Category: music

With everything whizzing by faster and faster, Wagner’s “Tristan” forces you to suspend time, inhabit music, rather than listen to it fly past. – Chicago Tribune

There was a time when Michael Tilson Thomas was regarded as that brilliant kid who never quite lived up to his potential. Five years into his job leading the San Francisco Symphony, Thomas has come into his own. – Hartford Courant

• Capturing the hearts of an orchestra … and a city. – Boston Globe 02/27/00

“Modern concert halls need to be less like airport lounges, devoid of atmosphere, charm or humanity, and more like somewhere you would choose to spend an evening. No wonder people prefer concerts by candlelight in churches or at stately homes with firework displays: at least they have an interest and value to offer the eye. The truth is that audiences do not care one iota who a symphony orchestra’s oboe or cello players are, but they will pay good money to see a star soloist, a star conductor or a star singer. But just as opera has benefited from enlightened and provocative staging, a way has to be found for symphonic concert music to rediscover the live performance. – London Telegraph

Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna are opera-world husband-and-wife stars. But something about their chemistry together has the major opera companies closing their doors to them. – London Sunday Times

New operas have to have selling points, and music is not first among them. For better or worse, words seem to be coming out on top. – New York Times

Dallas Symphony, riding a string of successes, convenes a conference on the future of the modern orchestra. – Dallas Morning News

“By and large, at the beginning of the 21st century, the symphony audience goes to a concert looking for easy, passive entertainment, whereas once upon a time, this audience consisted largely of active, even passionate participants.” Former LA Philharmonic chief Ernest Fleischmann warns we have to turn it around. Here’s his plan. – The Guardian

It’s been eight months since Seiji Ozawa announced he was leaving as music director of the Boston Symphony. While there are still no front-runners to replace him, the kind of conductor the orchestra is looking for has become clearer. – Boston Herald

College students are downloading so much music over the internet, university computers are slowing to a crawl on many campuses. – Chicago Tribune

Its musicians’ strike settled and its vote to go ahead with concerts in Vienna decided, the Toronto Symphony embarks on a European tour with much riding on the outcome. – Toronto Globe and Mail