Category: music

“A day after he was burned while playing a fire-breathing stilt walker at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, actor Wesley Daniel was doing well and sending out photos of himself at the hospital, according to friends and relatives.”

“Today, only about 4,000 acoustic pianos are sold in Britain each year — around 800 grands and 3,000 or so uprights — compared with 14,000 in the late 1960s.”

“Of course, these days, with the help of established ad networks such as Doubleclick and Adsense, pirate sites are not only displaying ads for gambling and dating companies, but also ads for multinationals, including McDonald’s, Hyatt Hotels, Netflix and Ticketmaster. So how do these companies feel about their ad dollars going to site owners who oppress music and film creators?”

“It’s telling that most orchestras weren’t bothering with these new ways to connect with their communities until the recession drove them to it. But they seem to be awakening to the fact that they will have to innovate in order to survive–to figure out ways they can maintain the traditional repertoire while adjusting to the tastes of a modern audience.”

After a series of paticularly harsh reviews, including one which accused conductor Daniel Harding of making Wagner so “soft” that one would think the composer was “homosexual”, the notoriously cranky Corriere della sera critic Paolo Isotta will no longer get comp tickets from the opera house.

“Can’t get to Madrid for the world premiere of Philip Glass’s Walt Disney opera? The Perfect American, a fictionalized account of Disney’s final days, will be broadcast live online on Wednesday, with the video available for free up to three months after.”

“At 77, DiChiera, widely recognized as one of the visionary heroes of modern Detroit, is giving up his post as MOT’s general director, paving the way for his retirement and new executive and artistic leadership at MOT for the first time in the history of the company.”

“In many ways we’re better than before. Nobody misses the commercials; the music is broader; we have strong relationships with the San Francisco Symphony and Opera – it’s a better radio station.”

“Sobczak, who gave up his job as head of the Arvada Center to take the orchestra position, said Thursday that he plans to set up a consultancy working with cultural nonprofits. The CSO will be among his clients.”

The locked out musicians and their music director play a concert to celebrate Grammy nominations – but don’t ask them to talk about labor negotiations.