Category: music

“This backstage drama should not matter to the public,” but Gelb, “the Met’s general manager since 2006, has been living it, attending every stage rehearsal and ‘complaining bitterly,’ he said, about the persistent clankiness of the so-called machine, the 45-ton set of movable planks that dominate the production.”

“The Americas tour, June 12-27, comprises eight concerts in five countries: Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. The two stops in Argentina include a performance at Buenos Aires’s storied Teatro Colón, one of the best halls in the world.”

The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra “had for many years toured twice a year. But cutbacks in 2009 saw a reduction to a single tour. That has now been dropped” due to funding cuts by the national broadcaster.

“Louisville Orchestra musicians have agreed to binding arbitration toward a new contract but under several conditions,” among them that “the orchestra’s board of directors signs a one-year agreement guaranteeing [the musicians would] work during that period under the terms of their previous contract, which expired May 31.”

“With the Nazis’ rise to power, composer Paul Ben Haim shelved his most important work, the oratorio Joram. This piece is now receiving its due in a special performance by the Israel Philharmonic.”

“The small burnt and broken piece of carved piece of wood was found during an excavation in a cave on [the isle of] Skye. Archaeologists said it was likely to be part of the bridge of a lyre dating to more than 2,300 years ago.”

“Online royalties soared 45.3% year on year last year, although the total remains relatively small at £38.5m. By contrast, recorded media royalites – payments stemming from CD sales – tumbled 13.3% to £101.6m in 2011, a steeper decline than 2010’s 8.8% fall.”

“Operatic careers work in mysterious ways, particularly for performers with strong, idiosyncratic ideas. The repertory that was long [Anna Caterina] Antonacci’s specialty — Rossini’s serious operas and the declamatory Baroque of Monteverdi and Gluck — has never been popular in America. And though she is well represented on DVD, Ms. Antonacci has never had the support and publicity muscle of a major record label.” But at least she’s finally on tour in the U.S.

“America, as it is understood as a modern geopolitical entity, is ethnically diverse and the music heard in orchestral halls is a mere fraction of what is heard and played here. It’s not very popular among American citizens. … We still have no real national music. The supra-cultural machine tells us what is popular and we develop our cliques accordingly.”

Sure, people like to go to the theatre – but the Scots are fleeing the symphony and opera in dire numbers. (Or maybe it’s just that the companies were touring? Sure, that’s it.)