It’s looking like a tough year for UK opera. Scottish Opera just lost its director, English National is having difficulty finding anyone to take its music director job, Welsh National is precarious, and Opera North is out of its home…
Blog
ENO Commisions Gadaffi Opera
The Ebglish National Opera has commissioned a work about Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi. The unnamed work is about “a man of humble origin, born into a Bedouin tribe who became a powerful and influential political leader… the volatile relationship between the Middle East and the West and… international politics and their representation in the media of both worlds”.
Study: Broadway Audience Is Out-Of-Towners
“Confirming many long-held beliefs, a new demographic study shows that 6 in 10 Broadway audience members do come from outside the city and its suburbs, and that the single most important factor in ticket buying is “personal recommendation.” The study, conducted by the League of American Theaters and Producers, a trade group, found that during the 2003-4 season only 16.7 percent of the Broadway audience came from inside the New York City limits, with an additional 22.9 percent coming from suburban areas in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. About half of the 2003-4 crowd came from the rest of the United States, while a little more than 10 percent consisted of international tourists.”
Redgrave’s Return To RSC Canceled
Vanessa Redgrave’s much-anticipated return to the Royal Shakespeare Company after 43 years has been canceled. “Redgrave, 68 this month, was to have opened in a new version by Tony Harrison of Euripides’ tragedy Hecuba at the Royal Shakespeare theatre on February 17. Rehearsals for the play’s chorus began in London last week. The run has been scrapped to give her time to recover from an operation.”
Playwright Speaks Out Against Sikh Protests Of Her Play
Playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti says her life has been upended by the controversy surrounding the cancellation of her play last month at Birmingham Rep after Sikh protests. “My play, Behzti, has been cancelled, I’ve been physically threatened and verbally abused by people who don’t know me. My family has been harassed and I’ve had to leave my home. I have been deeply angered by the upset caused to my family and I ask people to see sense and leave them alone.”
Lincoln Center Chief Resigns
Lincoln Center chairman Bruce Crawford is resigning. When he assumed the post in June 2002, he said he would stay three to five years. “In the interview in his office yesterday, Mr. Crawford, who turns 76 in March, said there was no significance to his leaving on the early side of that projection.”
BBC Governors Sought Assurances Over “Springer”
“BBC governors were so concerned at the record number of complaints about Jerry Springer – the Opera that they sought a personal assurance from director general Mark Thompson that it did not breach blasphemy and obscenity regulations.”
Classical Music Cuts Crime In London Underground
London’s Underground has been piping in classical music into some of the most crime-ridden stations in the system. “Mozart and Pavarotti broadcast through loudspeakers has resulted in a drastic reduction in anti-social behaviour by gangs of youths. It is not that the music has a soothing effect – the gangs hate it and it has driven them away.”
SF Symphony Gets Major Funding For Multimedia Project
The San Francisco Symphony gets a $10 million grant – the largest in its history for use in ‘Keeping Score: MTT on Music,’ the orchestra’s multimedia effort, started last year, to build new audiences for classical music. The gift will be delivered once the Symphony raises $10 million during the next three years. “Keeping Score” was initiated with a two-part national television show last year, which featured Thomas and orchestra members talking about Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony and then performing the piece.”
2004 – Great Year For Concert Business
America’s live-concert business did well in 2004. “The concert business not only survived 2004, it hit a new high of $12.8 billion in revenue, according to a report released yesterday by the trade publication Pollstar. That figure is a 12 percent jump over 2003, when the industry took in $12.5 billion”