Reinventing The Viola (And Isn't It About Time?) An instrument that resembles a Dalí-inspired melted viola is causing such excitement that there is a two-year waiting-list. Although the body is spruce and maple, the traditional ebony fingerboard is replaced by Formica to give it a lighter weight. Its eccentric shape also reduces the strain of arm and wrist stretching. The instrument, whose $12,000 (£7,300) cost is comparable to that of a normal viola, was made in America, at the Oregon workshop of David Rivinus. 'The only thing sacrificed is visual symmetry. Does the shape change do anything to the sound? No'.” The Times (UK) 01/31/03

Judge Rules For Metropolitan Opera In Labor Dispute A federal judge has ruled for the Met Opera in a dispute with the uniuon that represents the opera company's restaurant workers. The judge said that "the union and its lawyers had victimized the Met through bad faith, willful misconduct, lying and withholding evidence." The New York Times 01/31/03

Pakistani Police Hassle Musicians Pakistani musicians near the Afghanistan border say police are harrassing musicians. "Several artists in Peshawar, North West Frontier Province, said they have been arrested and treated unfairly by police on the request of hardline Islamic parties. They claim it is part of a move to crack down on the arts by a six-party alliance of religious parties." BBC 01/30/03

Nagano Has The Critics' Vote Kent Nagano, strongly rumored to be the leading candidate to replace Charles Dutoit at the helm of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, seems to have Canadian critics and audiences eating out of the palm of his hand these days, and his latest performances with the MSO are garnering rave reviews. "The audience was now enamoured. Coughs were stifled and allowed to burst forth only between the movements (instead of peppering the music with an independent staccato), and when the work was done, the crowd roared its approval. Musicians beamed, Nagano beamed and the audience was determined to show him they'd love him to bits if only he said yes." The Globe & Mail (Toronto) 01/30/03

Ray Charles Won't Cross Springs Picket Line Legendary bluesman Ray Charles has cancelled an appearance in Colorado Springs this weekend, citing the presence of the Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra, which was sponsoring the event, on the "Unfair List" of the musicians' union. Charles is a longtime union stalwart who appeared on the cover of a recent issue of the national union's monthly newspaper. The CSSO is in the midst of an acrimonious dispute with its musicians over the future of the organization. The two sides are hoping to agree to third-party mediation in the near future. Denver Post 01/30/03

The New Castrati? There are, of course, no more castrati, male singers castrated in their youth so as to preserve their high, immature voices. And while no one would ever suggest a return to the barbaric practice, music historians have long lamented the loss of the unique sound such performers produced. In the last century, the parts originally written for castrati have been largely sung by countertenors, men singing in highly developed falsetto. But many of the most difficult Baroque castrato operas have been all but abandoned for lack of skilled enough performers in the countertenor range. Until now. Chicago Tribune 01/30/03

Tulsa Phil To Shutter Another small American orchestra is expected to shut its doors forever in the next few weeks. The Tulsa Philharmonic, the only full-time professional orchestra in Oklahoma, is struggling under a $1 million accumulated debt, and is not planning to reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The orchestra has been playing concerts for 54 years. Channel Oklahoma/KOCO-TV (AP) 01/30/03

Houston Symphony Musicians To Strike Musicians of the Houston Symphony are planning a one-day strike Saturday, canceling a performance with guest soloist Midori. "The musicians said they scheduled the strike for Saturday because it's the day management intends to impose a 14 percent salary cut, raise health-insurance premiums and begin reducing the orchestra by five players through attrition." Houston Chronicle 01/29/03

New Music - Reluctance To Take Risks In the next six months in London there are only eight premieres by British composers. "That's eight out of roughly 500 works being performed by the country's symphony orchestras until the end of the season (not including repeat performances on tour). A minuscule proportion - about 1.6% of performed works, if you want to be pedantic about it. Why is new work so thinly represented? Largely, it is because orchestras are reluctant to take risks. Programming new work is expensive. You have to pay the composer..." The Guardian (UK) 01/30/03

Why San Francisco Opera Is Hurting What's the cause of the financial problems at San Francisco Opera and the resulting change in the way the company does business? Janos Gereben has done a little digging, and offers a list of contributing factors. San Francisco Classical Voice (2nd item) 01/28/03

Is Salvatore Licitra The Next Big Thing? Last year Salvatore Licitra was hailed as the world's next great tenor when he substituted for Pavarotti at the Metropolitan Opera. Was it all just hype? No, writes Charles Michener - he's the real thing. "Listening to Mr. Licitra, I thought of something that one of Renée Fleming’s teachers, Arleen Auger, said to the soprano when she was just starting out: 'Imagine the different registers of your voice as a series of hotel floors, each with its own character.' Mr. Licitra navigated the ascent to each floor with seamless ease, finding new colors in each room and demonstrating the peculiarly Italian gift of expansiveness that gives a sense of vistas opening up. New York Observer 01/29/03

The People's Choice California-born conductor Kent Nagano is rumored to be the choice of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra to be its next music director, and, conveniently enough, Nagano is in town to conduct the MSO this week. And while the orchestra may have a long way to go to rebuild its damaged relationship with its audiences following the stormy departure of Charles Dutoit last year, early indications are that Nagano is an overwhelming favorite with public and press alike. Montreal Gazette 01/29/03

Bad Trade-Off In Detroit For years, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra has produced large-scale choral works with the assistance of a polished adult choir based in nearby Ann Arbor, Michigan. This year, however, that choir is absent from the DSO's schedule, and, in an apparent cost-cutting move, the orchestra is putting on performances of Mozart's Requiem with a 60-voice student chorus from a state university. The result, says critic Lawrence Johnson, is embarrassingly bad, and an insult to the DSO's audiences, which pay good money to hear professional-caliber performances. Detroit News 01/29/03

Kickin' 'Em When They're Down Calgary's city council is not doing much to dispel the popular notion that the city is an uncultured cowboy town. Less than a week after trying to renege on a $250,000 contribution to the bankrupt Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra because of a technicality, aldermen opposed to the bailout are pushing a plan that would force the CPO to repay the entire amount to the city if the ensemble eventually makes it back out of bankruptcy. One alderman called the proposal "a win-win-win situation." Orchestra officials presumably call it something else. Calgary Herald 01/29/03

• Previously: Reneging on the Calgary Phil? Several Calgary aldermen are discussing the possibility of yanking back a $250,000 pledge to the cash-strapped Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, which filed for bankruptcy protection and suspended operations last fall. The city's contribution was contingent upon the provincial government of Alberta offering up a like amount, but Alberta offered the orchestra an advance on future grants instead, and that has provided the excuse some aldermen opposed to the bailout wanted to reopen debate. Calgary Herald 01/22/03

Piling On At The ENO "Music impresario Raymond Gubbay has attacked plans to axe jobs in the chorus and orchestra at the English National Opera. Mr Gubbay - one of the leading names in his field - described as 'absurd' and 'ridiculous' the ENO's proposals to reduce the number of 60 choristers and 83 orchestra members. His outburst followed chairman Martin Smith's admission the ENO had been saved from going into receivership by a £4.2m grant from the Arts Council of England." BBC 01/29/03

Final, Clinching Proof That Wagner Was Unreasonable So you think it's hard to listen to a 6-hour Wagner opera? Try playing violin in the orchestra pit, your arms and head twisted into a pretzel for the duration of a performance three times the length of the average concert. The health risks are so severe, in fact, that one German opera orchestra has gone out and raised the money necessary to provide its musicians with physiotherapy and muscle training. Some musicians are reported to have increased their muscle strength by 280%. Ananova 01/28/03

Colorado Springs Musicians Form Own Orchestra The musicians of the Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra, locked in a months-long battle with their management over the decision to file for bankruptcy and demand heavy monetary concessions from the players, have formed the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, which they say will be kept in standby mode, ready to spring from the ashes should the CSSO fold. In the short term, both sides are waiting to see what will occur this weekend, when Ray Charles is scheduled to perform on a CSSO pops series. Charles is an avowed union member, and the musicians have placed the CSSO on the music union's "Unfair List." CSSO management is counting on Charles for significant ticket revenue. The Gazette (Colorado Springs) 01/28/03

• Previously: Colorado Springs Orchestra Refuses Conductor's Resignation When the Colorado Springs Symphony filed for bankruptcy last week, Lawrence Leighton-Smith, the group's music director, quit, as he had said he would. But the orchestra says it won't accept his resignation, and that he is obligated to stay on by terms of his contract. Meanwhile, the orchestra has refused to distribute parts to its players for next weekend's concerts while musicians have refused to sign a cost-cutting agreement. Kind of difficult to have a concert without music scores. Denver Post 01/19/03

Hard Times For Pittsburgh Symphony The Pittsburgh Symphony has a long and distinguished history. But the orcxhestra is in big financial trouble. "The leaders of the proud Pittsburgh Symphony are trying to portray its current situation as an opportunity, not a crisis. 'It's very clear that the symphony is at a defining moment in its history. It is time for new energy and new ideas. We have an opportunity for great change." The New York Times 01/29/03

English National Opera Barely Avoided Shutting Down Last Week The British government's emergency bailout of the English National Opera came just in time. "For some time the ENO has been chronically sick. The company would have died last week had the Arts Council not intervened." BBC 01/28/03

San Francisco Opera Slashes Operations Beginning in 2005, the company will cut its season from 88 performances of 11 or 12 productions to about 65 performances a year spread over nine productions. "The goal is to shrink the annual operating budget from around $60 million to $45 million. The Opera had a deficit of $7.6 million for the 2001-02 season and is predicting a $9.2 million shortfall this year. "This city is just not able financially to support a jumbo jet." San Francisco Chronicle 01/28/03

Disney Hall Will Seduce The LA Philharmonic's new Frank Gehry-designed concert hall is beginning to take final form. "Curvaceous and shiny as a Hollywood starlet, Disney Hall will have little trouble seducing the Philharmonic from the gloomy luxury of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion across the street. Despite its cheerful predictions, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, like other American orchestras, struggles for listeners and money. Its endowment of $57 million is precariously low for an institution of this size. Forty million dollars of a 'quiet' $100 million drive is said to be promised. Skeptics note the Disney's near-death struggle for funds and believe the well may have run dry." The New York Times 01/28/03

• Previously: A First Look At Disney Hall Alan Rich isn't ready to make prognostications on what an orchestra will sound like in LA's new Disney Hall, but he's impressed with how it looks this far into construction. "The hall itself — the 'Ralphs/Food 4 Less Auditorium,' it will say in modest lettering on the door handles — is close enough to completion that you can sense the intimacy of the place as compared to the Chandler Pavilion. It's not only a matter of smaller size; it's the contour of the room that seems to wrap itself around you." LAWeekly 01/16/03

The Mystery Grammy Nominee Just how did a singer by the name of Eartha get nominated for a Grammy for Best Female R&B Artist? "The raw numbers tell quite a story. The albums from which Aaliyah, Ashanti, Blige and Scott's nominated songs were taken have sold a collective 7 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The total sales in SoundScan-surveyed outlets for Eartha's album, 'Sidebars': 52. You didn't hear her on radio, either. Her nominated song, 'I'm Still Standing,' did not appear among the top 1,000 songs played on R&B or adult R&B radio stations in 2002." USAToday 01/27/03

Music Licensing Plan Could Kill Pub Performances? A new music-licensing proposal for English pubs has musicians and pub owners protesting. "The bill is potentially fatal to the future of live entertainment of all kinds." It's described as "a central plank in the government's drive to tackle anti-social behaviour. Overnight, live music 'in any place' will be illegal unless a licence or temporary entertainment notice from local authorities is obtained, with all its attendant costs and red tape. This means everything from Christmas festivities to impromptu music sessions in small, out-of-the-way pubs will be liable to penalties of up to £20,000 and six months' imprisonment." The Guardian (UK) 01/28/03

• UK Musicians Protest Licensing Plans British musicians protested a proposed new licensing scheme for entertainment in small pubs. "Around 500 musicians wore gags in a demonstration against the government's licencing bill, which they claim will silence live entertainment in Britain's pubs and clubs." The bill will require venues in England and Wales to obtain licences from their local council for any form of entertainment, with a maximum punishment for performing without permission of £20,000 or six months in jail. Protesters claim it will hit small acoustic bands, folk singers and even carol singers and nativity plays in church halls and could kill off traditions like Morris dancing." BBC 01/27/03

Copyright Extension Discourages Performers The recent decision of the US Supreme Court to uphold the extension of copyright terms to 95 years might be a good thing for music publishers. Might. But it discourages performers, particularly small non-profit school ensembles, from performing music written in the past century. And that can't be good in the long run, even for publishers. Rocky Mountain News 01/26/03

Wrecking The Music Business - Plenty Of Blame To Go Around So now the music industry is going to go after people who download big quantities of music. "The RIAA says somewhere out there is a person who downloaded 600 songs in a single day. That's about 40 full CDs, retail value: $720. He or she is the one the RIAA is looking for - to make an example of them and put fans on notice that downloading is a prosecutable crime. The day of reckoning nears. Consumers must face the fact that they can't get music for free forever. And the industry needs to understand that it never would have lost all those customers in the first place had it not been so consumed with greed." Rocky Mountain News 01/26/03

Acoustics Vs. Democracy? "Many acousticians agree that the safest way to ensure a good sound environment for orchestral music is to emulate the old, aristocratically modeled halls of 18th and 19th century Europe: a shoebox shape, with a proscenium arch and a horseshoe of ornate boxes to diffuse the sound. The current wave of concert halls, though, favors a 'vineyard' style, featuring terraced seats rising above the stage and arrayed around its flanks and rear. This arrangement is acoustically risky (though it has also produced wonderful results in the Philharmonie in Berlin), but socially desirable. It blurs visual borders between different sections of the house and brings each seat much closer to the stage than is possible in a traditional 'shoebox,' thereby creating a feeling of intimacy even in a very big room." Newsday 01/23/03

Going Off-Formula - The Norah Jones Case The huge success of Norah Jones in a format that isn't the standard pop formula has the recording industry rethinking... "In an era full of great voices, from Mariah Carey to Whitney Houston, that have been plugged into formats that make them more manufactured than memorable, her success is leading record executives, always on the lookout for the next big thing, to search for singers again, not just voices with hit formulas." Los Angeles Times 01/26/03

Utica Symphony May Close Because of Deficit "The Utica Symphony Orchestra, upstate New York's oldest continuing orchestra, may be forced to shut down if it does not get at least $112,000 by mid-February." Hartford Courant (AP) 01/26/03

Motown Turns Up To Dispute Author Gerald Posner goes to Detroit to talk about his new book chronicling the history of Motown and gets an earful from the audience. "Only in Detroit could you write a book and have all the main characters show up at your book lecture." Mostly they were critical. Detroit News 01/26/03

Calgary Mounts New Opera While the Calgary Philharmonic is languishing, the Calgary Opera is blazing away, ready to stage a $1.3 million production of new original opera. "The opera is set in southwestern Alberta during Prohibition and is based on the true story of an Italian immigrant who becomes entangled in bootlegging and murder. The woman was eventually hanged in 1923. The music and English libretto are by Calgarians John Estacio and John Murrell, respectively." Toronto Star 01/25/03

Ripping Apart The ENO Under plans submitted this week to the Arts Council, the English National Opera would see the company shrink dramatically. "Under the proposal, the chorus would be cut by a third to 40 members, the orchestra by some 20 musicians, and production and administrative staff by 70. Big productions would rely on freelancers." The Times (UK) 01/25/03

Houston Symphony Says Pay Cuts Are Essential Houston Symphony management says an agreement on a contract with the orchestra's musicians can't happen without wage cuts. "The symphony has a near-term financial crisis and a longer-term structural problem of recurring deficits. The society is projecting a deficit of $2.3 million on a $23 million budget, with orchestra costs making up about 50 percent of the budget, management said." Houston Chronicle 01/24/03

Opera In Your Living Room "Ask the man on the street to define opera and you're likely to get adjectives like grand, foreign, expensive. Ask a New York opera patron about opera beyond the Metropolitan and City Operas, and you might get a mention of the Amato Opera, the stalwart 107-seat theater on the Bowery that's been putting on tiny productions of classic operas since 1948. But none of these quite covers the broad spectrum of indie opera companies that produce fully staged opera around New York City in living rooms, church basements and city parks." The New York Times 01/24/03

Australia Music Sales Down Sales of CDs in Australia were down 5.5 percent last year. The Australian Record Industry Association "blamed several factors, including online and offline piracy, increased interest in DVDs and computer games, and tough economic conditions. The newest threat was backyard piracy, in which thousands of CDs were manufactured on home computers." The Age (Melbourne) 01/24/03

Orange County Gets Creative "Leaders of the Orange County Performing Arts Center [outside Los Angeles] are mulling large-scale borrowing, in the form of a bond issue, as a way to ensure completion of a $200-million concert hall in time for its scheduled opening in the fall of 2006. Fund-raising has been stalled at about $100 million for more than a year, but... bond issues often have been used by other nonprofit arts organizations, and incurring debt has been in OCPAC's playbook of potential financing maneuvers since its capital campaign began in 1999." Los Angeles Times 01/23/03

Haydn Librettos Surface In Hungary "Hungary's National Library recovered Wednesday 39 original opera librettos from operas of the 18th-century Austrian composer Joseph Haydn that were believed to have been destroyed during World War II, officials said. Curators working for the government had bought the librettos from an antiquarian who had bought them from a private individual... Curators working for the ministry of national cultural heritage formally handed them over to the library where they will be 'under lock and seal' until they are digitally reproduced for research work." Andante (Agence France-Presse) 01/23/03

Escalating the War in Houston The musicians of the Houston Symphony have filed an official complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing their management of bargaining in bad faith, and of planning to impose new working conditions on the musicians by declaring an impasse a few weeks from now. The management wants to slash salaries and eliminate five string players outright in an effort to deal with years of financial problems, but the musicians insist that they should not be forced to bear the burden of management's past mistakes. For a start, they'd like a look at the orchestra's financial records, but so far, orchestra executives have refused to open the books. Houston Chronicle 01/23/03

Doubts About The Music Industry's Survival "This year could determine whether the music business as we know it survives. In the first six months of 2002, CD sales fell 11 percent - on top of a 3 percent decline the year before. Sales of blank CDs jumped 40 percent last year, while the users of Kazaa, the biggest online file-trading service, tripled in number. As recently as 10 years ago, the media conglomerates that own record labels regarded them as cash cows - smaller than Hollywood but more reliably profitable. Now all five major labels are either losing money or barely in the black, and the industry's decline is turning into a plunge." Wired 01/03

Prokofiev Reconsidered Fifty years after his death, Prokofiev is being re-examined. Why did he leave the West to return to the USSR where artists were stifled? "He was only semi-successful in the West. He didn't attain the degree of fame that would satisfy his ambitions. In the West, he tried to be even more avant-garde than he was naturally, and it didn't work. He was going along with the tastes of fashion, but it was against his nature. Then, when he returned to Russia, he wrote the ballet Romeo and Juliet, identified with it and produced an absolute masterpiece." The Telegraph (UK) 01/23/03

Where Music Is Commodity... Like Pork Bellies? The European music industry's winter meetings are going on in Cannes. "No one at Midem talks about art or passion or even, heaven help us, music. They talk about money. I have to confess that I find it all incredibly disheartening. With more than 10,000 delegates of 3,604 companies from 89 countries touting their wares to one another, it genuinely does not seem to make a blind bit of difference whether what they have to sell has any quality whatsoever." The Telegraph (UK) 01/23/03

Bail-Out For English National Opera The British Arts Council has decided to bail out the English National Opera. "The decision was rushed through in less than 24 hours and comes as stalwarts of the ENO audience threatened to show their anger over the management's cutbacks during tonight's Coliseum premiere of Mussorgsky's opera Khovanshchina." How much money will be coming the ENO's way was not revealed, but the council said it would be enough to "stabilize" the company's operations. The Guardian (UK) 01/23/03

A Bevy Of Bohemes One night a few weeks from now, the stars will align and three productions of Pucinni's "La Boheme" will take to the boards in New York City. That's "more than 8200 seats to unload on a quiet, midweek evening" on Broadway, at the Metropolitan Oper and at New York City Opera. "Are that many New Yorkers going to be up for an evening of fake snow and chilly, Parisian garrets after five months of their own winter nastiness?" The Age (Melbourne) 01/23/03

Opera Australia In The Red Opera Australia reports an operating deficit of $2 million this year "as a result of last year's costly season." The compan y is undergoing an audit and is also beginning a search for a new music director after clumsily deciding not to renew Simone Young's contract. Sydney Morning Herald 01/22/03

Nagano to Montreal? "The name game at l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal got a lot hotter on Monday, as Kent Nagano was outed as the top contender for the music director post abandoned last spring by Charles Dutoit. Nagano, a 51-year-old American conductor, is in negotiations with the orchestra after being chosen by its search committee, according to a report in La Presse. The Montreal newspaper cited an unnamed source 'very close to one of the most influential members' of the 13-person committee. Marie-Josée Desrochers, the OSM's director of communications, said that the committee has made its selection, but would not confirm that Nagano is the man. She said the matter is in the hands of the OSM hiring committee." The Globe & Mail (Toronto) 01/22/03

How To Win Friends And Influence People, RIAA-Style The Recording Industry Association of America has discovered a whole new way to tick off consumers looking for ways around being gouged by CD distributors and, well, the RIAA. The new plan calls for the prosecution of internet service providers whose users illegally download and share copyrighted music. The strategy is most decidedly not getting good reviews, and one internet security consultant has compared it to prosecuting the highway department because drug smugglers use roads. "But the RIAA scored a big win against an ISP on Tuesday, when a federal judge ruled that Verizon Communications must turn over the name of a Verizon Internet subscriber who allegedly downloaded 600 songs through file-trading network Kazaa in one day." Wired 01/22/03

The Best-Selling Band You've Never Heard Mannheim Steamroller is a man, a band, and a marketing juggernaut, and no one really seems to understand why. The music is new age pop with just enough intelligence to be slightly more palatable than, say, Yanni or John Tesh. "Mannheim is really just one person, a 53-year-old, bearded, wool-sweatered and slightly rotund former jingle writer named Chip Davis. He lives near Omaha, composing what he calls 'Elizabethan-style rock' by himself, recording with hired hands as he needs them, for his own label, American Gramophone. He pockets about $4 for every album he sells. He owns three mansions and a Saberliner jet. He smiles a lot." Washington Post 01/22/03

Kronos At 30 The Kronos Quartet, which revolutionized the chamber music experience and breathed life into a faltering new music movement when it formed back in the 1970s, turns 30 this year. Thirty years is a very long life for any quartet, let alone one which makes its living, as does Kronos, playing exclusively modern music. And while there are probably more daring ensembles about today, Kronos remains a revered original, and none of today's successful contemporary music groups would deny that they owe much to the San Francisco-based foursome. San Francisco Chronicle 01/22/03

Reneging on the Calgary Phil? Several Calgary aldermen are discussing the possibility of yanking back a $250,000 pledge to the cash-strapped Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, which filed for bankruptcy protection and suspended operations last fall. The city's contribution was contingent upon the provincial government of Alberta offering up a like amount, but Alberta offered the orchestra an advance on future grants instead, and that has provided the excuse some aldermen opposed to the bailout wanted to reopen debate. The aldermen insist the provincial contribution is a loan, which does not meet the city's 'matching' requirements. Provincial officials had insisted earlier that the funds were not a loan. Calgary Herald 01/22/03

• Previously: Some Hope For The Calgary Philharmonic The bankrupt Calgary Philharmonic has received pledges from the city and the Province of Alberta contingent on the Canadian government kicking in some money as well. "The orchestra has been under bankruptcy protection since Oct. 15 and did not perform for 45 days last fall. In December, it released a business plan that includes pay cuts for musicians and fewer concerts this year." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/17/03

Europe's Day Of Free Music Struggling to develop an online strategy, European music producers have decided to offer free music downloads - for a day. "The campaign - Digital Download Day Europe - will allow music fans to download five euros' (£3.40) worth of music for free from sites that pay royalties. The promotion takes place on 21 March and will be available in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and The Netherlands. More than 150,000 tracks will be available to download, with a third able to be copied to CD." BBC 01/21/03

Twenty Years Of Opera Supertitles Twenty years ago the first supertitles were used at the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto. "The first titled opera was Strauss's 'Elektra': As Orestes busied himself axe-cleaving his mother and stepfather to death, the audience -- its eyes cast upwards at the titles -- understood opera as never before. There were a few dissenters, but for most it was love at first sight. We had purists who said, 'I'm German-speaking, I already understand every word.' And some people said, 'I have to look up, and it takes away from the action.' But in an audience poll, approximately 80 per cent gave their approval." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/21/03

Colorado Springs Cancels Concerts The Colorado Springs Symphony has canceled upcoming performances in a dispute with its musicians. "A spokesman for the symphony musicians and their union local, said they view the postponement as a lockout, a description the orchestra's management rejects." Denver Post 01/21/03

• Previously: Colorado Springs Will Miss Payroll The beleagured Colorado Springs Symphony, already in bankruptcy and facing the probable resignation of its music director, will miss its mid-January payroll today, leaving musicians and staff to fend for themselves, and almost certainly prompting the musicians' union to file a grievance claiming that the CSS is in material breach of contract. The orchestra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after musicians refused to accept the board's demands for a large cut of their already-bargain-basement salaries. Musicians also claim that the organization's upper management has been grossly incompetent, and should be held responsible for its own failings. Denver Post 01/15/03

Howells Condemns Pop Singer Robbie Williams For Piracy Remarks UK culture minister Kim Howells is at it again, this time condemning singer Robbie Williams for his remarks supporting music piracy. "He should also realise that many of these pirate operations are linked to organised crime on a worldwide basis. In saying that piracy is a 'great idea', Williams is doing the work for international gangs involved in drugs and prostitution who find music piracy an excellent way of laundering their profits." The Guardian (UK) 01/21/03

Music Industry Pushes For End Of VAT Tax On CD's The European music industry is pushing to eliminate the VAT on CD's. "The Give US A Break campaign is supported by all the major trade and professional groups, including composers and music publishers, the record industry and retailers. The price of compact discs has long been a complaint the music industry has faced from consumers, and in 2001 was the subject of an investigation by the European Commission." The Guardian (UK) 01/20/03

Music Jobs At Risk If Piracy Isn't Solved, Says Official Jay Berman, head of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), tells a conference in Cannes that "all jobs in the European music industry could be in jeopardy if record executives do not tackle the problems of music piracy. That's 600,000 jobs, he said. "In truth, online music piracy is not about free music. The music creators and rights holders, denied the right to choose how their music is used and enjoyed, are in fact paying the price." BBC 01/20/03

English National Opera Chorus Protests Chorus Cuts Members of the English National Opera have voted a resolution of no-confidence in the company's management, after the board voted to reduce the number of chorus members from 60 to 40. "There's obviously a concern for their individual futures and there is a worry that they may be put in a position where they have to audition for their own jobs which is a particularly cruel process." BBC 01/17/03

• Digging Out - But How? Paul Daniel is the beleaguered conductor of the English National Opera. How will the company claw its way out of its current managerial and financial difficulties? "A period like this — when people have got the willies about what the hell is going on in our society — is exactly the time for arts organisations to put on interesting, provocative shows! That’s what ENO is about. It is a very volatile opera company. It takes risks. It’s not very good at doing tradition, and I’m proud of that." The Times (UK) 01/21/03

The Evolving Opera Opera continues to stretch as an artform. How about a "not-so-underground music world that lives the boundary-less, non-hierarchical ethic of communal musicmaking, an ethic that some classical opera composers might hold up as an ideal but have rarely put into practice with any success. 'Nitrate Hymnal' is described by the Washington Performing Arts Society as multimedia, interactive, post-punk, hybrid and several other things as well, which adds up to: You have to see it to know what it's about." Washington Post 01/19/03

Training Orchestra - Does Toronto Deserve More? Thirty years ago a young Seiji Ozawa learned to conduct as director of the Toronto Symphony. Now the orchestra has hired another inexperienced conductor in Peter Oundjian. "More than three decades later, we have a right to ask whether our orchestra should still be a learning opportunity for a relatively inexperienced maestro. Ozawa, as things transpired, turned out to be a quick study. But San Francisco and Boston, his next cities of residence, reaped most of the dividends." Toronto Star 01/20/03

The Myths Of Dying Orchestras Yeah, there are gloomy stories about symphony orchestras these days. But "as we enter this new age of musical anxiety, let's not lose sight of the many signs of health in the orchestra world - the surprisingly widespread commitment to developing new repertoire, the sense of ownership listeners feel, the renewed awareness of the value of arts education. We've been down this road many times before: expansion, contraction, repeat. So let's equip ourselves for the coming neurotic convulsions by shooting down some oft-recited but mistaken beliefs." Philadelphia Inquirer 01/19/03

Preserving A Voice In The International Machine "The extent to which musicians from a particular ethnicity involve themselves with Western producers and Western tastes has sometimes led to hysterical fear, fear in the musical realm akin to that of the anti-globalization forces in the political and economic realms. The fear is of the obliteration of the world's indigenous peoples, languages, economic and political independence, culture and, yes, music. All that will remain will be a faceless, gray, corporate anonymity, McDonald's meets Orwell in the land of synth-pop. Except, at least in music, it hasn't worked that way at all."
The New York Times 01/19/03

UK Music Licenses Rile Musicians The British government says it is trying to simplify the process for allowing live music to be played in pubs. So why are musicians and club owners fighting the idea and saying it will result in fewer places where live music can be heard? The Telegraph (UK) 01/19/03

Opera Companies Go Back To The Tried And True In response to a tighter economy, more and more opera companies are turing away from adventurous fare and returning to audience favorites. "You have to consider what the public wants, because they have every opportunity to choose not to go. This isn't a court theater – this is populist entertainment. We're trying to appeal to a broad general public." Dallas Morning News 01/19/03

Chicago Symphony - Looking For Mr. Right The Chicago Symphony is looking for a new Chief Executive. "Desirable as it would be to land the top administrative post at one of the world's great orchestras, the playing field of available candidates is surprisingly narrow. If you look at other major organizations like ours around the world, there just aren't many people who really have the qualifications, experience and leadership abilities to do something like this." Chicago Tribune 01/19/03

Colorado Springs Orchestra Refuses Conductor's Resignation When the Colorado Springs Symphony filed for bankruptcy last week, Lawrence Leighton-Smith, the group's music director, quit, as he had said he would. But the orchestra says it won't accept his resignation, and that he is obligated to stay on by terms of his contract. Meanwhile, the orchestra has refused to distribute parts to its players for next weekend's concerts while musicians have refused to sign a cost-cutting agreement. Kind of difficult to have a concert without music scores. Denver Post 01/19/03

Music Companies Need To Reinvent So far, recording companies' main strategy to fight digital copying is to sue file trading companies and try to develop copy protection. But this is the wrong track. "In the past they have sold a physical product, like a CD. In the shift to an electronic, globalised world, why spend money putting digital information on a CD when almost everybody has access to these digital bits through broadband networks? The goal should not be to sell one million CDs but have one billion people download and pay one cent every time they listen.
What they would be better off doing is enticing the customer to become a loyal evangelist of their product rather than p---ing them off by cutting off their free product." The Age (Melbourne) 01/19/03

Rethinking Prokofiev "I think we're on the threshold of a renaissance in Prokofiev's reputation. Five years after his death, there was a Prokofiev memorial evening at the Moscow Conservatory where they spoke of his work only in superlatives. After that, his reputation came to be overshadowed somewhat by that of Dmitri Shostakovich. Now it's coming to be understood that Prokofiev and Shostakovich were equally important; that if Shostakovich was Michelangelo, Prokofiev was Leonardo da Vinci." The Guardian (UK) 01/17/03

British Orchestras - Where Are The Women? So the Vienna Philharmonic has hired its first woman player. Britain has little to be smug about on this issue. "A random sample of five British symphony orchestras suggests that gender ratios vary wildly: the Hallé and the BBC Symphony may not do badly (the Hallé has 45 men and 38 women; the BBCSO 55 men, 37 women), but orchestras such as the London Philharmonic and Bournemouth Symphony trail, splitting at 52-23 and 45-26 respectively. And the London Symphony Orchestra, widely regarded as being the country's most successful, has 77 male members to 22 female. When you start looking at how many women occupy principal positions within the sections, the disparity looks even greater." The Guardian (UK) 01/18/03

English National Opera Cuts Chorus The English National Opera is in deep trouble. In its latest move, the company proposes to cut a third of its chorus. "The drastic cut comes a week before the company, which is at least £1.2m in the red, puts a radical restructuring before the Arts Council in the hope of a "once and for all" bail-out. With a showdown with the orchestra looming, and vote of no confidence yesterday in the management by the singers, their union refused to rule out the threat of strikes." The Guardian (UK) 01/18/03

Does Pop Music Cause People To Kill? So rap music is responsible for gun violence in the UK? If that's true, what about all sorts of other music and pop influences? "What is concerning is that, in focusing on hip-hop and gun crime, our great and good are overlooking myriad other horrors caused by pop music. Gun culture is only the tip of a vast iceberg of malaises for which pop is responsible - an iceberg upon which the ship of state might very well founder beyond salvage." The Guardian (UK) 01/18/03

Opera Babes - Music Vs Image Sony is counting on big sales by the Opera Babes to revive its classical division. "The act carries an us-against-the-world whiff of female empowerment. Some might think the message is undercut by the chests and cheekbones poking out from the CD booklet, and the slinky skirts and animal-print outfits they model in the many photos." Perhaps the marketing is overwhelming the music? The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/18/03

High Hopes For New Toronto Symphony Leader Peter Oundjian, the Toronto Symphony's new music director, "is the first Canadian-born conductor to lead the TSO since Sir Ernest MacMillan stepped down 47 years ago. But Oundjian left Toronto for England when he was 5, and has the accent, sporting manner and loyalties of a real public-school Old Boy. The TSO hopes Oundjian's collegial approach, genial manner and musical acuity will restore the orchestra's morale, which is still bruised by the 15-per-cent wage cut inflicted on it a year ago." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/17/03

• Previously: Oundjian To Lead Toronto Canadian-born violinist and conductor Peter Oundjian will be officially introduced today as the new music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The TSO has been director-less since Jukka-Pekka Saraste quit in something of a quiet huff in 2001, and in the two years since, the orchestra has struggled with massive deficits, the threat of bankruptcy, and an ongoing dispute between the musicians and orchestra management. Oundjian, who took up conducting after an injury drove him from his place in the Tokyo String Quartet, is widely considered to be a rising star among North American conductors. Toronto Star 01/16/03

• High On The Schmooze Factor "Oundjian, who has conducted the TSO three times since 1998, beat out 100 other candidates for the post. Though he's an established musician - he played first violinist in the famed Tokyo String Quartet for 14 years - Oundjian is a relative newcomer to conducting, having taken it up seven years ago when a repetitive strain injury forced him to abandon the violin." National Post 01/17/03

• New Baton In Town "It was a skeptical crowd of journalists and members of this city's cultural community — a tough audience — who turned out to scrutinize Toronto's new music man. But Oundjian earned highly favourable reviews for his performance — without so much as waving his baton. During his brief appearance Oundjian managed to come across as charismatic, savvy, frank and full of confidence." Toronto Star 01/17/03

Some Hope For The Calgary Philharmonic The bankrupt Calgary Philharmonic has received pledges from the city and the Province of Alberta contingent on the Canadian government kicking in some money as well. "The orchestra has been under bankruptcy protection since Oct. 15 and did not perform for 45 days last fall. In December, it released a business plan that includes pay cuts for musicians and fewer concerts this year." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/17/03

Why We're Buying Less Music So CD sales are down. A good deal of the decline has to be from consumers burning their own discs. But there are other reasons too: "We have brilliant new video game platforms, brilliant surround sound and brilliant wide-screen TVs all emerging in the last two to three years at very affordable price points. Music has come up with absolutely zero as a compelling alternative to those new technologies." Boston Herald 01/17/03

A First Look At Disney Hall Alan Rich isn't ready to make prognostications on what an orchestra will sound like in LA's new Disney Hall, but he's impressed with how it looks this far into construction. "The hall itself — the 'Ralphs/Food 4 Less Auditorium,' it will say in modest lettering on the door handles — is close enough to completion that you can sense the intimacy of the place as compared to the Chandler Pavilion. It's not only a matter of smaller size; it's the contour of the room that seems to wrap itself around you." LAWeekly 01/16/03

Washington Opera's New Digs Washington Opera moves into tiny Constitution Hall while its home at the Kennedy Center is renovated. "Longtime concertgoers have been shaking their heads. An opera house? With that tiny stage? In that vast, cavernous diffusion of bluish space? An opera house. It was not only home to the National Symphony Orchestra for that ensemble's first 40 years, but it has been the site of countless recitals by the great, the near-great and the long-forgotten, both before and after the Kennedy Center opened in 1971." Washington Post 01/16/03

Oundjian To Lead Toronto Canadian-born violinist and conductor Peter Oundjian will be officially introduced today as the new music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The TSO has been director-less since Jukka-Pekka Saraste quit in something of a quiet huff in 2001, and in the two years since, the orchestra has struggled with massive deficits, the threat of bankruptcy, and an ongoing dispute between the musicians and orchestra management. Oundjian, who took up conducting after an injury drove him from his place in the Tokyo String Quartet, is widely considered to be a rising star among North American conductors. Toronto Star 01/16/03

SF Opera Cuts Concerts, But Not Brain Cells The San Francisco Opera, forced by budget constraints to trim its season, unveiled the revised schedule of performances this week, and the results are at least somewhat encouraging, says Joshua Kosman. While the number of productions may be down, the company "has refused to compromise on some of [its] more adventurous programming decisions. The season will open Sept. 6 with the company premiere of Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein's 1947 collaboration The Mother of Us All, and will also include productions of Busoni's Doktor Faust, Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen." San Francisco Chronicle 01/16/03

And Joni Begat Anne, Who Begat Celine, Who Begat... What is it about Canadian women and their dominance of the American pop music scene? From Joni Mitchell to k.d. lang to Alanis Morissette to Avril Lavigne, Canadians produce an astonishing percentage of America's favorite music. Is it the simple purity of the Great White North, as contrasted with the over-produced, predictable offerings coming out of market-driven L.A. studios? Is it savvy Canadian marketing infiltrating the Yankee sensibility? Is it just a big coincidence? Um, yes. All of that, and probably a few more things we haven't thought of yet. National Post (Canada) 01/16/03

Big Times In A Small Town In Annapolis, Maryland, a drama is unfolding surrounding the local symphony orchestra, and while the ensemble may be small, the intrigue is worthy of a much larger organization. It all began when Annapolis music director Leslie Dunner’s contract was not renewed last fall, sparking protests from the orchestra’s musicians, and shock from donors and concertgoers. At the time, the board cited declining ticket sales as the reason for the change. Speculation has been growing that there may have been other, darker reasons for the dismissal. Baltimore Sun 01/15/03

• There's A Reason - We Just Won't Say What It Is The board of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra still won't reveal the “true reasons” behind the board’s dismissal of ASO music director Leslie Dunner. At a board meeting last night, Dunner ducked out early, and president Bud Billups wasn’t talking about what he called “a personnel matter.” Baltimore Sun 01/16/03

In Search Of The Center Of Music "New music right now — and in fact, or so I'm thinking, most likely the entire music world—is best described with the old story of the blind people and the elephant. You know the drill. The blind people approach the noble beast. One touches its tail. "This is a rope," he says. The next one reaches out a hand, and finds the elephant's trunk. 'It's not a rope,' she says. 'It's a snake!' And so on, till they're lost in confusion." NewMusicBox 01/03

Canada's Crucial Year "There is general agreement that 2003 will be a watershed for the Canadian music industry -- a year that could either set the industry on a course of renewed viability, or make it as moribund as those dust-covered eight-track cartridges piled in the furnace room." From digital music to file-sharing, Canadian producers face all the challenges of their American counterparts, compounded by an abysmal exchange rate, and a controversial national tax on blank, recordable CDs. The Globe & Mail (Toronto) 01/15/03

Colorado Springs Will Miss Payroll The beleagured Colorado Springs Symphony, already in bankruptcy and facing the probable resignation of its music director, will miss its mid-January payroll today, leaving musicians and staff to fend for themselves, and almost certainly prompting the musicians' union to file a grievance claiming that the CSS is in material breach of contract. The orchestra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after musicians refused to accept the board's demands for a large cut of their already-bargain-basement salaries. Musicians also claim that the organization's upper management has been grossly incompetent, and should be held responsible for its own failings. Denver Post 01/15/03

• Colorado Springs Music Director Will Resign (Or Will He?) "Lawrence Leighton Smith, the nationally known music director of the financially strapped Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra, all but admitted Monday that he will resign his position today." Smith had threatened as much before the cash-strapped ensemble declared bankruptcy last week, as a show of support to the orchestra's musicians, who were being asked to take a pay cut. However, although this report claimed that Smith would announce his resignation on January 14, a subsequent article (see above) reports that he has not yet followed through. Denver Post 01/14/02

Classical Action - This Year's Grammys The Grammys have not enjoyed a good reputation among classical music critics. But there are a few encouraging trends developing with this year's nominations - The influence of independent labels continued. "Across 12 categories, independent labels garnered 32 nominations this year and the majors 29, versus 31 for independents last year and 29 for the majors." Also, writes Bradley Bambarger, this years nominees reflect "an impressive percentage of modern and rare repertoire figures across the field." Andante 010/08/03

Is Jazz Abandoning Instrumentals For Popstar Vocals? Jazz musicians, listeners and critics - take your pick - often seem embroiled in one kind of feud or another. Sometimes they're over finicky little things; other times they're deep-seated and deadly serious. In either case, however, they're often odd, out-of-the-way sorts of quarrels, reserved for insiders alone. But right now, that's just not true." The topic of the day? Singers. Jazz singers are selling big time, all out of proportion to traditional jazz. Singers like Diana Krall and Norah Jones are posting popstar-size sales. One question - are jazz labels abandoning instrumentalists in hopes of hitting the next big thing? The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/14/03

Last Week Blamed, This Week Nominated... Rappers And The Brits Last week British culture minister Kim Howells blasted rappers for promoting violence. This week the Brits music awards nominations are out, and "the list is thick with rappers and Dr Howells' particular bêtes noires, those 'idiots' from So Solid Crew - as he put it - are nominated twice." The Guardian (UK) 01/14/03

Andras Schiff On Coughing Audiences Pianist Andras Schiff has a sore spot for those who come to his concerts and cough: "Luckily I was in a good disposition, so I just very quietly stood up and said, 'Could we now make a coughing break. Please feel free to cough,' and I just walked off. I was told by friends that this person got very red and left the hall, and after five minutes I came out and started again, and all went beautifully." The Telegraph (UK) 01/14/03

Big Jazz Bands Meet In Toronto "Running a big band in a world with no patience for jazz requires an odd combination of benevolence and ego. To survive the economics of dividing jazz's subsistence wages among 15 or more musicians, you have to really love music at the same time you have to be convinced the world needs to hear your tunes..." National Post 01/13/03

Death Of HipHop? I Don't Think So... HipHop is 30 years old. But to read many critics, you'd think it was on life-support, if not already measured for the coffin. Hmph! "For music critics, the only assignment greater than proclaiming the arrival of something new and great is announcing the death of a once sacred cow. But, in this case, it is both lazy and, more importantly, wrong." National Post 01/13/03

If You Want To Win A Grammy The First Step Is Yours Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams, the songwriting and producing team known around the world as the Neptunes, were considered shoo-ins for a Grammy nomination for producer of the year, non-Classical category. But when the nominations were announced, industry insders were shocked their names were not on the list. What happened? They forgot to enter... The New York Times 01/14/03

Why Women In The Vienna Phil Matter The Vienna Philharmonic has admitted its first woman musician as a member. American musicologist explains why it's important to protest the orchestra until its policies about admitting women improve. "There has never been a more important time for all people to realize that chauvinism is a bottomless pit of hatred, violence and death. Every time we protest violence against human dignity, whether physical or cultural, we help make the world a better and more peaceful place for everyone." MSNBC 01/13/03

• Previously: Vienna Philharmonic Hires Its First Woman Player The Vienna Philharmonic has hired its first-ever female member, after decades of refusing. "Ursula Plaichinger, a 27-year-old viola player, has caused a sensation in artistic circles by appearing unannounced at the 158-year-old Philharmonic's traditional new year's concert in Vienna. The performance was seen by millions around the world and a recording has already sold out in Austria." The Guardian (UK) 01/10/03

Big Changes Ahead For Big Music Cracks in the music recording business are becoming more obvious as there is a growing recognition that senior recording execs are out of touch with new realities. "The industry is now selling 100 million fewer CD's and cassettes than it did in 2000. According to Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks album sales, 681 million were sold in 2002, down from 785 million in 2000. At the same time, music-swapping on the Internet, perceived as a major threat, continues to grow. The industry's immediate problem is that although costs must be cut, the biggest costs of all — talent and marketing — are the toughest to rein in." The New York Times 01/13/03

Bail-Out For Winnipeg Symphony (WSO Sold Only 40 Tickets For Opener) Three levels of government bailed out the Winnipeg Symphony on Friday, amid rumors of financial mismanagement and a $1 million deficit this season (added to a $1.8 million accumulated deficit). "For its gala season opener in September, the consultant reports, the WSO sold only 40 tickets at full price when the Centennial Concert Hall had a capacity of 2,223. The WSO claimed 1,456 tickets were sold, but 1,230 of these were freebies." Toronto Star 01/12/03

MP3 - Learning To Listen In A Different Way Sure, portable MP3 players are convenient, but they also change the way you listen to music. "Play with these portable gadgets enough, and you find yourself listening more actively, thinking like a DJ - seeking the mind-bending segue or the track that kicks things into another gear, savoring this surreal mix-and-match moment in which historical artifact rubs up against disposable remix. You start to imagine all sorts of new-frontier ideas - kiosks in airports offering custom mixes (by Moby, Nikka Costa, anybody) or an hour's worth of music from unknown talents selected by some veteran coolhunter." Philadelphia Inquirer 01/12/03

Down Days For Jazz The jazz business is in a bad way right now. "The talent level has never been so high. But jazz economics are at a nadir not seen since the late 1960s, when Miles Davis, Weather Report, Herbie Hancock's Headhunters and John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra went electric and brought fusion to rock-oriented baby boomers. In this attenuated climate, jazz sales accounted for about 2% of the total market, mostly from back catalogue and new product by singers like Diana Krall and Norah Jones, who helped their labels stay solvent by going platinum." New York Daily News 01/12/03

HipHopping To Ubiquity "Hip-hop is everywhere these days, dictating fashion and music, rewriting opera and hawking products from Sprite to Budweiser on TV. Even the Pillsbury Dough Boy tried rapping out a beat in a recent commercial. The mass media is now so full of hip-hop idioms like 'stankin' (which means good) and 'mo betta' (sex) and beeper codes like '1812' (war) that the average Joe is having a real hard time, basically, getting jiggy wit it all." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/11/03

For Hire - Boston Symphony Hires Without Levine Hiring musicians is one of an orchestra music director's biggest responsibilities. "A music director has to put his stamp on the orchestra." But James Levine, chosen to be the Boston Symphony's next music director, wasn't able to begin the job for three years. In the meantime, what about hiring players? Surprisingly, Levine isn't part of the process - the players themselves will choose who gets hired. It's an unusual arrangement - only one other US orchestra chooses players this way - Levine's Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
Boston Globe 01/12/03

• Slatkin: The Key To My Success - Choosing Players In eight years Leonard Slatkin has remade Washington DC's National Symphony. The key to his success? Choosing the right players. "The personality of an orchestra reflects the tastes of the music director. Sometimes you can encourage existing members to alter their approach to suit your purposes, but for the most part, you inherit the sound of the previous conductor, assuming he had one. Therefore, it is the appointment of new personnel that determines the overall sonic characteristics of the orchestra." Washington Post 01/12/03

How Police Recovered Stolen Beatles Tapes Five hundred tapes of the Beatles' recording sessions from 1969 that were stolen in 1970 have been recovered in a warehouse near Amsterdam. "While the tapes, enough to fill 15 CDs, will be returned to their legal owner, record company EMI, they could prove to be a source of further tension between the two surviving band members and the estates of their former colleagues, Harrison and Lennon. The Get Back sessions were dark, tense days for the Beatles and the tapes display the most intimate, and potentially embarrassing, details of that tension." The Age (Melbourne) 01/13/03

Colorado Springs Orchestra Declares Bankruptcy The Colorado Springs Symphony board of directors has followed through and declared the orchestra bankrupt. The orchestra had demanded wage cuts from the orchestra musicians and gave a deadline of Thursday night. "In a letter delivered to management at 4 p.m., the musicians agreed to discuss the conditions for possible contract renegotiations but did not immediately accept any of the orchestra's demands. Declaring that this action did not go far enough, the board's executive committee decided Thursday evening to proceed with the bankruptcy filing." Denver Post 01/10/03

• Previously: More Rhetoric, No Progress in Colorado Springs The tension is continuing to build at the Colorado Springs Symphony, where the musicians have labeled their management's talk of a bankruptcy filing as "blackmail," and the music director has threatened to resign if Chapter 11 becomes reality. None of the involved parties denies that the CSS is in real fiscal trouble, but it's a matter of perception: orchestra execs contend they are doing their best in a bad economy, while the musicians claim that management created the problem and is now trying to avoid culpability. Denver Post 01/09/03

Music - Not Words - Is The Best American Propaganda The US State Department has enlisted writers to write about the virtues of America in a propaganda effort. "Regardless of whether you buy into this kind of cultural marketing, it's clear that the State Department chose the wrong medium. American book publishers can tell you that American men between 18 and 30 don't read a lot of books. The Arab street reads even fewer—just one book, mostly: the Quran. The United States should have followed the lead of Arab governments, which know that music is the region's most powerful form of expression. That's why they use it for propaganda—and also why they ban so much of it." Slate 01/09/03

LA Opera Falls Victim To More Illnesses, Cancellations... Los Angeles Opera is having a rough season. Earlier this year the company had to cancel a Kirov production of Prokofiev's War and Peace, then saw sets for the replacement production go sailing out of the harbor in a dock strike. The latest is a series of illnesses that have forced cancellations and scrambling for replacements. Tenor (and LA Opera director Placido Domingo) is sick and had to cancel out of a series of January performances. And a much-anticipated new opera by Luciano Berio had to be canceled because the composer was too ill to finish it. Then there was a rush to find replacement programs and singers, a visa scramble and... Los Angeles Times 01/10/03

Vienna Philharmonic Hires Its First Woman Player The Vienna Philharmonic has hired its first-ever female member, after decades of refusing. "Ursula Plaichinger, a 27-year-old viola player, has caused a sensation in artistic circles by appearing unannounced at the 158-year-old Philharmonic's traditional new year's concert in Vienna. The performance was seen by millions around the world and a recording has already sold out in Austria." The Guardian (UK) 01/10/03

HipHop At 30 "As hip-hop approaches its 30th birthday, pop culture is coming down with a serious case of nostalgia for the genre's early days. 'People are realising what a monumental and phenomenal force hip-hop has been, and for the first time you're starting to really get people outside of the culture to realise it'." The Age (Melbourne) 01/10/03

Jazz Police, I Hear You Calling Jazz aficionados bow to no one in their ability to turn rapidly snobbish when confronted with a corner of the jazz world which does not square with their own vision of the genre. The infighting has reared its head in Toronto this month, with the International Association for Jazz Education holding its annual conference there. Upset at being shut out of the conference, a consortium of some of the city's more innovative (read: non-mainstream) jazz musicians have organized their own gathering. That's all well and good, says Carl Wilson, but the rhetoric coming out of the alternative gathering is a bit over the line. "We're against music teachers now?" The Globe & Mail (Toronto) 01/09/03

More Rhetoric, No Progress in Colorado Springs The tension is continuing to build at the Colorado Springs Symphony, where the musicians have labeled their management's talk of a bankruptcy filing as "blackmail," and the music director has threatened to resign if Chapter 11 becomes reality. None of the involved parties denies that the CSS is in real fiscal trouble, but it's a matter of perception: orchestra execs contend they are doing their best in a bad economy, while the musicians claim that management created the problem and is now trying to avoid culpability. Denver Post 01/09/03

• Previously: The Orchestra Ax Falls Again Yet another small North American orchestra is on the verge of bankruptcy. The Colorado Springs Symphony says it needs $217,000 to survive more than another week, and is demanding steep pay cuts from its musicians, who already earn less than $13,000 per year. The musicians, for their part, claim that orchestra management has been grossly incompetent in running the organization, and accuse the board president, whose resignation they demanded in September, of trying to turn the CSS into a "pro-am community group." Colorado Springs Gazette 01/07/02

Heppner Ready For A Comeback It has been a year since Canadian tenor Ben Heppner shocked a Toronto audience by cracking several notes and then calling a halt to his recital mid-aria. Heppner, long considered the most talented operatic tenor in a generation, has spent the last 12 months struggling to find out what it was that caused his voice to suddenly abandon him. He's cagey about specifics, but the answer appears to have been found in the side effects from a medication he was taking. He is scheduled to return to New York's Metropolitan Opera next month. Boston Globe 01/09/02

HipHop And The Academy "A quarter century after its founding in New York's South Bronx, the culture of beats, rhymes, and life is finding new devotees in classrooms, conferences, and faculty meetings coast-to-coast. Berkeley, Stanford, Michigan, Yale, Harvard, New York University, and M.I.T. have each boasted courses examining some aspect of the culture, while the prestigious annual American Studies and Modern Language Association conferences have featured similar panels. Some snicker that as long as Princeton theologian Cornel West doesn't record a follow-up to his 2001 album, Sketches of My Culture, the academy will continue unfettered in its engagement of the global, billion-dollar culture." Village Voice 01/08/03

A Tax For Musicians That Musicians Don't Get In Canada blank CDs carry a 21 cent tax "collected from technology companies to reimburse the music industry for losses incurred by music copying and swapping." Now the industry wants to increase the fee to 59 cents. There are also proposals to slap a fee on devices which record media. But there is growing opposition - "Since 1999, the CPCC has collected more than CN$28 million in copyright compensation fees. It expects to collect more than CN$100 million in levies next year." And yet, critics point out that the music industry hasn't paid a penny to musicians... Wired 01/08/03

Beantown Organ To Get New Life Deficits? What deficits? As most American orchestras are scrambling for the funds to cover their basic costs, the Boston Symphony Orchestra is unveiling a project which will see the complete overhaul and restoration of one of the country's great organs, located at the BSO's Symphony Hall. The restoration will cost $3 million (the cost includes a special endowment which will take care of furture maintenance) and should be complete in time for new music director James Levine's debut with the orchestra in 2004. Boston Globe 01/08/03

The Orchestra Ax Falls Again Yet another small North American orchestra is on the verge of bankruptcy. The Colorado Springs Symphony says it needs $217,000 to survive more than another week, and is demanding steep pay cuts from its musicians, who already earn less than $13,000 per year. The musicians, for their part, claim that orchestra management has been grossly incompetent in running the organization, and accuse the board president, whose resignation they demanded in September, of trying to turn the CSS into a "pro-am community group." Colorado Springs Gazette 01/07/02

Music Fans Only Want It Their Way More and more music fans seem reluctant to go to the record store, let alone to concerts, if CD and concert ticket sales are any indication. "CD sales fell last year by almost 11 per cent in the United States and about 6 per cent in Australia as Internet users continued to swap songs for free. Concert sales were also down except among baby boomers who thought nothing of paying high prices to see dinosaur acts." The Age (Melbourne) 01/08/03

• The Pirates Aren't Going Away The recording industry is acknowledging that, despite its costly and protracted legal crusade to rid the world of audio and video piracy, there will always be music available illegally somewhere online. And in what appears to be a bit of a policy shift, the RIAA's president is saying that "Our aim is not to completely eliminate music piracy or illegal peer-to-peer services altogether." But none of this means that file-sharing sites will see any short-term relief from the legal beating they've been taking. BBC 01/08/03

We Went To The Fights And An Opera Broke Out... Patrons of the Vienna State Opera are getting increasingly unruly. "Police have had to step in after arguments over stolen seats exploded into fisticuffs. Other causes of conflict include bouffant hair styles that block people's views and ringing mobile phones. A police spokesman told the Kurier newspaper: 'It is becoming increasingly brutal. In the past few months we have had to intervene more and more. Before Christmas it was particularly bad'." The Telegraph (UK) 01/04/03

This Year's Grammy Nominations Grammy nominations got spread around this year. "In years past, a glut of nominations would push a single artist above the fold, but this year the flattened field presented more subtle story lines amid the sprawl of 104 categories. Among those themes: the musical reverberations of Sept. 11, the solidifying of rap's stature in top categories and the heralding of a new generation of young female stars in the closely watched category of best new artist." Los Angeles Times 01/08/03

• Who Are These Guys? Grammy nominators did a ho-hum job of picking artists this year. "In the top three categories alone, the reaction to the nominees is likely to range from hurrah to 'huh?' to 'double-huh'?" Los Angeles Times 01/08/03

• The Complete List Here's a list of all of this year's Grammy nominees Los Angeles Times 01/08/03

La Scala Proposes Controversial Expansion In the midst of a major (and controversial) renovation, Milan's La Scala proposes a big expansion, including a series of new theatre spaces. "It is an odd time to propose an expansion, with budget deficits at the major opera houses and shrinking public funding for culture in Italy. And indeed, the motives behind the project may not be purely artistic. Local observers believe that La Scala is collaborating with real estate developers who seek to enrich themselves at the ultimate expense of taxpayers." Andante 01/06/03

Why Are We Stuck With Poor Old Washed-Up CD's? "To the new generation of music artists and engineers, 'CD-quality sound' is an ironic joke. In recording studios, today's musicians produce their works digitally at resolutions far beyond the grainy old CD standard. To make the sounds listenable on antiquarian CD players, the final mix is retrofitted to compact disc specs by stripping it of billions of bits' worth of musical detail and dynamics. It's like filming a movie in IMAX and then broadcasting it only to black-and-white TV sets. It doesn't have to be this way." Slate 01/06/03

Record Concert Tour Year Nets $2.1 Billion The pop music concert industry sold a record number of tickets in 2002, taking in $2.1 billion. "This was the fourth straight year concert receipts reached record levels in America. There were $1.75 billion in sales in 2001. Paul McCartney had the top-grossing tour, pulling in $103 million, with average ticket prices at $130. Chicago Sun-Times 01/06/03

Bootleg Nation (So What If It's Illegal) "With a minimum of online searching, fans of virtually any band from arena-filling superstars to cult-worshiped club acts, can find a Web site or electronic mailing list to feed a habit for live CD's. Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen? No problem. Illicit recordings, or bootlegs, of their concerts circulate soon after the last car leaves the parking lot. But a show by the singer-songwriter Dirk Hamilton or the electronica musician Luke Vibert? Also no sweat. In the music world, you're nobody until somebody loves you enough to want your bootlegs."
The New York Times 01/06/03

UK Police Accuse Rappers Of Promoting Gun Violence Police have charged that British rap artists are promoting gun culture and creating a "backdrop of music" for influencing alienated young men. Police are calling for an emergency summit with the rap industry, after two teenage girls were killed over New Year's in crossfire between rival gangs. The Observer (UK) 01/05/03

Former KGB Spies Offer Anti-Piracy Plan A group of foermer KGB spies is offering recording companies a new "watermarking" technology to protect their music from music pirates. This month a music distrbutor "will introduce watermarking technology developed by former Russian spies in St Petersburg, in the hope of attracting more music companies on to the web. The Guardian (UK) 01/06/03

• British Culture Minister Attacks Rap Music Fresh from condemning Turner Prize shortlisters, British culture minister Kim Howells has attacked British rappers. "For years I have been very worried about these hateful lyrics that these boasting macho idiot rappers come out with. It is a big cultural problem. Lyrics don't kill people but they don't half enhance the fare we get from videos and films. It has created a culture where killing is almost a fashion accessory." Th tirade, delivered on live radio, was quickly labeled "deeply racist" by the rap community. The Guardian (UK) 01/16/03

Readers Defend Baz Boheme Readers take New York Times critic Anthony Tomassini to task for his piece criticizing Baz Luhrmann's Broadway La Boheme. "Mr. Luhrmann has got me happy to stand in line again, and has made some of us (including all the twentysomethings who stood alongside me for three hours for tickets) excited about returning to the opera." The New York Times 01/05/03

• Previously: Will Baz Boheme Spoil Opera For Those Who Already Love Opera? Anthony Tommasini is impressed by the glare and glitter of Baz Luhrmann's Broadway Boheme. "Yet from a musical perspective, many veteran opera buffs will be dismayed, as I was, by the compromises the production has made. Newcomers to opera who think they are experiencing the real thing are not. For all the dazzle and heart of this Broadway "Bohème," I sat through three shows (to see the three pairs of rotating leads) getting more and more glum about the future of opera. Will traditional companies that play by the rules be able to keep up as the public embraces amplified opera on Broadway?" The New York Times 12/22/02

Dutoit Speaks - Of Martha And Montreal On a visit to guest-conduct the Minnesota Orchestra, Charles Dutoit speaks for the first time about his tumultuous departure from the Montreal Symphony, and about his ex-wife, pianist Martha Argerich. "Basically, Martha doesn't play in America, except when I ask her to. Otherwise, she wouldn't play at all. I think there are only three pianists on this level," he said, also citing Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and Vladimir Horowitz. The Star-Tribune (Minneapolis) 01/05/03

Music As A Football Match Football's popular. So maybe classical music ought to be more like football, writes Julian Lloyd Webber. "In future, all concerts must be refereed. Points for performances will be awarded and performers' league tables established. Issues of promotion and relegation will be keenly watched by merciless, gum-chewing managers, who will have their chosen substitutes from the youth team eagerly waiting on the bench. Wrong notes will be severely penalised and performers adopting too slow tempi will be yellow-carded for time-wasting. String players using over-sentimental portamenti - and pianists who over-pedal - will be justly punished 'for bringing the music into disrepute'." The Telegraph (UK) 01/04/03

Kennedy Honors - Where Are The American Male Singers? So how is it that six male opera singers have won Kennedy Center Honors since the awards were started in 1978, but never an American male opera singer? Washington Post 01/05/03

From A Skeptic - What Explains The Glenn Gould Phenomenon? Twenty years after he died of a stroke, pianist Glenn Gould is still a star. David Patrick Stearns wonders why. "Philosophically, I admire Gould's irreverence: I believe that every performance should confront and challenge the listener. However, his insights often arose from obscure, perverse viewpoints. Once, he recorded Mozart piano sonatas to illustrate why the composer wasn't, to his mind, much good. These interpretive agendas often weren't presented with great regard for communication." Philadelphia Inquirer 01/05/03

A Tale Of Two Concertos To conductor James Levine's way of thinking, there is plenty of important American music from the 20th Century that never had fair hearing. So he looks upon his new appointment as director of the Boston Symphony as a way to do something about it. "One of the principal attractions for Levine is that he will finally have the opportunity to serve as an advocate for contemporary music, and American music in particular. For him, this has been a lifelong commitment, but none of his previous positions has enabled him to pursue it fully." Boston Globe 01/05/03

General Cluelessness - RIAA Gets Hacked Again The Recording Industry Association of America has taken the lead against digital copying of music, so it's not surprising the organization would be a target of hackers. The RIAA was hacked again Monday. "This time, the defacement resulted in bogus press releases on the front door, touting the joys of cheese and interspecies romantic relationships." This was the sixth time the site had been hacked in six months - the question is why the RIAA hasn't protected itself better... Wired 01/03/03

Country Time - Country Music CD Sales Surge CD sales might have been down 9 percent in 2002, but not all kinds of music sales declined. Sales of country music CD's increased 12 percent. "Along with hip-hop, country accounted for three-fifths of number one albums in the US... BBC 01/03/03

Please Release Me - Treasured 50s Recordings Entering Public Domain A treasure trove of recordings made in the 1950s is about to slip out of copyright. "Copyright protection lasts only 50 years in European Union countries, compared with 95 years in the United States, even if the recordings were originally made and released in America. So recordings made in the early- to mid-1950's — by figures like Maria Callas, Elvis Presley and Ella Fitzgerald — are entering the public domain in Europe, opening the way for any European recording company to release albums that had been owned exclusively by particular labels." The New York Times 01/03/03

How Civil Servants Sabotaged Edinburgh's Plans For An Opera House Back in 1971, after ten years of lobbying and planning, Edinburgh announced it would build a world class opera house. But newly released documents show why the hall was never built. It was sabotaged by civil servants who dubbed blueprints an "expensive fiasco" waiting to happen. "It had taken ten years for Edinburgh’s opera house plans to be accepted - and just a few months for government civil servants to sow the seeds of doubt which eventually led to the whole idea being scrapped." The Scotsman 01/02/03

Changing The Complexion Of Symphony Orchestras Symphony orchestras are overwhelmingly white. But a Detroit organization is trying encourage minority musicians with an annual competition "Since the Sphinx Organization was founded in 1996, its annual competition–the only nationwide classical music competition open exclusively to minority string players from junior high through college ages–has rewarded participants with cash prizes, scholarships, master classes, and instrument loans." Strings 01/03

Customizing Your Record Collection Vox Music Group has announced that it will burn individual CD copies of any part of its vast out-of-print catalog through a web site, eliminating the traditional process of a small repeat pressing, which often has been quite unprofitable. The announcement is exciting in part because it may signal a new wave of such 'individual' pressings by other companies, but also because Vox's old recordings are some of the most extensive and sought after in the business. Washington Post 01/02/03

Need A Job? Try Pittsburgh. When an orchestra is searching for a new music director or executive director, it can be difficult to maintain a cohesive sound and/or business strategy, since such searches take months to years, and generally involve a general reimagining of the whole organization. So imagine the current stress level at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, where they are searching for a new managing director, a new board president, a new music director, a new resident conductor and a new vice president of development. Oh, and don't forget about that pesky deficit, either. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 01/01/03

How To Start A Piano Tuner Riot "Don A. Gilmore, an amateur piano player and professional engineer from Kansas City, Mo, has developed an electronic system that he says could allow pianists to tune their own instruments at the touch of a button." The system relies on heated strings, electricity, and an elaborate computer program which 'remembers' an initial tuning and can replicate it under almost any circumstances. The self-tuning models won't be cheap, but then, neither are piano tuners. The New York Times 01/02/03

Bang On A Can The latest fad being embraced by the type of folks who rented tae-bo tapes by the case back in the late '90s, and swore by their carrot juice in the '80s is "taiko, one of the biggest crazes to hit the boomer generation since pilates and green tea." It's not a new idea, really: taiko combines the idea of music as personal therapy with the undeniable truth that it's fun to make a lot of noise and bang on stuff. But this is more than a new-age experiment in self-esteem. Taiko ensembles are springing up all over, and the noise they make is real music, taken very seriously by those who create it. The Star-Tribune (Minneapolis) 01/02/03

No Strads for New Jersey? "New Jersey philanthropist Herbert Axelrod's 2-for-1 challenge grant, issued last Monday to help the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra buy 30 of his rare, 17th- and 18th-century Italian string instruments, has so far only netted a few thousand dollars for the NJSO. For every dollar contributed to the orchestra by today, Axelrod offered to take two dollars off the purchase price of $25 million, to a maximum of a $10 million drop in cost. Yesterday, though, it appeared that only a few thousand would be coming off the price tag," and the orchestra will likely not be able to complete the sale. Newark Star-Ledger 12/31/02

Life After The Moscow Conservatory Fire The fire that damaged the venerable Moscow Conservatory has crippled one of the city's great cultural institutions. "As aspiring performers and composers took final exams last week, there was no electricity, limited telephone service and a trickle of heat from an emergency system. A week after the Dec. 17 blaze, 16 precious concert grand pianos sat damaged or destroyed. Bundles of canvas hoses still dangled from the stairwells, and the air stank of soot." San Francisco Chronicle (Baltimore Sun) 01/01/03

SF Opera - Taking the Bold Road San Francisco Opera has an almost $8 million deficit. But the company doesn't seem particularly worried. Rather than sit back and play it safe, Pamela Rosenberg, the company's general director, has ambitious plans. "We are not going to get through this economic downturn and come out the other end by replacing quality with mediocrity," Ms. Rosenberg, who has set the company on course to becoming America's most adventurous opera house, said in a recent telephone interview." The New York Times 01/01/02

Homeless Choir Packs It In After 1000 Performances A homeless choir formed in Montreal in a men's shelter in 1996 to sing Christmas carols for spare change in the city's subway, has finally disbanded, a thousand performances later. "The group achieved international recognition, including an invitation to sing at Paris's busiest subway stations in 1998. The choir also released two CDs, was the subject of a book and a TV program and performed at the Just for Laughs comedy festival as a free street act." Why quit? Many of the singers found jobs and their lives became more stable. The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/01/03

The Man Who's Building A Concert Hall Glenn KnicKrehm is builing a performing arts complex in Boston. He's putting $20 million of his own into the project, is raising the rest, and is steeping himself in acoustic theory. "He was a transplanted Californian who loved the Boston area but believed there was a hole in the cultural scene. There weren't many prime spots for performance. And those that did exist, Symphony Hall and Jordan Hall, were run by massive cultural institutions. Smaller arts groups scrambled for open dates in second-tier spaces." Boston Globe 01/01/03