La Cieca did a bit of nosing around about the abrupt departure of Jeffrey Vanderveen from IMG, and this is how the story is shaping up.

Vanderveen’s upcoming gig is the creation of a new division at Universal Music Group devoted to the production and promotion of Tibor Rudas style arena concerts for Universal Classics’ recording artists.

Apparently the theory is that in order to sell classical vocal CDs in significant numbers, the singers will be sent out on tours “in support of” their current releases, following the model of popular music performers.

The concerts Vanderveen is to put together will feature young Universal stars such as Anna Netrebko, ElÄ«na Garanča, Rolando Villazón, Juan Diego Flórez and Jonas Kaufmann performing in (obviously) large venues with “crossover” style miking in the manner of such successful acts acts as Katherine Jenkins and Russell Watson.