“‘He’s either going to be fantastic – or dead.’ That was the verdict of some of opera’s keenest vocal judges a decade ago when they awarded Michael Fabiano … a career-making win at the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. [Now] he is one of the most exciting, sought-after singers in the world – but the fatalistic warning was still ringing in my ears a few Sundays ago when Mr. Fabiano, who likes to pilot planes on his days off, took me for a flight.” Michael Cooper white-knuckles it for us.
Author: Matthew Westphal
A ‘Doctor Atomic’ Like Nobody Has Seen Before (Wait, Is Oppenheimer Actually Getting Naked?)
“[The John Adams opera] is usually staged as an array of physicists and military generals standing around the New Mexico landscape, wondering if the first atomic bomb will ignite the entire planet – and looking worried. ‘But who wants to watch that?’ said R.B. Schlather.” David Patrick Stearns talks to the director about the staging he’s helming this week in Philadelphia. (Oh, and the singer playing Oppenheimer is a barihunk.)
You’ll Never Have Another Chance To See This Many Great Watercolors In One Place
“Through May 14, visitors will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see masterful watercolors by Edwin Abbey, Thomas Eakins, John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, John La Farge, Thomas Moran, William Trost Richards, Maxfield Parrish, Jessie Willcox Smith, Violet Oakley, Georgia O’Keeffe, and a host of others.” The Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibition, which opens today, was a bear to put together. Stephan Salisbury tells why.
Arts Groups Turn To Their GOP Congresspeople To Save NEA And NEH
“While Democrats have long supported the endowments, the coming budget proposals from President Trump will test the sort of Republicans who have been the rescuers and defenders of arts spending during the decades-long efforts by conservatives to cut and even eliminate them.”
German Publishers Ordered To Return Hundreds Of Millions Of Euros To Authors – And They’re Afraid They’ll Go Bankrupt
Last year, the Federal Republic’s supreme court ruled that publishing houses weren’t entitled to up to €300 million in copyright payments they had kept since 2012, and the houses are scrambling madly to get together the cash they must now pay to their authors. The general counsel of Germany’s Publishers and Booksellers Association explains the situation.
Louis Langrée Re-Ups With Cincinnati Symphony Through 2021-22
“The announcement, made Sunday, comes on the eve of Langrée’s first international tour with the Cincinnati Symphony next month to Asia. In August, he and the CSO will embark on a three-week tour to capital cities and major music festivals in Europe.”
Paloma Herrera Named Director Of Buenos Aires’s Ballet Company
Nearly two years after the ABT star retired from the stage and returned home to the Argentine capital, she’s been named director of the ballet company at the Teatro Colón.
Chattanooga Symphony And Opera Extends Music Director Kayoko Dan’s Contract
“Ms. Dan joined the CSO as its first female, and youngest, conductor in September 2011.” This extension, for five years, runs through May 2022.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.28.17
When Free Is Insufficient
They won’t even come when it’s free! That lament from an arts administrator, with eyes rolled and hands thrown up, demonstrates a profound lack of connection with the subject of the exclamation. It is usually … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-02-28
Who Should Lead the Met? Tom Campbell Decamps
Ever since he was named to the Metropolitan Museum’s directorship, I’ve had serious qualms about whether Tom Campbell embodied The Peter Principle … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-02-28
Propwatch: the watches in Hamlet
The insanely awaited production starring Andrew Scott is so very sold-out that buying even one ticket felt like a triumph. … There’s lots to say about the genius line-readings and surprising additions. But I just want to think about the watches for a bit. … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2017-02-28
Recent Listening (And Viewing) In Brief
The incoming albums that pack my big mailbox several times a week belie frequent claims in the press and on the air that jazz is dying. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-02-28
Met Museum Director Thomas Campbell Forced To Resign
Record-breaking attendance and popular new branches or not, a certain critical mass of news coverage – chronicling deficits and layoffs and cancellation of high-profile expansions, and asking if your museum is ‘a great institution in decline‘ – will probably lead to news like this.