The orchestra of the Italian resort known for its millionaire-making Eurotrash pop contest is running out of funds and out of time. The players of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo haven’t been paid in a year. The foundation that runs the orchestra is threatening to wind it up before the year is out.

The players have asked us to share their petition. Click here.

One would like to tie up the board of the Minnesota Orchestra Association and force them to listen to this dignified departure.

British composer Iain Bell is getting closer to the world premiere of his Hogarth opera in Vienna. Here’s his latest blog, exclusive to Slipped Disc:

I had long decided that I wouldn’t be attending all of the rehearsals, musical or scenic for the opera. It was of the utmost importance to me that all involved were able to explore the piece freely without my presence as some Fedora-wearing, chain-smoking, eminence-grise in the background disturbing the flow*. A rhythm was quickly established whereby I would attend two or so hours of rehearsals of each session (of around seven hours). This worked really well, they were able to crack on with their work and by not witnessing all the ‘baby-steps’, I saw great progress each time I was there.

I am reflecting upon this now as I am presently pacing my apartment whilst the orchestra is having its second rehearsal of the piece. There is no embargo on my attending. I reached the decision to absent myself from the early stage orchestral rehearsals having consulted with various singers, conductors and ill-assorted opera types who all cautioned against my being there – and they were right. It wouldn’t be the healthiest course of action for my sanity to hear those important early mistakes, the frequent repetition of rhythmically thorny entries and the very necessary cursing of my name! That said, I am here with so many questions running through my head, one of the loudest being,

“does the orchestra enjoy playing it?”

photo (c) Gretl Sartorious

As daft as it sounds it has been a real pleasure to see the gleeful faces of the chorus (and cast) as they sing such Acroydian gems as, “fish, flesh and faeces”! I hope the orchestra can join in on a bit of that too because it is that enthusiasm and sense of fun that has made this rehearsal process a real delight.

So I am here feeling like the proverbial 1960’s husband whose wife is in labour, sitting (to avoid the yucky bits) in a waiting room for his baby to be brought into the world.

Mercifully, this 1960’s daddy-to-be has an iPhone and what a relief it was to receive a Facebook message from the first rehearsal from a member of the opera house team (including the picture attached to this blog, cheers Gretl) saying how well it went. Phew! Whatsmore, as our maestro had injured his ankle our assistant conductor, Kalle Kuusava came valiantly to the rescue and led the rehearsal, doing so with such aplomb that I am told his performance inspired a ‘bravo’ from the players…well done that man!

Later that day when I was called to the theatre to do some press, it was so warming to be approached by various personnel from the opera house management team who had attended that rehearsal telling me how much they enjoyed the music. That meant so, so much, though I was a little puzzled at their enthusiasm until I realised that before that day their only point of entry into the piece had been via the piano reduction of the orchestral score. When I heard this part being played by our outstanding pianists Joyce and Raf, I was not hearing a piano but a slightly altered horn crescendo, an eruption in the strings a or snarling contrabassoon – I forgot they were just hearing, well, a piano. No wonder they were excited!

So with all this in mind, I think the pacing must now stop and I should head out and enjoy a little Viennese autumn sunshine.

*note: Nan, I neither wear fedoras nor smoke just in case you’re reading this.

A row has erupted in France over comments, headlined above, by Bruno Mantovani, director of the Paris Conservatoire on why there so few women in the podium, and in his conducting classes.

He was speaking in a programme on France-Musique, which reported that only 17 women are conducting in France this season, in a total of 574 concerts, and not a single woman* has been invited to conduct in the National Opéra in Paris. Mantovani also said that many women lack the physical strength to be conductors. He added: ‘There are few women students who take up conducting….I can’t force them to enrol.’

France is, as ever, behind the rest of the western world on égalité. The foremost women conductors in France are the self-starters Laurence Equilbey, Claire Gibault and Emmanuelle Haïm, who founded their own groups. The only woman to head a public institution is Susanna Mälkki, who resigned this summer at the Ensemble Intercontemporain. Mälkki, as it happens, gave the 2009 premiere of Mantovani’s ballet, Siddharta. (*She has also just conducted Makropoulos Case at the Opéra de Paris.)

Like most normal human beings, she must have been appalled by Mantovani’s comments. There have been calls this morning for Mantovani’s resignation. You can hear the unedited version of his radio comments here. The translated text is below the pic.

photo: IMG/Simon Fowler

Bruno Mantovani on France Musique: I am a bit ‘annoyed’ about these discussion on equality and positive-discrimination. There are few women conductors…that is true… there are few African conductors… If we start to categorize we will find it hard to accept that are different levels, concours (competitions-exams) and different ambitions which can be very different between men and women.

As you know, a conductor’s job is complicated. We encourage everyone to do the entrance concours for the Consevatroire (de Paris)’ conducting class to train a maximum number of people to serve French and international orchestras, but many females are not necessarily interested…I can’t put a bayonet against every Conservatoire’s composition or performing female-student ‘sback […] to force them to enter the this profession.

Then there is the maternity problem. A women who might have children will find it difficult to sustain a career as a conductor which could be abruptly interrupted for several months… Then one goes through the ‘post-purchase stage’ (service après-vente) which is the children’s upbringing. Bringing up children at a distance is not easy.

You might tell me “men are in the same boat”. However, the rapport between mother and child is not the same between the child and the father. Sometimes there are also a physiological issues. A conductor’s job is physically demanding. Sometimes women are disheartened by the physical aspect – conducting, flying, conducting again is quite demanding. Therefore there is no negative discrimination and it this that we can criticise the Paris Conservatoire, the Paris Opera, or any other institution..but I’m not sure whether one should adopt positive-discrimination. For me the only discrimination, in no matter which are, is the entrance competition.

*

Mantovani swiftly posted a damage-limitation statement (below) on the Conservatoire’s Facebook page, saying he loves women conductors and was only trying to stir public debate about a difficult subject. Mais, bien sur, M. le directeur…

Où sont les femmes dans la musique classique ? Suite et fin

De même qu’ « il n’y pas d’amour, il n’y a que des preuves d’amour », je pense qu’il n’y a pas de machisme, mais des preuves de machisme, ou mieux encore, qu’il n’y pas d’anti-machisme, mais des preuves d’anti-machisme. L’interview que j’ai accordée en tant que directeur du Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse à France musique sur la présence des femmes dans le métier de la direction d’orchestre faisant polémique sur les réseaux sociaux, c’est d’abord en tant que compositeur que je voudrais rappeler à tous ceux qui sont prêts à participer à la si facile vindicte populaire que l’auteur de ces lignes a dédié quatre œuvres à Laurence Equilbey, a enregistré un disque avec Susanna Mälkki, a demandé à l’Opéra de Paris d’engager cette dernière pour son premier ouvrage scénique à l’opéra Bastille, et travaille actuellement à un projet de mélodrame avec Claire Gibault. Il n’y a que des preuves, disais-je, en voici quelques unes irréfutables, qui devraient déjà faire taire les procureurs peu informés.

Cela étant, la polémique idiote et infondée me concernant ne doit pas faire ombrage à un débat intéressant, et c’est maintenant le directeur du Conservatoire qui va pouvoir préciser les propos qui excitent la blogosphère (j’en profite pour préciser que le CNSMDP une des rares écoles supérieures où l’on peut observer une parité absolue entre élèves hommes et femmes). J’ai accordé une vingtaine de minutes d’entretien au journaliste de France musique qui n’a retenu qu’une seule minute, et s’il est impossible d’avoir accès à l’intégralité de cet échange, voilà approximativement ce qui a été évoqué.

La question des quotas de femmes en classe de direction d’orchestre a été abordée. J’ai dit tout d’abord que la classe de direction d’orchestre n’était plus exclusivement masculine depuis longtemps. Plusieurs élèves femmes ont achevé leurs études récemment (la dernière, Alexandra Cravero a décroché brillamment son diplôme de master en 2011, et a été engagée sur une production d’opéra au CNSDMP l’année suivante). A mon sens, le système des quotas dans une école n’est ni souhaitable, ni pertinent. C’est le niveau au concours d’entrée des candidats qui importe, ni le sexe, ni l’origine géographique de ces derniers (on s’émeut assez peu, d’ailleurs, de l’absence quasi-totale de chefs d’orchestre noirs ou africains du nord, ce que je trouve très préoccupant pour ma part). Il serait inacceptable, au stade du concours de recrutement, de mettre en place la moindre discrimination, ni positive, ni négative.

Cela étant, je me réjouis de l’entrée dans la classe préparatoire de direction d’orchestre (dite « d’initiation ») de deux jeunes femmes pour l’année scolaire qui débute, et j’espère vivement qu’elles pourront intégrer la classe supérieure à la fin de leur cursus actuel.

J’ai aussi insisté lors de cet entretien sur le fait que beaucoup de femmes n’étaient pas intéressées par le métier de chef, et que l’incitation de la part d’un établissement avait ses limites. On ne peut forcer une personne à s’engager dans une carrière ou dans une autre.

A propos des motifs potentiels de ce désintérêt (et j’insiste sur l’adjectif « potentiel », car n’étant pas une femme moi-même, mes propos sont à la fois une opinion personnelle mais aussi la synthèse de propos tenus par des femmes), j’ai évoqué la maternité, question qui se pose en général au moment même où une carrière débute pour un chef (entre 27 et 35 ans). Par « service après-vente » de la maternité (expression malheureuse, j’en conviens, mais le second degré existe aussi pour évoquer des sujets sérieux), je disais qu’une mère peut difficilement conjuguer une carrière internationale de chef (très différente au niveau de l’implication d’une instrumentiste, car jouer un concerto ou un récital n’implique pas une semaine de répétitions) et une maternité récente. Le rapport d’un enfant à sa mère n’est pas le même que celui à son père, et nier cela en s’abritant derrière un égalitarisme angélique est assez éloigné de la réalité.

Enfin, et c’est sûrement le plus important, j’ai beaucoup insisté sur le fait que la situation avait déjà beaucoup évolué. Qui aurait pu imaginer il y a vingt ans qu’un jour, ce serait une femme (Marin Aslop) qui dirigerait le concert de clôture des Proms ? De même, le fait qu’après avoir dirigé mon ballet Siddharta, Susanna Mälkki soit réinvitée à l’opéra de Paris prouve que les vieilles habitudes machistes de certains orchestres ont totalement disparu. Bien sûr, nous sommes loin de la parité, mais encore une fois, cette notion n’est aucunement pertinente pour moi en l’état actuel des choses, et il est trop tôt pour pouvoir l’envisager. Mais l’optimisme est réel.

Le procès en machisme qui m’est fait (et qui donne naissance à des propos assez abjects concernant ma personne sur les réseaux sociaux et qui n’honorent pas ceux qui les tiennent) est à la fois injuste et infondé. France musique, chaîne du groupe Radio France, est une antenne liée à deux merveilleux orchestres où l’on ne peut pas dire que la parité des chefs invités soit particulièrement respectée. Cela est normal pour le moment, et la situation évoluera sûrement avec le temps. En tout cas, que ce soit entant que compositeur comme en tant que directeur d’un établissement d’enseignement supérieur, j’espère participer à l’émergence de femmes chefs d’orchestre avec efficacité et pertinence, loin de la passion éphémère qui agite les débats stériles où tout est permis, même la plus grande des bassesses.

Bruno MANTOVANI

Directeur du Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et danse de Paris

There’s a brilliant piece on Bloomberg Muse today by its editor, Manuela Hoelterhoff, who has watched the decline and fall of City Opera from some of the best seats in the house. As with Edward Gibbon, the fall of empire makes stronger reading than its rise and Manuela sure knows how to tell and story and who’s to blame. Pulitzer jury, please note.

Of recent matters, George Steel was a hopeless pick as manager, she’s said so all along. But the board who appointed him were brazenly negligent in this and so many financial matters that you’d think the boys in blue might start to rattle the handcuffs. She names Susan Baker, Mark Newhouse and Mary Sharp Cronson as chief miscreants. She calls it dead right.

Here’s a sample:

It’s shocking how little attention is paid to the boards

that control our cultural institutions.

     NYCO had big problems all along. The State Theater, too big

for the People’s Opera, was built for the New York City Ballet,

which owns the lucrative Christmas season with George

Balanchine’s “Nutcracker.”

     Even that amazing fundraiser Beverly Sills, in her heyday

as general director, ate herself fat wooing patrons to cover the

perennial shortfall.

     But to end as a two-bit touring company expiring in the

wake of a pathetic Kickstarter campaign really stretches my

suspenders of disbelief.

Read the full article here.

After the orchestra’s crippling strike, music director Leonard Slatkin decided that Detroit needed a fight song in its repertoire.

“Go Get ‘Em Tigers” was the theme song of Detroit’s 1968 championship team. In 2006, after the Tigers beat the Yankees in the American League Division Series, it was played as players carried manager Jim Leyland off the field.

The orchestra’s principal librarian Robert Stiles arranged the piece. Yesterday, the Tigers got their full orch and choral premiere. Watch.

Tonight’s Berlin concert for justice and human rights in Putin’s Russia will be streamed worldwide on the Franco-German Arte TV channel. Here’s the link.  And here’s Gidon’s video statement in English and Russian.

The concert involves Gidon Kremer, Daniel Barenboim, Martha Argerich, Emmanuel Pahud, Sergei Nakariakov, Katya Buniatishvili, Giya Kancheli, Nicolas Altstaedt and the Kremerate Baltica.

Programme

Mieczyslaw Weinberg

Sinfonietta Nr. 2 op. 74

3. Satz: Adagio

Johann Sebastian Bach

Suite für Violoncello solo Nr. 2 d-Moll BWV 1008

2. Satz: Allemande

Sofia Gubaidulina 

Sieben letzte Worte

3. Satz: „Wahrlich ich sage Dir, heute wirst Du mit mir im Paradiese sein“

Arvo Pärt

Estnisches Wiegenlied

Giya Kancheli

The angels of sorrow

Sergej Prokofjew

Sonate für Klavier Nr. 7 B-Dur op. 83

3. Satz: Precipitato

Peter Tschaikowsky

Lenskis Arie aus Eugen Onegin  (arr. Guy Braunstein)

Dmitri Schostakowitsch

Klavierkonzert  Nr. 1 op.35

(mit obligater Trompete)

4. Satz: Allegro con brio

Leonid Desyatnikov

Filmmusik aus Target

Vivaldi’s January

The unbelievably popular blind tenor has a little business running on the side with his architect brother, Alberto. They are building houses in the Tuscan village of Lajatico, their birthplace, and selling them through a London agent for €231,800 to €626,000.

This is not a top-end development. Buyers will have to use the communal swimming pool. More details here.

Andrea’s sales pitch goes like this: ‘Lajatico is nestled among the hills overlooking the end of the beautiful Valdera valley. It’s central position means it is easy to reach other historical Tuscan villages and the beach resorts on the Tuscan sea.’

Someone should set it to music.

John Boehr was walking to a Carmen rehearsal on Thursday afternoon when he was set upon by two men who slammed a brick into his face. They ran off with his gym bag, which contained $15 and his Carmen score.

Boehr, 31, required stitches to his head and was badly bruised. The baritone is making his Dallas Opera debut as Morales in Bizet’s opera.

The two conductors have signalled support for a no-political group of activists at the Florence theatre who are trying to save if from closure by a range of independent initiatives.

Andrea Baggio, one of the organisers tells us: ‘IO SONO IL MAGGIO is a cultural association created by the passion of some theatre workers with the goal to pull the Teatro del Maggio and its audience closer through an experiment of crowdfunding, the first in Italy in Opera House’s field (as far as we know), and the offer of cultural events.’

Here’s Zubin Mehta accepting his membership card. Check out the group’s website and the Facebook page.

The director-general, Tony Hall, is about to announce a 20 percent funding increase for arts on television, notably on BBC1 and BBC2

‘Arts programming sits right at the heart of the BBC and is a vital part of who we are. But I want us to be much more ambitious. We need to showcase more of the incredible talent that this country has to offer to the widest possible audiences. It is our privilege and our responsibility to do this,’ he says.

It’s what you’d expect to hear from a recent chief executive of the Royal Opera House, though not, perhaps, quite so early in his tenure or when he has got so many other fires to fight. This is clearly a landmark statement about the future of the BBC. You can read the press announcement here.

Where the money will be found is not specified. And there will be only a qualified welcome for the BBC’s renewed support for the Arts Council’s failed venture, The Space. Nevertheless, this is a landmark moment for the arts in Britain.

We’ve had a cute new video in from Keane Southard, a composer who’s on a Fulbright fellowship researching El Sistema-type projects in Brazil.

Here’s one that went viral in Sa Paolo. Keane has added English subtitles.