The musicians and management of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra have agreed to extend the musicians’ current contract through October 31, and are bringing in a retired judge to mediate further negotiations. The extension will insure that the CSO season will run for at least six weeks without interruption by strike or lockout, and the joint selection of a mediator suggests that, while the talks remain contentious, there is at least a desire on both sides to avoid the public relations disaster that a work stoppage would likely precipitate.
Category: music
What Sank City Opera’s Ground Zero Move?
“The thrill of the initial idea of an opera house at Ground Zero seemed to have bowed to a fear of highbrow stuffiness and the burdens of a 2,200-seat venue in the cultural complex’s construction. But criticism surrounding New York City Opera’s proposal was aimed less at the institution itself — and at its innovation and its vital niche within the greater scheme of the New York cultural world — than at preconceived notions of a musty old opera house, largely filled by the elderly with the occasional sleeping grandchild in a clip-on tie, in the midst of an economically thriving Ground Zero.”
Coming Soon: Operas About Gadhafi And Bill Gates
“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 stuffy image.”
Cincinnati Orchestra Contract Talks
The Cincinnati Symphony is racing to negotiate a new contract with its musicians. “The talks are among the most difficult in memory because of the symphony’s $1.8 million budget deficit over the last two years. An anonymous gift wiped out that deficit, but the orchestra is facing increased pressure to balance the budget this season.”
Luring Hollywood Into Opera
With charm and shrewdness, Placido Domingo, the general director of the Los Angeles Opera, has been enticing Hollywood into the fold since he was a midwife at the company’s birth in 1986. ‘It’s not that we’re in Hollywood so we have to use film directors. It’s because we believe in them. It has never been a gimmick.”
Lebrecht: I Was Right – Classical Recording Industry Has Died
Norman Lebrecht predicted at the start of 2004 that this would be the recording industry’s last year. “Well, I was over-cautious. No need to wait for Christmas: it’s over now. The closure signs are up in neon. There is barely a new symphony or sonata to be heard this season from any of the six major labels which command three-quarters of store space and classical sales. Game over.”
The Celebrity Gramophones
This year’s Gramophone Awards are being served with celebrities. “The editor of Gramophone says using celebrities as champions for its awards shortlist would raise the profile of the recordings, and help put classical music back in the spotlight: We hope that this year’s celebrity initiative will rekindle an interest in classical music and the great musicians who have dedicated their lives to it.”
Can Loud Music Puncture Your Lungs?
That’s what doctors now think. They “suspect that loud music may damage the lungs due to its booming bass frequency, which can be felt as a vibration going through the body. The lungs may essentially start to vibrate in the same frequency as the bass, which could cause a lung to rupture.”
Pop Goes The Classical (Or Is It The Other Way Around?)
Why do do many pop stars try to write “classical” music? “Do they really aspire to be one of us? Are we to be envied by millionaires with legions of fans? Have we, at last, arrived? Perhaps we have, but truth be told, it seems more and more like we want to be one of them — and ought to be, according to some critics.”
Summer Of Free Music
This has been a bountiful summer for free music in the UK. “Magazines have long used cover-mounted CDs to boost sales but this year newspapers have embraced them enthusiastically…”