We all hear a great deal of opinion about the current “crisis” in classical music and this blog has been no exception. But I do get a fair amount of feedback from readers that think I’m overstating the issue. I hear a great deal about how this industry has always had its ups and downs and that people have been proclaiming the death of classical music for decades, but it is still obviously around. And in many instances those observations are right on target, so why should now be any different?
HoloAbbado In 3D
Here at Arts Journal, they featured a story in the Miami Herald about a proposal from MIT students and The Cisneros Group that proposed the following high tech feature be incorporated into the new Miami Performing Arts Center: “a three-dimensional hologram of Claudio Abbado, the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, transmitted in real time, via Internet, from Germany, conducting the New World Symphony”. Or as I like to call it: Star …
Barenboim: Leading By Example
Arts Journal featured two headlines on 2/20/04 (Sun-Times & the Tribune) about the announced departure of Daniel Barenboim as Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director.
Concert Hall Postlude
I was thrilled to see fellow AJ blogger James Russell publish a piece about concert halls in his weblog today. He provides a bigger picture view of this bizarre dance entitled building a concert hall. All in all, it’s an excellent postlude to the concert hall piece that recently finished here. I’ve enjoyed reading James’ articles since his weblog started a few weeks ago. I have to say that in the past year …
Size Matters Part 4
Welcome back for part four, the final installment in this study of how an orchestra accomplishes the monumental task of building a new concert hall. Today, we’ll hear from musicians in each of the orchestras as well as the executive directors. Player Comments It’s the musicians that make an orchestra. So how they feel about where they perform is directly related to the quality of the performance itself. To exclude the …