Category: music

“Astonishingly, given its cultural accomplishments, Boston has no purpose-built home for opera, with an adequately sized pit and acoustics friendly to the natural human voice. Of the 10 largest cities in the country, it is the only one without a dedicated home for this art form.”

“The lockout is essentially the board and management punishing the orchestra … It’s a one-sided attempt to force the orchestra to its collective knees. It also paints the orchestra as this intransigent group of musicians. But in fact they have shown extraordinary willingness to come to a common agreement, as what happened two years ago proves.”

“The Met is an enormous operation – more than 1,500 people go to work there some days – and the weeks before opening night are among the busiest of the year. … A day spent backstage at the Met this week as the company prepared for its opening night on Monday provided a snapshot of the work, care and expense that go into putting on opera.” (includes video)

“Success. Happiness. Disappointment. Ruination. Renewed hope. Those ingredients help turn opera plots. They also could apply to the history of opera in San Antonio, which has experienced cycles of lavish success punctuated by periods of dwindling audiences, inactivity followed by revived interest.”

Jazz has generally been thought to be a somewhat homophobic field, notwithstanding such great musicians as Cecil Taylor, Billy Strayhorn, and Fred Hersch – who is a headliner at the inaugural OutBeat festival this weekend in Philadelphia.

“Denmark’s state broadcaster DR announced yesterday that budget cuts would see its chamber orchestra close in January. DR’s Danish National Chamber Orchestra or ‘Underholdningsorkestret’ – previously known as the Danish Radio Sinfonietta – will cease playing in January though it would appear DR’s symphony orchestra will remain unaffected.”

“The sad truth is that some of the most talented musicians in the world have playing at the most famous clubs in the U.S. and now, as they retire, they are literally destitute.”

Here are the best recordings of the year as chosen by the magazine.

“As Ota played Pierrre Sancan’s Sonatine for the judges, a butterfly first landed in her hair and then settled on her left eyebrow as she continued to perform. Only a brief glance upward belied her complete concentration as the insect opened and closed its wings.”

“Around the world, the music business has shifted toward downloads and streaming. But in Japan, the compact disc is still king” – and Tower Records still has 85 stores.