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SECTION
BY SECTION, musician by musician: the Chicago Symphony deconstructed. Chicago Tribune 10/31/99
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THE JAZZ CANON:
A case for the 20 most important jazz recordings ever. Commentary 10/29/99
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PIRATE
HUNTING: Music theft has become rampant on the internet. Now a plan by
the global music industry to fight digital pirates. Wired 10/29/99
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THE
SOUND OF NEGOTIATION: Toronto Symphony Musicians have been on strike for
five weeks - they haven't negotiated for a month. This week they offered to
come individually to orchestra board members homes and play for them - and
plead their case. CBC 10/29/99
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WOODEN
WONDER: When an instrument upstages the performer playing it.
San Francisco Chronicle 10/29/99
PREVIOUSLY: PAGANINI'S
FAVORITE VIOLIN - a Guarneri called "the Cannon" - is
brought out only for special occasions. This week it got only its
second-ever concert in America. San
Francisco Examiner 10/28/99
-
OPERA AS TALK
SHOW: Michael Rouse's new opera "Dennis Cleveland" is an opera
"because you can't call it anything else." This musical piece of
"anti-media" is a techno-wonder. LA Weekly 10/28/99
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PAGANINI'S
FAVORITE VIOLIN - a Guarneri called "the Cannon" - is
brought out only for special occasions. This week it got only its
second-ever concert in America. San
Francisco Examiner 10/28/99
-
OPERA
IN THE AUTO CITY: Detroit's Michigan Opera Theatre has a new home, a
reinforced budget, and some big names for its roster. Times are good in the
auto industry and Ford, Daimler Chrysler and GM are sharing some of the
wealth with the arts. New York
Times 10/28/99 (registration
required for access)
-
EIGHTY-ONE
HOURS OF TUNES: A new portable Palm Pilot-sized MP3 player from Korea
lets you take hours of music anywhere you go. Wired 10/27/99
-
RECONSIDERING
ORPHEUS: Acclaimed conductorless chamber orchestra undergoes a
bloodless revolution and new directions.
New York Times 10/27/99 (registration required for access)
AND: A peek inside the rehearsal process. NYT 10/27/99
-
CURTIS AT 75: If
America has a national music conservatory, it is Philadelphia's Curtis
Institute. As the conservatory orchestra begins a European tour, a critic
reflects on its success. Financial
Times 10/27/99
-
MUSIC
OF THE MILLENNIUM: Disney's 100-player orchestra, men's chorus, women's
chorus, children's choir, synthesizer, vocal quartet - loud, long and
pretentious. Symphony based on a 20-page Eisner "treatment."
St. Petersburg Times 10/26/99
-
GERARD
SHWARZ to give up directing New York Mostly Mozart Festival after 20 years. New York Times 10/26/99 (registration required for access)
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THE
SCOTTISH OPERA is £1 million in debt, threatening a proposed merger
with the Scottish Ballet. BBC
10/24/99
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AUDIENCE
INVOLVEMENT: When it's really really bad, booing is the only polite
thing to do. Philadelphia Inquirer
10/24/99
PREVIOUSLY: IVO
PLAYS THE BOOS? Pianist Ivo Pogorelich played an all-time slow
Rachmaninoff concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra last week to a chorus
of boos. Then he canceled his performance with the orchestra at Carnegie
Hall. Just the latest in a series of unhappy incidents.
Philadelphia Inquirer 10/20/99
AND: Enjoying
the aftermath. Philadelphia
Inquirer 10/26/99
-
"PAIN
IN THE BUTT" TENOR: A new unauthorized biography of the great John
Vickers admires the art but...Toronto
Globe and Mail 10/23/99
-
CUSTOM CDs:
Online music retailer plans to set up kiosks in retail music stores and
malls where consumers can custom-pick and make their own music CDs. Variety.com 10/20/99
-
EX-GLYNDEBOURNE
CHIEF to take over running of the Dallas Opera.
Dallas Morning News 10/20/99
-
IS KIRI TE KANAWA ready
to call it quits? Fans wonder if latest Carnegie Hall concert was her last. Financial Times 10/20/99
-
WORLD MUSIC: A report
from the Oslo contemporary music festival. Some Brits, the usual Americans
and lots of mysticism. Financial
Times 10/20/99
-
AFTER
A 35 YEAR PARTNERSHIP, the Guarneri String Quartet says goodbye to one
of its own with a farewell tour.
Los Angeles Times 10/20/99
-
IVO
PLAYS THE BOOS? Pianist Ivo Pogorelich played an all-time slow
Rachmaninoff concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra last week to a chorus
of boos. Then he canceled his performance with the orchestra at Carnegie
Hall. Just the latest in a series of unhappy incidents.
Philadelphia Inquirer 10/20/99
-
ECCENTRIC'S
DISEASE: Eighteen years after Glenn Gould died, an expert makes a case
that he suffered from Asperger's Syndrome - that would explain the pianist's
eccentricities, he claims.
Sydney Morning Herald 10/20/99
-
MARKETING
THE AVANT GARDE: Deutsche Grammophon releases a new line of contemporary
music - a nod to proper packaging. New
York Press 10/21/99
-
DIVVYING UP
THE SPOILS: Music business types gathered last week to talk about the
commercial future of popular music. No consumers allowed. I hate when they
call music "content" says one musician - I play the guitar, not
content. Wired 10/19/99
-
YO-YO MA LEFT HIS $2.5 MILLION
CELLO in a New York City cab last weekend. But he had his receipt for
the ride and was able to track down the cabbie and get it back. (Reuters) MSNBC 10/18/99
-
PIANO
JAZZ: The Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition gives a pretty
good indication of the current direction of jazz. New York Times 10/19/99 (moved to paid archives)
-
AT
THE GRAMOPHONE AWARDS: At Britain's biggest classical music party, a
young Russian pianist steps up with the greats. London Times 10/19/99
-
TANGO TREK:
Classical musicians in search of a fix of the exotic are making the
pilgrimage to Argentina. The tango is hot. Civilization 10/99
-
MILAN"S LA SCALA will
get a $50 million facelift. (Reuters)
MSNBC 10/14/99
-
SOUNDS
OF THE CENTURY: 547 selections by 479 artists - Sony releases 26-disk set it
describes as the "The Most Comprehensive Collection of Popular Music
Ever Assembled." All for $349. Los Angeles Times 10/18/99
-
TORONTO
SYMPHONY MUSICIANS STRIKE is about money, but also about the shifting
balance between government and private support for the arts in Canada. Toronto Globe and Mail 10/18/99
-
BRAHMS WAS THE
FIRST GREAT MUSICIAN to have his voice recorded on Edison's recording
device. He also plays piano. Hear it here and read all about it.
-
BACK
OF THE BANDSTAND: A new crop of drummers has changed the essence and
structure of making jazz. You never know what to expect, writes Ben Ratliff.
New York Times 10/15/99
-
FASHION
STATEMENT: English violinist Nigel Kennedy's hair looked "as if
borrowed from some sorry overcoiffed dog whose breed hails from remote
mountainous regions of central Asia," and his concert garb was no less
bizarre this week at Washington's Kennedy Center. Enough, writes Philip
Kennicott. Appearances do count. Washington Post 10/15/99
-
NEW
MUSIC TO JUMP UP AND DOWN FOR: The best art enlarges your life and
changes you, writes Richard Dyer. Peter Lieberson's new orchestral work for
the Boston Symphony is such a work. Boston Globe 10/15/99
-
PUTTING ON A BRAVE FACE?:
As a new season begins, old questions return. Is classical music in trouble?
An artform that would prefer not to look at itself too closely. MSNBC 10/14/99
-
SLATKIN
TO BBC: Leonard Slatkin was named chief conductor of the BBC Symphony
Orchestra.
Cleveland Plain Dealer 10/14/99
-
SMALLER
GRAND: Italy's small opera houses put more opera in grand opera, and it's a
revealing experience.
New York Times 10/13/99
-
REINVENTING
GREATNESS: It's been a decade since Herbert von Karajan died. On the verge
of trading his successor (Claudio Abbado) for Simon Rattle, the Berlin
Philharmonic takes a tour of European capitals. Financial Times 10/13/99
-
PLEASE
RELEASE ME: For the 106th straight week, Elton John's sappy Diana remake of
"Candle in the Wind" sits on Canada's Top 10 Singles list. So
what's the matter with Canadians? "We're either sentimental saps or
deeply loyal subjects," says a Montreal music critic. Toronto Globe and Mail 10/13/99
-
WHERE ARE
THE CANADIAN COMPOSERS? Singers sure, and of course there's Glenn Gould.
But when the "Greatest of the Century" list moves to composers,
Canadians are notably absent.
National Post (Canada) 10/12/99
-
NO ESCAPE: A pianist
explains why ever-present background music numbs the ear and teaches us not
to listen. MSNBC 10/12/99
-
JAZZ
GREAT MILT JACKSON DIED Saturday of liver cancer.
Toronto Star 10/12/99
ALSO: Hear a report Morning Edition NPR [Real Audio clip]
AND: Boston
Globe story 10/12/99
-
A
GRANDE DAME'S TRIUMPHAL RETURN: Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu opera
house was consumed by fire on the morning of Jan. 31, 1994. This week it
reopened and it was as if nothing had ever happened. New York Times 10/12/99
-
THE
FOURTH TENOR? 36-year-old Jose Cura has one of the two most alluring
tenor voices of his generation, says one critic. Fiery as his
Spanish-Lebanese-Argentinean parentage, he also has plenty of ego to burn. London Times 10/12/99
-
HE'S
NOT YET 25: But already Daniel Harding has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic
and has a recording contract. This week the conducting world's wunderkind
took on the London Symphony Orchestra.
Financial Times 10/12/99
-
"NOSTALGIC LONGING FOR THE PAST": American opera struggles to build a new viable repertory, but
William Bolcom's new "View From the Bridge" which just premiered
in Chicago shows links to the past. Chicago
Tribune 10/11/99
ALSO: Other reviews: Philadelphia
Inquirer, Dallas
Morning News, Houston
Chronicle, New
York Magazine
-
CONCERT
AS MEGA-WEBSITE: Net-Aid - the largest global concert ever points up the
differences between haves and have-nots. New York Times 10/11/99
ALSO: Promoters
will announce today whether the concert reached one billion listeners, as
they hoped. BBC 10/11/99
AND: The AP
news report of the concert (Dallas
Morning News) 10/10/99
AND: Tuning in on
the web was like "watching the shaky output from a slow-motion security
camera." Wired
10/11/99
-
CELEBRATING
100 YEARS IN PHILLY: One of the most recorded-orchestras in history
releases a historic set of recordings to commemorate a milestone. Philadelphia Inquirer 10/10/99
-
THE OBJECT
OF MY AFFECTION: Last week's gathering of Glenn Gould fans in Toronto
has one observer pondering the relationship between those fans and their
artist. Sydney Morning Herald
10/11/99
-
BACH
FIXATION: Why oh why so many new recordings of Bach? Another anniversary
looms. London Sunday Times
10/10/99
-
SYMPHONY
WITH MOUSE EARS: Disney commissioned a "millennial" symphony
on the order of Mahler and talked the New York Philharmonic into performing
it - after hearing it, writes Philip Kennicott, the only question is: who to
feel sorrier for. Washington Post
10/9/99
-
OPERA
REVIVAL: Contemporary American opera never had it so good. Saturday Chicago
Lyric Opera premieres William Bolcom's "A View from the Bridge."
Next up: "The Great Gatsby."
Toronto Globe and Mail 10/9/99
-
NET-AID:
Broadcast live on MTV, VH1, the BBC and others to 60 countries; on radio in
another 120 nations, potentially making these the widest-heard musical
performances in history. Meanwhile politics and charges of commercialism dog
event. Washington Post 10/8/99
ALSO: MUSICIAN
-AID THYSELF: As Net-Aid, the latest in a long line of mega global
benefit concerts (this time for Kosovo) gets organized, a critic ponders
these events' musical impotence. London
Times 10/8/99
AND: Largest
internet ever SF GATE 10/6/99
-
HELDEN-GUY:
The hottest ticket in New York this fall is for the Metropolitan Opera's
"Tristan und Isolde." The reason is Canadian tenor Ben Heppner,
who is quickly becoming a legend.
Boston Globe 10/8/99
-
DOMINGO.COM:
The online music revolution has mostly been the province of young pop
musicians. But now tenor Placido Domingo has signed a contract to record for
the web. Boston Globe 10/8/99
-
NEWLY
FOUND BEETHOVEN QUARTET GETS PREMIERE: a performance before it's put up
for auction in December. "This quartette was composed for me in my
presence by Ludwig v Beethoven at Vienna Friday 28th November 1817"
wrote the young English traveler Richard Ford on the manuscript.
BBC 10/7/99.
-
OPERA
AS HISTORY LESSON: A new Canadian opera about a topic not much discussed
- slavery in early Canada. It's a tough subject but the reviews have been
enthusiastic. CBC 10/7/99
-
Aaron
Copland's house has been turned into a center for scholarship and support of
composers. New York Times
10/6/99
-
GOING FOR
GOULD: Sculpture, plays, films of homage - lovers of the late great
Canadian pianist from 19 countries converge on Toronto for a conference. Sydney Morning Herald 10/6/99
-
OPERATHON:
Egypt is planning a 12-hour opera by Jean Michel Jarre to usher in the new
millennium. At midnight, a 30-foot golden pyramid will be placed atop the
missing peak of the Great Pyramid of Cheops, flooding the surrounding area
with golden rays to signal the birth of the first day of 2000, says the
Egyptian culture minister.
AP (Seattle Times) 10/5/99
-
ESTEEMED
CANADIAN CONDUCTOR DIES: George Tintner committed suicide over the
weekend. CBC 10/4/99
-
THE
FUTURE OF MUSIC? Don't count on any definitive answers at the annual
North By Northwest Music & New Media Conference. The Oregonian 10/4/99
-
ROLL OVER
MOZART: A new German-language rock musical about the composer opens in
Vienna. Sydney Morning
Herald 10/4/99
-
MILLENNIAL
MAESTROS: Just who are the great conductors today, and how do you get
them to come conduct? Even venerable Cleveland finds its podium roster a
little bare.
Cleveland Plain Dealer 10/3/99
-
SIMON
RATTLE MAKES HIS DIRECTOR'S DEBUT in Berlin with Mahler and broken
German. The audience loves it. London
Sunday Times 10/3/99
-
AS
CHICAGO LYRIC OPERA prepares to stage the premiere of William Bolcom's
opera "A View from the Bridge" John von Rhein looks at the
economics of mounting a new opera.
Chicago Tribune 10/3/99
-
TORONTO
SYMPHONY STRIKE update at the end of Week I. CBC 10/1/99
-
SOMEBODY
TELL THEM THEY'RE DEAD: The Miami Herald critic was looking forward to
the Stones tour - and then he actually saw them - message to geriatric
rockers everywhere: time to hang it up. Miami Herald 10/1/99
-
NEXT
BEST THING: Daniel Barenboim wanted to be the next leader of the Berlin
Philharmonic, but since that didn't work out, he re-ups his contract with
the Chicago Symphony. Chicago
Tribune 10/1/99
