Category: music

“If psychologists ever made a study of post-departure syndrome, they might begin with Kurt Masur’s return to New York with the London Philharmonic. In his time as music director of the New York Philharmonic Mr. Masur was received as something of a drill sergeant in charge of a wayward platoon, a kind of bitter medicine designed to purge the orchestra of its loose ways. But waves of friendship greeted him at Carnegie Hall on Monday and Tuesday nights, a genuine warmth like nothing he experienced during his years in New York.”

The Village Voice’s annual Pazz & Jop poll of music critics will go ahead despite the firing in August of its guiding force, critic Robert Christgau, but now it has competition. “This week Idolator, a newish music blog owned by Gawker Media, seized on the outrage and disappointment felt by critics around the country who saw Mr. Christgau — and Chuck Eddy, the Voice music editor, who was dismissed in April — as a force of credibility and journalistic continuity, by announcing its own poll, Jackin’ Pop.”

“Daniel Barenboim said he was flattered to be Lorin Maazel’s choice to pick up his baton at the New York Philharmonic, but, he said, ‘nothing could be further from my thoughts at the moment than the possibility of returning to the United States for a permanent position.’ … Mr. Barenboim said it would be inappropriate either to embrace or reject the proposal, since it was a suggestion by a colleague, not a formal offer by the board of the Philharmonic.”

A cello bow made in the 19th century by François Xavier Tourte sold at auction this week for nearly $200,000. The sale price is a record for a bow, and reflects the continued spike in the amount collectors and wealthy performers are willing to pay for string instruments. The buyer is reportedly a well-known European soloist, who is promising that the bow will be used in concert, and not displayed as an art object.

Carnegie Hall is teaming with the prestigious Juilliard School of Music to launch a new program in which post-graduate students would be sent to teach music in New York City schools, beginning in January. Participants would also receive performance opportunities as an incentive. “When the program is fully developed (expected to be within three years), a two-year fellowship will be offered to around 50 Juilliard graduates. Participating Fellows will receive a stipend, along with health benefits and access to rehearsal and performance facilities.”

Is London’s Royal Opera House quietly returning to the days when it served primarily as a showcase for homegrown talent? Norman Lebrecht thinks so, and wonders what the ripple effect might be if he’s right. “The consequences of this transition are considerable. As Covent Garden becomes increasingly a British house, a nursery of native talent, what role remains for English National Opera? Singing in English is no raison d’etre when the words are so blurry that surtitles have to be used, and if the ROH is route one to international class, why would any but the also-rans make a stop at the motorway café?”

Joseph Nagyvary, an instrument maker and researcher who has devoted much of his career to uncovering the secret behind the superior sound of instruments made by the old Italian masters, believes that he may have found the long-sought after secret. After testing shavings taken from old Cremonese instruments, Nagyvary says that he is certain that they were made with chemically treated wood which affected the sound after construction was complete.

The Toronto-based Canadian Opera Company rode a $600,000 boost in ticket sales and a $1.5 million increase in fundraising to a balanced budget for fiscal 2006. “The COC eked out a $20,000 surplus on the year, without receiving a penny from its foundation, which added $1-million to its treasury. Nor did the company take any ‘transition funds’ from its continuing capital campaign, which saved it from recording a loss in 2004.”

It has long been known that Lorin Maazel would not be staying long as music director of the New York Philharmonic, and speculation as to who might replace him at the end of this decade has been rampant ever since Maazel took the job in the first place. Now, Maazel has made it known whom he believes his successor should be: former Chicago Symphony MD Daniel Barenboim.

The Baltimore Symphony has received an $1 million challenge grant from a longtime benefactor, which will match any contribution above $5000 that the orchestra can raise between now and the end of the 2007-08 season. The grant comes as the BSO attempts to bolster its endowment (which was tapped to pay off existing debt earlier this year) and restore itself to balanced budgets.