"10": Anne Midgette's Best Of The Decade

iTunes, Peter Gelb, Gustavo Dudamel, Simon Rattle et al in Anne Midgette's cool list of the cool stuff that happened these last ten years, via The Washington Post.

Comments

[Kevin Edmund Youkilis 4 MVP]

iTunes pretty much sucks, Rattle is overrated, the bang-on-a-can people have nothing to do with music; the rest of the list is OK.

[El Cajon]

Along with the big guy, the loss of Birgit Nilsson, Beverly Sills, Regine Crespin, Astrid Varnay, Giuseppe Stefano, Piero Cappuccilli, and numerous other singers, and condutors as Carlos Kleiber and Edward Downes was also a sad but important part of classical music during the past decade.

Another important highlight: blogs, such as this one, which has become an indispensable part of the opera/classical music landscape.

[Robert C. Mesaros]

Peter Gelb's turning the MET into a TV studio on Saturday afternoons is not something I would include in the top ten musical events of the last decade. I first met Mr. Gelb 20 years ago following his short-lived appointment as Met Media Director. It was obvious even then that he dreamed of broadcasting live opera from the MET stage to reach the masses, even if that meant disturbing the live audience in the house with changes in lighting levels and cameras moving about. While telecasting live opera from the MET stage to the masses may be an admirable goal, what angered me then and now is that doing so has shown a complete disregard for the members of the live audiences who must endure these distractions. I believe that the MET's principal mission is to present live opera to live audiences. The MET Board and General Manager, music critics, and those of us who contribute to the MET/purchase tickets should not lose sight of that mission. The MET should look for other ways of reaching the masses that do not compromise its most precious possession: the loyalty of its customers.