Neschling, who over eleven years raised the orchestra from provincial status to international prominence, was dismissed in a dispute with the orchestra’s chairman, former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, over the search for Neschling’s successor. Yan Pascal Tortelier will serve as interim chief conductor; Neschling will get a $500K buyout, and the musicians say they’re happy to see him go.
Author: Matthew Westphal
David Plouffe To Get At Least $1.5M For Obama Campaign Book
For all the book industry’s financial woes, publishers competed hard for the inside story from the new President’s campaign manager. Plouffe’s agent says 17 imprints bid for the title.
Violette Verdy Elevated To France’s Legion of Honor
President Sarkozy has named Verdy, the 75-year-old former star of ABT and NYCB and the first woman to serve as artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet, a Chevalier de l’Ordre du Légion d’Honneur, the nation’s highest award.
New York, Where Immigrant Composers Get Eaten Up Or Spit Out
Tarik O’Regan, a 31-year-old Briton with a burgeoning composing career, considers the travails of some of his predecessors – Mahler, Bartók, Britten, Prokofiev, Stravinsky (who moved into a fancy Fifth Avenue Apartment and promptly died) – who’ve been drawn across the ocean by the bright lights of the big city.
Laid-Off Architect Tries Lemonade-Stand Approach
After being laid off twice in a year, John Morefield decided to set-up a booth at a Seattle farmers’ market, where he offers architectural advice for five cents. But “it’s not about the nickels in his tin can. It’s about meeting potential clients and contracts in a time when work is hard to come by.”
Oh, The Classicists Hate The Modernists, And The Modernists Hate The Classicists…
Witold Rybczynski: “Architects are unbending in their judgments. My Modernist friends hold multipaned windows, ogee moldings, and wallpaper beneath contempt; my Classicist friends deride bare walls, uncomfortable furniture, and pipe railings… Why are architects so dogmatic? Partly, it’s because architecture is a zero-sum game.”
Shaw Festival’s Associate Director Resigns
“Neil Munro is stepping down as associate director of the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., for health reasons, the festival announced Wednesday… Munro suffered an infection in 2008 and had to step aside last March from directing An Inspector Calls.“
Darci Kistler To Retire After 30-Year Career
“Darci Kistler, the last remaining ballerina at New York City Ballet to have been molded and hired by its co-founder George Balanchine, plans to retire in the 2010 season, she said on Wednesday… ‘I don’t want to walk around in pain,’ Ms. Kistler said. ‘I didn’t want to see myself with a plastic hip in 10 years.'”
CBC Radio News Anchor Russ Germain, 62
“The host of the World at Six and later World Report had a deep, smooth voice, an authoritative delivery and an insistence on correct pronunciation that made him a mentor to both fledgling broadcasters and the grown-ups.”
Starving Artists In Canada (Yes, Really)
“Earnings by most Canadian artists are hovering at poverty levels and the situation is likely to worsen as the worldwide recession deepens, according to a statistical profile of the country’s artists released yesterday… In fact, of the 140,000 artists analyzed, 43 per cent earned less than $10,000.”