March 22, 2013   |
| | | Thought of the Day | | I praise loudly. I blame softly.
--Catherine the Great
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| Quote of the Week | | Only passions, great passions can elevate the soul to great things. --Denis Diderot |
| | At the Staatsoper: Villazón Keeps Trying |  VIENNA -- How many comebacks can one singer try to make? For opera's once-upon-a-time golden boy Rolando Villazón, I can count at least three at Wiener Staatsoper: the Jan. 2008 Werther, the one-night-only L'elisir d'amore of March 2010, and now in a revival of last season's new production of La traviata. The news is sad. What was looked upon as potentially one of the greatest tenor voices of our time has, in less than a decade, gone from lovely and lyrical to labored and flawed. Alfredo is certainly a far cry from Verdi's most demanding tenor roles, but at the performance of March 12, Villazón showed that he is simply not up to it. The once-lustrous tone is now dry, high notes are raspy, phrasing is choppy, the middle voice turns hoarse, and diction is unforgivably sloppy, favoring vowels just to get notes out. |
| |  Oberlin College Conservatory Dean David H. Stull is to be the new president of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, starting on July 1. Stull has been at Oberlin since 2000, first as associate dean, then, from 2004, as dean. In San Francisco, he succeeds Colin Murdoch, in the job for over 20 years. Stull, 46, is credited with having raised over $40 million for Oberlin during his tenure and with launching a number of new initiatives, among them a record label, several major orchestra tours, and courses in entrepreneurship. San Francisco Conservatory Chair Timothy W. Foo commented on Stull's "initiative and relentless drive" as well as his "pioneering spirit." Stull has Great Expectations for his new conservatory: "Our collective ambition," he said, "is to build the most innovative professional music school in the world." |
| | | Bolshoi Ballet to Be Audited |  MOSCOW--Russia's state audit agency is looking into the Bolshoi, a probe that comes amid allegations of mismanagement and corruption. Auditors claim that the investigation into the use of public funds isn't linked to the accusations of financial abuse by the dancer who has been charged with planning the attack on Artistic Director Sergei Filin. But the daily Izvestia claimed the auditors are specifically looking at Filin's spending decisions, in particular the distribution of grants among dancers. And the probe could spell more trouble for Bolshoi General Director Anatoly Iksanov. On Sunday, in a live television talk show, principal dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze accused Iksanov of mismanaging the Bolshoi's six-year, $1 billion reconstruction, ruining its repertoire, and abusing dancers' rights. Former Bolshoi prima ballerina Anastasia Volochkova also accused Iksanov of overseeing a practice of using ballerinas as pleasure escorts for rich tycoons. MA.com subscribers read the full story |
| Royal Opera House Taps New Chief Exec |  Alex Beard, deputy director of the Tate museum, is to be the new chief executive of the Royal Opera House, succeeding Tony Hall, who exits to become general director of the BBC next month. Just as Hall was a surprise choice a dozen years ago, so is Beard, with no experience in the performing arts--other than as an amateur cellist and a trustee of Glyndebourne. He has been at the Tate since 1994, first as director of finance, currently as deputy to Sir Nicholas Serota. The appointment of a pure administrator is a seen as clear vote of confidence by the ROH board of trustees in the artistic team of Music Director Sir Antonio Pappano, Head of Opera Kasper Holten, and Head of Ballet Kevin O'Hare. |
| Seymour (Sy) Rosen Dies at 87 |  Seymour (Sy) Rosen, esteemed orchestra manager whose legacy has been carried forward by his son, Jesse, died on March 16. He was 87 and had been living in Valhalla, New York. The cause was cardiac arrest. Mr. Rosen was perhaps best known as the onetime artistic and then managing director of Carnegie Hall (at Isaac Stern's behest), from 1982-86. Prior to that, he was executive director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, ushering in Riccardo Muti after Eugene Ormandy's departure. He moved the Pittsburgh Symphony from part- to full-time status, doubled the budget, increased attendance, and convinced the aging William Steinberg to step down as music director and André Previn--considered a bit of a Hollywood "star" at the time--to succeed him. In his 2001 book No Vivaldi in the Garage: A Requiem for Classical Music in North America, Sheldon Morgenstern called Mr. Rosen "perhaps the most respected management person in the American performing arts field." |
| Does God Serve On Their Board? |  To submit a question to GG Arts Law write to LawAndDisorder@MusicalAmerica.com Dear Law and Disorder: We booked one of our artists to perform at a non-profit venue. The booking agreement was signed by all parties. We just received a phone call from the venue that their board met last night and decided unanimously to cancel the engagement due to poor ticket sales. The contract states that our artist is to be paid a cancellation fee if the date is cancelled for any reason except an act of God. However, the venue is claiming that this is an act of god and they do not have to pay. Any suggestions? |
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From Ask Edna by Edna Landau I recently had the pleasure of attending one of Chamber Music America's very informative, helpful and free "First Tuesdays" workshops which focus on a different professional development topic each month. This particular one, which was called "The Art of the Cold Call", was expertly led by Marc Baylin, president of Baylin Artists Management. When asked by an artist manager how they should communicate with a presenter who was not responsive to their calls and e-mails, I was surprised to hear him suggest a letter. My first reaction was, who writes letters anymore and why is that likely to prove more effective? Mr. Baylin believes that a letter demonstrates extra effort on the part of an artist or manager and it is less likely to be discarded than an e-mail which might immediately be deleted. Most people will at least open the letter and glance at it, since they receive very few of them. It is also something tangible that they might keep on their desk until they are ready to deal with it. This got me thinking about other types of communication that seem to increasingly get neglected in these very fast paced times. Read the full story |
| |  From Why I Left Muncie by Sedgwick Clark In his "New York Chronicle" music column for the April issue of The New Criterion, my friend and colleague Jay Nordlinger writes about a concert by Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra that we both attended on February 13 at Carnegie Hall. At one point he notes that some audience members applauded between movements of the two works performed. "This was not especially annoying. The shushing of them by others--harsh, petty, self-righteous shushing--was." Being one of those shushers, I'd like to have my say. Read the full story |
| Latest Roster Changes |  Musical America is helping presenters keep up with its advertisers! Managers whose rosters appear in the 2013 edition of the Musical America Directory should write to listings@musicalamerica.com with the names of artists and attractions that have been either added or removed, and please be sure to indicate "added" or "removed." NEW THIS WEEK Hall, Michael, conductor, added, William Reinert Associates Pato, Cristina, gaita (Galician bagpipes), added, Opus 3 Artists Read the full story |
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