“The orchestra was able to retain Nézet-Séguin even as he was wooed by the Met – which is being seen as something of a feather in the cap of the city.” Said one local arts executive, “He could have so easily just walked away. Everyone is talking about attracting and retaining talent, and the fact that we’ve kept the talent is beyond brilliant. This is such a good story for Philadelphia.”
Category: music
Alex Ross: What The Choice Of Nezet-Seguin Means For The Met
“What is needed at the Met — as at many other big organizations, notably the New York Philharmonic—is not some magical charismatic personality who will pacify all parties but a fundamental rethinking of the institution.”
Prince Post-Death Sales Smash Beatles Record
“For the first full sales week following Prince’s death on April 21, five of his albums were in Billboard’s top 10, at Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7. Only Beyoncé’s Lemonade kept him from the top. Billboard says no artist has had that many albums in the Top 10. Prince had 19 discs in Billboard’s top 200, beating a record of 14 previously set by the Beatles.”
Can The Met Opera Really Wait Four Years Without A Music Director?
“What is surprising… and concerning, is how long the Met is willing to go without a music director, even an interim appointment. After becoming director designate in 2017, Mr. Nézet-Séguin does not officially begin his tenure until the start of the 2020-21 season.”
The Met Opera Has A Long Wait For Yannick – Is It Worth It? Asks Anthony Tommasini
“What is surprising, though, and concerning, is how long the Met is willing to go without a music director, even an interim appointment. After becoming director designate in 2017, Mr. Nézet-Séguin does not officially begin his tenure until the start of the 2020-21 season.”
It’s Official: Yannick Is Met Opera’s Next Music Director – But Met Must Share Him With Philly For At Least Ten More Years
“Nézet-Séguin, 41, will phase in his Met duties gradually, becoming music director-designate in the 2017-18 season with two productions, and music director in 2020-21 leading five, the opera company announced Thursday. In a simultaneous development, the conductor and the Philadelphia Orchestra have extended his contract with a deal keeping him in the post through 2025-26 – at least.”
Beach Reading For Classical Music Fans: Anne Midgette’s Crowdsourced Guide
When she asked followers on social media to suggest works of fiction that did a good job of treating classical music, Midgette “got back a veritable flood of titles: short stories and novels, popular fiction and Nobel Prize-winners, and many books I’d never even heard of. So here you go: your summer fiction reading list, suggested and annotated by several dozen people.”
European Union Youth Orchestra Saved By Order Of EU President
“Last month, the EUYO announced that it would close this summer after EU funding was withdrawn.” Weeks of protests followed, and on Tuesday it was revealed “that President Jean-Claude Juncker had asked commissioners to find ‘immediate solutions that can be sustainable.'”
Turning A Salman Rushdie Novel Into An Opera
A report on how composer Jack Perla and playwright Rajiv Joseph (a Pulitzer finalist for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo and Lortel and Obie winner for Guards at the Taj) developed their adaptation of Shalimar the Clown, which premieres next week at Opera Theater of St. Louis.
Indie Opera Is Flourishing In Toronto
“Quite apart from the gold-plated extravaganzas that glide across the stage of the Canadian Opera Company’s Four Seasons stage, there is a vital collection of smaller companies in the city finding natural life in the supposedly ossified realms of one of Western civilization’s most highly developed art forms.”