It has been announced in Germany that film director Wim Wenders will not, after all, direct the next Bayreuth Ring in 2013.
Apparently, the Katharina and Eva agner who are running the show could not agree to the cost and paraphenalia of filming it in 3-D, as Wenders did so successfully in his Pina Bausch epic.
And here’s my recent reflection on
Pina.
Well, it was a good idea while it lasted…
I’m going on Radio 4’s PM programme in a couple of hours to discuss the Berlin Philharmonic scheme of releasing some of its concerts in movie houses, in 3-D.
The story, from the morning’s
Guardian, strikes me as an initiative that is behind time, rather than ahead of it. I can understand people taking up the Berlin offer to watch them live on the internet –
not that many subscribers have done so – but why watch them in a cinema, with people popping corn and whispering around you?
Am I missing something?
Your thoughts, please, before I go on air….
The first release, by the way, is Mahler’s first symphony and Rachmaninov’s symphonic dances.
A rush release, out tomorrow, features some of the foremost classical artists on Deutsche Grammophon giving their services for Japan quake and tsunami victims.
Big cheers for all concerned. Add it to your collection.
Meantime, I hear the Stuttgart orchestras have raised 70,000 Euros for Japan. Good on them.
Here’s the release information:
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Deutsche Grammophon, Decca release Classics for Japan – Music for Healing April 6 to benefit Japanese Red Cross
Charity album features stars of the classical music world including Daniel Barenboim, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Mitsuko Uchida, Seiji Ozawa
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As part of the global music relief effort to benefit those affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, some of the biggest names of the classical music world have come together to releaseClassics for Japan – Music for Healing, a digital-only album released on April 6.
Featuring favourites of the classical music repertoire, such as the Andante from Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.21, Massenet’s Meditation from Thais and Beethoven’s Moonlight Piano Sonata, the album boasts a stellar list of artists who are either Japanese or who have enjoyed particular success in Japan, including Mitsuko Uchida, Daniel Barenboim, Seiji Ozawa, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Alice Sara Ott and Akiko Suwanai.
The featured world-class artists hope to demonstrate to classical music lovers across the world the uniting force of music, bringing comfort and relief to all both through the power of music and through the direct proceeds of the album. Funds will be used for the provision of immediate relief and resources, and for the ongoing recovery of the affected population.
Deutsche Grammophon and Decca Classics are working together to release and promoteClassics for Japan – Music for Healing. Universal Music and the artists on the album will donate their proceeds to the Japanese Red Cross Society.
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Every few years the Salzburg Festival threatens to sack the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and replace it with some other ensemble of equivalent rank.
The Viennese give a weary sigh and say ‘nobody plays it like we do.’
Then the politicians have their say and the press whip it up and, for a few weeks, we read headlines that the old alliance is broke and will never be repaired. Stand by Berlin and Sir Simon, this could be your big moment.
Yeah, right.
Forget the headlines. The Vienna Philharmonic and the Salzburg Festival have just agreed a new deal until 2016 under which the orchestra will play four out of six operas each year, plus concerts.
So no need to sell the second home in the Salzkammergut.
There are many Philharmonic Orchestras in the world, full of pomp and circumstance, but there’s only one Phil – and that, as any well-educated child will confirm, is Liverpool. The Royal Liverpool, if we’re being formal.
There’s a musical spirit on the Mersey unlike any other and I’m always chuffed to go and hear the Phil even when, as for much of the past two decades, they’ve been down in the dumps. But they’re right back on top form now with young maestro Vassily Petrenko and there’s no telling how high they might fly.
Which is why I’d like to drop a little word of caution in your ears, guys and gals.
There’s a new conductor coming your way next month, apparently for his UK debut. His name is Roberto Minczuk and he’s music director of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, which – if you’ve been reading this space as attentively as I know you do – you will be aware has just summarily
sacked half its players for ‘insubordination’. The other half are being made to reaudition for their jobs. Meantime, the youth orchestra is being substituted for adult players.
This process appears to be the bright idea of Mr Minczuk and it is totally at odds with modern practice in civilised orchestras. As soon as Mr Minczuk is finished with you lot next month, he’s heading down to London to try and recruit some hungry freelancers to fill the gaps he has caused in the OSB. They, like you, should be aware of what this chap is up to.
Now far be it for a deskbound southerner like me to advise the working classes of Liverpool on matters of industrial relations. But, purely as a matter of pride and solidarity, I thought some of you might like to send a message to Mr Minczuk – either through your management, or via this space – on what you think of his show so far… and whether you want to play with a bloke from the other side of the world who has so much musician misery on his conscience.
And if you’re short of a tango conductor on
May 12, I’m sure I can find a local substitute.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not asking you to
boycott Minczuk, as many others are already doing. Just let him know your feelings and maybe he’ll think twice.
That’s it, guys and gals. I’m so looking forward to be with you later this year.
Love to Jayne, Vasily, Ed and all the ex-Brummies.
Ta-ra for now.
Norman
