August 30, 2013   |
| | | Thought of the Day | "We adore chaos because we love to produce order.." --M. C. Escher |
| Quote of the Week | | "I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." --Martin Luther King, Jr. |
| | Update: Minnesota Players Miffed at New Offer |  Early Thursday afternoon (Aug. 29), the board and management of the Minnesota Orchestra made a proposal to the players that appeared to be what the musicians have been asking for since Oct. 1, when their old contract expired and they were locked out: That they go back to work and "play and talk" at their old-contract salaries (average $135,000 annually). The new wrinkle, apparently, is that, if no agreement is reached within two months, their average annual pay would be $102,000. The musicians, who responded with a post late last night on their website, are not happy. "The board and management of the Minnesota Orchestra... have presented an offer to the Musicians which appears to be virtually identical to an offer that the Musicians unanimously rejected earlier in August...." An email to the musicians asking for a description of that offer has thus far received no response. [Updates will be posted.] In the meantime, this continues to look like a tragedy in the making. MA.com subscribers read the full story |
Dolora Withdraws from Dolores | The chatter surrounding the world premiere of Tobias Picker's opera Dolores Claiborne at the San Francisco Opera on Sept. 18 just grew considerably louder. That's because mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick, scheduled to sing the title role, has withdrawn--apparently by mutual agreement--from the part that was written specifically for her. "The opera proved to be more challenging physically and vocally than I had anticipated and, exacerbated by my knee problems, I feel it is best to withdraw at this point," said the singer in her comments, adding that she was "devastated" at being unable to continue, with just three more weeks until the opening. Zajick, who has a large frame, does not have the stamina for the role. Patricia Racette, however, apparently does. Racette has sung Picker's music in the past; she will take on Dolores Claiborne for the first four performances, Sept. 18-28. Catherine Cook, the role's official cover, will sing the final two performances, Oct. 1 and 4. George Manahan conducts, in his house debut. |
| | | | Bayreuth's New Ring as Disjointed Sitcom |  BAYREUTH -- Wotan's a millionaire. Kinfolk tell him, "Wotan move away from there." They say, "Valhalla is the place you ought to be...." Wait a minute: that's not Das Rheingold: that's the plot from the 1960s sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. But it could easily serve as the basis for Frank Castorf's production of Bayreuth's new Ring cycle. While not set in Jed Clampett's Appalachians, a gaudy, dilapidated motel along Route 66 in rural Texas provides a "credible" location for the theft that launches the Ring, and Castorf's sitcom approach to the opera. Some of the gimmicks will not exactly please Wagnerites, but I shall not soon forget the pursuit of the scantily clad Rheinmaidens by a bald, pudgy, fetishist Alberich [pictured]. For the theft of the gold, he strips to a too-tight Speedo and cowboy boots and dives into the pool. But after a pleasantly hyperactive Das Rheingold, Die Walküre turns into waxworks, and the other two operas--while busy with non-sequiturs--become nothing more than the boring rants of an egomaniacal poseur. |
Musical America Launches NEW Job Board |  JOB SEEKERS: From instrumentalists to executive directors and administrators, search over 4,000 jobs on MusicalAmerica.com.
Post resumes, create alerts, get hired! EMPLOYERS: Post your jobs for reasonable rates. Special discount packages available. Post a job, find the perfect hire! Visit Job Board |
Reputable Instrument Dealer Charged | | Charles Mag by Jr., owner of Charles Magby Fine Violins Ltd., in Guilford, CT, has been charged with first-degree larceny. Magby took string instruments on consignment and neglected to pass on the proceeds from the sales on several occasions, according to the Hartford Courant. He turned himself in on Aug. 23 after learning a warrant had been issued for his arrest. The instruments, both old and modern, are worth between $3,000 and over $100,000, according to police. In addition to selling violins, cellos, violas, and bows, the shop also rented, appraised, and repaired instruments. As a reputable string instrument dealer gone bad, Magby joins Dietmar Machold. MA.com subscribers read the full story |
| In Putin's Russia, Tchaikovsky Wasn't Gay |  In order to secure government funds for a film about Tchaikovsky, Russian producer Sabina Yeremeyeva and her screenwriter Yuri Arabov are busy rewriting history. The script has by now gone through five rewrites and Tchaikovsky is no longer a homosexual, subject to Russia's recent ban on "gay propaganda." Rather, he is a "a person without a family who has been stuck with the opinion that he supposedly loves men," according to the Russian newspaper Izvestiya. When the film's director Kirill Serebrennikov announced one year ago his plans for the Tchaikovsky biopic, he told the cinema website KinoPoisk that he was "having trouble finding funding due to officials' concerns about the composer's homosexuality." Now that the composer's sexual orientation has been thrown into doubt, the film will be funded. MA.com subscribers read the full story |
100 Years Ago...in Musical America: 30 August 1913 | |  LOOKlNG BACK AT OPERA OF 1863 Clara Louise Kellogg, "First American Prima Donna," Paints Retrospective Word Picture of Operatic Life in New York at Time of Civil War--Gounod's "Bold Harmonies" in "Faust" Astounding to That Public--Inoffensive "Traviata" Barred in Brooklyn Because of Its Immorality--Tenors that Savored of Lager Beer and Cheese. See the Original Page and Read the Full Story |
| Showcasing: A Rare Visa Exception | | To submit a question to GG Arts Law write to  Dear Law and Disorder, Do non-US artists need artist visas when they come in to perform a showcase at a booking conference? They don't get paid. Its just to get bookings. In fact, the artists lose money doing this. Can they enter on a tourist visa or do they have to spend even more money and go through the process of getting an artist visa? Read the full story |
| The Minnesota Orchestra's Dance of Death |  From Why I Left Muncie by Sedgwick Clark Moments after posting this blog on Thursday, 8/29, I received a press release from the Minnesota Orchestra, announcing that "The Minnesota Orchestra Board Negotiating Committee has issued a revised contract proposal in the ongoing labor dispute with the Musicians' Union that would lift the musician lockout and significantly modify both the proposed wage reduction and the number of work rule changes sought." The Musicians' Union responded on its Web site that very little was new. Whatever the outcome, my general comments still apply. FOLLOW THE MUSICAL AMERICA WEBSITE FOR COMPLETE UPDATES! It has the makings of Shakespearean tragedy. If orchestra musicians believe they can make a comparable living as freelance chamber-music players in today's economy, they should hold their course and believe that managements will eventually cave in. If Boards of Directors cease believing in the reason for their existence, they should stick to their union-busting guns and allow the orchestra to die. If a prideful music director believes more in the music than in the music-making, he should resign his position. We watch aghast as one of the most distinguished American orchestras, a tea party Board of Directors, and one of the foremost conductors of our time march toward Armageddon. . . . |
| 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 White, Steven, conductor, added, Fletcher Artist Management |
| | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment