Trump’s team dominate Christmas week US classical charts
mainThe Nielsen Soundscan sales figures are in for the crucial Christmas week.
Top of the pile at Il Volo, with almost 5,000 sales for Sony.
Next are Decca’s Benedictines of Mary, with 800.
Third are the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, boosted by their booking to open the Trump White House. The Mormons have two further hits at numbers 6 and 8.
Reasons to stay cheerful? Share one…
Nothing which boosts any religions can be “cheerful”. They are the root cause of most of the world’s ills throughout history and their followers account for many who swayed the pro-Trump election outcome, if it can be trusted.
Cheerful might be news that governments around the world have put money into the teaching of Western classical music to the youngest schoolchildren as part of their compulsory curricula, courtesy of the otherwise seemingly feckless UN.
Nothing cheerful about religion at all? Hyperbole much? And to trust “governments around the world” or the UN to accomplish anything of merit for the world’s children is certainly a cheerful delusion at best.
Well said Peter
You do realize that some of the greatest classical music ever written was based on Christian writings? The Bach B minor mass, the Mozart Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, the Verdi Requiem, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, Schmidt’s Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln. The glorious works of Palestrina, Parry, Stanford, Vaughan Williams…our musical heritage would certainly be impoverished without the influence of the church. Can you imagine never having known Handel’s Messiah?
How about this news nugget from Breitbart (of course!)?
http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2016/12/26/inauguration-singer-jackie-evancho-music-sales-quadruple/
Reading the comments below the article is a scary business, revealing the large ‘Murican segment of the bible and gun club who voted for Trump.
Please do not perpetuate the misinformation campaign being lead by TMZ and Breitbart.
1. Evancho reached the No. 1 position on 8 Dec 16 1 week BEFORE the inauguration was announced on 14 Dec 16.
2. Sales did not take off when the inauguration was announced, they took off 25 Dec (over two weeks later) when the viscous campaign against her resulted in a pushback campaign.
The intention of the smear campaign is to associate Evancho as a Trump Team member. She is not. She is apolitical, does not vote being 16 years old, and is an artist doing her job.
Is SlippedDisc joining the campaign against her?
Should the arts be politicised in this way?
SD has been a leader in the anti-Evancho movement since America’s Got Talent.
By the way, look up “viscous.” I doubt Ms. Evancho has had that sort of criticism.
Please take a look at the Billboard Classical Chart: http://www.billboard.com/charts/classical-albums
It’s not exactly as though Trump has the golden touch. Because it’s the holiday season, sales are dominated by Christmas albums, of which Evancho’s is one. And Trump has a lot of support from Evangelicals who would consider a lot of titles further down on the list as statements from the devil. To my way of thinking, the first solidly classical album on this list is at #18.
Perhaps the definition of Classical Music used by Billboard and others should be tightened to reduce the friction. Can you suggest some criteria which could be used?
Is this a misprint? I always thought it was The Moron Tabernacle Choir.
So much hate in most of the comments. The MTC is known mostly for “light classics” performances, collections of opera choruses, Christmas songs etc., and in this field it has done a very good job, people who otherwise are not interested in a Mahler symphony still appreciate their work, and buy their recordings for home listening. I dare to say they do a kind of “edifying” work.