December 10, 2011 - Slippedisc

It’s another big splash by the little oil state.

The composer Vangelis has created an extravaganza for the opening of a Greek-style amphitheatre in Katara Cultural Village in the presence of the Royal Family and several heads of state.

The Qatar Philharmonic, the Yurlov State Academic Chorus, Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna are on the bill, Jeremy Irons is presenting, Yvan Cassar conducting and Hugh Hudson of Chariots of Fire is filming the event. It probably costs more than the Greek national debt.

Here’s a sneaky first peek from the general rehearsal:

In typical stuttering style, Levine and the Met have broken the next pase of cancellatioons – not just the rest of this season, as originally reported to the media, but much of the next as well. Gelb has talked of managing ‘a very delicate situation‘. It’s not that delicate, and he’s not managing it well.

See also here.

Here’s the most shocking of music charts from Digital Music News:

Forget about James Levine, whose sorrowful drip-drip withdrawal will soon barely make the news.

The big question is how the Met conducts its business. When Fabio Luisi was parachuted in to replace Levine, he was forced to cancel opera engagements in Rome, Genoa and Covent Garden. When those houses protested – if only at the short notice – Peter Gelb told them, in effect, to sod off. His need was greater than theirs. No more Mr Nice Guy.

Now, in an interview with the Guardian‘s Charlotte Higgins, Gelb defends his contentious policy of tying cinemas around the world to an exclusive contract for Met operas, preventing them from showing productions by any national house. Here’s what he says:

There is competition everywhere – including in the world of opera. We compete for singers, we compete for directors, why not compete for cinemas, too?

Oh, really? Competing for conductors and artists is a matter of money and persuasion and casting and other benefits. Tying cinemas to a lockout contract is monopolistic. It is unfair and uncompetitive. It also alienates audiences from the opera houses in their own country.

Gelb is widely (if privately) known as The Ugly American. If he looks in the mirror, he might recognise himself as the counter-type hero of Eugene Burdick and William Lederer’s 1958 political novel of that title, an idealist overwhelmed by the crude US imperialism of his time. It will not help the Met in the long term to be seen around the world as an opportunitic monopolist [amended, after lit. crit. from La Cieca, see below].

Peter Gelb, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera

Photograph: Dario Acosta/Metropolitan Opera

UPDATE here.

The Sydney Opera House is the most recognisable venue in the art form.

But from the day it opened in 1973 the opera pit has been an acoustic disaster, the result of fudges and compromises during the 18-year construction. hat is now the opera space was originally intended as a concert hall. The dimensions are all wrong. Conductors, singers, musicians and audiences have protested – in vain. When it comes to spending money on better sound, Aussie politicians clam up like convent-raised oysters.

Now, artistic director Lyndon Terracini in his inaugural season has decided that enough is enough. In next year’s Australian premiere of Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt, the oversized orchestra of 83 will play in another room and be beamed electronically into the opera house.

”We can sit around and whinge and say, ‘oh we’ll have to cut it down’. But we’re supposed to be creative artists, we should think more creatively,” says Terracini.

… the Jackie Evancho collector doll, singing ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’

Remember, the child has been top of the US classical charts for a large chunk of the year.

Here‘s the product description. Honest. I couldn’t make it up.

The little girl with the extraordinary voice, Jackie Evancho won the hearts of millions with her pitch-perfect performances on one of America’s top TV talent shows. With the release of her first full-length album, Dream With Me, Jackie has become a star in her own right. Now you can share in Jackie’s dream with this special Collector’s Edition singing doll. It features a selection of Jackie’s recording of “When You Wish Upon A Star” and an exclusive outfit inspired by her performance wardrobe.