“A protester carrying a sign criticizing the policies of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia climbed over the orchestra pit and onto the stage at the Metropolitan Opera on Thursday night as the diva Anna Netrebko took her curtain call after performing the title role in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta.” (includes video)
Category: music
PhilOrch Keeps Yannick For Five More Years
“[Music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s] current contract runs through 2017, which means the new five-year deal extends his tenure to 2022.” With the president/CEO and board chairman having extended their terms as well, the Philadelphia Orchestra has the stability it will need to do the major fundraising it also needs.
Bring back The 8-Track! Why Physicality Matters In Music
“It’s not about toggling between tabs, one for streaming music, one for chatting with coworkers, and another for checking bank statements. It’s about experiencing music as an artifact, and really listening.”
That Sounds So Familiar (But Does That Mean I’ve Just Plagiarized Tom Petty?)
“Come to think of it, Petty is more like a musical Mark Rothko, in that he usually paints with only a few big splotches of solid color. Just because he’s famous for doing it, does that really mean nobody else is allowed to?”
Is The English National Opera Losing Audiences And Money? ENO Responds
“The unequivocal fact is that in the last eight financial years the ENO has run an unrestricted surplus of £2.4 million. Our total audience for 2013/14 was up by 11% and audience numbers for the 2014/15 season to date remain stable.”
India’s Only Opera Tenor Wants To Bring The Art Form Home
Anando Mukerjee: “If it is done, if it is packaged right, if it is not diluted, if the artistic integrity of the music is not diluted, and it is given an Indian narrative and an Indian context, then there is no reason to suppose why it can’t work. … You can certainly have something like Carmen which is a great opera set in Spain, being set in India, Rajasthan. So you’re not masalafying it, you’re not chutnifying it, you’re not making it into a kind of fusion experiment. You’re simply contextualizing it to the Indian setting.”
Carnegie Hall Will Commission 125 New Works
“Carnegie Hall will celebrate its 125th anniversary next season not only with its customary assortment of the world’s leading orchestras and performers playing long-cherished masterpieces but also by starting a new project to commission some 125 new works over the next five years.”
Greece And Spain’s Economies Are Basket Cases, Yet Their Opera Companies Are Flourishing. Here’s Why
“Those countries have been stuck in a six-year depression, with unemployment rates of around 25 per cent. Yet their principal opera companies have somehow come through the valley of austerity with no debt, full and lively artistic programs, and higher standing in their communities. They have done far better, in fact, than some companies in wealthier European states.”
Doomed Orchestra Has Actually Saved Itself With Crowdfunding
The Danish National Chamber Orchestra was disbanded at New Year’s, after “this 75-year-old ensemble’s state funding was cancelled at ludicrously short notice … Through a Kickstarter campaign to raise 3m Danish kroner (£300,000), the orchestra received more than a third of that money from supporters, and have now had pledges for the rest of the balance from the Danish business community.”
How To Enjoy Modern Music: A 14-Point Guide For The Perplexed By An Artist
Curt Barnes’s suggestions include “Remember when you hated what you now love”, “Music is not necessarily for your entertainment”, “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom”, and “Don’t trust the program notes” (even if the composer wrote them).