Who will be the Dallas Symphony’s next music director? “For all the argument that American orchestras should hire American music directors, virtually all the DSO’s likely candidates at this point are foreigners. After the DSO’s dozen years under an American, the change could be healthy. And the old European method of cultivating conductors in provincial opera houses still has advantages over the assembly-line degree programs at American conservatories.”
Tag: 09.05.05
The Highly profitable Jane Austen Industry
“Jane Austen’s peerless depictions of Regency England still chime with audiences across the globe. But in 2005 she is also a brand, perhaps the most profitable literary brand. Her stock is certain to rise again in the coming weeks as the new Hollywood version of Pride and Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen, hits cinemas in the UK. The UK’s multi-million pound Austen industry is gearing itself up for a busy autumn.”
How Much Of That New Orleans Sound Is Dependant On New Orleans?
New Orleans musicians play together in a way that anticipates what the music is going to do. “This whole tradition is based on informal music-making, much of it in the open air, and in recent times that has depended on the tourist trade. Musical skills have been passed down by a kind of casual, on-the-job apprenticeship, which means having jobs, which means having audiences. Will it survive? Touch and go, I’d say. But the physical remains – the run-down corner shop which was once a famous saloon, the few rickety sheds which are all that survive of Storyville, the red-light district where the boy Armstrong used to deliver coal – they’ve gone for good.”
Cell-Phones; For The Complete Concert Experience
The well-appointed music fan doesn’t venture out to a concert with the modern cell phone. “At times, the atmosphere was more like a high-Catholic service than a pop concert. In the velvety dark, 10,000 points of polychrome light glimmered as cellphone screens were lit and turned, reverently, towards the stage. A sizeable part of the audience was photo- and sound-recording the event, and another sizeable part of the audience was transmitting Coldplay’s performance to absent friends via mobile phones.”
Direct This: Directors Pick Their Favorites
We all have favorite artists, favorite composers, favorite writers. Some directors have favorite playwrights they delve into. What are the attractions?
Kazaa Loses Big, Court Says Must Filter Content
The file-sharing network loses a big one in Australian court. “Kazaa, a programme estimated to be used for four out of five internet file-swaps, will have to include copyright filters in future editions of its software and put pressure on its current users to upgrade to the new version. More than 317 million people have downloaded Kazaa – which allows users to swap music, film and other digital information over the web – and several million are believed to be using it at any one time.”
Charge: Sean Penn, Nicole Kidman Are CIA Plotters
The paranoid regime of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe charges “that Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn were part of a CIA plot to oust President Robert Mugabe. The two Hollywood stars feature in The Interpreter, a blockbuster about a failed attempt to assassinate an African president. The fictional despot portrayed in the film, Edmond Zuwane, bears a striking resemblance to Mr Mugabe.”
Classical Goes Indie
“Just as rock and pop have a long history of independent labels, classical music has its own well-established independent sector, where labels such as Harmonia Mundi, Hyperion, Chandos, Opera Rara and the low-cost phenomenon Naxos have been releasing high-quality recordings for years. Suddenly, triggered by the flight of the major companies towards movie soundtracks and crossover artists, the independent concept has taken off in the classical business, with any number of artists, orchestras and venues starting their own imprints.”
Scheduling Glitch Sidelines Six Major Movies
“In an unprecedented scheduling fluke, six upcoming first-run films have been “on the shelf,” as they say, for anywhere from eight months to almost two years. And these aren’t small, quirky indies. These are films with major stars and directors vying for major bucks.”
Those Ticket-selling Surcharges Invade Non-Profits
More and more performing arts centers are adding fees to ticket purchase. In the Jersey: “As the state’s arts centers prepare to launch their 2005-06 seasons this month, they are quietly upping the service fees on ticket purchases to pump up their bottom lines. Whether it’s a per ticket surcharge, a facility fee or a total order ‘processing fee,’ the real cost for a ticket can be 10 percent more than advertised.”