Category: music

“Months before expected, the National Symphony Orchestra has named Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda, 51, as its new music director. He will take over in the 2017-18 season, after one season as music director designate in 2016-17, the orchestra announced. His initial contract will run through 2020-21. It’s a coup for the NSO.”

“The first rehearsal broke up after just 15 minutes, as the small band of survivors had so little energy.”

Royce Vavrek: “‘I don’t know how I made this career,’ he acknowledges to us during our talk with him in his Bushwick apartment. ‘I’m legitimately only writing libretti. Aside from doing a couple of classes at different universities and one-offs, I’m not working in any other capacity. I’m making no money besides from writing libretti and lyrics.'”

“Set apart immediately by its setting and even more so by its platform, Mozart, a show about art, commerce and change is being produced not on network or even cable television but on instant streaming. Classical music, often deemed inaccessible and elitist, is being represented in the most accessible form, and streaming or not, we have a show that delves into the complexities of a career in the arts without being pedantic. Unfortunately for those who may never care enough to watch, Mozart has selling power in surprising amounts.”

“Borrowing from Wikipedia’s model of user-generated content, Discogs has built one of the most exhaustive collections of discographical information in the world, with historical data cataloged by thousands of volunteer editors in extreme detail. … And with an online marketplace through which nearly $100 million in records will be sold this year, Discogs has carved out a valuable niche in a market dominated by companies like Amazon and eBay.”

Claude Gingras spent six decades as the classical critic for Montreal daily La Presse. Many observers objected to his often-harsh language – one Toronto colleague called him “Canada’s potshot king” and Marc-André Hamelin once refused to play if he was in the hall – but he was an early champion of conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and composer Claude Vivier.

“Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker frontman David Lowery … has filed a class action lawsuit seeking at least $150 million in damages against Spotify, alleging it knowingly, willingly, and unlawfully reproduces and distributes copyrighted compositions without obtaining mechanical licenses.”

“The Joe Chithalen Memorial Musical Instrument Lending Library in Kingston has about 800 instruments that it lent out more than 5,000 times last year.”

“It is sad that [the musicians’] achievements have been overshadowed by one person‘s fabricated statements. Lies and corruption may cause scandals, but human dignity and truth will prevail in the end. … Perhaps it is a reflection of Korean society that this has been allowed to happen.”

“Peter Gelb, the company’s general manager, who has broached the idea of performing on some Sundays to attract bigger audiences, said in a recent interview that he had not yet been able to reach the necessary agreements with members of the Met’s work force to make it happen.”