Ottawa

MUSIC: New(-ish) conductor, Old World

The Boston Symphony cancels its European tour, which was planned for autumn and would have taken them to Paris and Vienna. (I heard the band in Paris in September 2007, and they made a mighty noise.) This economy sucks for arts organizations, which depend on philanthropy from people who lately aren’t feeling philanthropic, and on the disposable income of people who lately have less.

Perhaps the Montreal Symphony Orchestra would have cancelled their tour too, if the crunch had come earlier, but it didn’t and they’re in Europe right now. The website for their tour is loads of fun, with photos, blogs, an interactive map (tonight Madrid, Vienna — where they take this stuff seriously — on Tuesday), and other goodies. Three years into his tenure, music director Kent Nagano thinks he has a band worth showing off; their recording of Mahler, the third since he came on board, will come out this week, barely three months after it was recorded in concert.

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