Blog Archives

A Duty to the New?

9/8/2011

Do your duty.

Poking around on the ‘net the other day, I came to a blog posting on Gramophone magazine’s website. The title of the blog is “Why contemporary music is a personal mission.”

It’s a heartfelt testimonial by the Dutch pianist Ralph van Raat. His credentials are impressive: he’s studied from Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Usrula Oppens; and he’s played with the London Sinfonietta, the Rotterdam Philharmonic and some other orchestras. (You’ll find more information about him here.)

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Good News from Montreal

9/6/2011

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Montreal's new concert hall.

I just received a press release announcing that the Montreal Symphony Orchestra has reached a deal with its players. The new agreement provides for a 10.5 percent pay increase over four years, and improvements to the musicians’ pension fund.

This is indeed welcome and timely news – as the orchestra is about to give its first performances in its new $259 million concert hall. And it comes at a time when some American orchestras are looking at pay-cuts just to stay alive.

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CBC Radio 2: Three Years Later

9/5/2011

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Audience: small to smaller.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In this, some people will find plenty to celebrate: after all, the CBC has done a lot since it went on the air as a radio service in 1936, providing Canadians with news, sports and entertainment – and generally doing it well.

One thing they used to do well was classical music. Of course, they don’t any more – not since they gutted classical programming on CBC Radio 2.

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Where Does It Stop?

9/2/2011

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The scene of the protest.

Here in peaceable Canada (hockey riots excepted), word has reached my ears about protesters at the Proms concerts, in Royal Albert Hall, over in London. It seems that last night they disrupted a performance by the Israel Philharmonic because they’re opposed to the Israeli government’s policies. They didn’t succeed in preventing the performance, but they did manage to halt the BBC’s live broadcast of it. (You can read an account of the incident here.)

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A Duty to the New?

Good News from Montreal

CBC Radio 2: Three Years Later

Where Does It Stop?

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