Thread: Philadelphia Orchestra to record again?

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Post by dspgolf January 11, 2011 (1 of 28)
Hello,

wanted to know if the Philadelphia Orchestra will record under a new record label now that they have a new conductor. Any thoughts?

Dave

Post by seth January 11, 2011 (2 of 28)
dspgolf said:

Hello,

wanted to know if the Philadelphia Orchestra will record under a new record label now that they have a new conductor. Any thoughts?

Dave

I don't think there are any immediate plans.

For a while now the Orchestra has been making HD video recordings that are broadcast locally; YNS's concerts have been among them. I asked the Orchestra a month or so ago if there were any plans to distribute these recordings on DVD or Blu-ray; they said no.

Hopefully BIS is interested in recording YNS in Philadelphia and something can be worked out.

Post by dspgolf January 11, 2011 (3 of 28)
Yea, that would be great if they could work it out!

Post by dspgolf April 17, 2011 (4 of 28)
Arnaldo said:

Philadelphia Orchestra Files for Bankruptcy After 111 Years as Sales Slump
Bloomberg News - Apr 17, 2011 1:49 AM ET

"The Philadelphia Orchestra filed for bankruptcy protection after 111 years of operation to restructure leases, contracts and agreements. The company listed both assets and debt of as much as $50 million in a Chapter 11 petition filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Philadelphia..."

Full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-17/philadelphia-orchestra-files-for-bankruptcy-protection.html

That's a real shame! I hope they can work things out to keep the orchestra going. It would be so so sad if Philadelphia lost this prized institution.

Post by Johnno April 17, 2011 (5 of 28)
Arnaldo said:

Philadelphia Orchestra Files for Bankruptcy After 111 Years as Sales Slump
Bloomberg News - Apr 17, 2011 1:49 AM ET

"The Philadelphia Orchestra filed for bankruptcy protection after 111 years of operation to restructure leases, contracts and agreements. The company listed both assets and debt of as much as $50 million in a Chapter 11 petition filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Philadelphia..."

Full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-17/philadelphia-orchestra-files-for-bankruptcy-protection.html

This is, indeed, very sad news and I can only iterate Dave's hopes that the orchestra will manage to find a way out of this and return to some degree of prosperity. I know times are tough, but I imagine there must be a number of wealthy concert-goers in Philadelphia who would simply not allow matters to deteriorate further for this great orchestra.

Post by seth April 17, 2011 (6 of 28)
Johnno said:

This is, indeed, very sad news and I can only iterate Dave's hopes that the orchestra will manage to find a way out of this and return to some degree of prosperity. I know times are tough, but I imagine there must be a number of wealthy concert-goers in Philadelphia who would simply not allow matters to deteriorate further for this great orchestra.

I think the Orchestra is going to recover financially.

The real questions are: will the Chapter 11 filing prompt musicians to leave the Orchestra for greener pastures (for example, New York has been trying to poach Principal Clarinetist Ricardo Morales -- if he were to leave, that would be a major blow), will the filing scare off new recruits, and if there are further reductions to salaries, will the Orchestra loose out on the best young talent to ensembles that can pay more?

Post by tailspn April 18, 2011 (7 of 28)
Philadelphia is in Wisconsin?

Post by wehecht April 18, 2011 (8 of 28)
Actually, Tom, we live in the state of disarray! When I first moved to Philadelphia 40 years ago unless you were a subscriber getting a ticket to an individual orchestra concert was a difficult proposition, and if you wanted two together one of you was likely to end up behind one of the Academy of Music's charming pillars (which you were not told in advance). Today most concerts in the much more comfortable and generally acoustically superior Verizon Hall are at least 15-20% empty, and most of the heads in the seats will be like mine, somewhere between grey and white (unless they're flesh colored). We are simply not replacing an aging and dying audience, although that's far from the only problem. I have no doubt the current "crisis" will be resolved, but to my mind the longer term outlook here, as elsewhere, is grim.

Post by Johnno April 18, 2011 (9 of 28)
wehecht said:

Actually, Tom, we live in the state of disarray! When I first moved to Philadelphia 40 years ago unless you were a subscriber getting a ticket to an individual orchestra concert was a difficult proposition, and if you wanted two together one of you was likely to end up behind one of the Academy of Music's charming pillars (which you were not told in advance). Today most concerts in the much more comfortable and generally acoustically superior Verizon Hall are at least 15-20% empty, and most of the heads in the seats will be like mine, somewhere between grey and white (unless they're flesh colored). We are simply not replacing an aging and dying audience, although that's far from the only problem. I have no doubt the current "crisis" will be resolved, but to my mind the longer term outlook here, as elsewhere, is grim.

I fear that your comments about aging subscribers is a worldwide phenomenon. I attend all the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra subscription concerts and can vouch that the number of empty seats equates to something similar to your experiences. In addition you are unlikely to find more walking sticks together in one place and the 'heads' match your descriptions.

The other problem is, for me at any rate, a lack of ambitious programming in today's concerts. We tend to hear the same old Beethoven symphonies time and time again. I still love the works but, surely, couldn't something refreshingly different and possibly even "outrageous" be chosen occasionally.

I am also a gold friend of a local orchestra and a questionnaire was handed out at the recent concert. One of the questions asked was what three works would one like to hear. My answer was (a) Suk's "Asrael" symphony (b) the Busoni Piano Concerto and (c) any of the Bax symphonies.

I don't expect any of my suggestions will even be considered!

Post by dspgolf April 18, 2011 (10 of 28)
I understand that the Detroit symphony orchestra is also in a very bad position also. It's a shame but I feel like classical music is a dying music and the newer generation my children will not fully understand how great a music or appreciate it the way I have come to. I listen to classical now 90 percent of the time I sit down to fully listen. I try and attend the Philadelphia orchestra but who has the time with little ones and the funds to pay for seats? Lets face it the economy has taken it's toll on most peoples lives in one way or another and discretionary income is where you chose to spend it and it's hard in today's world with saving for your retirement and collage. I understand that these musicians need to make six figure salaries but just maybe they need to take pay cuts to help weather the greater storm? No one including myself wants to make less but if it means losing you livelihood maybe they need to rethink things? Just one persons opinion but who the hell knows?

I hope everything works out in the end!!

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