Category: people

Joseph Volpe is “the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera and it is his job to ensure that those 3,800 seats are occupied every time the Met opens its doors. Or at least most of them. Volpe is celebrated for his lack of tolerance for all the characteristics most associated with opera: preciousness, snobbery, temperamental superstars. But what he can’t abide most of all is unoccupied seats.”

Neeme Järvi is “one of those conductors who never quite made it to the leadership of one of the world’s great orchestras but who has made an essential contribution by bolstering symphonic music on the periphery. When he arrived at Gothenberg in 1982 the orchestra was decidedly second division; now its only rival as the leading Scandinavian orchestra is the Oslo Philharmonic, and on many counts it can claim superiority.”

New Yorker movie critic has a new book out about his losses in the tech diving stock market of 2000. And what did he learn? “Dishearteningly, Mr. Denby’s coda – the lessons derived from his humiliating loss of friends, money and dreams – stumbles when it could soar. Toting up what caused the mania, Mr. Denby cites unquenchable greed and rank materialism, turning preacher instead of penitent. As for his own day-of-reckoning reflections, he edges up against death, morality and spirituality but ultimately retreats into boomer cliché. Love conquers all. Live life more slowly.”

Bill McGlaughlin has a new five-day-a-week radio show devoted to composers and their music. The popular “St. Paul Sunday” host says he almost didn’t get into radio, early in his career: “I went to Temple University in Philadelphia, and I had some friends who were involved in the university radio station. It was all pretty much student-run in those days.” The station needed to fill a music slot and McGlaughlin overheard someone proposing him for the job. He also heard the quick response, ‘Nah, nah, that’s not a radio voice.’ “I didn’t think it was. I knew I didn’t sound like any of the classic announcers.”

“The Argentinian-born tenor can rightfully boast of being a jack-of-all-trades, and contrary to the expression, becoming the master of every last one: singer, conductor, composer, arranger, instrumentalist (guitar, piano, winds, strings), rugby player, photographer and businessman. But instead of receiving unqualified encouragement for his artistic reach, Cura often finds himself criticized for his craven ambitions.”

Yevgeny Kissin was all of 12 years old when he was propelled into the international spotlight, and anointed The Next Great Pianist. That’s a lot of pressure for a pre-teen, and Kissin now admits that he had very little idea of how to handle it. “I’ve eventually learned how to behave properly when approached by musical fans, but I have to admit that just 10 years ago I was absurdly anti-social in this respect.” Still, Kissin has long since reached that difficult moment in the career of any former child prodigy, when he is expected to somehow morph into a mature interpreter of art, without losing any of the youthful vigor that made him famous.

It’s been 16 years since tenor Jose Carreras almost died of leukemia. “His survival spurred him to work for the rest of his days for a cause – his concerts now raise money for the José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation. This raises funds for research, including scholarships for young scientists; helps establish bone marrow transplantation centres; and supports round-the-clock information services for patients.”

“Sir Alan had a long career in the theatre, cinema and television. The brooding good looks that brought him early success in John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger matured into a talent for a wide range of modern and classical roles.”

Why did writer JG Ballard recently turn down an honor from the Queen that would have made him a Commander of the Brtitish Empire? “It goes with the whole system of hereditary privilege and rank, which should be swept away. It uses snobbery and social self-consciousness to guarantee the loyalty of large numbers of citizens who should feel their loyalty is to fellow citizens and the nation as a whole. We are a deeply class-divided society.”

Victor Gruen was a German emigre who came to the United States, and created the quintessential shopping mall. “Gruen was a classic American type, the brilliant and driven immigrant who struggles to achieve wealth and influence but who yearns most of all for legitimacy. Like the immigrants who built Hollywood, Gruen combined art and commerce in new ways that captured something deep in the American psyche. His powerfully demotic designs helped pave the way for the egalitarian suburban landscape most Americans choose to live in today.”