June 7, 2013   |
| | | Thought of the Day | Love can do much, but duty more. --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe |
| Quote of the Week | | People need to be made more aware of the need to work at learning how to live because life is so quick and sometimes it goes away too quickly. --Andy Warhol |
| | Bank Set to Foreclose on Nashville Symphony Center |  The Bank of America is poised to foreclose on the Nashville Symphony Orchestra's Schermerhorn Symphony Center, opened in 2006 at a cost of $123.5 million. Auditors for the orchestra, which suffered an $11.7 million loss in the fiscal year ending July 31, 2012, questioned earlier this week whether the Symphony was even a viable enterprise. It has continued to default on payments due for its $102 million bond, the bulk of which was put up by Bank of America. The orchestra's expenses have exceeded revenue by $39 million between the fiscal years of 2009 and 2012, according to its 990 tax forms. "The bank group has been in discussions for some time with the orchestra to help it resolve its debt on an acceptable basis and operate at a sustainable level," a spokeswoman for the bank tells The Tennessean. "However, (the Nashville Symphony Association) is in default and has been unwilling or unable to repay the debt. Left with no other alternative the bank group has been forced to file for foreclosure." |
NY Times Has a New International Culture Editor |  Julie Bloom is to be the new culture editor for The International New York Times, overseeing all arts and cultural coverage and reporting to The Times Culture Editor Danielle Mattoon in New York. Her appointment was announced jointly by Mattoon, Europe Editor Dick Stevenson, and assistant managing editor Larry Ingrassia. Bloom started as a free-lance in 2006. A year later she came on staff as a Web producer for culture, ultimately working her way up to assistant editor. According to the internal memo announcing her new job, she was "integral to the expansion of ArtsBeat into an up-to-the-minute blog" and the launch of the Arts and Entertainment Guide. "She has helped to conceive and spearhead major multimedia and interactive projects including Tony Tommasini's Top 10 Composers project [and] the live blog for Charles Isherwood's look at Death of a Salesman," among other cutting-edge projects. From 2011 she assigned and edited all dance coverage. MA.com subscribers read the full story |
| | | Conductor Abruptly Quits Australian Ring |  Opera Australia is suddenly in the market for a conductor of its new $15 million Neil Armfield production of the Ring, set to open in November. Richard Mills, the man in charge for the last two years, has abruptly withdrawn from the project citing an issue with "personal chemistry." Though he had conducted Wagner operas in the past, he had no experience with the Ring. At the outset, local media characterized OA's choice of him as a bit bizarre. Mills described his resignation in a statement. "To achieve artistic success the chemistry between cast and conductor needs to be of a certain vibrancy and character. Unfortunately the necessary unity of vision for this piece on this occasion was not achieved. It is a matter of personal chemistry which cannot be planned for and which sometimes doesn't happen despite the best intentions of all concerned." Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini thanked Mills in his remarks, and there were no further comments from either side. Stay tuned. MA.com subscribers read the full story |
| Pianist Chastises Smart Phone Recordist |  Pianist Krystian Zimerman declared from the stage that YouTube was "destroying music," according to reports from his June 3rd concert at the Ruhr Piano Festival in Essen, Germany. His comment was prompted by a smart phone user Zimerman had spotted during his performance. The offender was recording. "Would you please stop that?," the pianist asked while still at the keyboard. The Guardian reports that the 56-year-old pianist continued to play but soon left the stage, "evidently agitated." When he returned he told the audience he had lost out on recording contracts because, the business folk told him, his performances were already on YouTube. He finished the concert but refused to play an encore, despite the enthusiastic reception. He also canceled a post-concert reception. MA.com subscribers read the full story |
James Judd to the Little Orchestra Society |  British conductor James Judd, 63, is to be the next music director of the Little Orchestra Society, succeeding Dino Anagnost, who died after 32 years in the job in 2011. Judd is music director emeritus of the New Zealand Symphony, where he presided for eight years; he is considered among the best conductors of British music. Mahler also figures prominently on his CV. Judd was forced out as music director of the Florida Philharmonic in 2001, after nearly 15 years in the job, amid complaints over adventurous programming. He left just on the heels of a musicians' strike; management ultimately met the union's demands for increased pay, and the orchestra went out of business in 2003. |
| New Artist of the Month: Yoel Gamzou |  BERLIN -- Three years ago, Yoel Gamzou premiered his own version of Mahler's Tenth Symphony at a synagogue in Berlin. Members of his International Mahler Orchestra (IMO) crowded onstage as the lanky conductor, then only 23, led them through the restless score, unleashing a sense of adventure that, to these ears, made the standard reconstruction of Mahler's sketches by Deryck Cooke and Berthold Goldschmidt seem tame by comparison. Germany's leading newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, reviewing a subsequent performance at the Philharmonie, described Gamzou's execution as more devilish and, in a sense, more gripping than that of the German capital's reigning Mahlerian, Simon Rattle. |
| Horn Trios in Church |  From Munich Times by Andrew Powell MUNICH -- A short walk separates two of this city's four opera houses: the Cuvilliés Theater, where Mozart led Idomeneo, and the National Theater, where Hans von Bülow presided over the first Tristan und Isolde. Ensconced half way stands the Court Church of All Saints, an 1837 neo-Romanesque, quasi-Byzantine former glory - bombed and burned in 1944, later re-domed, secularized, sandblasted, and finally re-opened in 2003 as a performance space. Here, in happily clear, generally non-reverberant acoustics, members of the Bavarian State Orchestra regularly make chamber music. This morning - three weeks before the summer solstice, yet a cold day of heavy rain and wind, with half the city center roped off to greet UEFA Champions League champions Bayern München - intrepid listeners savored horn trio music of distinction. |
| Pre-Nuptial Management Agreements | | To submit a question to GG Arts Law write to LawAndDisorder@MusicalAmerica.com Dear Law and Disorder: I just received an email that an artist is leaving my roster for another manager, effective in two weeks. I've been working with this artist for over five years. We've never had a signed contract because we've never needed one. Isn't it customary to give at least 3 months notice? Also, the new manager is offering to let us keep our commissions on any engagements that are "contracted." What does that mean? Everyone knows that engagements are often confirmed without there being contracts! Help! |
| 49 Recordings of Le Sacre du printemps |  From Why I Left Muncie by Sedgwick Clark It may seem unnecessary to audition and report on 49 recordings of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) since 38 of them can be obtained only in a single set from Decca and another 10 from the Columbia and RCA catalogues in a set from Sony Classical. You either want 'em or you don't. But if fellow Stravinskyites relish my Sacre orgy, they might be persuaded to acquire these sets too and have an equally pleasurable wallow. In a day when any professional orchestra can whiz through the piece without blinking, it's fascinating to hear the oldest recordings and realize how daunting Le Sacre once was. NOTE: I had intended to listen to every last recording for this blog--the second part of my Le Sacre centenary salute, but I only got halfway through the massive Decca box. I plan to finish listening and commenting this weekend. Stay tuned. In the meantime, my preferred recordings so far are listed below, in order of preference. 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 Altstaedt, Nicholas, cello, added, Sciolino Artist Management (Americas only)
Andreassen, Gustav, bass, added, ADA Artist Management
Barron, Joseph, bass-baritone, added, ADA Artist Management
Belcher, Daniel, baritone, added, ADA Artist Management
Brown, Michael, piano, added, Sciolino Artist Management
Capuçon, Gautier, cello, added, Opus 3 Artists
Eggner Trio, piano trio, added, Christina Daysog Concert Artists
Hoomes, John, stage director, added, ADA Artist Management
Martin, Catherine, mezzo-soprano, added, ADA Artist Management
Masters, Nicholas, bass, added, ADA Artist Management
Miller, Dana Beth, mezzo-soprano, added, ADA Artist Management
Morales Matos, Jaime, conductor, removed, ADA Artist Management
O'Halloran, Patrick, tenor, added, ADA Artist Management
Pike, Rachelle, mezzo-soprano, added, Alpha Artists Management
Talbot, Philippe, tenor, added, ADA Artist Management (North America, exclusive) |
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