The unconventional and risky choice was a surprise in many ways.
Category: music
Ratchet Up That Programming, Says Departing Classical Music Critic
“The repertoire of the groups remains remarkably conservative. I could listen to Beethoven or Mozart all day long, but the region’s groups have relied too much on the core classics. It’s not even a case of programming contemporary music, but just of different music.”
Deal To Save Nashville’s Concert Hall Expected On Monday
But that’s not the end of the Nashville Symphony’s problems. “The bigger issue is: Is it (the orchestra) viable?”
Nashville Symphony And Banks Near Deal To Avoid Foreclosing On Concert Hall
“As a planned foreclosure sale of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center nears, conversations between the Nashville Symphony and its lenders are shifting toward reaching an agreement rather than the symphony proceeding with a bankruptcy filing, according to sources familiar with negotiations.”
If The Nashville Symphony Settles With Creditors, Is It Out Of Trouble?
“Assuming a settlement holds, the pressing concern is how the orchestra can avoid a repeat of its present predicament, and satisfy its supporters’ demand for top-notch performances while eyeing the bottom line. For that reason, it’s worth examining how the current situation began.”
Have We Forgotten Cathy Berberian? She Changed Classical Singing
The new indie film Berberian Sound Studio (about a movie sound effects man) “takes its title and inspiration from the late American mezzo-soprano Cathy Berberian. … [It’s] the minimally least we can do to remember the singer who changed singing perhaps more than any vocalist since the 18th century.”
Seattle Opera Names Successor To Speight Jenkins
Speight Jenkins will be a tough act to follow, having led Seattle Opera to a prominence – especially in Wagner – well beyond its size over his 30 years at the company’s helm. The man who has landed this challenging job is 56-year-old Aidan Lang, who currently runs New Zealand Opera.
YouTube Is Not Destroying Classical Music (Despite What Krystian Zimerman Thinks)
Zimerman may complain that all those free videos on the Web have cost him recording contracts, but Valentina Lisitsa’s career has skyrocketed thanks to the following her videos developed. “The moral of the story … Treat YouTube with hostility and you risk missing the party you so desperately need to attend.”
Canadian Opera Company Attendance Is Down – To 90%
“In 2011/12, the COC had 91 per cent attendance over 67 performances and the 2010/11 season saw attendance of 94 per cent over 66 performances.” The season just ended “achieved 90 per cent attendance throughout the season, which featured seven productions and 61 performances.”
Peter Grimes Performed On The Very Beach Where It Is Set
“So in the year of Britten’s centenary, the centrepiece of the Aldeburgh festival is its first ever production of Grimes, directed by Tim Albery on a set designed by Leslie Travers of dilapidated fishing boats and timbers built right at the water’s edge on the town’s shingle beach. The North Sea provides the backdrop to the performance.”