Nina Baroness von Maltzahn, who steps down at the end of the month as the Curtis Institute of Music’s board chair, has made a grand parting gesture. … On an adjusted-for-inflation basis, [her] donation is the largest single gift Curtis has received since Mary Louise Curtis Bok established the school as tuition-free in 1928.”
Category: music
A New Complete Version Of Copland’s ‘Appalachian Spring’
Copland originally composed his score for Martha Graham’s dance piece for only 13 instruments, and when he later expanded the music for full symphony orchestra, he abridged it into a suite. Eugene Ormandy once asked the composer to restore the cuts and orchestrate the full-length score, but the project was never finished – until now.
Music As Art, As Investment. No Subsidy Here…
“What’s worked for the last 400 years is when you see independent, risky art as an investment, not a subsidy. That can’t happen when the aim is to entertain or achieve quick success. By pursuing that aim, private concert presenters undermine and even endanger the essential, serious work of publicly funded institutions.”
Would Yannick Really Be The Right Person To Lead The Metropolitan Opera?
Zachary Woolfe: “From its next music director, the Met should want a personal, passionate vision for the repertory as much as an exciting persona and technical chops. … But for better or (I think) worse, he would not arrive at the Met with an agenda, particularly in modern and contemporary music. … Mr. Nézet-Séguin would doubtless give us memorable takes on Otello. Is that enough?”
Cellists – They’re A Bunch Of Damn Troublemakers
“Indeed, if any instrumentalist was going to be involved in a wild international money-laundering scheme, it was probably going to be a cellist. The instrument has a long history of association with rowdy activists, sultry libertines, genre iconoclasts, and all manner of rebellious spirits.”
Music Has Become Too Disposable. Hence The Slow-Listening Movement
“Why vinyl? Commitment. In this mid-second decade of the 21st century, music is being taken for granted on a collective scale. An entire generation of music listeners will never pay for music, nor do they believe that they should. The long form music medium has taken a back seat to song culture, yet the average person only listens to a song for approximately 24 seconds before deciding if it’s worth their time to continue to listen.”
Chicago’s Baroque Band To Cease Operations
“Garry Clarke, the period-instrument ensemble’s founder and artistic director, had previously announced that he would leave his position at the end of the current season. In a statement posted on the Baroque Band website, board president Evan Trent said the board voted unanimously to shutter the group after Clarke’s departure.”
‘It’s Gorgeous, Just Gorgeous’ – An Operatic ‘Hamlet’ From The Age Of Verdi Resurfaces
“Amleto by Franco Faccio (1840-91) had a disastrous 1871 La Scala premiere … [and] the composer never again allowed the opera to be performed … The librettist was young Arrigo Boito (1842-1918), known as one of the great librettists in opera history for his later collaborations with Verdi on Otello and Falstaff. … And the singers and the creative team [for a new revival] say this operatic Hamlet needs no apologies.”
Memphis Symphony Takes A Bold Step To Reinvent Its Business Model
The partnership will be built on three strategies: music performance, music training and community engagement. “This isn’t just about cutting costs, but adding value. We believe this is a valuable model that should be observed throughout the field of symphony orchestras across the United States.”
Here’s How To Get Butts Into The Met Opera’s Empty Seats
“The answer, it seems to be, is a refinement and great expansion of the existing Rush Ticket program (as originally backed by the sainted Agnes Varis.)” La Cieca explains how exactly this would work, complete with (“take a deep breath,” she warns) math.