FAZ: German singers shun London opera awards

FAZ: German singers shun London opera awards

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norman lebrecht

April 27, 2015

That’s what is says in the Frankfurter story. Two winners and Jonas failed to show respect.

kaufmann harteros

Another bummer here.

Comments

  • Albertina says:
    April 27, 2015 at 4:16 pm

    Kaufmann was doing a concert in Baden Baden last night. I imagine the other two also had prior arrangements. What exactly is the story here?

    Reply
    • Gerhard says:
      April 28, 2015 at 1:20 pm

      And on a slow news day a little German bashing is always good to fill the pages, particularly if the Gelb bashing has already been done.

      Reply
  • erich says:
    April 27, 2015 at 4:36 pm

    With the Jury probably only reaching a decision a matter of weeks or possibly a very few months ago, anyone with any knowledge of the business would know that singers of this level are booked between three and five years in advance. Quite so – what the hell IS the story???

    Reply
  • SDReader says:
    April 27, 2015 at 5:06 pm

    Gerhaher has Lieder commitments this week in Munich.

    Look, what’s interesting about this story is that the awards have been given WITHOUT the usual advance condition that the artists show up to accept.

    This speaks well of the London Opera Awards, or whatever they are called.

    In Washington, New York and Stockholm, among other places, “major” awards that actually boost careers are made on the understanding that the big star will be there on the night to add luster to the award presenter — which of course is a kind of “fix.”

    Reply
  • Ursula Dehne says:
    April 27, 2015 at 8:37 pm

    Germans can’t do anything right for Mr. Lebrecht, Thieleman, Kaufmann, who counts the names?

    Reply
  • Una says:
    April 28, 2015 at 9:02 am

    Hardly a ‘shun’ if the singers have genuine singing commitments. What’s all the fuss about then for just a headline? No story, and hopefully ‘end of story!’ Singers don’t need this kind of headline.

    Reply
  • Ks. Cristopher Robson says:
    April 28, 2015 at 10:03 am

    Dear Norman, your “headline” is rather misleading since the singers concerned had prior commitments. The FAZ headline literally translates as “German Singers clean up in London”, and the article doesn’t mention any “shunning” at all. We all know that people like Gerhaher and Harteros would have gone (at their own expense) if they were free from other commitments.
    It’s nice to see that the German press take note of these awards. There was even a short report about the event on the German tv news channels ZDF and 3SAT as well as on German radio. Not even a whisper about it on BBC News online in the so called Entertainment & Arts section.

    Reply
    • norman lebrecht says:
      April 28, 2015 at 10:21 am

      Dear Christopher, The article glowed at the German wins and criticised the absence of the winners. I think ‘shun’ is fair. As for BBC, wir sind einstimmig!
      all best, Norman

      Reply
      • Andrew says:
        April 28, 2015 at 4:08 pm

        Dear Norman,
        There is absolutely no hint of negative tone/inflection/judgement in the article. Shun is unfair. The article merely states that Kaufmann and Harteros were not able to be present to receive their awards. Which sentence exactly criticizes the absence of the winners, in your opinion?

        Reply
  • Ebbaanders says:
    April 29, 2015 at 4:31 pm

    Dear Norman,
    the german article speaks of “konnten nicht”, that means “were not able to” and not “didn’t want to”. F.e. Jonas Kaufmann sang on 26. a sold-out concert in Baden-Baden. Cancel the concert??? Or torn in two ??? So your “headline” is not only disrespectful but incorrect!

    Reply

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