Category: music

“Councils are allowing big companies to own semi-public spaces that look and feel like public spaces, but buskers would get removed from them very quickly. Part of the debate is what responsibilities councils have when selling land to ensure there are genuine public spaces.” – The Guardian

“Salonen, 60, will succeed Michael Tilson Thomas at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season, when Thomas steps down after 25 years at the orchestra’s helm.” — San Francisco Chronicle

Joshua Kosman: “It’s really something of a coup. If that assessment sounds a little breathless, consider that it could not have been made about any other conductor the Symphony might have chosen. … If Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony can forge a partnership that addresses [their] challenges successfully, the repercussions could well be felt across the orchestral landscape, well beyond the confines of Davies Symphony Hall and the Bay Area.” – San Francisco Chronicle

4. Being an amazing musician doesn’t make you an amazing grown-up. (There are important aspects of adulting he didn’t learn in time.)
5. Even world-famous musicians have identity crises. (He once tried going an entire year without listening to any music.)
6. The bonds you make with fellow musicians will be intense. (This would be why he keeps marrying his singers.) — BBC

Four months after Gatti was sacked as chief conductor of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, one of the most prestigious jobs in the entire music world, he has been appointed music director of the Italian capital’s opera house, the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, effective immediately. Gatti is the first person to hold the music director post since Riccardo Muti resigned in frustration in 2014. — Gramilano (Milan)

Under his leadership, the orchestra has raised its profile and broadened its repertoire, excelling in early 20th-century music. It has also been at the forefront of imaginative and inclusive digital projects – its award-winning immersive installations, Re-Rite and Universe of Sound, gave audiences the opportunity to explore an orchestra section by section and experience music from a player’s point of view. More recently, virtual reality projects allowed those donning the goggles to get to the very heart of the orchestra and encounter symphonic music as if sitting under Salonen’s nose. – The Guardian

“Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, who recently changed his artistic name, Nikolaj Znaider, back to his original and passport name, has been announced as the new Music Director of the Orchestre national de Lyon. The 43-year-old Danish [violinist and conductor] will take up the position in September 2020 for a period of four years, succeeding Leonard Slatkin, Music Director from 2011-2017.” — The Strad

Composer Jason Cady’s Buick City 1am “is an intriguing concept, addressing several of the traditional form’s shortcomings in relation to the modern world: it makes no undue demands of one’s attention span (four 25-minute episodes), it is accessible (anywhere, 24/7, via one’s phone), and it is free.” But does it qualify as an opera? Using a quite reasonable definition, Gina Leishman suggests that the answer is no. — Financial Times

Classical radio stations promote their programming as “calming and refreshing,” an “oasis,” or “an island of sanity.” Playlists on YouTube and audio streaming services have titles like “8 Hours Classical Music for Sleeping”; inexpensive compilation CDs offer “The Most Relaxing Classical Music in the Universe.” Jennifer Gersten, winner of the 2018 Rubin Prize in Music Criticism — identifies at least one reason why the industry keeps falling into this rut, and argues that the habit sells both the music itself and potential listeners very short. — Washington Post