Marketing Classical Music

Folks tirelessly trying to market classical music these days will settle on almost any hook to lure customers, from martini bars in lobbies and cutesy program titles to that reliable, when-all-else-fails measure, the deeply discounted ticket price.
I’m just old-fashioned enough to prefer come-ons that actually have something substantive to do with the music itself, and I’m a sucker for promotions that involve historic pegs – the anniversary of a composer’s birth or death, or of a composition’s first performance, for example.

Acis and Galatea at Teatro Marrucino di Chieti

Haendel in salsa mozartiana Acis and Galatea Pastorale in 2 atti di Georg Friedrich Haendel. (orchestrazione W. A. Mozart, K566) libretto di John Gay dalle Metamorfosi di Ovidio edizione Edizioni…

Die Presse Reviews Das Rheingold at Covent Garden

Covent Garden: über 193 Stufen nach Walhall VON PETRA HAIDERER Mit “Rheingold” begann der neue “Ring”-Zyklus in Londons Covent Garden Opera – Bryn Terfel sang erstmals den Wotan. This is…

Schnittke’s Gesualdo — Another View

Staatsoper: Neuer Versuch mit dem Kindsmord VON WILHELM SINKOVICZ Alfred Schnittkes “Gesualdo” wieder auf dem Spielplan: exzellent besetzt, aber nach wie vor problematisch. Das Stück wird nicht besser, wenn man…

Der Besuch der alten Dame at TheaterLübeck

Premièring 14 January, TheaterLübeck will present Der Besuch der alten Dame, a schauspiel written in 1956 by the Swiss playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-1990) under the original title Komödie der Hochkonjunktur (Comedy of Business Prosperity), with music by Dietmar Staskowiak. Der Besuch der alten Dame received the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for best foreign play in 1958-59.

Changes at the Chicago Lyric

No time for Lyric to play it safe Opera company loses Epstein’s voice of innovation By John von Rhein Tribune music critic December 27, 2004 Matthew A. Epstein’s recent departure…

Schnittke’s Gesualdo at the Wiener Staatsoper

Gesualdo Vienna State Opera By Larry L Lash Published: December 27 2004 02:00 | Last updated: December 27 2004 02:00 In a house where world premieres are rare and successful…

Il trovatore at Munich

Gefahr für die Luftröhre Staatsoper: Neu besetzter “Troubadour” bq. Eine Produktion mit Hustenreiz-Garantie. Denn wenn sich der Vorhang zum hochgradig verstaubten Staatsopern-“Troubadour” öffnet, dann sträuben sich in der Luftröhre die…

Hoffmann at Marseille

Tales of Hoffmann, Opéra de Marseille By Francis Carlin Published: December 23 2004 02:00 | Last updated: December 23 2004 02:00 We have surely not heard the last word on…

NY TIMES: 2004 in Retrospect

The Voices That Carried the Year By ANNE MIDGETTE OPERA lovers do a fair amount of hand-wringing over the state of singing today. My own pet peeve has been the…