The Sydney Symphony and its supporters are positively giddy over the hiring of Vladimir Ashkenazy as the orchestra’s new chief conductor, but the Russian maestro’s star power will come at a cost: Ashkenazy will spend only eight weeks a year with his new orchestra. Still, at a time when the SSO is trying to raise its international profile and stabilize its finances, a big name on the marquee can go a long way.
Author: sbergman
Wand’ring Lonely As A Marketing Device…
“Two hundred years after wandering through drifts of spring flowers in the Lake District, William Wordsworth has been given a pop video and rap version of his famous poem on daffodils. Read by a zany red squirrel in a series of dramatic mountain and lakeside locations, the hip take on the 24 lines of verse aims to lure more young people to the national park this summer.”
There Was An Earthquake! A Terrible Flood! Locusts!
Ever since Roberto Alagna walked off the stage of La Scala mid-aria last December, he’s been trying to explain his side of things. His side does not include a great deal of contrition. “It was everyone else’s fault, apparently. He blames the conductor Riccardo Chailly for not holding the right tempo and the orchestra for playing ‘so-so’. The director, Franco Zeffirelli, he says, is ‘a great artist but not a great man… I left the stage because I was not well. I had hypoglycaemia. . When I have pressure I lose my sugar. I have a problem with my metabolism.”
Hamburg Goes For Global Recognition w/New Hall
The North German city of Hamburg has unveiled plans for a massive new concert hall designed by the architects Herzog & DeMeuron. The design, which is already being compared to that ghostly schooner, The Flying Dutchman, has clearly been created with global iconic status in mind. “The project is part of ongoing efforts to redevelop the city’s old docklands – known as Hafencity, or Harbor City – as a center of homes, offices and cultural events.”
Reevaluating Elgar, Yet Again
The visage of composer Sir Edward Elgar is shortly to be removed from Britain’s £20 note, which has set off yet another round of the seemingly endless debate over whether Elgar was or was not the UK’s greatest composer. “Now that modernism has receded, we can see the originality of these co-called ‘conservative’ composers more clearly. Strauss, Sibelius and Elgar now seem in their own way just as symptomatic of the troubling modern era as Stravinsky or Schoenberg.”
Seeking The Sweet Sound Of Silence
The world around us is getting noisier every day, particularly for those living in cities, and some in the UK are worried that those with the means to desert the cities are doing so. “Sure, there is much of modern life that is hugely invigorating: on a night out in our cosmopolitan, cultural and affluent cities, that great cacophony can seem like a sweet symphony. But an increasing number of our most accomplished citizens are finding it too much, and are opting out – fleeing to the countryside, or even abroad.”
Yet More Smithsonian Scandal
“The Smithsonian Institution last year renewed a contract giving the Chubb Group more than a half-million dollars of insurance business annually while Lawrence M. Small, then the Smithsonian secretary, and Sheila P. Burke, the deputy secretary, held highly paid seats on Chubb’s board of directors.” AJ Blogger Tyler Green first wrote about the connection several weeks ago.
Testing Ground
The first rehearsal of an expensive new stage production is never a good place to discover that your script sucks. But for writers, who work mainly in isolation until that fateful first rehearsal, there aren’t a lot of other options. But a weekly workshop in Los Angeles is allowing writers the chance to see their work performed by local actors without the pressure of press and public looking in.
At Long Last, Taubman Fires Back
“A. Alfred Taubman, ignoring all of his instincts, stayed silent during the price-fixing trial that would end with a prison sentence for the former owner of Sotheby’s auction house. It was a decision that the luxury-mall developer and philanthropist sees as a critical mistake as he reflects on a career in retailing that began as a discount-store salesman and eventually put him at the centre of an art-world scandal… In a memoir being published today, Taubman takes aim at the former executives” at both Sotheby’s and Christie’s auction houses.
Writers’ Union Girds For Tinseltown Battle
The union that represents Hollywood’s professional writers is counting down to the end of its current contract with the major studios, and negotiations are expected to be tense and complicated. The union’s new president will have much to do with how the contract talks progress, and whether Hollywood will see its first extended writers’ strike since 1988.