“The company said today that it had laid off 17 employees, or approximately 17% of its staff. It has also mandated a pay cut for all employees, averaging 6% but with higher-paid staffers taking an 8% cut.” The stagehands’ and orchestra musicians’ unions will be asked to help find savings as well.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Newsflash: IQ Tests Do Not Measure Common Sense
Researcher Keith Stanovich finds that “intelligence [as conventionally measured can] coexist with foolishness because IQ tests do not measure the rationality required to abstain from dumb decisions.”
Bolshoi Cancels Tour And New Production
Mid-season budget cuts is response to the worldwide economic crisis have forced the Bolshoi Theater to cancel a tour of Mexico and a new production of Verdi’s Otello, described by general director Alexsei Iksanov as one of the most expensive stagings the house had planned in recent years.
Jaroussky, Prégardien Win At MIDEM Classical Awards
Tenor Christoph Prégardien tool Best Vocal Recital and Recording of the Year for his Schubert Schöne Müllerin, while countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, already named Vocal Artist of the Year, took Best Baroque Recording for Carestini: The Story of a Castrato. Among other winners were Doctor Atomic, Charles Mackerras, La Venexiana, Kaija Saariaho, Christoph Eschenbach and The Sixteen.
The Origins Of ‘Good Taste’
“During the 17th century, Britain witnessed the birth of a consumer society. But, as the number of possessions grew, so did the concept of ‘taste’, a subtle and elusive yardstick by which people advertised their social position and sensibilities.”
Naughty British Doctors Confess To ‘Cello Scrotum’ Hoax
“Never mind that this dermatalogical ailment seemed unlikely, given the posture of the average male cellist, the condition was named in the British Medical Journal, and thereafter in an array of reviews of musician’s aches and pains.”
One Of Britain’s Top Period Bands Gives Up Its Name
The King’s Consort, whose 95 recordings for the Hyperion label have sold more than a million copies in total, is renaming itself the Retrospect Ensemble as of this May. (The change is likely a matter of branding: The group’s founding director, Robert King, was jailed in 2007 for “indecent assault.”)
Sony Classical Names New President, Recommits To Genre
As Sony Entertainment CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz announced the appointment of former Decca exec Bogdan Roscic, he said, “Classical music not only remains a vital part of our company’s DNA, but also this is a business we are determined to grow and promote again.”
Zaha Hadid To Build ‘Diamond Grasshopper’ In The Diamond City
The starchitect “has unveiled images of a grasshopper-like extension to a refurbished fire station in Antwerp to house the port authority headquarters… [Her] practice will design both the extension and the refurbishment of the fire station at an estimated construction cost of €30.5m.”
Bucharest To Get A Hadid Of Its Own – A Diamond Gherkin
The 200-meter-tall Dorobanti Tower – which looks something like a faceted version of Norman Foster’s Swiss Re building in London – will house luxury apartments, a five-star hotel, a convention center and a casino. Projected opening date is currently 2013.