Limelight magazine polled a spectacular selection of artists – among many others, Alfred Brendel, Stephen Hough, András Schiff, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Piotr Anderszewski, Imogen Cooper, Denis Matsuev, Jonathan Biss, David Fray, Paul Lewis, Till Fellner, Pascal Rogé, and Lars Vogt. And the winners are …
Category: music
Stalled Construction Of Hamburg’s Flashy New Concert Hall Can Begin Again
“Hamburg ended a row Thursday with the firm building a concert hall” – the Elbphilharmonie, designed by starchitects Herzog and de Meuron and intended to be a tourist attraction in its own right (à la Sydney Opera House) as well as a cultural mecca – “[that is] already years behind schedule and millions over budget.”
Atom Egoyan On Directing His First Chinese Opera
“I think I was really aware of being able to use a different dramaturgy than I would with a Western opera. … It’s not naturalist by any means. It’s very expository and that was one of the huge challenges. … You’re also dealing with two different traditions, one [singer] is coming from Beijing opera, one is coming from Sichuan opera, and they have their own very different gestures and different ways of approaching character work.”
The Fearmonger’s Guide To Robot Composers (A Defense Of Software That Writes Its Own Music)
“We already use computers to edit films, process photographs, record and enhance music. Artists actually have a great working relationship with technology. So what’s the hang up with introducing computers into music composition? … [M]usic is different. It’s so rooted in math and science that it seems to make more sense to trust computers with it.”
Vienna State Opera Has Record-Breaking Season
“The Vienna State Opera scored a new profit record this season, raking in over 31.3 million euros, with average attendance at over 98 percent, the venerable house announced Tuesday.”
The Deepest Problem With Britten’s Billy Budd: The Closet
Zachary Woolfe: “Billy Budd is a product of the gay closet. It is an opera composed by a closeted gay man, to a libretto written by Forster, a closeted gay man, based on a novella by a man who scholars often suggest was closeted and that revolves around the attractions of men to other men. … [The opera] reveal[s] a great truth about the closet: It’s boring to watch. Like any magic realm with its languages and codes, it is wholly engrossing only when you’re inside it.”
UK Album Sales Down 14 Percent As Digital Sales Rise
“Record industry body the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) said 43.6 million albums were sold, down from 50.5m during early 2011. Digital sales have increased by 17.3% but have failed to close the gap.”
Stefan Sanderling Walks Away From Florida Orchestra Podium Two Years Early
“The orchestra announced late Sunday that Sanderling is stepping down as music director” effective immediately – that is, ” two years sooner than he said he was a year ago, when the conductor announced he would not renew his contract after it expired at the end of the 2013-14 season.”
The First Iraq War Opera
“Fallujah was developed in Vancouver, Canada, by City Opera Vancouver with the help of a playwright [Heather Raffo], a composer [Tobin Stokes], nine actors and an 11-member orchestra in a kind of performance laboratory. It will debut July 2 on explore.org/fallujah and will be marketed to opera houses.”
Piano Rolls For the 21st Century: Composer Knits Scarves That Control Disklavier
“By weaving conductive thread into the yarn, [Jeff] Bryant found that he could manipulate the fiber to control a musical instrument … So, with help from a costume designer, Bryant knit a few conductive scarves and asked a dancer to wear them. As the dancer performed Bryant’s push_push … the scarves activated the piano’s keys through wireless signals.”