an album. At the same time, the gap between those albums that sell in huge quantities and those that don’t is probably greater than ever.”

What’s the role of a classical music critic in the 21st Century? A symposium in New York last weekend dissected the profession. “The idea of critic as advocate was a central theme of the symposium and was alternately supported, tolerated, and scornfully dismissed.”

Seeking to head off a strike by musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra set for Thursday, the city’s mayor called players and management into his office Wednesday and got both sides to agree to a ten-day extension of talks. “Orchestra management says it is facing a $4.2 million deficit, and had asked the musicians to agree to a reduction in the size of the orchestra or a pay cut or a combination of both. It also wanted to change the pension system in a way the musicians say would reduce benefits. The musicians countered that cuts in personnel or pay would undermine the quality of one of the world’s great orchestras.”

“Players of the Philadelphia Orchestra [Tuesday] reviewed the latest contract proposal from management, which they said was a lot like the first contract proposal from management, which they said looked a lot like management was trying to force a strike.”