June 14, 2013   |
| | | Thought of the Day | Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind. --Nathaniel Hawthorne |
| Quote of the Week | | All good music, whatever its date, is ageless - as alive and significant today as it was when it was written. --Peter Warlock |
| | Natalie Dessay Says She Will "Quit" Opera |  In an interview prefacing the opening of director Philippe Béziat's Becoming Traviata in San Francisco, Natalie Dessay, who plays Violetta, declares that she is "quitting" opera. "I want to change my life," she tells The Examiner. "I want to go into straight theater." Acting is her "real passion," she says, calling her vocal career so far "a detour of 33 years. There's nothing left for me to sing. I've done most of the roles I could do. I don't want to play Juliette. At my age? Please! Or Lucia or Adina or anything else like that. That's why I'm quitting.... For a while I thought it was fun, but no. On to something else." |
| |  Preparations for the Royal Opera's production of Les Vêpres Siciliennes, promoted as one of the coming season highlights, have suffered a setback due to "artistic differences" between director Stefan Herheim, in his house debut, and choreographer Johan Kobborg. The premiere is scheduled for Oct. 17, but it will not have the planned 40-minute ballet scene Kobborg was creating. He has left the project, taking with him 32 dancers from the Royal Ballet, the Royal Ballet School, and the Royal Danish Ballet. "Stefan and Johan couldn't quite find a language together that would work," Covent Garden's Director of Opera Kasper Holten tells The Independent. "It just wasn't possible to find a way that would satisfy all parties." Andre de Jong will replace Kobborg. Freelance dancers will fill in for the Royals. MA.com subscribers read the full story |
| | | Chicago Symphony Endows VP of Artistic Planning Post |  Longtime Chicago Symphony Orchestra supporters Richard and Mary L. Gray have gifted the orchestra $1.25 million from their private foundation. The monies are to go in part toward general artistic planning, but mostly to endow the chair of VP of ArtisticPplanning and Audience Development. It is the CSO's first administrative post to be endowed, and it is currently occupied by Martha Gilmer, a mainstay of the orchestra since 1976. Acknowledging the importance of the position, the couple commented that Gilmore has "filled this role superbly for many years, ... and we deeply value her expertise and talents." |
| Bruno Bartoletti Dies |  ROME -- Conductor Bruno Bartoletti, associated with the Lyric Opera of Chicago for a half-century, died on June 9 in his native Tuscany, one day before his 87th birthday. The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, where he was artistic director from 1985 until 1991, said Bartoletti died after a long illness. He conducted well into his 80s--his last opera was Manon Lescaut at the Teatro Comunale in 2011--and was the first music director of the Chicago Lyric Opera, starting as guest conductor there in 1956, when he was relatively unknown. He ultimately led more than 600 performances of 55 operas over 51 years, the last in 2007. "Not only did he establish and maintain the great Italian opera tradition which earned the company the nickname 'La Scala West,'" said Lyric Music Director Sir Andrew Davis, "but also he oversaw the broadening of the repertoire" including a "remarkable range" of 20th-century operas and premieres. Bartoletti also conducted at La Scala and Teatro Colón, among others. MA.com subscribers read the full story |
| |  Bolshoi star Nikolai Tsiskaridze, long a thorn in the side of the administration for his very public criticism of it, has been fired. Company press officer Katerina Novikova told Russian media that Tsiskaridze's contracts for both dancing and teaching would not be renewed at the end of the month. Tsiskaridze was the initial suspect in the January acid attack on Artistic Director Sergei Filin, who has since undergone some 18 operations in attempts to save his eyesight. Tsiskaridze was a target because he had said openly that he should have gotten Filin's job. His position was that, since General Director Anatoly Iksanov had not given him the job, Iksanov should be fired for incompetence and he, Tsiskaridze, should take over both positions. MA.com subscribers read the full story |
| Accommodating Audience Members | | To submit a question to GG Arts Law write to LawAndDisorder@MusicalAmerica.com Dear Law and Disorder, I run a small nonprofit presenting organization. We recently received an email from a patron who wanted to attend a particular performance, and he asked if we provide accommodations for the deaf. He indicated that either an American Sign Language interpreter or some sort of close captioning system would suffice. We responded and told him that we did not provide those sorts of accommodations because we can't afford it. We suggested that he reserve a seat towards the front of the venue to enhance his ability to see the performance without any interference. He then wrote back, stating that he was making a request for a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and asking that we respond with accommodation specifications within 48 hours. I don't believe that this is a reasonable request for a nonprofit organization. We don't have the capability for close captioning, and we would be required to spend $500 to $800 on a sign interpreter. How should I respond?? |
| ABT's Breathtaking Romeo and Juliet |  From Why I Left Muncie by Sedgwick Clark I've been writing a lot about Stravinsky this season, but Prokofiev has stolen the limelight of late. The New York Philharmonic programmed his two violin concertos in successive weeks--with Lisa Batiashvili digging into the First last week and the Second beginning tonight with Leonidas Kavakos. The American Ballet Theatre is performing Kenneth MacMillan's lyrical choreography of Romeo and Juliet all this week at the Metropolitan Opera House. With only a handful of concerts (and perhaps ballets) left to go, ABT's R&J may prove to be the finest evening I have had in a theater or concert hall this season. Don't miss it! It's been some time since I've seen the ballet performed. One of the first I saw was also at the Met, by the Royal Danish Ballet in the mid-Seventies. Not even guest artist Peter Martins's Romeo could stop me from fleeing after the second act due to the abominable playing of the local pickup orchestra. That certainly wasn't the case at ABT on Tuesday evening, with David LaMarche leading an all-but-flawless rendering of Prokofiev's great score, as fine as any I have heard live or on recording. The impassioned Polina Semionova made Juliet's transition from girl to young woman heart-throbbingly real, and David Hallberg as her ardent Romeo was no less believable. The large ABT cast was committed and effective throughout. 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 Haas, Paul, conductor, added, William Reinert Associates
Igudesman & Joo, violin & piano, added, Hazard Chase (UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand)
Khodadad, Victor, tenor, removed, Tornay Management
Khodadad, Victor, tenor, added, MIA Artists Management
King, Carl, baritone, added, MIA Artists Management
Large, Storm, singer/actor, added, Opus 3 Artists
Lee, Kwang-Kyu, bass-baritone, added, MIA Artists Management
Magee, Shannon, mezzo-soprano, added, MIA Artists Management
McTaggart, Andrew, baritone, added, Hazard Chase
Stadtmueller, Claire, soprano, added, MIA Artists Management |
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