Morning Report : ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Three Tenors and Taxes: A German concert promoter credited with the idea of creating the “Three Tenors” shows was sentenced to nearly six years in jail Tuesday after being convicted of 59 counts of tax evasion. Matthias Hoffmann, 47, the former organizer of the celebrated tenors’ concert tours, said after the German court ruling that his only thoughts at the moment were for his family, children and friends. Meanwhile, German prosecutors said they were also investigating Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo on suspicion that the super-tenors may have collaborated with Hoffmann to evade a reported $14 million in taxes through unreported payments and shell companies in Ireland, London and elsewhere. According to the German magazine Der Spiegel, Hoffmann, who has been in custody since July, has alleged that the trio were actively involved in a scheme to underreport income from ticket sales. Pavarotti recently canceled three German concerts--including a New Year’s Eve appearance with the Berlin Philharmonic--because of controversy over the tax issue.

POP/ROCK

Concert Road Yields Gold: Maybe that Yellow Brick Road is paved in gold. Elton John was the biggest-grossing domestic concert act of the year, raking in more than $40.6 million on a 53-show tour that included a two-night stand in August at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim. John edged out another keyboardist, Greek new-age star Yanni, who grossed more than $40.5 million in 101 shows, according to the year-end tally by Performance magazine, a concert industry trade publication. The top five was rounded out by Eric Clapton ($34.4 million from 43 shows), Garth Brooks ($33.9 million from 98 shows) and Janet Jackson ($33.3 million from 60 shows). Grosses for the top 50 shows of 1998 broke the $800-million mark, up from the 1997 total of $781 million. “That’s mostly because ticket prices went up,” said Performance’s associate editor Leiann Simpson.

Album Chart: Country superstar Garth Brooks is still No. 1--but the teen crooners of ‘N Sync are closing in fast. Brooks’ two-disc concert album, “Double Live,” sold about 548,000 copies last week to hold the No. 1 position for the fifth consecutive week, but he outsold ‘N Sync’s self-titled album by a mere 13,000 copies, according to SoundScan. The teen group’s album has increased in sales each of the past six weeks and, with the holiday gift season in full swing, has topped 3.7 million in total sales; Garth’s five-week total stands at nearly 3.2 million copies sold. Meanwhile, rapper Mystikal’s “Ghetto Fabulous” was the week’s best-selling debut, finishing at No. 5, while Busta Rhymes, the flamboyant clown prince of rap, debuted at No. 13 with “Extinction Level Event.”