Concerts

Kurt Masur, the renowned German conductor, is withdrawing from concerts through the end of June after falling off the podium last week during a concert in Paris and injuring himself. His official website states that a scan of the conductor's left shoulder shows that his shoulder blade is fractured. Masur, 84, will cancel all performances through June and hopes to resume conducting in September, the website said. The conductor fell off the podium Thursday while conducting a concert at Paris' Théâtre des Champs-Elysées with the Orchestre National de France.

A late summer symphony of labor struggle in the arts that has seen lockouts involving orchestras in Indianapolis and Atlanta and a full-scale strike on the part of the Chicago Symphony Orchesta continues. The musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra failed to reach an agreement with management on a new contract by the midnight deadline Sunday and as a result, management has locked them out of their jobs. The orchestra has canceled performances through Nov. 25. In a storyline that's become all too grimly familiar, management rejected the Minnesota musicians' appeals for arbitration and allowing the orchestra to play as talks continue.

Singer George Michael is hypocritical if, as his co-manager said in Grein's article, he opposes alcohol and tobacco sponsorship because "he has a tremendous amount of influence over kids and he doesn't want them to think that it's cool" (if he were to participate in a concert backed by such companies). This same George Michael puts out songs and videos so full of explicit sexual imagery as to border on the pornographic! Is he saying that he doesn't want his young fans to drink or smoke because of the dangers but it's OK if they risk catching all sorts of venereal diseases, up to and including AIDS?

In news that didn't bode well for its stability, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra has canceled the first two weeks of its new season after failing to reach an agreement with its musicians union. The new season was scheduled to begin this Friday. Citing financial troubles, the ISO was unable to come to terms with its musicians, whose contract had expired on Sept. 2. Though the musicians union had proposed a two-month extension of the existing contract and a 17% salary reduction, the ISO held firm on deeper cost-cutting demands, which reportedly include a 40% pay cut and a shortening of musicians' contracts from 52 weeks to 38. Management also wants to reduce the size of the orchestra from 87 musicians to 69. In response to the concessions by the musicians' union, the symphony said a continuation of the existing contract “would only exacerbate the ISO's already difficult financial challenges.” In the same prepared statement cited by the Indianapolis Business Journal, the ISO also said, “The gap between what the musicians union is proposing and what is essential to economically sustain the ISO's future is just too great.”  Musicians were said to be stunned by the announcement to cancel performances for the next two weeks, and the ISO has left open the possibility for canceling more concerts if an agreement cannot be reached.

Tuesday's Disney music concert is just one of many movie-music events happening in the L.A. area this month, suggesting that film music in the concert hall is a growing trend. This weekend, John Williams has been conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a series of film-music concerts labeled "Music From the City of Angels." Next Sunday, Italian maestro Ennio Morricone ("The Mission," "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly") will make his West Coast debut conducting his own scores at Hollywood Bowl.

Teena Marie's six concerts scheduled at the Beverly Theatre tonight through Sunday have been postponed because the singer is suffering from bronchial pneumonia. The concerts will be held June 2-4 and June 8-10. Tickets for the original concerts will be honored at the corresponding rescheduled shows.

The benefit concerts scheduled for Thursday and Friday at the Hollywood Palladium for Native American activist Leonard Peltier have been postponed because of injuries suffered by Timmy C., bass player for the headlining band Rage Against the Machine, in a mountain bike accident last week. The shows are expected to be rescheduled for late April. Tickets for the two sold-out concerts will be honored on the corresponding new dates.

ALBUMS Kid Cudi, 'Man on the Moon: The End of the Day' Hip-hop stars have mostly given up on using albums as calling cards: masterful mix tapes and hit singles build anticipation for months before an official release finally drops. But Kid Cudi, the Brooklyn-via-Cleveland rapper with the slow, spaced-out flow, cares about concepts and complicated thoughts. So his long-player should be a trip. Also, look for the debut from quick-witted D.C. rapper Wale in October.