Category: music

“World-famous conductor Daniel Barenboim will take up the post of musical director at Italy’s world renowned La Scala opera house from December until the end of 2016.”

“The 52-year-old Italian conductor’s record as music director elsewhere has been spotty, but Luisi is appreciated for his painstaking preparation, efficient conducting style and hands-on competence in all aspects of opera.”

“Jim Copenhaver, officially interim director, is a senior partner in JC Enterprises, a management consulting firm. He has become something of a fixer in the fine arts industry, filling in this year as CEO of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, while that Washington D.C.-based organization went through leadership changes.”

“There has always been an underlying feeling that a significant proportion of the wood used in musical instruments has come from illegal or highly dubious sources.”

“The 52-year-old Italian conductor’s record as music director elsewhere has been spotty, but Luisi is appreciated for his painstaking preparation, efficient conducting style and hands-on competence in all aspects of opera. … But dependable as he is, Luisi, who is not particularly imaginative nor a big podium personality, is no [James] Levine.” Mark Swed suggests a few alternatives.

“For every knee-jerk comparison to the Three Tenors – even though Gianluca is technically a baritone – there has been another to New Jersey boy band the Jonas Brothers.”

“Mariusz Kwiecien, the Polish baritone who was cast in the title role of the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Don Giovanni,” suffered major back pain during the dress rehearsal and subsequently had surgery to repair a herniated disk.

“According to preliminary figures released for the first time, the Met hauled in $182 million, an astonishing amount in a tough economic climate and 50 percent more than it raised just the year before.”

Management and musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra have announced a tentative agreement for a new labor contract, but don’t lift a glass of opening-night champagne just yet.

Was a final proposal made to Louisville Orchestra musicians and rejected? Different sides make opposing claims, but the mediator still hopes for a resolution.