Category: music

During his 16-year tenure, Adrian Collette “facilitated a merger with the troubled Victorian State Opera, [and saw] the company through the much decried departure of former music director Simone Young and, six years later, the sudden death of her successor, British conductor Richard Hickox.”

“For the first time in its 100-year history, the Minnesota Orchestra on Monday locked out musicians because of a contract dispute. At the same time, the first six weeks of the fall season, including the Oct. 18 season-opening concert, were canceled.”

There’s a $700,000 deficit, low morale and high staff turnover, the withdrawal of a $1 million pledge, factionalism on the board, and a controversial CEO who wasn’t on speaking terms with the music director until an arbitrator came in. Said a consultant’s report, “Any organization that is faced with such a level of dysfunction is endangered.”

“If you ask the average person about Wagner, you will probably hear two things: that he is associated with grandiosity, bombast, anything that makes a loud noise and goes on for a very long time; and that he was Hitler’s favorite composer. There is, of course, more to Wagner than that.”

In a new book that practices “radical transparency,” Byrne details everything from his advance on a record to what he takes home at the end of the day – information he says his business managers don’t want him to reveal.

Afternoon talks between musicians and the Minnesota Orchestra failed – and the next step may be a lockout of the 81 musicians.

“Opera fans have a lot more in common with sports fans than they do with academics. And when they fall in love with opera, it’s not usually by reading high-falutin’ introductions. It’s by going to the opera.”

“For a cadre of top composers, the action isn’t in film but video games. Djawadi’s score for ‘Medal of Honor: Warfighter,’ for instance, boasts 100 minutes of music, much of it downright experimental by film composition standards. It’s alternately symphonic, electronic and rock ‘n’ roll, and it’s emblematic of an industry that’s providing room to roam for those used to scoring to picture.”

“Minnesota Orchestra musicians will vote on Saturday whether to accept a contract proposal that management has characterized as its ‘final offer.’ If the musicians reject the deal and if talks on Sunday fail to produce an agreement, the board has indicated it will lock the musicians out.”

Tenor Joseph Calleja was named Artist of the Year, while éminence grise maestro Claudio Abbado received a Lifetime Achievement Award and had three different recordings win their categories. Record of the Year honors went to a sleeper candidate: Schütz’s radiant Musicalisches Exequien performed by the relatively unknown (but marvelous) Belgian group Vox Luminis.