Category: music

Hoping to duplicate the success of Milos Forman’s “Amadeus” movie, movie producers are planning a biopic on the life of Vivaldi. “Amadeus is what we are going for. They set the template for this form, and there’s been not much between then and now. That was a wonderful film. We want to make a film of that calibre. Maybe better.”

“It’s not unheard of for high-flying directors to return to grass roots. Graham Vick spends part of each year staging community productions with his Birmingham Opera Company. And Warner was partly responsible for establishing the outreach wing of English National Opera. Yet it still seems incongruous to find him at work in a community centre on the outskirts of Newcastle, patiently explaining stage technique to a homeless woman who has missed her cue.”

In a move that stunned the music world, the Philadelphia Orchestra has announced that music director Christoph Eschenbach will leave his post when his contract expires after the 2007-08 season. At five years, Eschenbach’s aborted tenure in Philadelphia will rank as the shortest any music director there has ever had.

“The successor scenario remains unclear, and the rest of the Eschenbach tenure – almost two full seasons – could go to a number of extremes: Conductor and orchestra might just give up on each other, which would be painful and/or soporific, or they might decide that since it’s not a marriage anymore, they can relax and have fun. [As for a successor,] the orchestra will have a long, hard slog with dark horses eager to come up, veterans such as [Bernard] Haitink who guard their time jealously, and interested parties in between – all arriving here knowing that the orchestra needs them more than they need it.”

“Everything is audible: a candy wrapper 50 feet away, someone tapping their shoe three rows back; even a moderate cough in the balcony explodes like a detonating landmine on the main floor. Miami audiences are going to have to engage in some serious self-policing to avoid disrupting performances in such a live acoustic.”

Anthony Tommasini says that the opera world is suffering from a distinct lack of big voices capable of tackling the classic roles in big Italian operas. “Young voices are not being nurtured for this particular repertory as they once were. Instead, fledgling singers have the option of forging a distinctive artistic persona in the much broader repertory that has been embraced by companies everywhere.”

Is a musical education as important in child development as proper instruction in math and language? “At a superficial level, most teachers would agree that becoming involved with music at school has a markedly good effect on pupils. [But] more significant is the nature of the music itself. Nobody can deny how central a part music plays in the life of most children and adolescents… It is the purpose of education to extend the imagination, to open up new and infinite pleasures. For many children, to learn an instrument is the beginning of this extension.”

Lyric Opera of Chicago has found a sponsor for its radio broadcasts through the 2011-12 season. Lyric has been off the air for four years, but returns to local and syndicated radio this Saturday night. The donor making the series possible is a Chicago-area developer whose net worth is estimated at $3 billion.

Most people in the arts assume that there just isn’t a lot of crossover between the core audiences for high culture and professional sports. But honestly, football really isn’t all that different from opera, right? …no, really! “The crowd is better behaved at the opera, [but] there are moments watching both that make my spine tingle… Second-guessing plays a big role in both the football and opera experiences. By halftime of the game or intermission of the opera, almost everybody has become a critic.”

The executive director of the Alabama Symphony has resigned after only three seasons. Paul Ferrone’s brief tenure in Birmingham was widely considered a success – “he leaves an orchestra with a balanced budget, a new music director and a growing statewide presence” – and it appears that the decision to leave was entirely his.