Category: music

Riccardo Muti is more than a larger-than-life character in the world of Italian opera. He is also a shrewd politician, and while he may have gotten himself into a world of trouble with his latest attempts to consolidate power around himself at La Scala, it would be a mistake to count him out just yet. Still, there is little question that Muti is losing this battle: “Talent or no talent, most people in the house have had enough of a regime where, as one described it, ‘Supplicants gather outside his door like the Marschallin’s levée.'”

The Seattle Symphony is in the market for a new concertmaster, following music director Gerard Schwarz’s decision to fire Finnish violinist Ilkka Talvi, who had held the post for two decades, and a mind-boggling sixteen candidates have been invited to sit in the orchestra’s first chair before a decision is made. But there’s a lot more to winning the one of the more coveted positions in the orchestral business than just being a top-notch violinist…

Legendary music studios are disappearing at an accelerating rate. “A recent roll call includes Cello and Royaltone Studios, both in Los Angeles, and New York’s famed Hit Factory, and that’s just in the past two months. Illegal downloading, which means less revenue for record companies and less money for recording budgets, is partly to blame. A much bigger factor, though, has been the rise of cheap digital recording equipment: A high-quality home studio system can be had for well under $50,000 — about what it would cost to spend three weeks in a high-end studio like the Hit Factory.”

The crisis at La Scala has escalated out of control, and Italy is fascinated. “The crisis has gripped Italy the way steroids in baseball have the United States and stunned many with its speedy onset, coming just three months after the giddy celebration of a three-year renovation of the 18th-century house. The crisis stemmed from the dismissal last month of the general manager, Carlo Fontana, whose relations with Mr. Muti were rocky.”

Scottish Opera is to resume producing at the Edinburgh Festival with a production of John Adams’ “The Death of Klinghoffer” But already, critics are attacking the company for its choice: “It is breaking into its “year of darkness” with an opera of such disputed taste that it will only confirm to critics that it is either out of control or in the grip of an incomprehensible death wish.”

English National Opera is producing “On the Town.” “There is more to opera than Mozart and Wagner, and if Johann Strauss could upgrade from music hall to opera house then why not Oscar Hammerstein? La Scala, after all, is preparing to stage Lloyd Webber’s Phantom and, as for preserving the purity of the naked voice, it is an open secret that New York’s high-church Met has, on occasion, amplified a mezzo or two. Covent Garden took on Sondheim and the National Theatre has made Cole Porter core repertoire without anyone questioning their core purpose. Why, then, is ENO under fire when all it wants to do is reach a wider audience?” Well…

“Even before embarking upon its next endowment campaign, the Curtis Institute of Music has received a combined pledge of $6 million from two of [Philadelphia’s] most generous philanthropists. The Annenberg and Lenfest foundations have offered the gift to Curtis – if the music conservatory on Rittenhouse Square can raise an additional $9 million by Dec. 31, 2006… The contract gives Curtis considerable freedom: It does not stipulate that the interest from the money be spent on establishing new programs (which foundations often require), and the principal will go toward the unrestricted portion of Curtis’ endowment. It also asks Curtis to maintain a balanced budget; to encourage students, parents and graduates to make donations to the school; and to consider the implementation of an additional student-loan program for living expenses.”

The Minnesota-based St. Paul Chamber Orchestra will mount a 3-week residency in Chicago’s Hyde Park next season, in what the ensemble hopes will be the beginning of a new touring tradition. “The residency will consist of three concerts, a family-oriented program, music education activities in local public elementary schools and a series of master classes, composition readings and chamber music coaching for university students. It will be spread over separate weeks and a weekend in fall, winter and spring.”

The premier of South Australia has denounced plans to cut the Adelaide Symphony as a “trick” designed to shift the burden of funding orchestras from a national broadcaster (ABC) to state governments, and pledged to work with the federal government to preserve the orchestra in its current state. Meanwhile, the musicians of the ASO offered a protest of their own, performing quartets in an outdoor mall with one of the four players missing, to represent the proposed 25% cut in the orchestra’s personnel.

The musicians of the Boston Symphony are reportedly well pleased with James Levine as their new music director, but the maestro’s predilection for over-long programs and extra rehearsals has some players begging for a break. The BSO agreed to several rules changes in order to secure Levine’s services, among them an agreement that there could be more than the traditional 4 rehearsals for a given program. But that extra time on stage has apparently caused several minor injuries already within the orchestra’s ranks, and others are concerned about nagging arm and shoulder pain, as well as simple fatigue. Levine has reportedly been responsive to the musicians’ concerns, and has retooled a couple of programs as a result.