Category: music

The Metropolitan Opera Saturday broadcasts begin their new season this weekend. But there is anxiety about the future. Texaco has sponsored the Met broadcasts for 60 years, the longest continuous sponsorship in America. The company has recently merged with Chevron though, and neither company will commit to the future. – Hartford Courant 12/01/00

Ronald Wilford, one of the most powerful figures in the classical music industry, is stepping aside as Columbia Artists Management top boss. “Mr. Wilford, who recently turned 73, has been with Columbia Artists since 1958 and has been president and chief executive since 1970. Famously press-shy but commanding behind the scenes, he had long dismissed talk of any succession.” – New York Times

Argentina’s National Symphony is wrapping up its season. But it’s been a tough year for the orchestra. Due to “indifference” by the government and withholding of funding “several concerts had to change programme or artists, and many didn’t get paid, along with programme-note writers, purveyors of orchestral parts, and, most grievously, the Auditorio de Belgrano.” – Buenos Aires Herald

“Ben Heppner, a Canadian gentle giant of 44, is that rare bird – and, rarer still, he can not only sing the notes, but sing them with musical sensitivity and intelligence too, as well as making a fair stab at acting them out on stage.” – The Telegraph (UK)

Is London’s Royal Festival Hall – celebrating its 50th birthday next May – the “seediest concert hall on earth?” The place is grimey, it smells, musicians are demoralized, and subscriptions are down. Why no plan to fix it? – The Telegraph (UK)

British songwriters launch a campaign to convince people that free music on the internet is harmful to the business. – The Age (Melbourne) (AFP)

Some might be scandalized by the music and behavior of some of today’s musicians. But “rock musicians of today take note: There’s little you’ve done that wasn’t already taken care by your predecessors in early-17th-century Italy.” – The Globe & Mail (Canada)

Scottish Opera’s financial crisis has got a bad name, say the company’s proponents. “There’s this myth of profligacy. We don’t waste money in opera. It is expensive because there are so many people involved. The money is spent on a lot of very creative personnel.” – The Herald (Scotland)

Since he left the directorship of the National Symphony five years ago, Rostropovich hasn’t slowed down. He still gives 100 performances a year, he teaches, and the foundation he started with his wife has provided about $5 million in medicine, food and equipment to children’s hospitals and clinics in Russia.” – Los Angeles Times

Madonna’s concert in a London venue Tuesday night that attracted 2,800 fans, found an audience of nine million for the internet webcast. – Ottawa Citizen (AP)