OK, so a quick look at the pieces included in Mr. S-N’s first season as music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra looks like this: Total No. of Pieces:  76 No. of pieces written before the 20th century: 39 No. of pieces written in the 20th or 21st centuries:  37 No. of pieces written within the [...]

So the subscription brochure for the Philadelphia Orchestra’s 2012-13 season arrived last week – the first season under new Music Director Yannick Nezet-Sequin.  It’s very interesting.  He’s consistently referred to as “Yannick”.  I don’t think the word “maestro” appears once.  And they don’t have the traditional formal pose of the orchestra – the shot taken [...]

As the purveyors of widgets get increasingly worried about the dwindling market for their product, they seem to spend more time and money figuring out how to increase the need for it. That seems like a pretty straightforward statement, certainly considering typical consumer products that get obsoleted by newer technology or just lose their usefulness. [...]