Elvis Costello on November cover of Gramophone

[johnfoyle]

...and is helping to kill the classical music
industry , according to this old fart.

http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/0 ... vecds.html

( extract)

It had to end. At the start of 2004 I predicted that
this would be the industry's last year. Well, I was
over-cautious. No need to wait for Christmas: it's
over now.

The closure signs are up in neon. Deutsche Grammophon,
a label which swore it would never sully its classical
purity with pop crossover, now has the operatic mezzo
Anne-Sofie von Otter recording the songs of Abba. EMI
is retiring Peter Alward, its principled classical
vice-president, to make way for softer suits. The big
signing on Sony Classical is Vanessa-Mae, a pop
fiddler who made her debut in a wet swimsuit. The
November cover of Gramophone, once the classical
collector's vade mecum, will feature Elvis Costello.
There is barely a new symphony or sonata to be heard
this season from any of the six major labels which
command three-quarters of store space and classical
sales. Game over.

[maria]

Ah now John, that's no way to talk about the poor divil: must be a hard life, dirty oul business too, what all that rooting about in dusty, dark places, dredging up specters of The Lost & Forgotten, obscure and misery stricken and immobilized enough for him – most likely DEAD to boot, suppose it must be safer that way: then they’re in no position to argue with the Official Verdict. Do you reckon now that that’s a big career option for ALL musical critics further down the line, or is it just him? Tough: depressing station, weight of the world on the shoulder blades, I suppose, but at the same time someone’s got to be keeper of the gate of rectitude… WHAT?! WHO ON EARTH SAID BLINKERED?! ARROGANT?! BACKWARD LOOKING?! LUI?! Pas de chose at all at all!! Gracious, what dreadful thoughts!

[Otis Westinghouse]

Vade mecum? WTF?

(OK, it's 'come with me', and means pocket/handbook. Tosser. Chambers hyphenates it.)

To think, Elvis will be staring up from my parents' coffee table (Pa Westinghouse is a subscriber, and would probably agree with the above!).

[Who Shot Sam?]

...and is helping to kill the classical music
industry , according to this old fart.

http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/0 ... vecds.html

( extract)

It had to end. At the start of 2004 I predicted that
this would be the industry's last year. Well, I was
over-cautious. No need to wait for Christmas: it's
over now.

The closure signs are up in neon. Deutsche Grammophon,
a label which swore it would never sully its classical
purity with pop crossover, now has the operatic mezzo
Anne-Sofie von Otter recording the songs of Abba. EMI
is retiring Peter Alward, its principled classical
vice-president, to make way for softer suits. The big
signing on Sony Classical is Vanessa-Mae, a pop
fiddler who made her debut in a wet swimsuit. The
November cover of Gramophone, once the classical
collector's vade mecum, will feature Elvis Costello.
There is barely a new symphony or sonata to be heard
this season from any of the six major labels which
command three-quarters of store space and classical
sales. Game over.

It's their own damn fault. The classical music community has spent years ignoring younger listeners, choosing instead to record the same tired war horses over and over again. Now nobody's buying the stuff. How many different recordings of Beethoven's symphonies do you need?

When my wife and I used to hold a subscription to the Metropolitan Opera, we were surrounded by a sea of blue-hairs. And the Met was apparently content to do nothing about it.

The classical record companies won't command three quarters of store space for long. HMV, Tower and Virgin in New York have relegated classical music to small areas in the basement - somewhere between the men's room and the emergency exit.

He's right that the industry's dead - but it ain't Elvis' fault.