“Almost a year after agreeing to pay $3 billion for Beats, the maker of hip headphones and a streaming music service, Apple is working with Beats engineers and executives to introduce its own subscription streaming service. The company is also planning an enhanced iTunes Radio that may be tailored to listeners in regional markets.”
Category: music
Last Week One Of Paris’s Top Orchestras Played To An Empty Hall
When Radio France – in the middle of strikes, layoffs, financial troubles and general chaos – abruptly cancelled the Friday evening concert of the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio-France, they didn’t consult the musicians or conductor Myung-Whun Chung first. In protest, the furious orchestra went right over to the new Philharmonie de Paris (conveniently available that evening) and played its program to banks of empty seats – making headlines in the process. (in French)
Video From Last Production Of Two Opera Singers On Downed Germanwings Flight
“Two opera singers were among the victims of the Germanwings crash on Tuesday: the contralto Maria Radner and the baritone Oleg Bryjak. Both had been performing in Siegfried, the third opera in Wagner’s Ring cycle, at the Liceu opera house in Barcelona, Ms. Radner as the earth goddess Erda and Mr. Bryjak as the scheming dwarf Alberich.”
Where Is The Dialogue Between Music Of North And South Americas?
“we can no longer talk about Latin America as a single unit, given the lack of information that exists between its different countries. For example, in Chile, we are not informed about what is happening in Ecuador or in Colombia with respect to their musical life. Only occasionally do we pay attention to our neighbors in Argentina, and only because of their proximity. The important role Buenos Aires plays in the development of new music does not encourage us to seek them out. What happened?”
How Philip Glass Changed American Music
“Whatever the long-term prospects for Glass’s music may be, no one now doubts its historic significance. One reason musical modernism finally collapsed under its own weight in the 1970s was that Glass and his like-minded contemporaries refused to kowtow to the anti-tonal regime of the postwar avant-garde musical monopoly. As a result, there is no longer a “mainstream” classical-music style.”
Time For Domingo To Retire, Says NY Times Chief Critic
Anthony Tommasini, reviewing Verdi’s Ernani at the Met: “The time to stop will just come to [Domingo] when it’s right, he explained. ‘I think it will be one evening,’ he said, ‘after a performance, to say, ‘That’s it.’ It may be the moment for Mr. Domingo to heed his own words.”
“The Jeff Koons Of The Pop World” And Its “Gloriously Tacky” Future
Spencer Kornhaber on PC Music at SXSW: “Many of the grooves and hooks are undeniable – and listening to it, you realize just how unnecessary the big-budget production currently defining popular dance music might be, and how ridiculous the mist-machine drama and pained soul singing of the average zillion-selling Avicii record really is.” (Wait, that‘s not very Jeff Koons …)
Behind The Scenes Of America’s Top Opera Competition
“The prizes—$15,000 checks to as many as five winners and $5,000 checks to the remaining finalists—would come in handy. But the recognition would be priceless.”
The Two Competing Projects To Revive New York City Opera
Brian Kellow looks at the contents – and backgrounds – of the plans submitted to the bankruptcy court for the purchase of City Opera’s name and assets and the hoped-for rebirth of the company.
Creative Men, Growing Old(er)
“For classical-music lovers, the movie is a treat, albeit a mixed one. It’s a source of exalted moments and a springboard for big ideas — but some of those moments and ideas evoke fractures in Bernstein’s world view and Hawke’s filmmaking.”