Three armed teenagers held up two chorus members as they left Symphony Hall at 10.40 pm Monday night.
No-one got hurt but the area’s unsafe and moves are being discussed to instal extra lighting.
Report, with video, here.
Six months after she started playing in the first violins of the Vienna State Opera, Ekaterina Frolova has been accepted into the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra*. Well done, Ekaterina.
That’s not just fast. It’s indicative of a new policy within the orchestra.
The ratio of women to men in the Vienna Phil is now roughly 1:10.
Way to go.
UPDATE: A member of the Vienna Philharmonic has questioned this information in the comments section below.
All we can add at this stage is that the Vienna Philharmonic has posted her picture on Facebook with this caption: Ekaterina Frolova, our new colleague in the first violin section.
Ekaterina, who we reported last June was accepted into the Vienna Opera orchestra, has reposted that message in celebratory fashion. We were given to understand that she had been fast-tracked, but we are now looking into it.
2nd UPDATE:
We can further report that another two women – Karin Bonelli (flute) and Patricia Koll (2nd violins) – have lately been accepted into full membership. Even better, Patricia has been named associate principal of her section. (The VPhil website is catching up on this).
*3rd UPDATE: We have received clarification from a member of the orchestra that the announcement about Ekaterina Frolova signified the start of her trial membership, which began yesterday, not the onset of full membership which usually takes three years. They (and we) apologise for any confusion.
However, we now have the benefit of knowing that the VPhil have taken on two extra women, not one.
4th UPDATE: And now, one more.
Special to Slipped Disc from Bex Herman:
On the corner of Leicester Square, in a refugee centre, a hospital, a prison, or between the trees in Battersea Park – you never know where to expect the Street Orchestra of London.
The Street Orchestra of London (SOL) is the latest project to be launched by Nonclassical, the contemporary classical club promoter and record label founded in 2004 by Gabriel Prokofiev. Modelled on Amsterdam’s Ricciotti Ensemble and formed in collaboration with Gijs Kramers, Ricciotti’s former conductor, SOL is a 40-piece scratch orchestra of players aged 18 and over, who will have spent several days rehearsing together before touring London’s community and public spaces, as well as some extraordinary locations.
Ricciotti Ensemble; photo Ronald Hissink
A SOL performance is based on the belief that every human has an equal right to enjoy live, quality music. It aims to break any barriers that exist between player and public – by performing up-close for communities who rarely have access to this art form, and thus bringing orchestral music to everyone, everywhere.
With a set up time of less than three minutes, SOL will perform four to seven performances per day over the course of four days, with the aim of captivating as wide an audience as possible through their performances of music from a wide range of times and styles, ranging from classical to jazz and bluegrass.
SOL is being produced and part-funded by Nonclassical, and all the people involved are putting in significant time and energy into making the project work. The SOL team are: Gijs Kramers (Artistic Director), Gabriel Prokofiev (Creative Producer), Eleanor Ward (Executive Director), Personnel Manager (Bex Herman), Tour Manager (Hanna Grzeskiewicz) and Project Manager (Carol Hultmark).
For the players, taking part in the orchestra will be a unique musical, social and creative experience. Nowhere else will musicians be offered the opportunity to perform, improvise, present, arrange and compose. SOL also gives an unequaled insight into many layers of everyday society and takes its players to places they may otherwise never see: prisons, hospitals, refugee centres, hospices, shelters for the homeless and old peoples’ homes, as well as more public places such as train stations and parks. Touring with SOL gives young musicians a broad view of the cultural landscape – a place where more and more players are likely to have their careers in the face of changing traditional performance values.
The players will not pay any fees to be part of the orchestra, unlike a normal university orchestra tour – they are part of the SOL family. Rehearsal space will be sought on an in-kind basis where possible, and larger performances in specific venues will pay performance fees. Additional funding will be sought from a variety of sources, including trusts and foundations, and individual donors.
SOL will launch on 13 January 2016, during Nonclassical’s Battle of the Bands and Monthly Club Night at The Victoria, Dalston, 451 Queensbridge Road, London E8 3AS
There were five in the semis, and the jury chair is Japanese. But none of the five made the cut, which suggests it’s a fair contest. What’s more, none of the finalists’ teachers are on the jury.
The six finalists this weekend are:
Alexei MELNIKOV – Russia
Daniel HSU – USA
Alexander GADJIEV – Italy
Alexia MOUZA – Greece/Venezuela
Florian MITREA – Romania
Roman LOPATYNSKYI – Ukraine
A dyspeptic rant by a non-critic after a chamber music concert in Oregon is gaining an inordinate amount of attention. Tristan Bliss, a local composer, went along in a bad mood and came away feeling worse.
Basically, he only wants to hear stuff in a concert he has never heard before. So he laid into the programme and declared it boring, vacant and unnecessary. Read here. It’s worth your attention if you’ve ever felt the same.
Tristan (yes, that name has been used before) Bliss (that one, too) does, however, make a telling point: ‘What do concert reviews review? Is that what you wanted reviewed? Well, that’s what I saw to review.’
He’s right. Often we are amazed that critics find anything at all to say about a concert where everything was familiar, unremarkable, routine. I have seen critics chew the inside of their cheeks til they bled for something worthwhile to say. It’s no wonder that concert reviews are among the least-read bits of your failing daily newspaper.
Maybe Tristan has a point: maybe we should stop reviewing the same old, same old, all over and over again.
Maybe we should leave Carnegie Hall, Royal Festival Hall, the Philharmonie and Musikverein unreviewed?
What do you think?
The Spanish conductor and his Hyperion XXI musicians have withdrawn from a planned December 17 concert at a Calais migrants camp because the local authorities could not offer sufficient security guarantees in the wake of the Paris terror attacks.
Jordi, who explains his reasons here, says he hopes to stage the concert at a later date in order to raise the spirits of the migrants who are trying to reach the UK.
A message from the great British baritone, who was making a comeback from a year of ill-health:
Simon has had to cancel his three recitals in December (Brussels 7.12, Strasbourg 12.12 and Vienna 14.12) as well as his “Simon Keenlyside and Friends” concert at the Wigmore Hall on 26 January 2016.
A Message from Simon:
To all of you that might have bought tickets and flights with your hard earned money, I am so sorry that I must come out of all my December recitals, as well as from the Wigmore small-piece band concert in January.
I had an unexpected operation to remove some of my thyroid at the end of September having returned from singing Macbeth in Japan with the Royal Opera. I had the all clear and so all will be well, but a complication in the healing process of the neck, has set me back a bit. Frustrating in the extreme, but Mother Nature has her imperatives and I must just be patient and work steadily, and as she will allow.
I will still be singing my Schubert Wigmore recital on January 31st 2016, but even though the small-piece band date is before that…..it will take too much work. All the detail and love and passion of making programmes. I am full of hot ideas and fun, but I cannot do that right now when swallowing is uncomfortable. So…there it is. I’m sorry to all of you for spending your money and having to let you down. This was kind of out of my control.
All very best to all of you.
Simon
We wish Simon a full and swift recovery.
Our New York operavores, Elizabeth Frayer and Shawn E Milnes, were so smitten by their first Lulu at the Met that they cleared diaries and emptied the piggybank to see it again.
Some elements only became apparent to them second time around.
Two lessons (everything about Lulu comes in two-Lus):
1 If the Met wants to grow the audience it must keep showing stuff that folk have never seen before.
2 Maybe the Met should hand out slips offering departing operagoers a return ticket to the same show at 50% off.
Elizabeth and Shawn say:
I found the character action easier to follow this time around. I was a touch overwhelmed by Kentridge’s visuals at times in the first performance. This is not a criticism. Great art should have many levels and invite multiple viewings.
Sadly there is only one performance of Lulu left in the run. If you haven’t seen it, go. If you’ve already seen it, go again. I pray they revive this production in the coming years. I think there is much left in it to be discovered.
Read their full two-hand review here.
Roberto Alagna was honoured yesterday with the title Austrian Kammersänger at the Vienna State Opera.
The certificate was presented at a formal state ceremony by the Federal Minister for Arts and Culture Josef Ostermayer and the Opera chief Dominique Meyer.
Did no-one advise Roberto on dress code?
The Lyon Opera boss Serge Dorny, who was sacked before he could start work at the Semper Oper Dresden, has won the first round of his claim for unfair dismissal.
The arts minister told the court that Dorny could not get on with the chief conductor, Christian Thielemann.
But Dorny, who stayed away from the hearing, maintained through his lawyers that his rights had been breached.
He is claiming 1.5 million Euros in compensation.
That’s how Zakhar Bron is described on his Wiki entry.
He’s a controversial figure, involved in many controversial competitions.
His latest engagement is on the jury of a revamped Nutcracker Competition in Russia. Watch his opening solo performance. Watch the faces of musicians and audience.
Hearts a-flutter, we congratulate Pablo Heras-Casado, principal conductor of New York’s Orchestra of St Luke’s, on his marriage to Anne Igartiburu, the popular Spanish-Basque TV presenter.
The pair had a very discreet civil ceremony yesterday, only to see it splashed this morning in Spanish media.
For Pablo, 38, this is first time with a ring on his finger.
Anne, 46, has been married before to the dancer Igor Yebra. She has two adopted daughters.
We wish them every happiness.