daily observations » 2006

orchestras and iTunes March 25, 2006

Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, add a comment

I have the following reaction when I read that the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic were going to offer downloads of complete recent concerts via iTunes: it’s about time!

Both orchestras are part of a new initiative by the Universal Music Group built on its Deutsche Grammophon and Decca labels. Christopher Roberts, president for classics and jazz for Universal Music Group International, says that DG Concerts and Decca Concerts will, between them, ultimately service about 10 orchestras in the United States and abroad. Negotiations are under way with orchestras in London, Paris and three German cities. The current intention is for each orchestra to offer, on average, four concerts a season for digital downloading, and one of the four would also be released on CD.

I think that this development (most notable among recent events of this type for the involvement of a prestigious major classical label, Deutsche Grammophone), which is the latest of several in which orchestras begin addressing the true potential for digital downloads as a way to promote themselves, is very positive on two fronts. Remember the adage “Think globally, act locally”?

First of all, if I’m a subscriber and I liked the performance of a new work by, say Jennifer Higdon, but I wanted to hear it again, I could go to iTunes and download the piece in question or the whole concert. I could listen repeatedly on my iPod or at home or in the car and gain a real appreciation for newer music. I might be less liable to skip a concert with unfamiliar repertoire and support more adventuresome programming by buying a season subscription next season, and telling my friends to do the same.

Second, let’s say that I live in North Carolina, and have seen the music director of the Oregon Symphony (Carlos Kalmar) conduct the North Carolina Symphony. I might want to hear performances of Kalmar with his own band - so I go to iTunes and download some performances as they appear. Wow, the OSO sounds pretty good - I might want to see the on tour or buy some recordings if they come out in the future. The national estimation of the ensemble goes up due to exposure.

With these two models, the prestige of the organization goes up, understanding goes up, attendance goes up, and without the traditionally prohibitive expenses of national and international touring and commercial recording with royalties and advances on royalties. Musicians should and must benefit in concrete ways from these recordings, most likely through a revenue sharing arrangement (many are being tried right now in experimental mode under the union’s Internet Agreement as the symphony managers and union continue a seemingly unending process to come to a new recording agreement to replace the outmoded phonograph agreement), but clearly the time has come for orchestral musicians to embrace the new methods of distribution that are benefitting the independent classical artists and to leverage the [new distribution method's] benefits to their advantage.
Here is the article from today’s New York Times: link.

If you are a orchestral patron, let me know what you think about the ability to download recent concerts - is it attractive to you? Do you prefer it to radio, or not? And why? I’ll post the answers (with your permission, of course) at a later date.

condi talks music March 24, 2006

Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, add a comment

I found this fascinating interview via Alex Ross, who found it by way of Phillip Bush. Did you know that Condi Rice (our Secretary of State) started out her collegiate career as a music major on piano? An interesting talk about her musical beginnings and current tastes with host Gilbert Kaplan (Mahler conducting millionaire and radio host) on WNYC radio’s Mad About Music show. There is both a written transcript and streaming audio on the show’s Web page.

You can also find interviews on music with:

Tom Brokaw (NBC News anchor)
Fareed Zakaria (International editor, Newsweek)
James Wolfensohn (President, World Bank)
Alan Alda (Actor)
Ehud Barak (Former Israeli Prime Minister)
Isaac Mizrahi (Fashion Designer)
Glen Dicterow (Concertmaster, New York Philharmonic)
and many more - see the show archives here

1 quartet + 2 friends + 5 charge cards = March 16, 2006

Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, 1 comment so far

one quartet + two friends + six charge cards =

one hour of scribbling, then me using my card and collecting the $$ later!

great conductor comments March 12, 2006

Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, add a comment

I’m going to keep track of some of the better comments I’ve heard from the podium in this space - keep watching for updates.

“the phrase should be nutritionally replete”
“it should be drug induced, flute enhanced”
“the attack should sound like a Hummer hitting a baby deer”

“make it dirty - in Swedish, we say snuskigt“
“nien, nien, nien!” (no, no, no!)
“lugubrious exhortations”

“you played for nearly a minute after I stopped. you don’t even look at me. how sad”

UPDATE: I’m not the first (and won’t be the last) to think of this - here are some real beauts collected by a member of the New Zealand Symphony about conductor Leif Segerstam - as reported by Alex Ross.

site changes March 11, 2006

Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, add a comment

I’m now requiring registration for readers to comment on posts. I’ve had one particular post which attracted a lot of attention, and it was distracting to me and perhaps to some of my readership (all 3 of them) as well. I hope that this will not discourage you from commenting when you’re so moved - and I still value and welcome your comments on my posts.