Broadway producer David Merrick has died in London at the age of 87. – Backstage
OR WAS HE 88? Merrick had a talent for producing, but also for making enemies. – New York Times
Tag: 04.26.00
A MATTER OF INTELLIGENCE
Why is Lincoln Center balking at presenting Tom Stoppard’s new play? Is it because they think New Yorkers are stupid? – New York Observer
DANCING ON HISTORY
The Paris Opera Ballet was once one of the dullest dance companies on earth, complacent to a fault. But “nobody dances like the French,” and today the oldest dance company in the world is also one of the most admired. – The Telegraph (UK)
OAKLAND BALLET gets new director –
– a former Dance Theatre of Harlem star. – San Francisco Chronicle
THE MUSEUM EXPERIENCE
Jazz was once a freeform of innovation. But the “back to basics” movement led by Wynton Marsalis has pulled jazz back to its roots, and the Lincoln Center jazz program has helped institutionalize it. Though many are happy about the turn away from cacophonous directions, some critics complain that jazz has become entombed in a museum. Statistics from the Recording Industry Association of America indicate that jazz claims less than two percent of the overall music market. – Miami New Times
THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED
What killed the venerable BMG’s classical music recording operations? “A run of pin-striped MBAs and former wine salesmen was put in charge of classics, only to depart before their signings cut a debut disc. On the rock side BMG flourished, winning a record 24 trophies at this year’s Grammy awards. BMG has annual revenues of $16.4 billion and owns 200 labels, including Ariola, Arista and Windham Hill. Classics amount to less than four per cent of turnover. When the bottom line reddened amid a general classical downturn, the division was swatted by an executive fist, like a flea on a giant’s hide. That is the way of the corporate world, and that is what is killing classical recording.” – The Telegraph (London)
TIME TO PLAY
Limited rehearsal time has limited more than one classical music performance: soloist jets into town in time for one run-through before the concert, and everyone waits to see what comes off. Now a few performers have taken the unusual (and expensive) step of hiring their own orchestras and exploring a work in marathon rehearsals before stepping onstage. – Philadelphia Inquirer
BRUCH THIS
Yikes – for the fifth year in a row Max Bruch has won top spot on the UK’s Classic FM poll of favorite composers. But then, what do you expect? “If you spoonfeed your audience a pappy diet of light classics and bite-sized chunks of larger works, all seasoned with the odd bit of cross-over, and then get them to vote for their favourites, the result is more or less a foregone conclusion. Pavlov couldn’t have conditioned his salivating dogs any more effectively.” – The Guardian
LONG WAY FROM THE STREETS
What does it say about the fortunes of jazz as an artform that Juilliard has decided for the first time to offer instruction in jazz? – New York Times
TO DI FOR
Italian composer Bruno Moretti has written an opera that is a barely disguised version of Diana, Princess of Wales’ life. “The opera ends with the fading image of Emma [Diana] waltzing with her Arab lover to the screech of tyres and the paparazzi’s flashbulbs.” – The Times (London)