Jessye Norman has pulled out of the $2 million premiere of a new opera written with her in mind. “Composed by Richard Danielpour with a libretto by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, “Margaret Garner” tells the story of a fugitive slave who kills her children rather than raise them in bondage. Norman was slated to sing all five performances as Cilla, the sympathetic mother-in-law to Margaret. Danielpour tailored the role for Norman’s dynamic voice and dignified carriage, and he said in an earlier Free Press interview that the moment the opera became real to him was the moment she agreed to participate.”
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Advertising That Pretends It Isn’t
As consumers grow more and more weary of a marketing-driven culture and become more inclined to tune out commercial messages, advertisers are getting seriously creative in their efforts to move product. In fact, the new breed of (usually) satirical ads look more like short films than product pitches, and some lucky companies have succeeded in making their brand not only a household name, but a cultural milepost. “Humor is the best way to cut through the multichannel clutter in the age of cable and satellite TV,” and the most successful of the new ads are “simply co-opting images television viewers are bombarded with daily.”
Infotainment Comes To The Sports World
Sports are beloved by fans largely because of the opportunities they present for dramatic finishes, for those heart-in-your-throat moments of great success and even greater failure. One of the greatest sports cliches is “You couldn’t have scripted it any better.” But of course, you usually could have, and the entertainment industry does so on a regular basis. Perhaps as a result of the inherently similar qualities of drama in sports and in entertainment, the line between the two worlds has blurred considerably in recent years. “Sports events are more and more about the personalities and subplots… Meanwhile, entertainment has become all about competition.”
Spring Forward, For No Good Reason At All
Well, here we are again, Daylight Savings Time, and for what? For whom? Nobody knows, it would seem, and those who think they do are almost invariably wrong. Daylight Savings is there to help farmers? Nope. They hate it. Foisted on the nation by a meddling, monolithic federal government? Not true, either. “The custom rests on an illusion: that we are doing something to time — yielding an hour in the spring, recovering it in the fall. Of course, it’s not so.” And as with so many wacky ideas firmly entrenched in the American mind, this one can be traced back to that king of deep thoughts and strange utterances, Benjamin Franklin.
The Andersen Filter
A lust for lasting fame drove Hans Christian Andersen above all else, a dream that seemed far-fetched at the time. But Andersen’s fairy tales hid deeper meanings that ensured his celebrity would last far beyond his lifetime. “It is almost impossible to experience certain situations without running them through a subliminal Hans Christian Andersen filter and coming up with a succinct, acerbic take. Your co-worker who is forever dissatisfied with the adjustments on her ergonomically impeccable chair? Yes, she’s the Princess and the Pea. The president from not-your-political-party is touting his new plan for the budget/war/economy/environment? More emperor’s new clothes, you snort… These are handy concepts.”
A New Generation Of 9/11 Books
Bookstores are heavy currently with books having to do with 9/11 in some way. “These books are at the forefront of a second wave of creative works related to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The first wave included predictable spasms of simple-minded jingoism and commercial calculation, from bullying country music ballads to cloying hagiographies of political figures eager to make hay out of the nation’s grief. But now we’re getting the good stuff.”
Muti Quits La Scala
Riccardo Muti has resigned as musical director of Milan’s La Scala opera house, following months of bitter recriminations and behind-the-scenes power struggles. The announcement comes weeks after the musicians and staff of La Scala called publicly for the 63-year-old conductor to be ousted. Muti had been the face of Italy’s most famous opera house since 1986.
Domingo’s Opera Harvest
Placido Domingo has made his mark not only as a singer but as a developer of opera companies. In Washington and Los Angeles he has taken companies to new heights. “While other American opera companies, such as San Francisco and the Met, have struggled through financial or political turmoil recently, Domingo’s houses have sailed along relatively unscathed. “I am very happy and proud of my companies,” he said. “We are just behind the Met and Chicago in terms of artistic quality and importance. That’s not to say that we don’t have problems. One of the biggest challenges is raising money. It’s not easy; especially since Sept. 11, things have become more difficult. But we have been working miracles in comparison [with other U.S. houses], and we are in good shape.”
Who’s Next?
With Riccardo Muti officially out, the race to find a successor is on at La Scala. But there aren’t many realistic candidates. “Muti’s successor will almost certainly have to be Italian and will be hard to find. The front-runners are probably Daniele Gatti, who is both music director of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and of Bologna’s Teatro Comunale, and Riccardo Chailly, who has recently left his post in Amsterdam to become music director in Leipzig. He has not yet arrived in Germany, however, which might make him more easily available… Another name being mentioned as a successor is Antonio Pappano, music director of Covent Garden.” And then there is the contingent that actually wants to convince Muti’s predecessor, Claudio Abbado, to retake the reins.
Whither The Maestro?
“The crisis in Milan, which has been front-page news around Italy and become the talk of the classical music world, is rooted not only in the politicized, sometimes anarchic atmosphere of Italian opera houses but also in the complex personality of Mr. Muti… The question of what happens next for this celebrated maestro has both immediate and long-range implications not just in Europe but in America, too.” The New York Philharmonic, which publicly courted the maestro for its open music director position several years ago, may do so again when Loren Maazel steps down. And with the situation in Milan so volatile, what conductor of stature will be willing to step into Muti’s shoes?