Category: music

“Opera leaders say they can’t go on cannibalizing their own operation. Full-time administrative staff is down from 40 people to 18. This season’s budget is just $8.6 million. To get through the season at that level, FGO has resorted to cost-saving strategies such as borrowing set and costumes for Butterfly from the Sarasota Opera, where Danis used to be director.”

“Once hailed as the saviour of an industry pummelled by piracy, streaming is now widely criticized by artists who complain about the minuscule amounts paid for each stream by Spotify, which operates both a free tier with ads and a subscription service.”

“The players, who have been locked out without pay for more than two months, will be asked to vote on whether to adopt a new four-year contract that ensures no wage cuts, a modest increase in health care, and a gradual increase in the size of the orchestra to 88 musicians.”

“‘Oh my goodness! Do y’all know what this means for country music?!’ That’s what the charming Kacey Musgraves said when she won the prize for Song of the Year for her controversial hit ‘Follow Your Arrow’ at last night’s Country Music Awards. And she’s right.”

New venues in Krakow, Szczecin, Wroclaw and Katowice “are seen as symbolic of the triumph over the Communist past and of the adoption of modern European values. … After the halls are built, the question inevitably arises over how – even whether – they can be filled.”

“In a ‘Jackass goes classical” video, the musicians [of the Danish National Chamber Orchestra] pause after the famously histrionic opening bars of Jacob Gade’s Tango Jalousie to pop the outrageously fiery peppers into their mouths. … Quite why they agreed to the painful challenge is unclear although the fact the orchestra is being disbanded this month after 75 years may have been a factor.”

“Streaming is undoubtedly the wave of the future, and when streaming companies value songwriters, the sky’s the limit. It’s time they start collaborating with the music creators they depend on, otherwise they may never, ever, ever get back together.”

“I don’t agree that the review should be taken down. But I do think it’s worth discussing, in this evolving internet climate, the way that decisions are effectively made about what information clings to you and what falls away.”

“With its recent national tour with Branford Marsalis, 90-plus albums available on Amazon.com, and … its recently knighted music director, Dirk Brossé, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia would seem to have arrived at its landmark birthday … due for a well-earned victory lap.” But the group has been rumored to be in serious financial peril. Not quite, says CHoP’s new executive director.

Carál Ni Chuilín is sympathetic to the “scary” (her word) financial position the orchestra is in. But, in response to a question from a legislator about seeking local funding outside Belfast, she said, “It is not my job to go round all the local councils on behalf of the orchestra to drum up support, pardon the pun; it is the orchestra’s job.”