Category: music

“The Royal Opera House is to co-produce content especially created for television under a new partnership it has entered into with the BBC. The partnership, announced today, will see the two organisations work together on a number of commissions for 2012, with the content being broadcast on television prior to going on to the stage.”

At age 70, World Music Institute founder Robert Browning “is retiring, having had a crucial influence on the musical life of New York. Fellow arts presenters, musicians and critics are unanimous in praising his efforts to help spread the cause of traditional world music nationwide.”

Mark Swed writes that Gerald Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest “is hysterically funny. The score is highly sophisticated and indescribably zany. … The world now has something rare: a new genuinely comic opera and maybe the most inventive Oscar Wilde opera since Richard Strauss’ Salome more than a century ago.”

“Why is David Zinman, despite a long track record of strong performances, a successful tenure at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, a history of involvement with new music, and one of the most-listened-to Beethoven cycles of all time, still consistently underappreciated in his home country? Second question: why does Robert Spano’s career appear to have plateaued?”

“What if the technology that enables us to enjoy surtitles, which most opera companies now use all over the world, had been available to Verdi, Puccini, Wagner and Mozart?Would they have still preferred their operas to be sung in the language of the audience, or would they have made other choices?”

“The contract avoids the major redefinition of musicians’ jobs the union has resisted but institutes an innovative optional-work plan for community outreach initiatives including orchestral concerts, teaching and chamber music. Musicians who choose to participate can earn additional pay of about $6,900 per season.”

“Like other composers of his generation, Avner Dorman, who turns 36 on Thursday, can make outlandish musical combinations work because he is comfortable with an enormous range of styles, assimilated during a musically omnivorous childhood and adolescence.”

” ‘When I was growing up in Toronto my parents dissuaded me from music. They said don’t be a musician unless it’s the only thing you can do.’ Heeding this advice, he completed a degree in engineering science. But music was always part of his life. “I had scores to Beethoven symphonies open on top of my physics textbook, when I was supposed to be studying for my exams.”

“The timing of its arrival, just before Canadian voters go to the polls, could hardly be better. It will have its world premiere on the big screen on April 16 at 72 Cineplex theatres across Canada. An encore screening is scheduled for April 27. But take it from me, this won’t be anyone’s idea of a conventional Saturday afternoon at the opera.”

“What we’ve lost: the overall Best Classical Album category; Best Chamber Music Performance (Best Small Ensemble Performance remains), one of the two Instrumental Soloist categories (separate awards used to be given for performances with and without orchestra; now, it will go to the Best Classical Instrumental Soloist, period), and — hallelujah — the Best Classical Crossover Album.”