For the first time in mini-career, I offered a free download of an aria to a blog. I've worked with Sequenza21 on free track giveaways before, but never for what we in the biz (groan) call a "Core Classical" artist. So let's see how we do. Somewhere beyond the sea, OperaChic is giving away an MP3 from Sondra's debut CD, Verdi Arias. It comes out on April 27, but is available now in a tiny record shop in Cupertino, CA called "iTunes." Google Maps can tell you how to get there. The folks at Naxos, the distributor, and Delos, the label, were … [Read more...]
Archives for 2010
What’s with all these awards
Many congratulations to composer Jennifer Higdon, whose Violin Concerto for Hilary just won the Pulitzer Prize for Music! Many additional congratulations to my client Julia Wolfe, whose Steel Hammer was a Pulitzer finalist. Sadly, Life's a Pitch did not win for Explanatory Reporting like I had hoped, so I'll just have to be satisfied by loose affiliation with Jennifer and Julia's wins this year. Here are Hilary and Jennifer discussing the concerto just after the premiere in Indianapolis last year: As always, updates from the road and composer … [Read more...]
Just a man and his will to survive
((Look - TIGER colors!))We all know uber talented people get more Get Out of Jail Free cards (literally and figuratively) than the rest of us, but this--from New York Magazine's Daily Intel--is especially interesting:All Tiger Woods had to do to get people back on his side was whack a few golf balls. At least that's according to data from Zeta Interactive, a company that measures public perception by trolling message boards, blogs, and social-media sites. Released on Friday, the data shows that Woods's online reputation went from 51 percent … [Read more...]
The British have come (and are staying)
Gramophone, the self-described "world's best classical music magazine," and BBC Music, the self-described "world's best-selling classical music magazine," are soldiering bravely into the 21st century this month. On April 6th, Gramophone launched its new design. As described by editor James Inverne on the website,"You'll enjoy some new features, such as The Trial (where critics advocate the cases for and against an iconic recording; in this issue Mike Ashman and Peter Quantrill argue the relative merits of Karajan's Parsifal - and you can cast … [Read more...]
Click click click went the keyboard
..slide slide slide went the mousezing zing zing went my heartstringsfrom the moment they e mailed I fell...I'll spare you an entire modified-for-blogging Meet Me in St. Louis Trolley song, but just a quick note to say that should you be in St. Louis, M-to-the-O tomorrow night, check out their FOURTH Bloggers' Night:Fellow Bloggers, You're invited to the SLSO's fourth Bloggers' Night, Saturday, April 10, 2010. The show: David Robertson, conductorGil Shaham, violinCHRISTOPER … [Read more...]
Putting the “LA” in “lame”
Excuse me, but I wore heels for two (2) all-day marathons of Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia at Lincoln Center four years ago. And one of the days I had strep throat. Via OperaChic, out of the Los Angeles Times' tips for first-time Ring-goers: Ladies: Dress up, but don't overdo it with the footwear. "You always want to look elegant when you go out to the opera," Silver said."But you have to be comfortable." After nearly six hours of "Gotterdammerung," your feet will exact vengeance if you get too ambitious with footwear.Guys: Don't blow this … [Read more...]
So like, Gollum steals the ring from Siegfried and Brünnhilde marries Aragorn?
Summer, nearly three years ago, I had an introduction lunch with Eric Owens and his manager, Matthew Horner. After we freebased some feta at Molyvos, Matthew went back to work around the corner, and Eric and I walked a bit and scheduled a time to sign a publicity contract. Hilarity ensued at the actual contract signing, but I'll tell you about that another time. I was working for Hilary Hahn, Gabriel Kahane, and The Wordless Music Series, and was completely terrified by the prospect of working with an opera singer. I had no idea who had sung … [Read more...]
O, that this too too solid flesh would melt
You know, that Metropolitan Opera really is an attention floozy. The eight-page spread in the May issue of Vanity Fair wasn't enough? Really? Apparently not, as James C. Taylor reports on the LA Times' Culture Monster blog:Under current general manager Peter Gelb, the Metropolitan Opera has become more experimental, with singers performing in the aisles and a greater sense of realism on stage; but at Monday's performance of Ambroise Thomas' "Hamlet," the smoke in the balcony and firefighters in the lobby were not examples of regietheater. Quite … [Read more...]
Show me what you got
Advertising is funny, right? Any kind of advertising. Food that looks good can be gross, clothes that look great can...also be gross, Ashton Kutcher can run around taking photos of models at a party as much as he likes, but I still have no idea what the pictures from the Nikon COOLPIX look like, or whether the camera will be easy to use. (But it will get me to parties with MODELS!!) I ripped a Heineken ad off the back cover of - I think it was Time Out New York - last week because I liked the photo for its total ridiculousness. It features a … [Read more...]
On crotch-splits
Has everyone seen the debate about the new Broadway musical Come Fly Away over on the New York Times' blog ArtsBeat? Times theater critic Charles Isherwood lurved it, while dance critic Alastair Macaulay was not amused, writing, "How many times are women hoisted aloft in crotch-spreading lifts directly addressed at us? The duets keep saying not 'You and I are in love/having an affair/going through problems' but something closer to pornography: 'Take a look at what we two do together!'" Yikes! Both reviews were posted, and I assume printed, on … [Read more...]
Wham bam thank you SPAM
I've been getting a lot of SPAM on this blawg recently, and what really entertains me is how these spammers stroke your ego. Here's an example: In general I dont make comments... but..I wanted to say that this post really forced me to do so because I agree with it so strongly. Thank you. I'll be on the 1 train or wherever reading my comments, and will think Yes. I Spurred Someone to Action today! Classical Music Publicity Matters. And then it's all, "Buy GPS Cell Phones Nowz."So anyway, thank you, spammers, for making me feel good for … [Read more...]
The treachery of images
Perhaps you, too, have been washing dishes in the kitchen and heard what would seem to be the Big Red gum commercial in the other room. You wipe your hands on your dish towel and walk over to the TV muttering "Creativity, here she lied, no one knew her worth" etc., expecting Big Red to simply be using their old jingle, only to to see a Verizon v. AT&T commercial. If you listen closely, you then realize that they've changed the lyrics, but if you look closely, you realize many of the commercials' tableaus are nearly indistinguishable. Big … [Read more...]
Dear Clients: I’m sorry…
...you're being overcharged. In today's New York Times, we learned that less than $8,000 from Lang Lang and Wyclef Jean's fundraiser for Haiti at Carnegie Hall this Sunday will actually go to disaster relief, and not just because some of it will go to Wyclef's mistress. Even if the event's nearly $200,000 worth of tickets sell out, less than $8,000 from the sales will go to the cause. The concert, though, is expected to raise some money, thanks mainly to a $50,000 subsidy by the Montblanc company and $10,000 by CAMI Music, the … [Read more...]
“Are you serious?” “Almost always.”
This comes via fellow publicist Christina Jensen's Twitter feed, via the website it's a sickness, and is...the best thing:From the website: obsession is everything at itsasickness. it's what makes you interesting. every box you see is someone's sickness. what's YOUR sickness?I'd never thought about "interesting" that way, that it's a person's obsessions that make them interesting, but I suppose there's some validity to it. Of course that means that your (super)interests are what make you yourself interesting, which creates a kind of ((boom)) … [Read more...]