“When our society is having to confront the murder of women, how can we dare to applaud the killing of a woman?” said Cristiano Chiarot, the head of the opera house, the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. – Sydney Morning Herald
Category: music
Opera Australia Director: It Would Be “Irresponsible” To Ban Classics Of The Repertoire
Lyndon Terracini was responding to a call from Australian composers, directors, musicians, and vocalists, who have called for a ”revolution” to remove what they describe as gender bias, sexism, and dramatised acts of violence against women in opera. – Sydney Morning Herald
Next Head Of Paris Opera Will Be Canadian Opera Company’s Alexander Neef: Report
According to the French newspaper Le Figaro, Neef, who was director of casting at the Paris Opera before becoming General Director of COC in 2008, will succeed Stéphane Lissner as General Director in Paris in 2022. Neef’s contract in Toronto currently runs to 2026, and last fall he took on the job of artistic director of the summer-only Santa Fe Opera. – Ludwig van Toronto
Maverick Conductor Teodor Currentzis Stomps Away From His Russian Home Base
The Greek-born maestro, a naturalized Russian citizen, has been getting plenty of love-it-or-hate-it attention for recordings (particularly of Mozart operas) with his period-orchestra-and-chorus MusicAeterna. Since 2011, he and his ensemble have been in residence at the State Opera and Ballet in the Urals city of Perm. Now they’re leaving, with Currentzis complaining of lack of understanding and interference from local and regional politicians: “Without their complete lack of understanding, the absence of all reverence and sensitivity, I would never have summoned the strength to make the decision to abandon my heavenly kingdom [at the opera house].” (in German; Google Translate version here) – Musik Heute (Germany)
La Scala Picks A New Leader
Dominique Meyer, who is French and has been director of Vienna State Opera since 2010, has been celebrated for increasing revenue at the Austrian institution at a time when many opera houses are struggling. – The New York Times
The Digital Age Has Been Unkind To Classical Music (It’s About The Meta-Data)
Browsing and accessing classical music online has been a chore. The data structures were set up for pop music, not classical. Finally, companies are working on some solutions. – The New York Times
Problem In Music: Even Taylor Swift Doesn’t Own Her Own Work
Not only has her former label not let the singer buy back her own masters, but Scooter Braun, a powerful music mogul whom Swift calls a manipulative bully, has bought the entire label (likely sold to him specifically because Swift wouldn’t re-sign with her former label). It’s a nightmare scenario for many singers and singer-songwriters. “‘This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept,’ Swift wrote on Sunday.” – The New York Times
Latest Investment? Now You Can Invest In Hit Songs
The fund floated on the London Stock Exchange in July 2018 and recently published its first-ever annual results. The man who founded it, Merck Mercuriadis, says hit songs are “as investable as gold or oil”. – BBC
Sixty UK Music Institutions Promise Gender Parity By 2022
More than 60 organisations, including some of the UK’s highest-funded companies and prominent performing arts conservatoires, have promised to take positive action towards equality. The Keychange project is the brainchild of charitable funding body the PRS Foundation. It was launched in 2018, when 180 music festivals committed to programming gender-balanced line-ups by 2022. – The Stage
Juilliard Dean Ara Guzelimian To Step Down
Guzelimian has been dean and provost for 13 years and is known as the “musical gravitas” at the school. – Musical America