The veteran maestro has walked out of Berlin’s Salome over ‘differences’ with the director Hans Neuenfels.

Dohnanyi, 88, who took over the show from the surgically-sidelined Zubin Mehta, told the theatre that his young sidekick, Thomas Guggeis, could take his place.

Guggeis is Daniel Barenboim’s assistant.

 

‘What, should I sit at home and do nothing?’ demands the great German tenor in a Berlin interview, ahead of a 15-concert tour.

He says he has not read a newspaper in 30 years, thinks Bayreuth has gone to the dogs and is unhappy with his hotel.

Read here.

 

Nicholas Mathias at IMG Artists has signed the Italian Carlo Rizzi away from Van Walsum’s Maestro Arts.

Rizzi, 57, former music director of Welsh National Opera, is not a big name but a steady earner.

Mathias needs to replace revenue lost from the defection of his top earner Jaap Van Zweden to Columbia.

press release:

Joyce DiDonato is the Recipient of the 2018 »Glashütte Original MusicFestivalAward«

‘Joyce DiDonato is an artist who does not differentiate between life and art. She devotes the same enthusiasm and the same standard of perfection to social activism as she does to the preparation of her opera roles and concerts. As a colleague, I admire Joyce; on behalf of the Music Festival and our sponsor Glashütte Original, I am delighted at this fantastic prize-winner,’ said Jan Vogler, Intendant of the Dresden Music Festival.

Past winners of the 25,000 Euro award include Steven Isserlis and Hilary Hahn.

The Spanish conductor Jesús López Cobos, one of the most reliable maestros of recent times, died this morning in Berlin of cancer-related causes.

Jesús López Cobos was general music director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1981 to 1990 and music director of the Orquesta Nacional de España, 1984-88. From 1986 to 2000 he was music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and from 2003 until 2010 of the Teatro Real in Madrid.

He worked with many other orchestras in Spain and around the world. I remember him leading the LSO at the Salzburg Festival in the 1980s, working with precision and without ostentation to produce world class performances.

He conducted 92 times at the Vienna Opera, making his last appearance on January 8 this year and withdrawing recently for health reasons from April’s Aida.

He was the ultimate professional.

Rest his soul.

Harvey Schmidt’s long run has ended.

In May 1960 he opened The Fantasticks at the Sullivan Street Playhouse. It ran there until 2002, setting a new record for musical shows. Revived in 2006, it ran a further 11 years.

Remember? Try.

Its hit song is indelible.

Schmidt, with his fellow-Texan Tom Jones, also wrote 110 in the Shade.

Harvey Schmidt died in Texas on February 28.

Alias Schmidt and Jones. photo: Henri Dauman

 

Deutsche Bahn has been wondering what names to give its new generation of ICE trains.

So it asked the German public for suggestions, having reserved a slot for Ludwig van Beethoven on his 250th anniversary in 2020. Martin Luther has already got the first ICE train named after him.

The public submitted the following celebrity names:  Konrad Adenauer, Hannah Arendt, Bertha Benz, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Willy Brandt, Vicco von Bülow, Marlene Dietrich, Hedwig Dohm, Albert Einstein, Ludwig Erhard, Anne Frank, Heinrich Heine, Alexander von Humboldt, Marie Juchacz, Erich Kaestner, Hildegard Knef, Käthe Kollwitz, Adolph Kolping, Thomas Mann, Karl Marx, Scholl, Margarete Steiff, Elisabeth of Thuringia and Fritz Walter.

But the railway has now changed its mind. nne Frank, it puffed, might awaken painful memories, and Karl Marx is a bit, er, controversial.

So all future trains will be named after lakes and mountains and Beethoven won’t get his name on an engine.

Luther, however, gets to keep his train.

 

 

A statement by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir:

 

To the TMC community —

Last night, we became aware of a media report that makes reference to allegations of sexual misconduct against Noel Edison.

News of these allegations may have elicited in you, as it has in us, feelings of shock and sadness.

Faced with this situation, we must make tough decisions, balancing the obligations we have to all parties involved. These parties include Noel and the complainants, and very importantly, they include choristers and all other members of the TMC and Elora Singers community.

We recently received letters of complaint from third parties regarding Noel’s conduct. These complaints were immediately raised to the Boards of both the TMC and the Elora Singers. Both organizations responded promptly by placing Noel on a personal leave of absence and launching an independent third party investigation. That investigation has already begun. Anyone having any information that they would like to share can contact TMC Chair Maureen Palmer or TMC Vice-Chair Cathy Conforzi, in confidence, at chair@tmchoir.org, or John Spearn, Director, Elora Singers at spearn@corcap.com.

To ensure the utmost integrity of this investigation, neither organization will make any public comment until the investigation is completed and the respective Boards of Directors have had time to review the information. Unfortunately, we are also not able to share further information with you until the investigation is complete.

Maureen Palmer
Chair, TMC Board of Directors

Cynthia Hawkins
Executive Director, TMC

John Spearn,
Director, Elora Singers

 

Watch this.

With extreme care.

The player is Dylan Steven King, academic advisor at the University of Florida’s college of liberal arts and sciences.

Just watch.

 

Michael Vincent at Ludwig Van Toronto reports that the Toronto Mendelsohn Choir has put its conductor Noel Edison on ‘personal leave’ after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct by male accusers.

Edison, 59, is also being investigated by the Elora Festival, where he is artistic director.

Read on here.

Full statement by Toronto Mendelssohn Choir here.

In the absence of a conductor, the choir has cancelled two concerts in the coming week.

Orchestral concerts in the UK rarely fall victim to the weather,

But this week’s extreme conditions have claimed a first cancellation.

Friday’s RSNO concert at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh is off. It is hoped that Saturday’s repeat in Glasgow will still go ahead.

RSNO Chief Executive Dr Krishna Thiagarajan: ‘The safety and well-being of our patrons, musicians, staff and visiting artists must always be our top priority. Adhering to the advice from the Scottish Government and Police Scotland, as well as our partner venues, we have decided to cancel Friday’s performance in Edinburgh. We apologise to our supporters who were looking forward to conductor Lorenzo Viotti’s RSNO Season debut and pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s return to the Usher Hall. We will endeavour to invite them to join us at the first available opportunity.’
UPDATE: Saturday’s Glasgow show is also cancelled.
 

When Belgium’s VRT digitised its music collection, the originals were carefully treated and conserved for posterity.

CBC Montreal will earn international contempt if it junks its record library, as planned.

How’s it done? Read here.