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DECEMBER 1999

  • DO THE MATH: "About 846 million new CDs were sold last year. But at least six billion MP3 files were downloaded from the Net in the same period. Although a medium still in its infancy, MP3 threatens to effect the most far-reaching changes in the way we listen to, store, think about and (crucially for the music business) pay for music since Thomas Edison recorded Mary Had a Little Lamb onto a wax cylinder in 1877." London Telegraph 12/31/99
  • "GEE - THIS WILL MAKE BEETHOVEN," Walt Disney was said to have said after watching the original "Fantasia." Now there's an update - here's a blow-by-blow description. Toronto Globe and Mail 12/31/99
  • ROUGH DECADE: The Three Tenors road show has gotten embarrassing, especially as heard in a San Jose sports arena through a sound system that must have cost all of $9.98. "Comparing these singers with their decade-old selves is not flattering. The luster has dimmed considerably even from the internationally televised Paris World Cup concert two years ago." San Francisco Examiner 12/31/99
    • A contrary view: "Heartwarming and often very beautiful. And to hear the unique blend of these three voices in their over-the- top encore of ``Torna a Surriento'' as the crowd roared is to feel the immensely sensual power of music. It is a lucky universe that boasts these stars." San Francisco Chronicle 12/31/99
  • EX MOBIL EXEC TO RUN OPERA: Appointment of ex Mobil treasurer brings some serious for-profit expertise to the non-profit Washington DC opera company at a time of potential expansion. Washington Post 12/30/99
  • ALL AROUND US: The biggest thing to happen to music in this century was its evolution into a soundtrack for living. "Before recording, nobody realized how much empty space there was in the world, at work, at home, in the car and bus, in the exercise room and at the neighborhood bar and restaurant, waiting to be filled with music." Toronto Globe and Mail 12/29/99
  • A $1.5 BILLION HABIT: North Americans spent a record amount on concert tickets this year. Here's a list of the top grossers. Variety 12/29/99
  • RE-ENGINEERED: Time was when classical recording companies vied for any technical advantage. All that's changed in recent years. Decca was the last to go, selling off its equipment to a pair of entrepreneurs and this week releasing the last of its home-reared sound engineers. An era ends. London Telegraph 12/29/99
  • SELF PROGRAMMING: Are the days of the music album numbered? New digital technology allows consumers to build their own song order. But there are still some bumps along the way. The Atlantic 12/99
  • THE COMPOSITIONS THAT ARE ABOUT TO DIE SALUTE YOU: A "Fantasia" to induce the cold sweats. Financial Times 12/23/99
    •  THE PROBLEM WITH "FANTASIA 2000" No longer a collaboration of equals" as was the first version, writes Norman Lebrecht.  London Telegraph 12/22/99
    • Previously: ATTRACTIONS AND IRRITATIONS: Disney's new "Fantasia 2000" revives old arguments. New York Times 12/21/99 (one-time registration required for entry)
    • And:  "FANTASIA 2000" DEBUTS AT CARNEGIE HALL: "Hey," shrugged Disney chief Michael Eisner, accepting handshakes after it was done, "I go for the emotion." Los Angeles Times 12/20/99
  • MANY RESPONSIBILITIES AND MUCH TO LIVE UP TO: Straining to like John Harbison's "Gatsby" opening at the Metropolitan Opera. New York Times 12/22/99 (one-time registration required for entry)
  • MUST BE THE PR: Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has had a tough time attracting visitors. "None of us has been totally satisfied with how well the public understands who we are, what we do, how successful we've been, what our vision of this institution is and where we're going." So the PR director's been fired. Cleveland Plain Dealer 12/22/99
  • A BIT CONCERNED: With college kids downloading music for free over the internet, music producers are battling a culture in attempt to stop piracy. Wired 12/22/99
  • LAST SYMPHONY OF THE CENTURY: The BBC helps keep classical music tradition vital. Financial Times 12/22/99
  • YOU PICKED THE WRONG TIME TO LEAVE ME BLUE SHIELD: New album sings the blues of managed care. Only $14.95 co-pay. Hartford Courant 12/22/99
  • CIRCULAR ARGUMENT: British Medical Association study says that playing the saxophone is a major health hazard for jazz musicians. CBC 12/21/99
  • THE SECOND PERFORMANCE PROBLEM: Andre Previn beats the odds with a second production of "Streetcar" announced for Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 12/21/99
  • COMBINING PERIOD MUSIC WITH OPERATIC STYLE: "Gatsby" opens tonight at the Met. New York Times 12/20/99 (one-time registration required for entry)
  • THE MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE: A Havana drama with several happy endings. New York Times 12/20/99 (one-time registration required for entry)
    • Previously: MAKING GOOD MUSIC AND NEW FRIENDS:  Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 12/18/99
    • And: WHOOPS: Milwaukee Symphony watches as Havana's air traffic controllers deny landing permission to a cargo plane carrying many of the orchestra's larger instruments.  Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 12/17/99 
    • And: SYMPHONIC DIPLOMACY: Since the fall of communism it's been years since a visiting orchestra has come to Havana. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 12/16/99 
    • And: Interview with Milwaukee music director St. Petersburg Times 12/16/99
  • GROVER WASHINGTON, JR, dies at age 56, after recording program for CBS early-morning show. BBC 12/18/99
  • AN EXTRAORDINARY PASSION FOR MUSIC: Soweto is one of the last places you'd expect to find an orchestra. But a determined British violinist with amazing energy has built an orchestra and a music program from scratch. The group has even recorded its first CD - a Christmas album. London Telegraph 12/18/99
  • THE FUTURE OF HIGH "C": New operas everywhere and the future seems bright. In Amsterdam, British filmmaker Peter Greenaway and Dutch composer Louis Andriessen joined forces in Writing to Vermeer. At the Monnaie in Brussels, star director Luc Bondy and Belgian composer Philippe Boesmans collaborated on The Winter's Tale, an adaptation of the Shakespeare play. A critic who saw them both wonders about the viability of the artform. Financial Times 12/17/99
  • CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA musicians sign new five-year contract. Base salary climbs to $100,000. Cleveland Plain Dealer 12/17/99
  • SILENCE IS GOLDEN: Yamaha introduces a new silent cello. CBC 12/16/99
  • TOP 100: National Public Radio releases its list of the 100 most important musical works of the 20th Century, as voted on by 14,000 NPR listeners. NPR 12/14/99
  • SUPER-MESSIAH: They were pounding on the doors of the church in Montreal begging to be let in to participate in annual CBC "Messiah" sing-along. Toronto Globe and Mail 12/15/99
  • BAD NEWS ON THE RECORDING FRONT: Peter Gelb, president of Sony Classical, delivers the bad news - recording is not a birthright. Better have a real reason to record or just don't do it. The Independent 12/15/99
  • OF CRUMB AND BOULEZ: Big celebrations for Pierre Boulez on his 75th, while George Crumb gets leftovers for his 70th. Not fair, writes Norman Lebrecht. Crumb has had much more influence on the century than his older colleague. London Telegraph 12/15/99
  • GREAT GATSBY: John Harbison's new opera, set to open Dec. 20, is the Metropolitan Opera's first contemporary opera since 1992. Harbison describes his piece as "a version of the musical opportunities in the book." Boston Phoenix 12/14/99
  • WORLD MUSIC: "Nearly two decades of fakes, frauds and charlatans are not exactly a great advertisement for a style of music which once was touted as the future of pop." But the Buena Vista gang seems about to change all that. Sydney Morning Herald 12/14/99
  • E IS FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL: London Symphony Orchestra, which has claimed to be "the most recorded orchestra in the world," sets up its own recording label. The Independent 12/13/99
  • ROSENBERG OPERA: Opera about Julius and Ethel Rosenberg by American composer has successful premiere in Berlin. Die Welt 12/13/99
  • REINVIGORATING OPERA: Chicago Lyric Opera takes the initiative on renewing American opera with an ambitious multi-year plan of new work. The company's leadership sits down for a conversation with the Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune 12/12/99
  • WHERE POP MEETS CLASSICAL: An evolving relationship gets a jolt of imagination. Los Angeles Times 12/12/99
  • THE EARTH MOVED: Seven years after its "official" groundbreaking, construction finally begins on Los Angeles' new $200+ million Disney concert hall. Orange County Register 12/12/99
  • THE DECADE AHEAD: Chicago's Lyric Opera has had a major influence on other companies with its commissions of new work. Now an ambitious 10-year plan to help reinvigorate the artform. Chicago Tribune 12/10/99
  • TOUGH NUT: The New York City Ballet musicians strike is over, but the issues were legitimate. Says a former board member on the state of the music: "Ugly sound, wrong notes, missing notes have become increasingly familiar. The musical direction has grown slacker and slacker – it’s no secret that the company has been unable to hire a strong new musical director because of the absurd rules and attitudes that have come to govern the orchestra’s performance." It was time to confront the issue. New York Observer 12/10/99
  • TORONTO SYMPHONY settles strike with musicians. Terms include a 30 percent raise, making the orchestra the highest-paid in Canada. But about that troubling multi-million-dollar deficit... CBC 12/8/99
  • METALLICA VS. CLASSICAL: You could be forgiven for thinking you'd wandered into an uber-thrash heavy metal convention. But look, oh, up there on the stage behind the heavy metalers - it's none other than the Berlin Philharmonic. It was loud. Bloody loud. Irish Times 12/9/99 
  • BEETHOVEN SELLS: A newly-discovered manuscript of a string quartet by Beethoven lasting only 52 seconds, sells for £180,000 at auction. BBC 12/9/99
  • AND THE WINNER IS... The name of the biggest-selling American recording of the century was revealed this week. Move over Michael Jackson... San Francisco Examiner 12/9/99
  • REMEMBERING CELIBIDACHE: Recordings with which to remember one of the great conductors of the century. National Post 12/9/99
  • FALLING ASLEEP IN BERLIN AND SALZBURG: Personnel changes in top jobs in musical capitals portends a future not worth waiting for. London Telegraph 12/8/99
    • The new man in Salzburg New York Times 12/8/99
  • DIGITAL MUSIC over the internet will account for 80 percent of music sales by 2005. But it won't be cheaper, says one recording exec - it'll cost you more. Wired 12/8/99
  • PAGANINI DISCOVERY: Manuscripts for twelve violin and guitar sonatas by Paganini have been found in Italy. They were written "with teaching in mind." They'll be auctioned in Rome next week. Sydney Morning Herald 12/8/99
  • BIRTHDAYS FUNERALS & COCKTAIL PARTIES: Sixty-four year-old Daniel Hays is a pianist who plays in grocery stores, at parties, wherever. Never had a big career. Now he's ready to perform with an orchestra, so he put an ad in a Baltimore paper: "SENIOR CITIZEN ready to perform the Rubinstein D-minor Piano Concerto but needs an orchestra. Can you help?" Baltimore Sun 12/8/99
  • TRAVIATA EXTRAVAGANZA: June made-for-TV $10 million production in Paris will be beamed to 125 countries for 1.5 billion people. (AP) Cleveland Plain Dealer 12/8/99
  • CALL THE SPIN DOCTOR! Philadelphia Orchestra is desperate to raise the last $25 million for its new hall. Will it sell its current digs - the venerable Academy of Music? Absolutely not, it says. But...the orchestra would "transfer ownership" of the Academy in exchange for $50 million. "Under the right conditions, the orchestra would accept money for the 142-year-old hall, turn over title to someone else, and no longer own it." But it wouldn't be a sale. Really. Confused? Philadelphia Inquirer 12/7/99
  • A FAILURE ON ALL POSSIBLE TERMS: An updated  "Messiah for the Millennium" is a bust. "...the dreadful Roger Daltrey" butchered everything. "Chaka Khan was all over the place. Gladys Knight was just not equipped to sing this music. All this was peppered with the offensively ambiguous double-speak of narrator Aidan Quinn's pointless role. Was he scorning or supporting Handel's Messiah story? Who could tell?" Irish Times 12/6/99
  • MOST POPULAR: John Adams is ranked the most popular and most performed living American composer, and one of the top 5 of all time. Miami Herald 12/5/99
  • TOP TEN: One critic's nomination for the ten best classical recordings of 1999. Chicago Tribune 12/5/99
  • JAZZ GREAT CHARLIE BRYD died Thursday in Annapolis. Baltimore Sun 12/3/99
  • KEEPING SCORE ON THE WEB: Publisher opens portal site that will make sheet music available for downloading on the net. Buy just one song/buy the whole concerto. Is it the end of sheet music stores? Wired 12/2/99
  • DO THE MATH: By most accounts, musicians are handing over their tunes for free to new MP3 sites in record numbers. Is anyone getting rich? In August, MP3.com sold 15,600 CDs on behalf of 26,700 artists listed in its online database. New digital format may be cheaper, but it's not exactly turning up a whole new generation of stars. Salon 12/2/99
  • SINGING FINE: Chicago-area soprano sings a little courtroom Verdi to delighted judge and escapes speeding ticket. CBC 12/2/99
  • MOZART EFFECT REVISITED: Six years ago scientists reported that listening to Mozart made people smarter. But last summer a new study failed to reproduce the results from the first, disappointing waves of music fans. A closer look, though, "shows that Mozart's music does have a profound effect on the brain, though no one knows why. Rats raised on Mozart run through mazes faster and more accurately. People with Alzheimer's disease function more normally if they listen to Mozart; the music even reduces the severity of epileptic seizures." Toronto Globe and Mail 12/1/99

 


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