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Pops Means Maximum Variety for Many Orchestras
LENOX, MA – Dispelling any notion that the living is easy for orchestra musicians in August, the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, Aug. 21, presented two-and-a-half-hour, Shakespeare-themed concert at Tanglewood featuring four works: Berlioz’s Overture to Béatrice et Bénédict, Saint-Saens’s Egyptian Concerto (with pianist Dejan Lazić), George Tsontakis’ Sonnets and Prokofiev’s Suite from Romeo and Juliet.
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‘The Girl From Ipanema,’ Opera and Olympic Comebacks
Never underestimate the power of a global sporting event – aided by a supermodel – to drive interest in a song, artist or composer. Google Trends shows that worldwide searches for “The Girl from Ipanema” spiked dramatically after Daniel Jobim performed the bossa nova classic during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on Aug. 5, with Gisele…
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5 Takeaways from Classical Music Virtual Reality Projects
The classical music field has had an on-and-off relationship with online gaming and personal technology. Back in 2007, users of the Nintendo Wii could play a new virtual reality-type game called the Virtual Maestro, which turned the Wii controller (which resembled a TV remote) into a baton to manipulate a digital orchestra’s tempo. Before that, there was the Concert Companion, a pre-smartphone…
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The Olympic Piece That Received 122 Performances
The opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics on August 5 featured an assortment of the country’s musical talent, including the preeminent singer-songwriters Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil and performers from the worlds of samba, funk, hip-hop and bossa nova. Perhaps a bit of Heitor Villa-Lobos will yet appear before the games conclude.
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The Top 10 Classical Music Capitals on Spotify
In a recent article for MusicalAmerica.com about classical music’s appeal on streaming services, I looked at the profile of an average Spotify user. In brief, the typical classical listener is a 35-year-old male who listens at work (chiefly, mid-afternoons and mid-week), enjoys soft piano music and lives in an urban area or college town.
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A Musical Journey Through Iceland, from Ólafur Arnalds
As New York bakes under an ominous-sounding heat dome, thoughts turn to cooler spots on the globe, such as Iceland. Enter Ólafur Arnalds, an Icelandic composer who is in the midst of an intriguing new project called Island Songs.
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Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1 Takes Hold on Spotify
The 150th anniversary of composer Erik Satie’s birth on May 17 generated surprisingly little attention among classical musicians or commentators outside of France. But a few have started to take notice. There was a 22-hour performance of Satie’s Vexations at England’s Cheltenham Music Festival on July 15, and wide-ranging appraisals have recently appeared in the Boston Globe, The Guardian and Gramophone.
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David Geffen Hall Renovation Plans: 5 Things to Look For
Lincoln Center is expected to unveil architectural plans for the gut renovation of David Geffen Hall in the coming months. The reveal should start to answer questions about what $500 million – the projected price tag – can bring a New York concert venue in 2016. The two architectural firms that won the commission – Heatherwick Studio…
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Pops Concerts Change Their Tunes Amid Uncertainty
Received wisdom holds that pops concerts are a cash cow, supporting orchestras’ ability to present more serious fare, while reaching audiences who may watch PBS and even buy the occasional recording but aren’t going to turn out for Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony. But according to a report by the Associated Press, the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, one of the signature pops…
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Unearthing Music Inspired by the U.S. National Parks
When Gustav Mahler was composing his Symphony No. 3 in Steinbach am Attersee – part of Austria’s spectacular Salzkammergut lake district – the young conductor Bruno Walter paid him a visit. As Walter stepped off the ferry boat, Mahler saw that his guest was gazing up at the cragged, limestone mountains which provided a dramatic backdrop to the lakefront.