So far, the most talked-about artistic acheivement at the Bayreuth Festival is Katharina Wagner’s loss of weight – 20 kilos since last summer.

That’s her on the right in the dpa picture below. The other one’s her much-loved half-sis, Eva.

Musik - Katharina Wagner mit neuem Selbstbewusstsein

Katie’s been telling the tabs that she had some muscular pains, the medication for which caused loss of appetite. She’s been living mostly off sushi and sashimi, with the occasional glass of white wine and regular gym workouts. See? It’s easy. Any Wagner can do it.
More details here in Focus Online.
This is the same pair, two summers back:
(photo:wikipedia)
Eva, meanwhile, has told the Friends of Bayreuth that if they can’t raise millions more money, she going to shut the place down. Good cop, bad cop.

Events are moving fast in Rio.

O Globo reports that the OSB has invited the 33 sacked musicians to resume their former jobs, under terms to be negotiated. The new three-person artistic committee has taken over planning, sidelining the former director Roberto Minczuk. And the withdrawal yesterday of Minczuk’s mentor Kurt Masur, reportedly for medical reasons, has eliminated one of the last flashpoints in the dispute.

Hopefully, peace might break out soon.

For the moment, the OSB management are saying nothing.

Foreign artists who have faced difficulty in entering Britain have been promised a smoother path, thanks to an initiative of the Arts Council and the TV producers’ organisation. PACT.

Between them, the two bodies have secured 300 visas for people who are “internationally recognised as world leaders in the arts” to stay in Britain for up to three years and four months without having to show that they have somewhere to work. It specifically co0vers artists who want to live in the UK for long period, not concerto fly-by-nights.

More details here. The commendable scheme is designed to curb recent embarrassments.

 

The septuagenarian tenor has just been announced as the new president of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents the interests of labels in protecting copyright and pursuing violators.

He is a figurehead, no more.

Just as he would have been had he been appointed to clean up the corrupt football body, Fifa.

Domingo is not a lawyer, nor an expert in intellectual property rights. Here’s the official justification for his appointment:

IFPI chief executive Frances Moore said Domingo was an artist who ‘speaks from the heart about the issues that matter to him … His forceful advocacy for the intellectual property rights of the music sector comes at a pivotal moment, as governments in many countries consider new legislation to curb piracy and help develop the legitimate digital music business.’

In other words, he’s a celebrity lobbyist. Yuk!

It would be helpful if he first showed an interest in the ruthless exploitation of Russian musicians in his own Operalia contest.

 

The Cincinnati Art Museum has discovered 800 antique musical instruments in its basement. How wonderful.

Some are more than 400 years old. They have been lying there unnoticed for decades.

How on earth?

Museum director Aaron Betsky said there wasn’t enough room for them on the main floor. There had been plans to expand, but the money ran out and the museum laid off staff and everyone forgot about the instruments.

That, for me, is irresponsible curatorship. How can a museum lose a prize collection? Surely there must be an inventory or catalogue that someone scans from time to time. And if the museum is short of cash, shouldn’t be thinking of selling assets, like its historic instrument collection.

It’s a shocking story that needs a lot more scrutiny than it is getting.

Here are some of the objects.

 

I’ve received the following inside story from a US orchestra that, far from the limelight, has been undergoing a similar upheaval to the Brazil Symphony Orchestra with Roberto Minczuk. To what effect? You might well ask. Here’s the letter, all identifying names deleted.

 

Dear Mr. Lebrecht:

I have been following your coverage of events in Brazil with a bit
more than keen interest as a large number of musicians in xxxxx
have suffered the same fate.

After our long time conductor left some 10 years ago, his replacement
was hired after a national search. This very young “maestro” (as he
insisted on being called) did not have his predecessor’s finesse nor
ability to “teach” an orchestra of part-time musicians. Thus, his
first season with the symphony was lackluster at best.

His solution? Fire a host of players and most of the artistic and
eventually management staff. What we are left with is a regional
orchestra (at best) that has to reach wider and wider to obtain
players willing to perform here. Needless to say, in the past ten
years, the orchestra’s staff has ballooned, the budget doubled and the
number of performances decreased. The remaining “local” musicians are
downtrodden at best but continue to play because there is no other
opportunity in the immediate area.

The Board of Directors as well as the orchestra management is
convinced that the orchestra sounds “better than ever” (it doesn’t–at
best it’s the same).

I just wanted to let you know that such problems exist beyond the
reach of major media markets in orchestras devoid of adequate union or
contractual protection.