Episodes
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Is the 'Star-Spangled Banner' Out of Place at Orchestra Concerts?
The "Star-Spangled Banner" that kicks off opening night concerts across the U.S. is often believed to be a great patriotic tradition. But some people think it's out of place and out of mood. The Fort Worth Symphony recently drew criticism over its practice of playing the anthem before every...
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Why Russia Wants to Take Rachmaninoff From Westchester
An international dispute arose last month when Russia announced its intentions to reclaim Rachmaninoff's remains from a cemetery in Valhalla, NY. Russian cultural minister Vladimir Medinsky claimed that Americans have neglected the composer's grave (pictured above) while attempting to…
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Why Do Contemporary Operas Rarely Get Revivals?
Attending a new opera? Better take it all in because there's a good chance it may not be performed again. According to a 2015 study by Opera America, of the 589 operas that were premiered over the last 20 years, just 71 (or 11 percent) received subsequent revivals. For the second of two episodes...
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Contemporary Opera: Pleasing Both Connoisseurs and the Masses?
When George Benjamin's Written on Skin had its American stage premiere at the Mostly Mozart Festival on August 11, it became an unlikely summer blockbuster: a complex, contemporary opera with an abstract storyline and a dense, modernist musical language. The work got standing ovations from...
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As Newspapers Cut Music Critics, a Dark Time for the Arts or Dawn of a New Age?
It's no secret that arts coverage has been slashed by many news media outlets looking to pare costs, and there are fewer writers and less space devoted to serious classical music criticism. This year has seen critics leave national newspapers including the Houston Chronicle and the San Jose…
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Disbelief Suspended? Met Opera Abandons 'Blackface' Makeup in 'Otello'
When Laurence Olivier played Othello in 1964, he would spend two hours a night coating his body with black grease, dying his tongue red and using drops to whiten his eyes. Such transformations have long since been banished from television and theater as racially insensitive, but some variations…
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Music Festivals Increasingly Promote Their Value to Tourism and Economy
"Art for art's sake?" Not any more. A growing number of economic impact studies conducted by arts groups suggest that music festivals have a big impact on local economies. "If you do these studies and show them to government officials, they might be more willing to invest in the arts in their own...
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As Soloists Aim For Glamour, Is Classical Music Going the Way of Pop?
Scan through the websites and social media feeds of many orchestras, music festivals and concert halls and you'll notice a common theme: youth and sex appeal, especially when it comes to soloists. But it's more specific than that: Alluring young female violinists are everywhere – and brooding…
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Can Apple Music Find Harmony with Classical Music Fans?
"The whole concept of streaming doesn't fit with the way people listen to classical music," says Kirk McElhearn, a technology writer and senior contributor to Macworld, in this week's episode of Conducting Business. The launch of the online streaming service Apple Music has raised hopes and...
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After Ronald Wilford, Classical Music's Super-Agent, Who Calls the Shots?
Ronald A. Wilford, once classical music's biggest power broker, died on June 13 at age 87. Wilford was an artist manager of the old school, wielding major control over the business but keeping a very low profile. In 50 years at Columbia Artists Management, Inc. (CAMI), he was the power behind the...
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How Music School Grads Can Beat a Tough Job Market
As this year's college graduates frame their diplomas, the job market is the strongest it has been in nearly a decade. The economy is improving and salaries are up in many fields. But how these developments impact classically trained musicians is a more complicated picture. In this week's…
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Reynold Levy Delivers Frank Assessment of Lincoln Center and Its Leaders
When Reynold Levy became president of Lincoln Center in 2002, the organization was “a community in deep distress, riven by conflict,” according to New York magazine. No surprise that the title of Levy’s new memoir is They Told Me Not to Take That Job: Tumult, Betrayal, Heroics, and the...
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Tchaikovsky: Does His Sex Life Matter to His Music?
It's hard to talk about Tchaikovsky these days without getting into, well, sex. That probably says less about the Russian composer, who was born 175 years ago Thursday, than it does about us, according to Simon Morrison, a professor of Slavic Studies at Princeton University. Tchaikovsky's letters...
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Tubas for Girls, Harps for Boys: Shaking Gender Roles Among Instrumentalists
According to several recent studies, young musicians are still following traditional gender stereotypes when they choose an instrument. Girls at a young age go for what they perceive as "feminine" instruments, such as the flute, piccolo, violin, and clarinet; boys gravitate towards trumpets…
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Michael Kaiser To Ailing Arts Groups: 'Don't Play It Safe'
If you've ever looked out on an orchestra audience and marveled at all of the gray hair and empty seats, the next question that may enter your mind is, how will this picture look in 10, 20 or 30 years? And should I be alarmed? In this week's episode, Michael Kaiser, known as the arts world's "Mr....
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Do Broadway Musicals Have a Place on the Opera Stage?
Chicago Tribune chief theater critic Chris Jones tells Naomi Lewin that nothing lights up his e-mail inbox like an opera company staging a Broadway musical using full amplification. "It's full of disgruntled patrons," he said. "You get the natural hall acoustics working – and then you get a miked...
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Valentina Lisitsa Episode: Lessons in Damage Control
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra's decision to drop its piano soloist Valentina Lisitsa this week because of her Twitter comments about Ukrainians and other ethnic groups raises a crucial point: orchestras and arts organizations find themselves walking a fine line with protecting their brand when...
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Toronto Symphony President Defends Decision to Drop Controversial Pianist
Toronto Symphony president Jeff Melanson tells WQXR's Conducting Business that pianist Valentina Lisitsa's politics had nothing to do with the orchestra's decision to drop her from its program this week. "The concerns raised were not about a political perspective but were about directly offensive...
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Forget the iPod. Was the Sony Walkman the Real Game-Changer?
If you're a music fan of a certain age you’ll remember your first Walkman: likely a cassette player with a belt clip and possibly a built-in radio. Long before the smartphone and the iPod, Sony’s player defined portable audio. And it actually never completely disappeared: Last month Sony…
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Can a Performance Simulator Train Musicians for High-Stress Gigs?
Virtual reality technology has revolutionized the way pilots train for flight, soldiers prepare for battle and surgeons learn delicate procedures. So it might be inevitable that musicians entering the cutthroat classical music world would turn to high-tech virtual reality equipment. A team at the...
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Detecting Music Plagiarism, After the 'Blurred Lines' Case
Last week, a Los Angeles jury found that the pop stars Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied Marvin Gaye's 1977 song "Got to Give it Up" in their song "Blurred Lines." The jury awarded the singer's estate $7.4 million. Gaye’s family celebrated the decision. But a lot of composers wondered if...
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Sheet Music: In with the Tablet, out with the Page?
When Frank Music Company, the last store in New York City dedicated to selling classical sheet music, closed its doors last Friday, there was much dismay about its significance: yet another brick-and-mortar store was bowing to the pressure of online competition. So without a shop where one can...
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What Do Orchestras <em>Really</em> Need in a Music Director?
The conductor an orchestra chooses says a lot about how it sees its mission in the 21st century. Factors to consider include taste in repertoire, age, nationality, race, gender, fundraising skills -- and of course, musicianship. The New York Philharmonic and the National Symphony Orchestras in...
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Violinists Surrender Their Prized Instruments as Prices Soar
In the last week, two top violinists got a visit by the Repo Man…so to speak. Frank Peter Zimmermann was forced to give up his 1711 Stradivarius just days before soloing with the New York Philharmonic – and before his 50th birthday – after a contract on a loan expired. Meanwhile, a Pressenda…
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Did a Loss of People's Leisure Time Kill RadioShack?
After a long decline, RadioShack recently filed for bankruptcy and announced plans to shutter more than 1,700 stores. As many music lovers know, RadioShack was once the place to get speaker wire, headphones, adapters, or even a Realistic-brand stereo system. But how times have changed. On this...
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American Orchestras Grapple With Lack of Diversity
Ethnic diversity remains a troublesome question for American orchestras. Just over four percent of their musicians are African-American and Latino, according to the League of American Orchestras, and when it comes to orchestra boards and CEOs, the numbers are even starker: only one percent.…
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Why Don’t More Classical Musicians Improvise?
Improvisation is a nearly obsolete art in classical music these days. But virtuosos used to improvise all the time. Mozart freely improvised on his own tunes, Liszt would strike up an aria from a Wagner opera and embellish it. Even legendary piano showmen of the 20th century made it part of their...
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Study Reveals Why the Arts Must Become More Accessible
A report published last week by the National Endowment for the Arts contained this telling statistic: 31 million American adults said they wanted to go to an arts event in the past year but chose not to. The study's purpose was to examine the motivations behind this data. Why do audiences...
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New Battle Lines Drawn Between Press and Arts Organizations
Usually, a polite discourse pervades arts journalism, but two recent cases underscore the tricky relationships between classical music organizations and the media that covers them. After Opera House Revokes Critics' Tickets, Examining Practice of 'Freebies' Last month, Opera Australia removed a...
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Is New York City's Diversity Reflected in its Arts Organizations?
New York's Department of Cultural Affairs is embarking on the first comprehensive effort to measure diversity at the city's museums, venues and performance groups. The survey, announced on Monday, will collect information on the demographics of employees, boards, and visitors at arts…
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The Highs and Lows of 2014 in Classical Music
A pianist recited Yiddish poetry during a Washington, DC recital, the Seattle Symphony premiered a Pulitzer Prize-winning piece about the environment, and Anna Netrebko made a surprising transformation as Lady Macbeth – these were a few of the high points of 2014, according to three top music...
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A Second Act for City Opera?
There are still hoops to be jumped through, but it looks like, as Monty Python would say, New York City Opera is not dead yet. Last week, the bankrupt company's board of directors voted to approve the sale of its remaining assets – minus the endowment – to a group, called NYCO Renaissance, headed...
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Cash Aside, Are Music Prizes Meaningful?
For any artist, glowing reviews and standing ovations are great – but they don't pay the rent. A big-money prize can serve as an early-career springboard, a mid-career boost, or a way to fund the next big project. But just because there's a lot of cash, does that make the honor meaningful? And…
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How Attached Are New Yorkers to the Name Avery Fisher Hall?
With the recent announcement that Lincoln Center will release Avery Fisher Hall's naming rights, the question of brand recognition comes into sharper focus. Duane Reade Hall? JetBlue Hall? It remains to be seen which private donor or corporation is willing to shell out the millions of dollars...
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Is Faith Required To Perform Sacred Classical Music?
The sacred choral works of J.S. Bach are regularly performed on secular stages, and are enjoyed by people of many religions, as well as atheists. Yet there is no getting around the fact that Bach, a devout Lutheran, saw his passions, cantatas and other pieces as an outgrowth of his personal…
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Dejan Lazic, Pianist Who Demanded Removal of Review, Confronts Critic
In 2010, the Croatian pianist Dejan Lazic played a recital in Washington, D.C., and got a mildly critical review. Somehow that stuck: It's the second item that comes up when you Google Lazic's name, after his own website. Now he wants it permanently removed from the search engine in Europe…
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How Young Is Too Young to Attend Concerts?
Last week, Michael Tilson Thomas was conducting the New World Symphony in Miami when he stopped the concert in its tracks. A fidgety child and her mother were in his line of sight, and he reportedly asked them to change seats. Some details remain unclear but the mom and child did more than that –...
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Vladimir Jurowski and the Art of Musical Rebellion
Vladimir Jurowski just finished a four-city North American tour with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, where he's been the chief conductor since 2007. Last month, the Philharmonic renewed his contract through 2018, and critics have frequently praised his artistic bond with the ensemble. But…
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Ulster Orchestra Endured Northern Ireland's 'Troubles,' Now Battles Funding Crisis
The United Kingdom is blessed with any number of top-flight orchestras – the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, umpteen BBC orchestras, and specialist groups like Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. But among connoisseurs, there's one group that has often batted above its league: The Ulster...
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Could That Disruptive Protest Actually Help You Appreciate the Music?
Protests in the concert hall are nothing new: think of the riot-inducing premiere of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring in 1913 or the backlash at the 1861 premiere of Wagner's Tannhauser. Recently, protesters for a variety of causes have picketed the Metropolitan Opera, the Israel Philharmonic and...
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Is It Time to Stop Calling Classical Music 'Relaxing?'
Classical music's ability to soothe the weary soul has been used to market everything from yoga classes to an endless supply of albums like "The Most Relaxing Classical Music in the Universe" and "Nature Sounds with Classical Music." Some promoters say this is a good thing, and should be embraced...
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Atlanta Symphony Fans Brace for Chilly Times in 'Hotlanta'
As the lockout of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra musicians enters its third week, the two sides appear to be digging in for a fight that threatens to get more acrimonious before it's resolved. "We're into the third week and the two sides haven't even sat down together," says Howard Pousner, a...
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Replay: Why People Listen to the Same Music Over and Over
Nostalgia, force of habit, and sometimes sheer laziness play a significant role in the kinds of music, movies and books that people consume, according to a growing body of consumer and academic research. While the latest cutting-edge art and entertainment are now clicks away, audiences...
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You Said <em>What</em> on Facebook? Musicians Discover Perils of Oversharing
Many of us have posted things online that we wish we hadn’t. The question of how unfiltered classical musicians should be on Facebook and Twitter re-emerged recently with the controversy surrounding American bass-baritone Valerian Ruminski. His contract with Opera Lyra, a Canadian company, was...
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Recovering Addicts Confront Their Demons through Classical Music
• Share your thoughts below by clicking on the 'Show Comments' button The refined world of classical music is not usually linked to addiction. But a documentary airing on Channel 4 in England this week opens the door to a lesser-known side of the business. "Addicts' Symphony" took ten musicians...
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Sorry, Memorizing Doesn't Make You a Better Musician. Or Does It?
Memorization is ingrained in the protocol of classical music performance. Singers, solo pianists and concerto soloists are usually expected to play "by heart." However, trios, string quartets and larger ensembles almost never play from memory (with occasional exceptions). But these rules, which...
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How to Solve the Met Labor Dispute: Three Views
Members of the stagehands union were advised this week to prepare for a picket at the Metropolitan Opera in anticipation of a lockout. And according to one union source involved in the current talks between the Met and 12 of its unions, "there's virtually no chance of a deal" this week. The Met…
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Senator Jack Reed: We Need Carry-On Rules for Instruments
Last month, John McCauley of the band Deer Tick was preparing to fly to the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island when he was told by the airline, US Airways, that he'd have to check his guitar. Knowing what can happen to instruments that get checked on planes, he wound up taking a train to Rhode...
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Are Virtuosos Born or Bred? New Paper Renews Debate Over Practice
For the past 20 years, some psychologists have made an appealing argument: that it's possible to achieve success or expertise in your craft by putting in lots of practice time. It's a nice idea: work hard enough and you have a shot at becoming, say, a great violinist. But this is an active debate...
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Why Parks Concerts Are No Picnic for Musicians
Mother Nature is unpredictable, as WQXR was reminded last summer in a broadcast of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in Central Park. Heavy rain arrived halfway through a Haydn symphony and musicians and station recording engineers were forced to pack it in quickly. Of course, outdoor summer concerts...
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