Category: music

“I’ve often been referred to as ‘that impudent brat.’ You’re impudent when you’ve no claim to power. But does anyone call a young man ‘impudent’? Instead he’s ‘that gutsy fellow,’ and ‘gutsy’ in this context means he commands respect and attention. Some male presenters proudly broadcast: ‘Now we’re presenting an all-women festival’ or ‘Now we’re focusing exclusively on women conductors,’ and yet if their inner attitude is ‘Now we’ve done our part and may continue on as before,’ nothing changes.

In a telephone interview Tuesday morning, Robertson said that he didn’t have a new assignment with another orchestra. “I think my sell-by date has come,” he said, “and I think it’s important not to overstay one’s welcome.”

Mark Swed: “Last week there happened to be something remarkable: two different (and they couldn’t have been more different) performances of Handel’s oratorio oriented around the one percent – the top and bottom one percent, that is.”

“It’s been a trying three years for the Nashville Symphony, which was teetering financially and barely avoided foreclosure on its iconic Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Now, audited financial statements show an organization that is operating in the black.”

“The goal of this is not to sell tickets,” OM spokesman Pierre Vachon says. Engaging with a marginalized population can only help the company clarify its purpose within the larger community, he says, while ideally reducing prejudice about the homeless. “What is the meaning of art in our time, how important is it? That’s the discussion we’re having now.”

Zuzana Ruzickova fell in love with piano and harpsichord early – and then the Nazis took her family to Terezin (Theresienstadt). “She insists music helped her survive. She remembers writing down a small section of Bach’s English Suite No 5 in E minor on a scrap of paper when she left Terezin in a cattle truck bound for Auschwitz.”

The fallout from a failed sale is causing much consternation. “While it is not uncommon for experts to differ on such matters — Is that painting by the old master or the school of the old master? — the Beethoven episode raised questions about transparency in auctions.”

Oh. NPR has gotten sort of hip. “Berlin and Vancouver are obvious hot spots right now (and that’s reflected in the mix), but there are developing scenes in Atlanta, D.C., Melbourne, Glasgow, Cairo and Tokyo that are generating truly memorable tunes.”

Police are cracking down on spaces all over the country – but music lovers, producers, space owners and fans say they can fight back. “There are cool people [in government] who understand what these spaces are, and we can seek them out and explain that we want to be safe.”

Four of the five board members have abruptly quit the board, and the board chair, it was announced late Friday “was no longer with the organization.” What’s happening here? “Catherine Beck, who joined the TSO Board just this past year, is the newly elected chair.”