Category: music

The Berlin Staatskapelle is not the best orchestra in Germany, but it may be the definitive German orchestra. Under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, the Staatskapelle has again become an international force in the music world, and its distinctly German sound is an immediately recognizable beacon, in an era when many orchestras are beginning to sound alike. But what is a “German sound,” and are German orchestras really any more equipped to play German music than orchestras based in the UK or the US? Barenboim believes in the sound, and can explain it right down to the special German method of attacking a note.

“As other technology companies scramble to match the success of Apple’s online music store, iTunes, which sells songs for 99 cents each, a different online-music economy is emerging around the sale of recordings of live performances – often with no restrictions on how they can be played or shared.” Jam band Phish and mainstream rockers The Dave Matthews Band are two of the first big-name acts to have jumped on the live-performance-record bandwagon, and at the heart of the movement is the belief by the artists involved that the recording industry is shooting itself in the foot by trying to restrict consumer usage of available music.

Most classical music fans would quickly recognize the Paganini theme that Rachmaninoff expanded into one of the most familiar piano concert-pieces in the repertoire. But most listeners have probably never considered what actually goes on in a theme-and-variations, where one composer’s singular idea is transformed into a wide-ranging and free-flowing work, yet without ever straying too far from the original thought. Rachmaninoff penned 24 variations on that Paganini theme, and Michael Barnes has taken the daring step of actually explaining each one in an American newspaper. The Pop Culture Enforcement Squad is presumably making its way to Austin to deal with Mr. Barnes.

What with the well-documented financial woes of the Canadian orchestra industry, it’s a wonder that the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s New Music Festival still exists. Now in its 13th year, the festival became one of the surprise industry successes of the 1990s, drawing thousands of fans from across North America with its quirky programs and relaxed style. This year’s edition, which kicks off this weekend, will feature a 20-piece electric guitar band made up of teenage musician-composers; a rapper participating in a formal premiere of a Swedish composition; and an appearance by composer Arvo Pärt.

Opera on the small (or big) screen has generally been a disappointing experience. But advances in technology have changed things. “With the use of fiber-optic lines, sound-friendly cameras, and any number of things opera people enjoy rather than understand, all roles can be sung on camera while maintaining excellent sonic quality. With that comes a subliminal sense of dramatic truth: You see a singer’s musculature creating a musical phrase at the moment you’re hearing it.”

The Philadelphia Orchestra has cut seven jobs from its administrative staff, and more cuts are likely on the way. “I would say only that as we’re in the middle of our fiscal year, we have become aware that there have been some unexpected revenue shortfalls, some of it in ticket revenue and some of it in support of the [forthcoming] European tour, and so even though it’s the middle of the year we decided to do it now.”

So Scottish Opera is once again in financial crisis. And support for bailing it out is waning. What’s a company to do? “Critics calling for wholesale changes at the opera have suggested either the Scottish Chamber Orchestra or the Royal Scottish National Orchestra could play in the pit at opera performances.” But the company’s director dislikes the idea: “We currently do 130 performances a year and we couldn’t do that and play for the opera at the same time. It’s a very extreme solution. What they need is breathing space, rather than drastic cutting.”

A number of symphony orchestras are experimenting with their concert formulas to “lighten up” and “have more fun.” Tim Smith isn’t much impressed: “While I applaud the determination of orchestras to fight for their lives, I’m not convinced that any amount of bells and whistles attached to such a tradition-crusted activity as a symphonic concert can bring to the box office previously uninterested listeners. And if you did manage to reel someone into the concert hall because of assorted “enhancements,” aren’t you setting yourself up for greater expectations – not for the actual music, but for more enhancements?”

Who could have predicted that last weekend’s London festival dedicated to the music of John Cage would be a hit? But it was. “Surely three larger factors counted for more. Cage’s wide reputation, even posthumously, as a witty, pawky, down-to-earth maverick (though he was no real subversive); the fact that this was another BBC-Barbican weekend which promised a grand, enlightening survey of one composer’s work, like others in past years; and above all the super-intelligent programming of the main concerts, which surrounded a few key Cage pieces with comparable and enticing works by his “maverick” American contemporaries.”

The cash-strapped Scottish Opera has received an emergency advance of £4 million of its 2004/2005 budget and “been forced to turn to the Scottish Arts Council for an emergency hand-out to pay staff salaries.” It seems likely the company will have to make job layoffs – with 80 employees at risk of losing their jobs.