Category: music

“[We] gathered data on the 2014-15 seasons that have been programmed by 21 major American orchestras … [and] created a database.” Here are some early stats on how much music by female composers and American composers are being performed and which composers (living and dead) the orchestras are playing most.

The 91-year-old director is furious that the Milan opera house packed off his gold-covered extravaganza, which opened La Scala’s 2006-07 season, to the opera in Astana, Kazakhstan. (Never mind that Zeffirelli is getting a share of the proceeds, or that La Scala can borrow it back for free whenever it wants.)

And at Game 6, the Kansas City Symphony performed. “‘I think it’s a magnificent statement about what Kansas City is and the importance of both major league sports and major league performing arts,’ Frank Byrne, Symphony executive director, said on Monday.”

Despite protests, weak advance sales, interruptions, and all the other mishegas, the John Adams opera “has sold more tickets than any other opera currently at the Met. General manager Peter Gelb “expects the opera ultimately to earn 70 to 75 percent of its potential ticket revenue, about average for recent seasons.”

“The change, revealed as the curtain is about to rise on Portland Opera’s 50th season, is an attempt to stabilize the company after years of fluctuating finances. And it will affect all aspects of the organization, from audience experience to casting, marketing, production and budgets.”

“Because LAO is fairly young, it’s unencumbered by a tradition. ‘But we are stewards of a great tradition. You get into dangerous territory if you try to chase the cool.'”

The players’ union has made a counteroffer accepting a count of 77 salaried musicians – a number management wants to make permanent – for this season, with the orchestra’s ranks increasing by roughly four musicians each of the following three seasons.

An Australian musicologist and a forensic document examiner are arguing that Anna Magdalena Bach was not merely one of her husband’s copyists (that fact is well-established), but that – based on the characteristics of the handwriting in the manuscripts – she was composing some of the pieces on the spot.

“He actually said, ‘You’re disturbing me. Can you move to the side?’ But we weren’t doing anything. … My child was not fidgeting. No iPad. No phone out. … My child was about to burst into uncontrollable crying, [so] I had no choice but to leave.” (In the comments, someone claiming to be an eyewitness gives a different account of the event.)

Whether or not it was due to the social media campaign, the superstar mezzo and the Kansas City Symphony have been chosen to sing the National Anthem at the start of game six of baseball’s World Series on Tuesday. (If there’s a game seven, they’ll do it then, too.)