Iaphet Elli Bachtrack
Stats 2013: Britten everywhere; women nowhere
Bachtrack.com,
the largest classical events finder online, has released its annual set of
statistics based on last year’s listings. An infographic is attached – to find
out more, read the full article atbachtrack.com/2013-stats.
Based
on 15,091 concerts, 4,510 operas and 2,596 dance performances, the statistics
reveal:
Britten
conquers Britain
In
his 100th anniversary year, Benjamin Britten was the most performed composer in
the UK. He was also fourth on the list of most performed concert composers
internationally – behind only Mozart, Beethoven and Bach. This is a rise of 18
places from 2012 and proves the strong effect anniversaries have on
programming.
European
conductors top the list
Valery
Gergiev was the year’s busiest conductor according to our statistics, with 99
events listed, while seven of the ten busiest were European. Others placed
highly include Andris Nelsons (2nd), Fabio Luisi (3rd) and Sir Simon Rattle
(6th). Busiest conductor in the concert hall was Alan Gilbert – the same as 2012
– and busiest opera conductor was Marco Armiliato.
Women
miss out in composers and conductors lists
Of
our 100 busiest conductors, only one was female: Marin Alsop came 70th (the low
number due to missing events from Baltimore and São Paulo). It’s looking likely
that she will be joined by at least one more female composer next year: JoAnn
Falletta, though she placed 176th for 2013, is already listed for many events in
2014 and should make a higher position this year.
What’s
more, there were no female composers at all among the 100 most performed. The
highest-placed female composer was Clara Schumann at 182.
Contemporary
composers make up ground
The
most performed contemporary composer in concerts, for the third year running, is
Arvo Pärt, who was 38th in the overall list – up from 52nd in 2012. Second
highest was James MacMillan, who was 45th (a rise of 53 places), and third was
John Williams, 77th. The highest-placed contemporary female composers were
Judith Bingham (202nd), followed by Unsuk Chin and Kaija
Saariaho.
There
was a stronger showing for contemporary composers than in 2012 which may be a
sign that some current composers are becoming more accepted in the concert
hall.
European
orchestras get busier
Five
of our top 10 busiest concert orchestras were European in 2013, up from three in
2012, suggesting that orchestral schedules in Europe may be becoming more
packed. Top of the list overall was San Francisco Symphony, with 146 listed
events. It’s the third time in four years that they have topped the list.
Busiest European orchestra was the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with 110
events, followed by the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie (102 events) and
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (99). The full top 10 for concert orchestras is
as follows:
| 1. | 146 |
| 2. | 141 |
| 3. | 128 |
| 4. | 110 |
| 5. | 102 |
| 6. | 101 |
| 7. | 99 |
| 8. | 97 |
| 9. | 93 |
| 10. | 91 |
European
orchestras
| 1. | 110 |
| 2. | 102 |
| 3. | 99 |
| 4. | 93 |
| 5. | 91 |
| 6. | 84 |
| 7. | 81 |
| 8. | 77 |
| 9. | 76 |
| 10. | 75 |
More
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