MUSIC FOR AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY: With the first anniversary of 9/11 coming up on Wednesday, arts groups the world over are preparing to commemorate the attacks with concerts of all kinds. The "Rolling Requiem," a worldwide performance of Mozart's last work spanning 21 time zones and including 170 choirs, will run throughout the day. In Texas, the Houston Symphony will play a free concert celebrating American music. In Minneapolis, Renee Fleming will offer Strauss's haunting Four Last Songs with the Minnesota Orchestra. And in New York, the Philharmonic will debut John Adams's On the Transmigration of Souls, written for the occasion. And that's only the beginning... Andante 09/08/02 

88 KEYS AND NOTHING TO SAY: Critic Martin Kettle is bored. "If there were a softer and gentler way of saying this, then I would say it. But in my view, modern concert pianists have become boring. Very few of them have anything very interesting to say, at least to me. To make such statements is to invite some heartfelt attacks. Some will say that it isn't the pianists who are boring, but I who am bored with the piano. Perhaps that is the case. But then I only have to put on a CD by Schnabel to know that I'll never be bored by him, at any rate." The Guardian (UK) 09/05/02

WE'RE NUMBER ONE! OR TWO! WE THINK!: "Ranking orchestras by quality is hard -- and subjective. Doesn't every city think its orchestra is great? Orchestras wouldn't have been formed without a strong element of civic pride. And yet orchestras are ranked all the time -- by managers, by critics, by musicians, by conductors, by soloists... If there's a vague consensus about what orchestras are on the list, what are the criteria? Recordings? Repertoire? Tours? Reviews? Budgets? Technical accomplishment? The glamour and talent of the music director? Orchestra managers and officials suggest that it's a complicated question and that ranking basketball teams is much easier." The Star Tribune (Minneapolis) 09/08/02

A BUYER'S MARKET, IF YOU CAN FIND IT: Despite the troubles sweeping the recording industry, there are more recordings of great classical music available today than at any time in history. Still, where does the serious collector go to find that obscure recording or digital reissue? "The future, everyone says, lies on the Internet, but there are still a lot of problems there. One of the basic issues is the difficulty of building a database for classical music that is consistent enough for the search engines to deal with. (How do you spell 'Petrouchka'?). And of course, the Internet is not the easiest place for you to find something you just have to have if you don't already know that it exists. There isn't a catalog that can keep up with what is theoretically or actually available. No publication like the Schwann Catalog of the LP era can claim to be 'the collectors' Bible' anymore." Boston Globe 09/08/02

A LECTURE FOR CRITICS: Composer John Corigliano has a rigorous definition of job standards for music critics, and tells critic Justin Davidson so: "Am I saying that critics need to be trained musicians, thorough scholars, and snappy writers — all on a freelancer's meager salary? Yes. 'What professional standards should critics be held to?' You need to be able to read like a conductor, research like an historian, judge like a parent and write like a playwright. 'How should critics reconcile the demands of accuracy with the realities of the deadline and the music business?' Take this question to your editors, Justin. Critics must improve the business of criticism: composers cannot. It's tough out there, from what I hear. But it's tough for composers, too. Sorry." Andante 09/05/02

AND IN THIS CORNER... For a critic, reviewing a work of new music presents unique challenges, not the least of which is that the composer is still around to shoot back if s/he doesn't like what's written. Two Pulitzer Prize-winners - one a composer, one a critic - see the conflict from decidedly different angles, and the debate ranges from whether critics are capable of recognizing a bad performance of a good piece to whether composers drastically overstate the impact of critical assessment. Andante 09/01/02

I WANT TO HEAR LEONARDO'S NINTH: All ye who love music, read the following at your own peril... A UK magazine survey reports that "65% of children under 14 cannot name one classical composer. Only 14% of 600 children nationwide knew Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven wrote music." Asked to name a composer, students answered variously with historical figures such as Leonardo da Vinci and Shakespeare." The Guardian (UK) 09/02/02

SOVIET TREASURE: For years the heart of the Soviet Ministry of Radio and Television archives - recordings of some of the USSR's most important artists - have been stored away and inaccessible. "Now, after years of legal and technical wrangling, the performances recorded over nearly seven decades are being released. They number more than 400,000 - enough to fill 12,000 compact discs." The Plain Dealer (AP) (Cleveland) 09/02/02

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: That CD you paid $18 for at a big national retailer cost the record company around thirty cents to produce, and these days, most consumers are aware of that, and are fairly unhappy about it. The industry has been accused for years of keeping CD prices artifically and indefensibly high, but now, the prices are coming down for the first time as individual labels try to dig out from under abysmal sales numbers and declining interest in their product. CDs by major artists are now selling like hotcakes at $11 to $13, and the industry may be on the verge of discovering a fascinating marketing concept called supply and demand. Chicago Tribune 09/05/02
 

Previous Articles/
Busoni The Visionary
The Composer of the Moment:  Mark-Anthony Turnage
Electronic Music
Voices: Henze at 75
Henze Meets Emenim
On Finding Kurtag
Charles Ruggles:  When Men Were Men
Ballet Mécanique
The Adams Chronicles
 
 

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