Category: music

Opera can be a dangerous business. To prove it, Albrecht Puhlmann has a collection of death threats, all sent to him during his time at the helm of the Hanover State Opera…

“Booing at the end of opera performances has long been common in Germany, but was virtually unheard of in Britain until the late 1980s. But for the past 10 years, during which ENO has traced a shaky artistic path, audiences have reverted to docility. Which prompts the question of whether audiences conform to national stereotypes – and what makes continental Europeans apparently more discerning, and certainly more partisan, than their counterparts in the English-speaking world.”

Musicians of the Philadelphia orchestra, currently negotiating a new contract, have asked conductor Riccasrdo Muti to come and conduct them in a benefit concert to help bridge the gap between what the orchestra is offering in a new contract, and what the musicians want. “Muti, the orchestra’s fifth music director, has returned to lead his former musicians only once since stepping down – and has never appeared at the Kimmel Center.”

Ontario’s Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony has suffered under controversy since dismissing its music director Martin Fischer-Dieskau earlier this year. But the fuss hasn’t damaged the orchestra financially. “The symphony had set itself a target of $1.28 million for the fiscal year that ended July 31. It has managed to raise $1.43 million.”

Carnegie Hall is one of the world’s great concert halls. So everyone is wondering what London Symphony Orchestra manager Clive Gillinson – a “London orchestral musician, raised on grit and gruel, bring to this lavish, long-running party? Personal qualities apart – and Gillinson has been head-hunted, to my knowledge, by at least six of the top US musical institutions – he will add a dimension of difference, a whiff ofrenewal, which is exactly what is needed.”

Divesity is an issue in classical music, where musicians in orchestras (and the soloists who play with them) are overwhelmingly white (not to mention audiences, too, but that’s another story…) “It’s a question of exposure and it is a deficit that is passed on from generation to generation. Seeing droves of black people in opera houses and concert halls is the exception, and that means the seeds have been planted for the next 20 years. I am afraid I have no optimism for the future.”

The Columbus Symphony Orchestra has joined the growing roster of orchestras for whom contract negotiations have become a public affair this summer. “Sunday’s [Columbus Dispatch] carried a half-page ad from the musicians asking the public to step in and make their voices heard… Last week, sky banners touted a new grassroots website. Now [the] new ad is asking people to write the symphony board and express their frustrations.” Talks between musicians and management at the CSO broke off earlier this summer.

“The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, which was forced into bankruptcy protection two years ago, said yesterday it has eked out its best operating surplus in a decade… The orchestra suspended operations in October, 2002, when it filed for court protection from its creditors and embarked on a $1.5-million fundraising venture to stay afloat. The orchestra streamlined operations, hired a new management team, cut musicians’ pay by 20 per cent and sought out new sponsors, donations and ticket buyers.”

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced that music director Franz Welser-Möst will take over the job of planning the orchestra’s summer music festival once current summer director Jahja Ling’s contract expires in 2006. The orchestra will save about $60,000 with the move, but that appears not to have been a factor in the decision. Welser-Möst, like many of his predecessors, wanted to have more of an active role in planning the summer, and while he will not increase his summer presence on the podium, the programming will likely change noticably under his directorship.

A national “piping expert” in Scotland is accusing the Edinburgh Festival of forcing attendees to endure substandard bagpiping buskers in the name of tradition. “[Roddy McLeod] said most of the performers who lined the capital’s streets during August were ‘shockingly bad’ players. Many could not tune their instruments properly and did scant justice to their musical potential, he added.” Festival organizers agree that their pipers are not exactly ready for a Saturday night at the Sydney Opera House, but insist that they are merely upholding centuries of Scottish tradition.