Category: music

The work Barenboim and La Scala selected for their free Tel Aviv centennial concert was a “gift [with] a special poignancy. Verdi’s Requiem was the greatest musical production of the Holocaust era. It emerged as a form of resistance – no less impressive than any undertaken in the face of the Nazi beast – in the concentration camp of Terezin.”

“[A]s the creme-de-la-creme of Tel Aviv society thronged … to get tickets for the premiere of La Scala Milano’s production of Aida, … on Tuesday evening [in Ramallah], as the excited announcer declared in both English and Arabic, the curtain rose on the ‘world premiere’ of the first Palestinian opera in Arabic, called The Story Behind the Tale.”

“[D]o the Proms actually matter – meaning, are they a truly live force in our culture? It’s a fair question, because there’s no doubt that the Proms were a truly live force when they were born in 1895. What founder Robert Newman promised was nothing less than a social and musical revolution. ‘I will run nightly concerts and train the public by easy stages,’ he declared, ‘Popular at first, gradually raising the standard.'”

A Los Angeles County supervisor’s demand that L.A. Opera “delete the focus on Wagner” from its “Ring” festival “would be a cultural public relations disaster for Los Angeles…. It would bankrupt L.A. Opera, which has been ‘Ring’ obsessed for a decade. It would harm Los Angeles’ economy: The tourism industry is banking on a ‘Ring’ windfall, and the ‘Ring Festival’ brings together 50 different arts organizations. And it’s even bad for the Jews.” There are artistic and political arguments against it, too.

A Los Angeles County supervisor’s demand that L.A. Opera “delete the focus on Wagner” from its “Ring” festival “would be a cultural public relations disaster for Los Angeles” and “would bankrupt L.A. Opera, which has been ‘Ring’ obsessed for a decade. It would harm Los Angeles’ economy: The tourism industry is banking on a ‘Ring’ windfall, and the ‘Ring Festival’ brings together 50 different arts organizations. And it’s even bad for the Jews.”

“Richard Rodzinski, president of the Van Cliburn Foundation, announced his retirement Tuesday. He led the foundation for 23 years and six competitions, bringing the prestigious Cliburn piano contest into the world of live webcasts. Rodzinski turns 65 in January and his current contract with the Cliburn expires in February.”

“The Globe and Mail was complimentary, giving Prima Donna three stars out of four and calling the premiere ‘a thoroughly entertaining, if slightly barmy, evening.’ … In a more mixed review, Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times agrees: ‘The opera ends with a tender aria for Regine, a long-spun melody with a gentle accompaniment riff: in other words, a Wainwright song. Would that there had been more of them.’ [But] Lynne Walker of the Independent gave Prima Donna two stars out of five, and described it as a ‘flimsy plot … spun out into a cheesy piece of full-length musical theatre’.”

“Jonathan Lennie, the classical editor of [London’s] Time Out magazine, attacked those who try to impress others by racing to be first to applaud as they recognise the closing bars of a piece and criticised concert-goers who clap between movements.” (The director of the BBC Proms has a fine response.)

“Bill Theisen, the Skylight Opera Theatre artistic director who was cut loose in a budget-trimming measure in June, was asked by the board to return to his post. He has declined the offer,” citing what he called “a breach of trust.”

“The North Carolina Symphony, faced with an unprecedented $4 million debt, … plans to cut musicians’ compensation 17 percent this fiscal year as it tries to find ways to deal with a slumping economy. [Grant] Llewellyn, the music director, has agreed to a 10 percent salary cut.”