The HBO drama series ‘Vinyl’ focusses on life in the old record industry. Typically, Herbie gets in first.
Our review is from an industry veteran who asks to remains anonymous.
Vinyl on HBO
The first scene in HBO’s new series “Vinyl” opens with a close up of Richie Finestra, the CEO of American Century, a fictional record label, in the conference room at PolyGram records, in the mid-seventies underneath a large black and white portrait of conductor Herbert von Karajan. As the camera pulls back and switches to the German executives the voice over is heard to say: “This is my story clouded by lost brain cells, self-aggrandizement, and maybe a little B.S.”
This series sprung from the mind of Mick Jagger and was developed by Martin Scorsese and Terrence Winter. While not a documentary, or even a docudrama “Vinyl” shows many of the personality types that have been in the record business since its inception. Most the events in the show have happened at one time or another, just not at the same time, by the same people, in the same place.
Richie Fenestra is played by Scorsese favorite Bobby Cannavale. Also on the staff at American Century are P. J. Byrne as Scott Leavitt, the lawyer for American Century; Max Casella as Julian “Julie” Silver, the head of A&R of American Century, J. C. Mackenzie as Skip Fontaine, head of sales for American Century, in his introduction is shown dumping box lots of unsold LPs in to the harbor in New Jersey, and Ray Romano as Zak Yankovich, Richie’s best friend and head of promotions at American Century. Yankovich is introduced supplying a disc Jockey with Cocaine which they snort off of the spinning LP that Yankovich is promoting.
For those who have read “Hit men”, “Mansion on the Hill”, or “Exploding” many of the types associated with the record business are illustrated. A touch or Morris Levy, a hint of Walter Yetnikoff, a bit of Paul Castellano and a dash of Joe Isgro. The era of the seventies as the record business was becoming more corporate and less entrepreneurial is the background while music tastes were fragmenting with the advent of punk, disco and the legacy acts shows how Fenestra had to navigate through his own personal demons as well as the changing landscape of his business and musical tastes.
The anachronisms are rampant, PolyGram did not exist in that form, and Mercury Records was purchased by Phonogram, the version of PolyGram that did exist, at that time. The fictional American Century was not sold in the series. The highlights for many people was the reference by the fictional PolyGram executives to “The Led Zeppelins”. The A&R meeting where Fenestra and Julie Silver threaten their staff has happened from time to time. But the word that should never be spoken out loud was said. “Recoupment”. Maury Gold in trying to get an extension from the mob enforcer, Corrado Galasso, on his gambling debt payments talks about how advertising, promotion, manufacturing, and other expenses are charged back against the artist’s royalty accounts. “If the drummer drinks a Pepsi at the session he is paying for it at a huge mark-up”.
Nowadays the music business is run by people whose expertise is spreadsheets, demographic studies, and corporate reports to shareholders and regulators. As the late Stan Cornyn said, in his book, “Exploding”: “The suits won.” With such large amounts of money at risk and the change in how consumers obtain music the dollars and sense are spent.
A long time industry veteran once said: “Back in the day thick volumes were written about the music business. Now it all can be summed up in 140 characters.” The era of “Vinyl” has come and gone but the stories sure were colorful.
On the 20th anniversary of her father’s death, the daughter of Mieczyslaw Weinberg has been talking for the first time about his sad decline during the course of his second marriage.
She maintains that his late conversion to Russian Orthodoxy was against his free will and that his wife’s mother had worked as a psychiatrist at the state institute where Weinberg was imprisoned under Stalin.
This is a terrible personal tragedy of a great Soviet artist. It is written in Russian. (Google may help.) Read here.
The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande has issued another of its bizarre press statements, confirming it does not know where its next music director ic coming from.
Jonathan Nott had been announced in the job but he’s refusing to sign a contract, the more so since the orch has just seen the departure of another chief exec.
They have appointed a manager, Jean-Pierre Rousseau, a former short-term head of music at French radio. But they are making it clear he’s just a temp.
We have a perfect candidate for the job, below. He’s free.
press release:
Genève, le 26 février 2016
Chère Madame, cher Monsieur,
A la suite du départ de M. Swinnen, le Bureau de la Fondation de l’OSR a décidé de confier une mission temporaire d’administration générale ad interim à Monsieur Jean-Pierre Rousseau, dont l’expérience et le parcours professionnel seront très utiles pour mener à bien les dossiers en suspens et tracer de nouvelles perspectives pour l’OSR. Il suivra l’orchestre notamment lors de la prochaine tournée en Chine et en Inde. Il finalisera la saison 2016-2017 et la présentera.
Jean-Pierre Rousseau a déjà travaillé avec et pour l’OSR, entre 1986 et 1993, comme producteur puis chef de la production musicale de la Radio Suisse Romande. Directeur de France Musique (Radio France, Paris) de 1993 à 1999, il a été Directeur général de la Salle Philharmonique et de l’Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Belgique (1999-2014). Directeur de la Musique de Radio France (2014-2015) à la demande du nouveau PDG de Radio France Mathieu Gallet, il assume désormais la direction de l’un des plus importants festivals d’Europe, le Festival de Radio France et Montpellier Languedoc Roussillon (qui a attiré pour son 30ème anniversaire en juillet 2015 près de 128’000 spectateurs).
Nous vous informons également que le contrat entre la Fondation de l’OSR et Maestro Jonathan Nott n’est à ce jour pas signé. Il existe un document signé par Messieurs Nott et Swinnen le 20 octobre 2015, qui prévoit notamment l’engagement d’un chef assistant, contrairement au mandat défini par la Fondation. Ni le Conseil de Fondation de l’OSR, ni le Bureau du Conseil, ni la Présidente, Mme Notter, n’ont été informés de la signature de ce document, que Monsieur Swinnen a tout fait pour garder secret, notamment en déjouant les rencontres planifiées entre la Présidente et Monsieur Nott. C’est en janvier 2016, à l’occasion d’un échange personnel direct avec Monsieur Nott, que ce dernier a informé la Présidente de ce document, qui ne comportait pas les signatures autorisées et qui n’avait été validé ni par la Présidence ni par le Conseil de Fondation.
Dès qu’elles ont pu lire le texte, Mme Florence Notter et Me Sylvie Buhagiar se sont rendues à Londres pour tenter de régler la situation. Elles ont fait tout ce qui était en leur pouvoir, dans les limites fixées par les statuts et les décisions de la Fondation de l’OSR. Après divers échanges, la Fondation a communiqué à Monsieur Nott les propositions du Conseil de Fondation. Nous attendons à présent la réponse de Monsieur Nott et de ses agents, qui ont été relancés.
Nous nous réjouissons de cette nouvelle collaboration avec Monsieur Jean-Pierre Rousseau et de vous présenter très bientôt notre nouvelle saison 2016-2017.
We hear Peter E. Clark will resume work Monday at the Metropolitan Opera.
Anthea Kreston, the new violinist in the Artemis Quartet, has moved her family to Berlin, found a home and schools and is now settling into rehearsal. But before she can begin…. here’s the latest exclusive extract from her diary.
This week – Ecki’s wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Gregor finally came out of a week of a serious flu, Vineta broke a tooth, and I alternate between small victories and small mistakes. Jason and I now can rent cars at will. We have found a great school for Tzippy for the fall, and now can search for a place to live in that area. We have found a babysitter to allow Jason some practice time. Jason got a speeding ticket and my German is atrocious (but I am trying!). In a nutshell.
So – rehearsal prep. This section could either be for musicians (who may find it interesting or very annoying) or non-musicians.
Over the years, I have developed (as all musicians do) a way of getting from 0% prepared to 100%. There are three main sections of this – personal technique, historical knowledge, and score study. These three factors rely on one another, and grow in fits and starts. There is, of course, no way of getting to 100% – it is more of a vanishing point situation.
First – my practice set-up:
Pencils, yellow highlighter, and red pen
Three binders – my personal part, scores, and a copy of the original Artemis part – and preferably three stands
Stool
Metronome
Recording device
Collection of recordings of the pieces (some people like to listen to recordings and some don’t)
Tasty drink (or several)
Terry Teachout has discovered the secrets of the surefire Hammerstein formula in a new book by Jack Viertel.
Thirty-eight shows ran on Broadway during the first week of 2016, the best-attended week in the history of American theater. Twenty-six of them, including 19 of the 20 top-grossing productions, were musicals. Even though the musical is currently weathering a creative crisis of the first order, no other type of show is more central to the fiscal health of big-budget theater.
It has been announced that Toby Tumarkin CAMI Music’s Executive Vice President since 2010 and a CAMI lifer since 1999 is joining IMG as Senior Vice President of Artists and Attractions. It’s a confidence booster for IMG and a blow for CAMI.
At CAMI, Tumarkin has been responsible for the US careers of Mariza, Natalie MacMaster, Leahy, Diego El Cigala, Chucho Valdes and Buika, and the international careers of The Hot Sardines, Jon Batiste, Cameron Carpenter, The East Village Opera Company and Cherryholmes.
Press release follows.
IMG Artists is delighted to welcome Toby Tumarkin as Senior Vice President of Artists and Attractions. Through this new role, Mr. Tumarkin will work with the current teams to create and produce new projects and shows, further develop the international scope of the company’s Attractions roster and provide his renowned artistic insights and strategic savvy to the careers of musicians from multiple genres. He will be based in IMGA’s New York headquarters.
Lorna Aizlewood, IMG Artists’ Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel, said: “We are delighted to welcome Toby to the IMG Artists family. His vast experience and knowledge of both artists and attractions will be an incredible strategic addition to our world-leading team. We look forward to working with him to continue to develop our global business.”
Mr. Tumarkin said: “I am thrilled to be joining the team at IMG Artists, and am looking forward to working with and helping to grow their fantastic roster of artists. Having an international presence and a diverse group of artists and attractions is vital to the success of a modern performing arts management company, and IMGA has both of those.”
Toby Tumarkin joins IMGA from CAMI Music, where he has served as Executive Vice President for the past six years. He began his career in 1999 at Columbia Artists Management as a regional booking agent, later serving as National Sales Director and Vice President.
During his tenure with CAMI and CAMI Music, Mr. Tumarkin expanded both rosters to include more than a dozen Grammy®-winning and nominated artists. He was also instrumental in introducing diverse musical genres, such as Portuguese fado, bluegrass and flamenco, to many theaters across The US.
While developing the North American careers of numerous international stars, including Mariza, Natalie MacMaster, Leahy, Diego El Cigala, Chucho Valdes and Buika, Mr. Tumarkin also steered the domestic and international careers of many US-based artists such as The Hot Sardines, Jon Batiste, Cameron Carpenter, The East Village Opera Company and Cherryholmes. In addition to his Artist Management successes, he regularly produced nationwide Bluegrass, Americana, Celtic, Jazz, Global music and Dance tours.
Mr. Tumarkin is one of the founders of NextGen (now WAA 35 Below), the Western Arts Alliance’s program created to foster relationships between young professionals in the performing arts. He is also a member of the inaugural class of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters’ Emerging Leaders Institute.
A native of New York City, Mr. Tumarkin holds a BA in Psychology from Vassar College and a Post-Graduate diploma in voice from Trinity College London.
The Belgian National Orchestra have chosen a new chief conductor to succeed Andrey Boreyko next year.
He is the Boston-based Hugh Wolff, 62, director of orchestras at the New England Conservatory. Wolff’s last European attachment, with the Frankfurt radio orchestra, ended a decade ago.
Robert Fitzpatrick, former dean of Curtis, remembers a legendary professor, who died last night.
Otto Werner Mueller (1926-2016) was a giant in many respects: physically at over two meters in height, intellectually because of his incredible analytical mind, and musically both as a teacher and as a conductor, especially of conservatory orchestras at Yale, Juilliard and Curtis. His first position in America was at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Born in Germany, he immigrated to Canada and eventually became a proud American citizen.
Students in his orchestras and in his conducting classes often endured a psycho-drama that ran the gamut from respect to fear, from anger to admiration, and finally to love and back to respect. His entrance test for conductors was a legendary ordeal that tested the aural, keyboard, and intellectual capacities of a candidate. Only after surviving this baptism of fire were they permitted to conduct a “lab” orchestra of students in a work of the candidate’s choice and the celebrated Mueller reduction for small orchestra of the “Glorification of the Chosen One” from “The Rite of Spring.” Those who showed a talent that attracted the ears and eyes of the Maestro were given a brief lesson in front of the orchestra. If the candidate’s potential and docility were compatible with Otto’s uncompromising standards, the chosen one gained admission to the Mueller studio which numbered between three to five students, with one or two admitted each year as others graduated.
At Curtis, students coveted a place in the Lab Orchestra because they learned so much about orchestral playing and conducting technique while they observed their fellow students on the podium reacting to Otto’s inimitable teaching style which included compliments, cajoling, critical remarks, and occasional Zeus-like thunder bolts of short-lived paternal anger. His teaching approach embodied the proverbial velvet glove covering an iron first even though the iron melted a bit over the years. Unforgettable musicianship is the term most often heard from former students concerning OWM, with lasting influence running a close second.
The list of his students who are currently musical directors of orchestras around the world is impressive. At Curtis, he had 38 students between 1986 and 2014. His classes at other schools also boasted many successful graduates who are currently pursuing careers on the podium. Otto Werner Mueller, musician, teacher, conductor, and remarkable human being…we will never forget you.
Chorus members at English National Opera have followed their union’s recommendation and voted unanimously to strike over proposals – still unfinalised – to cut their contract months and their numbers.
They are presently gathering to picket the Arts Council, the real instigator of the cuts.
ENO have issued the following response:
‘We are extremely disappointed that Equity have balloted members of the ENO chorus, and they have decided to proceed with industrial action – including a strike – before undertaking serious negotiations. Given the assurance that no action would be taken which would damage the company, we are saddened that the action that they have chosen seems specifically designed to cause the utmost harm to both the company and our audience.
‘Their choice to disrupt performances of Akhnaten will only undermine the pride the whole company has in its amazing work and let down every audience member who has paid to see this show.
‘We are confident that we can reach an agreement with Equity and that we can work together to find a solution which both enables us to face the reality of a £5m cut in core funding whilst protecting the artistic integrity of our work.
‘To be clear, we are not asking the chorus to work the same number of months for 75% of pay, as has been suggested by Equity. We are asking the chorus to move to a nine month contract, reflecting the work they will undertake in future seasons for the company. We are reducing their contracted time with the company by 25%, and have put forward a 17.5% reduction in pay (equivalent to 10 months pay – nine months plus four weeks paid holiday to be taken outside of their contracted ‘core’ season).
‘We have made concessions to the original proposal which would see this new contract not take effect until 1 August 2017, thereby giving 18 months notice. We have proposed four redundancies in the chorus, reducing the chorus from 44 members to 40. This would take effect from 1 August 2016.
‘We have made it clear to the chorus that we would prefer to protect jobs and maintain a permanent ensemble, and therefore offer contracts that reflect the amount of work that individual chorus members undertake, rather than imposing further redundancies on the chorus, thus compromising the artistic quality for which they are world renowned. By taking this action, we are able to limit the number of redundancies to four.
‘However, in order to face the financial reality of the situation we are in, and to offer the greatest value for public money, we are not prepared to pay chorus members for times of the year that they are not working.
‘We are also offering to give first refusal to chorus members on any work that is scheduled outside their contracts at a 100% freelance fee and are prepared to negotiate a notice period for finding this work that suits the needs of individual chorus members. Plans to find work for the chorus during the summer months are already at an advanced stage, which will further soften the financial impact of these cost savings to individual chorus members.
‘We cannot place the future of ENO, one of the UK’s greatest cultural assets, at risk of closure. Any strike action undertaken would significantly undermine the work of all members of the ENO family. We are committed to finding a solution with Equity and chorus representatives that both protects our permanent artistic forces yet meets the cost savings required given the 30% cut to our core ACE grant.’
We have received notice of the death, at 89, of Otto-Werner Mueller, professor of conducting at the Curtis Institute, possibly the most sought-after tutor in America.
His students included Paavo Järvi, Alan Gilbert, Miguel Harth-Bedoya and Rossen Milanov.
My heart is heavy, and I’m filled with sadness as I share the news that my beloved husband Otto-Werner Mueller passed away peacefully at our home in Charlotte on Thursday evening, February 25.
I will soon provide more information on Otto’s amazing life and memorials to honor him in Charlotte, New York and Philadelphia.
