Classical music muscle

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Observers have been predicting the death of classical music for years now. Symphony orchestras from coast-to-coast are struggling to sell tickets. Those who do attend concerts are more likely than not to have gray hair. Critic Norman Lebrecht already declared the industry dead when he asked, in the title of his 1997 book, "Who Killed Classical Music?"

So it came as a surprise to discover that classical was last year's fastest-growing musical genre, with album sales up 22.5 percent.

Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks American point-of-purchase music sales in stores and online, recently released its 2006 data. Sales of classical albums were up while sales of many popular genres fell: rap was down 20.7 percent, R&B was down 18.4 percent, alternative 9.2 percent and jazz 8.3 percent.

(Soundtracks also did well, with a 19 percent increase, but that's because of the year's top-selling album, "High School Musical.")

With 19.4 million albums sold, classical sales were at their highest level in four years. Meanwhile, the industry as a whole is suffering. Album sales overall were down 4.9 percent from 2005, with 588.2 million sold last year.

Who might have been responsible for such an impressive climb? Did a legendary symphony orchestra release a particularly stirring rendition of Beethoven's Fifth, for example? Did a talented young soprano bowl us over with her Isolde in Wagner's masterpiece?

Sadly, there's no such encouraging explanation for classical music's sudden rise. In fact, we might have to lay the genre's resurrection at the feet of six words that would seem to be an anathema to classical connoisseurs: Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban -- and Il Divo, the international male operatic pop quartet created by cranky "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell.

Il Divo's debut recording, featuring a Spanish rendition of R&B singer Toni Braxton's hit "Unbreak My Heart," was the top-selling classical album of 2005. The group released two albums last year that combined sold about 1.5 million copies.

But Il Divo's successful debut didn't help classical sales enough in 2005. Album sales were down 15 percent. Perhaps it's because neither Mr. Bocelli nor Mr. Groban released an album that year. (Mr. Bocelli, however, did appear on the recording of the opera "Werther.")

Their 2006 releases may have single-handedly resuscitated the genre -- if they were actually working in it.