Front Row has a recap of interviews done earlier in the year with Mark Padmore, Ian Bostridge, Joseph Calleja and Iestyn Davies.
Meanwhile, NPR has archived the Karita Mattila recital at Carnegie Hall from earlier this month. (There's other good stuff in that archive, too, including some Stile Antico.)
Here's an update on the lack of groundswell for restoring the pigeonholing power of the Grammys to its former glory. Just the fact that they now stuff Cajun accordion players, Hawaiian slack-key guitar players and Native American drum circles into the same award category should pretty much indicate how much the major labels really give a tinker's expletive about music that will never see the light of wherever it is major label product gets played these days. Seriously, people, isn't this just the majors advertising their own obsolescence in a world where industry accountants can no longer control the demographics?
i happen to own LOTS of cajun, slack key AND native american music. i also happen NEVER to watch the grammys (bieber, kanye, brittney to name just a few reasons. there are FAR too many to keep going)
ReplyDeleteSame here, and it's probably true for pretty much everyone who has similar tastes, so why a class action suit is considered worth the time and effort is a bit of a mystery.
ReplyDeleteIt was ever thus, but now especially when the Grammys are largely a pointless exercise in self-congratulation of the "Those deck chairs would look marvelous over there..." variety.