A season after he took over as music director of the Berlin Philharmonic, Simon Rattle is bringing the orchestra to America. “Today’s Berlin, Rattle has found, is a lively, slightly dangerous place in which to live. The Russian Mafia, a holdover from the Cold War era, is still in evidence in this gateway to the East. In a strange way the BPO mirrors this rough-and-tumble society, he says. ‘They tend to hire musicians that other orchestras reject as being too extreme – people who are chamber musicians rather than orchestra musicians. One of them said to me, `Simon, we’re sick of experience. What we want is talent.’ However, because the Berlin Philharmonic of 2003 is more heterogeneous in its membership than ever before in its 121-year history does not mean it has lost its distinctive character.”
Tag: 11.16.03
Museums: Let Me Sell You Something With That Show
Museum stores are increasingly an important part of any museum’s bottom line. “A survey of more than 800 institutions published in May by the American Association of Museums in Washington showed that the median gross income of museum stores contributed more to total operating budgets (6.8 percent) than admissions (6.2 percent) and membership fees (5.8 percent).”
Ia LA Becoming A Dance Capital?
“October represented something of a turnaround for Los Angeles, a city with a reputation for failing to support dance. In sheer numbers, there were more dance performances here last month than anyone could remember — more than 50. But such activity was not a lone anomaly; there is plenty more ahead, from an ever greater diversity of companies.”
Angelic Indictment
Okay, so fans of Ronald Reagan got CBS to dump a biopic from its schedule. Frank Rich writes that an upcoming TV version of “Angels in America” is far more searing and controversial. “This epic is, among other things, a searing indictment of how the Reagan administration’s long silence stoked the plague of AIDS in the 1980’s. If “Angels” reaches an audience typical for HBO hits, it could detonate a debate bloody enough to make the fight over “The Reagans” look like an exhibition bout. That’s not such a big if. “Angels” is the most powerful screen adaptation of a major American play since Elia Kazan’s “Streetcar Named Desire” more than a half-century ago.”
Kennedy Center’s Opera House Clean-up
After a $20 million renovation, the Kennedy Center Opera House is about to reopen. “The Washington Opera will resume performances there in the spring. In a typical year, the Opera House has 225 performances, attended by a total of 500,000 people. The renovations included a top-to-bottom cleaning, from the sprawling Austrian chandelier to the expanded orchestra pit. New features include a maple floor on the orchestra level. The red seats have been redone throughout the hall, along with cherry trim and arm rests.”
At Home With Pinchas Zukerman
It’s been five years since Pinchas Zukerman took over as music director of Ottawa’s National Arts Center Orchestra. “Whatever the specific contributions of each of the current administrators, the National Arts Center Orchestra seems to be thriving, and this at a time when many Canadian orchestras are suffering much the same economic woes as their American counterparts. True, it operates on a relatively small scale. With 50 permanent members, it is about half the size of the largest North American orchestras.”
Netrebko – Top Of The Opera World
“Having once scrubbed floors at the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, the home of the celebrated Kirov Opera, Anna Netrebko (pronounced nuh-TREB-koh), 32, is now the company’s biggest young star. Her luminous lyric soprano voice, impeccable technique and heartfelt acting have won raves from San Francisco to Vienna. Since the recent release of her debut solo recording of opera arias, she has been featured in classical music publications and fashionably photographed for glamour magazines.”
Fighting Over How Things Look (Traditionally Speaking)
Disputes between architects Daniel Libeskind and David Childs over the tower above the World Trade Center site are the latest chapter in a long history of architectural disputes. “The absence of knife play over the Freedom Tower does not guarantee that the intended partnership will run smoothly. A meeting between the architects last Monday was described as positive by both sides. History, however, suggests that the turmoil will continue. There is a long tradition, in New York, of architectural bargaining and bickering that has produced gems like Rockefeller Center, duds (let’s be honest now) like the World Trade Center and compromises like Lincoln Center and the United Nations. Not only is the record a rancorous one, but Mr. Libeskind and Mr. Childs are navigating challenges unlike any faced by their predecessors.”