The orchestra, where a new managing director recently joined chief conductor Andrew Davis, “post[ed] a surplus of A$761,000 for 2016. The result is significant, as the orchestra registered a deficit of A$577,653 in 2015, and the previous surplus in 2014 was only A$298,770.”
Category: music
Maybe There’s More To Stradivarius Violins Than You Can Learn From A Blind Test
Responding to the latest study to find that people can’t hear the difference between million-dollar Strads and top-line new violins, columnist Richard Ball suggests that – well, as a cynical DC operative might put it, perception is reality.
One Of The Toughest Jobs At The Met Opera Is Completely Silent
Reporter Michael Cooper talks to Tim Guscott, chief follow-spot operator, who says “It’s really hard to follow something no bigger than a basketball that’s 135 feet away.” (He’s referring to Anna Netrebko’s head.)
Sydney Opera House’s Opera Theatre To Begin $52M Renovation, Including ‘Acoustic Enhancement System’
The $71 million (Aus) project in the Joan Sutherland Theatre, the first part of a $273 million (Aus) plan to renovate the entire complex, will replace engines, hoists, and other backstage equipment as well as a “state-of-the-art acoustic enhancement system” (presumably electronic) to improve the auditorium’s famously poor sound quality. (And Sydney’s leading newspaper now has no arts writers to cover this story.)
The Stradivarius Test – And The Strads Don’t Pass
Whether the player was performing solo or with an orchestra, “Listeners found that new violins projected significantly better than those by Stradivari. Moreover, listeners preferred new violins over old by a significant margin.” In addition, Paris audiences were asked “to guess whether each of seven violins was old or new. In all, just 122 of 273 (or 44.7 percent) of the guesses were correct.”
‘Black, Openly Gay, Virtuosic, And Arrogant’ – Also Unconventional And (Yes) Mad: Composer Julius Eastman Gets Revival 27 Years After His Death
He studied and then taught with Morton Feldman; he sang with both Meredith Monk and the New York Philharmonic; at the premiere of one of his pieces, he put on a dress and served the audience soup. (The description in the headline, by the way, is by his little brother.) David Patrick Stearns has a look at this singular figure, the subject of a festival now underway in Philadelphia.
Midgette And Kennicott Dish The Met Opera 50th Anniversary Gala (And The House Itself, And The State Of Singing)
Also dished: “Anna Netrebko single-handedly upholding the grand tradition of opera as camp” and the evening as “a symbolic passing of the torch.”
Watch Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s Surprise Appearance At The Met Opera Gala
The beloved Russian baritone, undergoing long-term treatment for brain cancer, has cancelled all future staged opera performances and recently had to call off a recital tour. So when Peter Gelb had the idea to invite him to sing at the gala, he kept the plan secret, in case Hvorostovsky was too ill to make it. But make it he did, and sang up a storm. (video)
Stradivarius Violins Lose Yet Another Blind Test To New Instruments
The last major published study asked ten well-known soloists to play a selection of Strads and new violins, and the players solidly preferred the new ones. The latest test happened in Paris, just after the previous one, and was repeated in New York; it focused on the impressions of listeners in the concert hall. And once again …
Elvis Fans Are Starting To Die Off, And No One Wants Their Memorabilia
So this is what happens when a cultural phenomenon fades. “There are about 32,000 Elvis records being sold on eBay at the moment – this number was closer to 20,000 items for all memorabilia five years ago. And it’s not even as if they are selling well.” Ouch.