Category: music

The dance music industry gathered in Miami Beach this past week for the annual Winter Music Conference. “New technologies and the Internet were identified by panelists throughout the conference as key in various aspects of dance music’s future. According to Forrester Research, the online music market will soar from about 3 percent of sales currently to about 30 percent by 2007.”

Soprano Deborah Voigt’s sacking by Covent Garden because she was too big for the costume designed for the production is an example of misplaced priorities. “Voigt’s case is exceptional: it’s hard to think of another singer who was dumped for not having the right looks. What is noticeable is that European companies are giving stage directors an increasingly active role in casting. In some cases, it’s the only way to attract a top-flight director. Visual realism is becoming as important as the right voice type.”

American musicians are studying the music of Mali (think Timbuktu) and its direct connections to American blues. “It is quite obvious that several African musical traditions have had a major impact on Western music styles. Jazz, blues, rock and roll, salsa, funk, and hip-hop would not have existed without Africa’s influence and genetic pollination. What’s intriguing about the Mali connection is that it is so direct and palpable.”

A spokesman for the opera in London’s Covent Garden confirmed on Sunday that Voigt had been dropped from the lead role in a summer 2004 production of Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne on Naxos” and that the reason was her size. The spokesman, Christopher Millard, said Sunday that casting director Peter Katona had selected a black evening dress for the part and believed Voigt would not look right in it.” Still, says the company, Covent Garden hopes Voigt will consent to perform there again in the future

“The Miami and Miami Beach police have a black ring-binder six inches thick that starts with 50 Cent and ends with Ja Rule. In between come photographs, arrest records and other information on all the other major rappers in the US, from P Diddy to DMX. The police photograph them arriving at Miami airport, stake out hotels and video shoots and scrutinise their lyrics and connections in search of hints of potential violent conflict. It is the latest development in a nationwide effort to place every aspect of hip-hop culture under state surveillance.”

When an arts organization moves into a shiny new home, it often takes the opportunity to boost ticket prices. Not the Welsh National Opera, though. They’re lowering the tariff to get in. “Top price tickets will be cut by 25% to £35, while cheapest seats will cost as little as £5, a reduction of 37%. The WNO say the increased seating capacity at the new venue makes this possible.”

Does being fat help opera singers? “Despite the success of a few far-from-slender singers—Luciano Pavarotti being the most conspicuous example—there is no scientific evidence to suggest that greater mass allows for better range, breath control, or projection without microphones. Nevertheless, heavy opera singers tend to believe their weight aids them. And since singing, like any other human talent, is greatly affected by the performer’s comfort and state of mind, a soprano who believes that her heft helps her with tricky arias may actually give a better performance.”

There may be no more stressful way to job hunt than to take an audition for a big-time orchestra. Flying around the country at your own expense for the chance to play the hardest excerpts in the orchestral repertoire for three minutes, before being summarily dismissed by a disembodied voice – it’s not the most relaxing job interview environment. So you can imagine how Boston-based violist Karina Schmitz felt at her last two auditions: the first in Detroit, where airline mishaps got her to the hall after a night of unscheduled flights around the Midwest; and the second in Los Angeles, where the power on stage went out as she was playing her concerto.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has had a change of heart regarding its recent decision to hike the prices of some tickets at Symphony Hall by as much as 80%, after hearing from hundreds of angry subscribers. High ticket prices have become a way of life for major American orchestras, and the BSO’s are some of the highest in the industry, but in the process of reassessing its pricing scale, the orchestra had decided that a batch of seats in the second balcony had been dramatically underpriced, and hiked the per-concert price from $57 to $83. After weeks of protest and the launching of a web site excoriating the price hikes, the BSO announced that it will offer subscribers some relief from the new prices.

“Seven months after it opened, the Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts in the Poconos has run out of money and canceled its summer concert season featuring the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.” The PSO was notified of the decision in a letter dated February 26. The center may be able to reorganize and emerge as the high-profile summer venue it was intended to be, but at this point, all the big plans are on indefinite hold.