Category: music

Why does music provoke such powerful emotions and memories? Turns out that part of the brain right behind our foreheads might contain the secret. “The rostromedial prefrontal cortex – has complex functions relating to the link between data and the emotions, and, say the scientists, it may be the reason why melodies evoke memories.”

In November the Metropolitan Opera tried to shut down John Patterson’s website devoted to all things Metropolitan Opera. The opera company accused the fan site (www.metmaniac.com) of violating its copyrights and trademarks. An uproar of protest caused the Met to rethink its position, and the site is back in business. The deal: “Mr. Patterson would have the name of his site back for a dollar a year. No video clips, except with permission. And no indication of trading or even any indication that he has a broadcast collection at all. According to Mr. Patterson: ‘I told them, ‘That’s OK. I already have everything I can get. My collection’s more comprehensive than yours!’ He has long stated that he intends to donate his collection to the Met upon his demise.

Pianist Christopher O’Riley has a passion for the guitar band Radiohead. He’s been arranging about a dozen of the band’s songs and performing them in his otherwise classical concerts and playing them during the intermission of “From the Top,” his public radio music show. “Both classical musicians and Radiohead enthusiasts have taken note of O’Riley’s obsession; his work is drawing notice from concert promoters and it’s won him a following via the Internet among rock fans who normally would never set foot in a recital hall.”

Despite numerous bailouts over the years, the critically acclaimed Scottish Opera is in another crisis. Without a big increase in public subsidies, the company will have to slash its season next year. Doing that would “inevitably” mean that the company would become a part-time operation…

Koko, the 31-year-old talking gorilla, knows 1000 words in sign language. Koko’s also got musical taste, say her friends, and they’ve recorded a 9-song cd based on her language. “Koko’s opinion was weighed in the final selection of reggae, rap, blues, rock and Celtic tunes…”

Gideon Toeplitz, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra executive who threatened a bankruptcy filing for his ensemble this past fall if contributions did not rise, has apparently been forced out of the organization. Toeplitz announced his resignation at a board meeting on Monday. The PSO is struggling under a multi-million dollar deficit, and is scheduled to lose popular music director Mariss Jansons at the conclusion of the 2003-04 season.

Cultural protesters and a collection of politicians have managed to bring the renovation of the La Scala opera house in Milan to a halt, at least temporarily. The official line is that the plans were not properly approved by the city council, but opponents’ actual concerns range from acoustics to historic preservation to simple dislike of any sort of change to the hall.

Members of Italy’s “cultural elite” held a press conference this week to denounce the renovations currently underway on the La Scala opera house. They claim “the work would seriously damage the theatre’s appearance and acoustics. It was also illegal, they told a press conference in Rome, because the project had not been properly approved by the city council. ‘They have even destroyed the orchestra pit’.”

Last summer, Lincoln Center canceled all of its Mostly Mozart Festival orchestra concerts after a labor dispute with musicians. Some thought the festival might be canceled or radically remade. Now a new director has been named. Louis Longrée, 41, “recently completed a stint as music director of Glyndebourne Touring Opera and regularly conducts at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in England.”

Though orchestras across America are reporting financial troubles, the San Francisco Symphony says it posted a small surplus for 2002 – $112,000 on a budget of more than $45 million. Income was almost evenly split between earned income and contributions.