Houston’s Outdoor Opera Goes North
When General Director David Gockley moved from Houston Grand Opera to San Francisco Opera, he brought some tried-and-true ideas with him. One of them was the “Plazacast,” which offers a free televised opera performance each season to a local audience, many of whom might never have seen opera before.
On Saturday evening, May 27, SFO presented Puccini’s Madama Butterfly to the audience in the opera house, and to 8,000 spectators seated on a lawn near City Hall. Local sponsors donated the $200,000 needed to set up an 18 x 25-foot screen and the necessary speakers. After the performance, drivers took some of the cast over to the site to take live bows.
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/29/DDGCHJ35K41.DTL&hw=simulcast&sn=001&sc=1000
Classical Music Audience is Growing
The status of classical music is changing with technology, but statistics show that its audience is not shrinking, as many so often suppose, says a story in the New York Times. You may not see many classical CDs in your local record shop, but listeners are buying them online, where there is a much wider choice of selections than any brick-and-mortar store could offer. The Internet is now the primary resource for classical music and information pertaining to it, says the “Times.”
Purveyors of live music are complaining that subscriptions are down—but they forget to mention that sales of individual tickets are up. People want to go to concerts and operas, but sometimes can’t commit to dates far in advance, says the report.
www.nytimes.com/2006/05/28/arts/music/28kozi.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Chicago Critic Retires
The Chicago Sun Times has eliminated its staff music critic position, held until this past June by Wynne Delacoma, according to Musical America. The “Sun Times” gave Delacoma, who has worked at the paper since 1991, the opportunity to take early retirement at the end of the 2006 concert season, said the report.
The publication intends to use only free-lance music critics from now on, said Musical America. There may be a positive side to this story, however. The newspaper will probably replace full-time critics, who had to be generalists and cover a wide range of performances, with specialists, who may know considerably more about their individual niches in the wide spectrum of classical music.
www.musicalamerica.com (subscription required)
Birtwistle Sounds Off
Contemporary British composer Sir Harison Birtwistle, aged 71, was present at the Ivor Novello Awards for Composers and Songwriters to receive the “Classical Music Accolade.” While waiting to receive his honor, he sat through musical contributions by various popular performers.
A story on timesonline.co.uk says that when Birtwistle took the stage, he immediately asked the group assembled before him: “Why is your music so [expletive] loud? You must all be brain dead … I didn’t know so many clichés existed until the last half hour.”
Later, Birtwistle told the press that he likes some popular music—but those comments got lost in the furor over his criticism of fellow musicians, said the story.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,23569-2198056,00.html
Orlando May Build Performing Arts Center
Music lovers in Orlando, Fla. recently unveiled plans for a $376-million center that would include a 1,800-seat concert hall, a 2,800-seat opera house, a 300-seat studio theater, and space for outdoor concerts. If built to current specifications, the facility would rival the new Miami Performing Arts Center, which opens this fall, says a report at sun-sentinal.com.
Jim Pugh, chairman of the Orlando Arts Center’s board, says his group has been working on the plans for 18 months. He hopes to have funding approved so that construction can start in 2007, says the report.
www.sun-sentinel.com/features/lifestyle/sflopacjun01,0,2628647.story?coll=sfla-features-headlines
Opera is Food Only for the Soul
While on tour, Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin spent a night with a local townswoman, says anecdotage.com. In the morning, he presented her with a pair of tickets to his next performance. She told him that opera tickets would not buy bread. He replied that if she had wanted bread, she should have slept with a baker.
www.anecdotage.com/index.php?aid=6961
Peabody Institute Names New Director
Jeffrey Sharkey, Dean of the Cleveland Institute of Music, will take over the leadership of Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute on Oct. 1, the Baltimore Sun reports. Sharkey will replace Robert Sirota, who leaves to become president of the Manhattan School of Music.
Sharkey, 41, has graduate degrees in composition and philosophy from Yale and Cambridge. His wife, cellist Alison Wells, will join the Peabody faculty in the fall, said the report.
www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/balmd.peabody31may31,1,1264836.story?coll=bal-local-headlines
Kansas City Symphony’s New Assistant Conductor Also an Actor
Damon Gupton, who once played a part on the NBC television series Law and Order, will be the new assistant conductor of the Kansas City (Missouri) Symphony, reports kansascity.com. Gupton majored in music education at the University of Michigan but switched to drama as a graduate student at the Juilliard School.
A recipient of a conducting fellowship at the Aspen Festival, Gupton replaces Timothy Hankewich, who will become music director of the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Symphony, said the report.
www.kansascity.com
www.kcsymphony.org/index.jsp
Opera Can Be Entertainment for Everyone
The Swansea City Opera in Wales takes its productions to less affluent areas to show people that opera is not just for the rich. In May, the opera company, together with members of the Dragon Arts and Learning Centre, staged a “street opera,” says theatre-wales.co.uk.
Three professional singers led the cast, with the rest of the performers recruited from among Dragon Centre members. After a six-month rehearsal period, the company presented the opera at the city’s Waterfront Museum.
www.theatre-wales.co.uk/news/index.asp
