Here is today's (7/6/2011) Billboard top 10 classical albums with links to as much media as I can find:
- Dream with me, Jackie Evancho
Il Volo, Il Volo
This is the Christ, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, et al.
Il Volo, Edicion en Espanol
Mediterraneo, Milos Karadaglic
O Holy Night (EP), Jackie Evancho
99 Must-have Mozart Masterpieces
99 Must-have Chillout classics
The Royal wedding: The Official Album
Men of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
- Jackie Evancho is eleven years old at the time of this writing, and she was the runner-up on the fifth season of America's Got Talent, a talent show in the mold of American Idol. She was selected through a nationwide voting process over a number of weeks. Does this make her popular?
Why is "O Holy Night" on the Billboard charts in July?
Il Volo has two albums on the chart: one is a Spanish version of the English album. What does the fact that both albums are on the chart say about our classical music listening audience?
The following is the "offical" video for Karadaglic's rendition of "Asturias" by Albeniz:
What has classical music learned from the popular music world on the basis of this video? Why release such a video for a work like this?
Both the 99 Must-Have albums are available for $4.99 on Amazon.com (and, yes, they do contain 99 tracks); that works out to $0.05 per track. What (if anything) does this tell us about the value of classical music?
If the music on this list were put into a time capsule, how would the people who unearth it in, say, 100 years define classical music in 2011?
Would you consider any of the music on this list classical? Popular?
"O Holy Night" is on the billboard charts in July simply because of the fact that when people "find" Jackie Evancho the first thing they do is to purchase any of her work that is available whether that is a Christmas album or not.
ReplyDeleteI think Evancho is popular simply by the fact that everyone knows her name and because she is so young. Once she's in her teens, she'll be one of a million young singers who sing Sarah Brightman repertoire (Lloyd Webber etc.). She's popular by definition now, but I don't think it will last.
ReplyDeleteI can't explain O Holy Night. I tend to listen to Christmas music all throughout the year just because its got such a happy effect on me. haha
Il Volo, I think, is popular, again, because they are so young. But they also have another interesting factor and that is that they have a very young look. They aren't trying to be tux wearing Il Divo or the three tenors. Its more of a preppy "scene" kind of look. It puts a new spin on what people otherwise feel is a "boring" style of music.
I think classical music is so inexpensive because it has been created and recreated so many times its basically been mass produced. Its just so easy to get a cheap copy of the Beethoven Symphonies or the Tchaikovsky Ballets.
I think people 100 years from now would know this music, just as we know music from 100 years before now. It would be slightly different, but music then would most likely be a direct result of the music now.
I think all of the music on this list is considered classical. Its popular when a large majority of the population is interested in, listens to, and is affected by it.
I love this topic. I'd love to hear what other people think.