New operas everywhere and the future seems bright. In Amsterdam, British filmmaker Peter Greenaway and Dutch composer Louis Andriessen joined forces in Writing to Vermeer. At the Monnaie in Brussels, star director Luc Bondy and Belgian composer Philippe Boesmans collaborated on The Winter’s Tale, an adaptation of the Shakespeare play. A critic who saw them both wonders about the viability of the artform. – Financial Times
Category: music
CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA musicians –
– sign new five-year contract. Base salary climbs to $100,000. – Cleveland Plain Dealer
SELF PROGRAMMING
Are the days of the music album numbered? New digital technology allows consumers to build their own song order. But there are still some bumps along the way. – The Atlantic
MAKING IT ON MOZART
Anatomy of a classical music radio station. LA’s KKGO turns ten-years-old. Los Angeles Times
SILENCE IS GOLDEN
Yamaha introduces a new silent cello. – CBC
SUPER-MESSIAH
They were pounding on the doors of the church in Montreal begging to be let in to participate in annual CBC “Messiah” sing-along. – Toronto Globe and Mail
BAD NEWS ON THE RECORDING FRONT
Peter Gelb, president of Sony Classical, delivers the bad news – recording is not a birthright. Better have a real reason to record or just don’t do it. – The Independent
OF CRUMB AND BOULEZ
Big celebrations for Pierre Boulez on his 75th, while George Crumb gets leftovers for his 70th. Not fair, writes Norman Lebrecht. Crumb has had much more influence on the century than his older colleague. – London Telegraph
TOP 100
National Public Radio releases its list of the 100 most important musical works of the 20th Century, as voted on by 14,000 NPR listeners. – NPR
GREAT GATSBY:
John Harbison’s new opera, set to open Dec. 20, is the Metropolitan Opera’s first contemporary opera since 1992. Harbison describes his piece as “a version of the musical opportunities in the book.” – Boston Phoenix