BBC Radio 3 Sunday 10/12 17:45

[drew]

10 December 2006
Sunday 10 December 2006 17:45-18:30 (Radio 3)

As the UK album charts are increasingly populated by classical crossover artists in the run-up to Christmas, Tom Service takes a look at the genre that has included names such as Mario Lanza, Emerson Lake and Palmer, the Three Tenors and Angelis. He asks if there is more to crossover than marketing and easy money.

We want to hear from you! What do you think about classical crossover? Is it the saviour of the classical music industry or no more than a crass marketing gimmick? Let us know your thoughts on 08700 100 300 or email [e-mail]

Director Francesca Zambello talks about her new production of Carmen at Covent Garden.

Duration:
45 minutes


December 08, 2006
Crossover and Carmen
BBC - Radio 3 - Music Matters - 10 December 2006 covers two subjects covered recently on this blog.

Their e-newsletter says

Crossover: for some, it’s the musical dark side, for others, it’s the only way to save classical music. Whether it’s Sting singing Dowland, Barbra Streisand attempting Hugo Wolf, or Katherine Jenkins turning Bryan Adams into an orchestral slush-fest, crossover is a huge commercial success.

But it’s also an artistic controversy. So what does it all mean? I’ll be trying to get to the bottom of it all on Sunday in the company of Bill Holland, Managing Director of Universal Classics and Jazz - the man responsible for signing everyone from Andrea Bocelli to this Christmas’s runaway chart success, All Angels - and Norman Lebrecht, writer and outspoken opponent of crossover. It’s a hot topic at the moment, especially with the record shops flooded with crossover releases: they always do best around Christmas time, becoming high-class stocking fodder... Does crossover inspire people to enjoy the rest of classical music? It’s a thorny issue, as ! you’ll hear!

Katherine says she wants to sing Carmen in a few years, but she’ll have to compete with sopranos like Anna-Katerina Antonacci if she wants to make it in the world’s great opera houses. Antonacci sings the title role in the Royal Opera House’s new production of Bizet’s indelible masterpiece, in a staging directed by Francesca Zambello... I met Francesca and her choreographer and designer during rehearsals to hear their vision of the piece – as well as Francesca’s views on breaking down the barriers between opera and the paying public. So is her new production of Carmen or Katherine Jenkins singing the Habanera the way forward for classical music? Make up your own mind on Sunday at 5.45.

www.madmusingsof.me.uk/archives/2006/12/crossover_and_c.php

www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/musicmatters/pip/t5mdx/

[richnorri]

Hello Drew and everybody!

This is going to be an interesting discussion, so I'll be listening. There is more about it on Radio 3's website (link as above):-

Crossover

Is crossover good or bad for classical music? When Music Matters posted this question on the Radio 3 messageboard, the response was huge.

Defining exactly what crossover is and where it came from is an incendiary issue, and the question of whether or not it fosters a new audience for classical music even more so.

For some, crossover is a crass record industry invention, but for others, it's the only way that classical music can survive, by competing in the popular marketplace.

The editor-in-chief of Gramophone Magazine, James Jolly, looks back at the historical origins of the genre in singing sensations Caruso and Mario Lanza. Richard Rodney Bennett shares his unique view on the subject. Sting, Anne Sofie von Otter, members of the Brodsky Quartet and Katherine Jenkins give the performers' perspective on crossover.

Tom is joined by the critic, Norman Lebrecht, and the Managing Director of Universal Classics and Jazz, Bill Holland, to assess the role that crossover artists have to play in the classical music world.

The debate continues.

Richard