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GG:State of Class. Recording Ind.



Hello All!

	This Sunday's NY Times featured an article on the state of the
Classical recording buisness.  The gist of the piece was that
Classical CD sales are utterly dismal (a CD must sell 50,000 copies a
year to stay in print) with the exception of the likes of Chant, The
Three Tenors and Cecilia Bartoli.  Most folks seem to think the heart
of the problem is one GG warned about in the early 60's-- boredom.
The general public is no longer willing to spend cash on traditional
(read hackneyed) interpretations by new artists of familiar works when
they can get great copies (Karajan's Beethoven Symphonies was the
example cited) of classic recordings for very low prices.

	The most interesting strategies for getting around this
problem presented in the article were Sony' and Nonesuch's. The
president of the Sony Classical, Peter Gelb, has paired such artists
as Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax on Danielpour's concertos (who's also under
contract to Sony.) It's a kind of jazz/classical music repertory
company idea.  Sony's also commissioning new works for their
artists. (ex. Goldenthal has been comissioned to write a work for
Wynton Marsalis.)  Sony seems to be modeling their approach on
Nonesuch's who offer 25 discs every year in a a catalogue of new music
(Glass, Gorecki), world music, and jazz.  They averaged sales of
80,000 for their 1995 releases.  Interestingly, one of the mentors of
the head of Nonesuch was Goddard Lieberson (namesake of GG's
"Lieberson Madrigal") the longtime head of CBS Masterworks when GG was
contracted there.  He preached that "if you trust your own instincts,
your own ears and your own passions, the public, ideally, will
follow." (I'm quoting this a bit put of context--but that's the main
idea.)  Can't say that philosopy went wrong for CBS re GG!

Last night I saw Gelb on PBS promoting another of these cross-over
programs. I think of GG's delight at the "Switched on Bach CD", his
penchant for making imaginative recordings- I can't help but assume
he'd feel particulary vindicated, especially since HIS recordings are
ALL in circulation in spite of the overall classical music sales slump!

On another topic, there's a fellow (about 20 years old) who works in
the subway shop at the college student center where I teach (Rutgers)
who LOVES the later G'Bergs and always has them playing when I go in
for lunch.  One day-- just to see what he'd say-- I asked him who was
playing.  He humphed with a tinge of disdain and uttered a sigh meant
to express that it was obvious-- "hunh!  Glenn Gould."  Then he
slouched down his shoulders, popped a cigarette in his mouth and shook
his head.  Ten minutes later he was conducting GG as he ran the
register-- totally lost in ecstasy and self satisfaction.  I loved it!


-Mary Jo

P.S. A MILLION sorrys to those of you I owe person mail to-- I have
been really really busy teaching, working and writing.  I promise to
resurface soon! ;-)  -X.