Category: music

The orchestra’s musicians say, and parent organization Woodruff Arts Center does not deny, that both the departed ASO president and Woodruff leaders argued “that the number of full-time tenured musicians of the ASO should be permanently reduced, and resulting vacancies could be filled with alumni from the ASO’s Talent Development Program (TDP), who would perform in an ‘internship’ capacity.”

The Italian maestro begins in his new position in 2016, succeeding Mariss Jansons, who is stepping down next March. “[Gatti] takes over at an orchestra that critics regard as one of the world’s finest, but whose finances have been shaken by a decline in government support.”

From singing at recent New York street protests to protests over the Metropolitan Opera’s production of John Adams’ “The Death of Klinghoffer,” music and protest seem to be in the air…

After years of enormous deficits, labor strife, alleged mismanagement, and threats of closure – culminating in Riccardo Muti’s surprise resignation from the company last month – the opera house’s board decided to replace the resident orchestra and chorus with “outsourced” artists. Said the general manager, “The only other alternative was shutting the theater down altogether.” (in English)

Susanna Mälkki: “I was very aware that the tradition of the profession is extremely masculine. I knew that if I wanted to do this, I have to be particularly good at it. … Maybe one day we will have reached a point where we won’t have to discuss the gender issue at all.”

“The new label is called The Industry Records and its first release will be last year’s acclaimed opera, Invisible Cities, which took place at Union Station. The show unfolded in real time throughout the historic building while audience members listened to the music on wireless headphones and singers and dancers appeared in, and interacted with, the crowd.”

“Christine Lauterburg, a musician from Bern, has layered yodeling over techno beats, and that simply isn’t done. She wears a miniskirt and heels on stage, rather than the Alpine peasant dresses worn by performers sanctioned by the Swiss Yodeling Association, the keeper of the flame. The outfit, called a dirndl, isn’t optional. Ms. Lauterburg isn’t alone in her heresy.”

“The four-year contract extension will keep Mr. Welser-Möst in place after the orchestra’s centennial season in 2017-18, and ensure that his tenure in Cleveland lasts at least 20 years — which would make him the ensemble’s second longest-serving music director after George Szell.”

The idea that music may go the way of newspapers, in which every outlet runs the same story, originating from the same source, over and over again ad nauseam, gives me a little chill. It’s bad enough when it’s a real news story being repeated with no new info. But it’s infuriating when it’s something as trivial as singer Robin Thicke fessing up that he lied about writing last summer’s creepy hit, “Blurred Lines.”

“Moody’s, which rates the Met’s $100 million of debt A3, seventh-highest, said the review ‘reflects softening in earned and gift revenue’ … Moody’s may lower the rating by several steps if deficits continue to limit the Met’s liquidity.”