Clarinettist Martin Fröst’s Musical Tastes – The Guardian asked him about his musical tastes on and off the platform. He said he uses Spotify to check things out but if he wants to listen to something properly he usually takes out a CD or LP. His musical guilty pleasure is either Bach’s Cello Suites or Solo Violin Partitas. He has no objections to audience clapping between movements in the concert hall, and thinks more time could be spent curating more interesting concert programs, even to concerts where there are no breaks between the works so it flows seamlessly from one to the next. When asked which pop musician he would most love to work with, his answers were Björk, Wynton Marsalis and Mick Jagger.
Classical Recordings’ Leading Talent Scout – is Senior VP of classical A&R at Universal Music Group International, Costa Pilavichi. He travels the world seeking performers to add to the great artist roster of the Decca and DGG labels. He says that when they find talents who are truly different and distinctive and have their own new voice, it’s really not a diffcult business at all. But the problem is that “they don’t grow on trees.” He was asked about the possible dangers of homogenising the sound of British orchestras as they operate in an increasingly global marketplace. He pointed out that the Czech Philharmonic plays Dvorak “in a very different way from the way the London Symphony Orchestra will.”
Wireless Connectivity Technologies in Home Audio: 2015 Report Available – Home audio device vendors have recently embraced wireless technology for streaming audio. One factor has been the trend to store and stream music from portable devices such as smartphones. Bluetooth had ben getting more attention, and a variety of wireless streaming technologies (unfortunately most them not compliant with one another) have helped many device vendors to add multi-room audio devices. Historic data from the last few years and forecasts of growth to 2020, as well as market share analysis, is provided by the new report.
TFJ News & Media Recommends Five Top 5.1 System Speakers – Keeping in mind the low end of the price spectrum, they list the Energy Take Classic 5.1, the Monoprice Premium 5.2 Home Theater Systems, The Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 System, the Pioneer SP-PK22BS Andrew Jones 5.1 speaker package, and the Definitive Technology ProCinema 600 5.1 speaker system. Though most are not tower speakers recent improvements have made possible strong sound quality at low prices.
