Avid, the owners of Sibelius composing software whose development team decamped en masse in November 2012, has rushed out an upgrade to the programme to show they are still interested in taking it forward. ‘The company felt it was doing everything possible to communicate to the public that its developers were working on a new release,’ a defensive new executive told user Philip Rothman.
So, Philip, is the 7.5 an advance on Sibelius as we knew it? Read on here.
It surprised me, too.
The adjective most readily connected with Paul Hindemith is ‘boring’. The nickname is Windy Hindy.
The German composer, so proficient he could compose a piece to order in 30 minutes, suffers from a reputation for being too clever by half and not feeling a thing. A kind of Max Reger without the sense of humour, if you get my drift.
I’ve heard a lot of Hindemith’s music and some of it I admire, though not to the point of distraction.
Then this disc blew me away. Read Album of the Week here.
The former director of the Teatro Real in Madrid, battling pancreatic cancer, will attend tonight’s world premiere of the Charles Wuorinen opera that he commissioned on the tale of two loving cowboys.
l video narrated by Charles Wuorinen in English, Spanish subtitles. Brokeback Mountain will be screened online for worldwide viewing via Teatro Real’s Palco Digital on Feb. 7 at 8 pm.http://www.palcodigital.com/brokeback_mountain-directo…/
Players in the financially troubled London Mozart Players have decided to run the show themselves in the hope of saving it from the rocks. They’re a good band, but there’s not enough work to go around the proliferation of chamber-sized orchs in town, some of which get by without paying the players. And local authority funding from Croydon is being squeezed.
Managing director Simon Funnell will lose his job. A shame, he’s one of the more enterprising managers.
Statement:
The London Mozart Players has a major funding problem that has necessitated a re-evaluation of the way in which the management of the Orchestra operates. The Orchestra has become increasingly dependent on local authority grants that are no longer sustainable. The Board has concluded that it has no option but to implement future operations on the basis of freelance and project work. The present Managing Director, Simon Funnell, has therefore decided that this is an appropriate moment, after five years in the post, for him to step away from the Orchestra to explore other career opportunities. The board is grateful to Simon for his success in steering the Orchestra through this difficult period and for maintaining its reputation and artistic quality.
We have mournful news of the death (on Sunday Jan. 26) of violinist Stephen Clapp, a Dorothy DeLay student who became Dean of the Juilliard School, 1994-2007. He was 73.
Stephen was a member of the Oberlin Trio with cellist Andor Toth Jr. and pianist Joseph Schwartz.
Funeral Services will take place:
Saturday, February 1st at 2:00 PM
St. John’s Episcopal Church
Stamford, CT 06901
Cards and notes for Mr. Clapp’s wife, Linda and family may be sent to:
Linda Clapp
325 Valley Road
Cos Cob, CT 06807-1814
Not a lot. Job specs and salary for Angela Dixon’s successor are attached here.
‘Ahhh this is unbelievable !!!!!!!’ cry our friends in Milano. ‘The oldest, largest Ricordi shop in Milano, HOME of Ricordi, in the Galleria, has shut down to become ANOTHER Prada fashion shop! This was THE music shop of Milano in the heart of the city. ‘
A conductor adds: ‘It happen to me at least there times to go there to buy scores for a last minute cancellation of a program. Now there is nothing.’ It is generally accepted that Prada made Ricordi an offer they could not refuse.
So much for tradition.
Following the outcry generated by our posting at the weekend, the newspaper has undergone a change of heart. Here’s a letter from protestor Tommy Smith:
“Dear Supporters of ‘Review all Genres of Music’,
“When I departed home this morning the petition was quiescent at 442 and my bones were unsettled. Having just returned from teaching at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland it’s now ascending at an active 832. I’ve taken time to dutifully read everything everyone has written and I’d like to take this humble opportunity to thank you all; this grand list of individuals from 21 countries, for your time, resolve, passion and creativity. For without whom, this entire petition would not have had the effect to cause such a swift wave in the corridors of power.
“Waiting in my inbox, was an email from the Deputy Arts Editor of The Scotsman, who, this morning brought it to the attention of his management, who, in turned, quickly made money available for the continuation of World, classical and jazz CDs reviews; Weekend Life magazine is also going to thrive.
“There will be no reviews this weekend but the three journalists involved are firmly reinstated, ready to listen, reflect and review World, classical and jazz music for all of us on February 8th. This is especially important to all the homegrown talent in Scotland, as it is a platform to the world stage.
“For me, this, my first petition, was worth the sacrifice of besmirching my name against my hometown newspaper, who I’ve supported all my life, but the principle of injustice outweighed any personal loss to me.
“I ended my petition with the 3rd line in the first stanza of Burn’s ‘Auld Lang Syne’. I will conclude this notification to you all with the 3rd line in the last stanza of the same song. ‘And we’ll take a rich guid-willy waught’; a draught of good fellowship.
“Best wishes from the bottom of my heart.
“Tommy Smith”
Godfather of the 1960s folk revolution, Pete Seeger who has died at 94, was a lifelong social activist who saw no barriers between the music he wrote and sang and the struggle for class and racial equality that he waged. If I Had a Hammer and Where Have All the Flowers Gone were manifestos for the working man and world peace. But Turn, Turn, Turn – equally big in its time – harked back to his scriptural foundations. Everything that Pete Seeger sang was grounded in a clear moral view of the universe, in the American folk heritage and the modernist movement, the last two being legacies from his composer stepmother, Ruth Crawford Seeger. May Pete rest in eternal peace.
