Ireland is abuzz with the latest BBC drama, filmed there on the cheap and with funding from the Irish Film Board (for anomalies, see below).

It’s the story of the pianist Joyce Hatto whose husband issued a slew of recordings in her name. Joyce, who enjoyed a  modest career, was suddenly extolled by critics as one of the greatest. These were remarkable performances – but they were not by her. They had been stolen by her husband from extant recordings by various fine pianists and passed off as hers. Wikipedia has a full list of the thefts.

The husband, William Barrington-Coupe, owned up to the thefts, but was never charged. Here’s a column I wrote at the time.

This, apparently, is the only authentic Hatto recording that he  ever released, a performance of the Arnold Bax Symphonic Variations. As you can hear, Joyce is a perfectly capable performer.

The couple will be played in the film by Francesca Annis and Alfred Molina. The script was written by comedienne Victoria Wood.

But here’s what worries me:

1 Is this going to be a whitewash of a really sordid piece of fraud?

2 Is it going to be a send-up of ‘experts’ inability to tell one artist from another (if so, bring it on…)?

3 Why is the BBC shooting in Ireland when there’s joblessness at home?

4 Why are the Irish funding a film for the British to watch?

5 Is any of this for real?

There’s a medical conference gathering in New York next month to consider the links between the neurological disorder known as dystonia and the lives of working musicians.

It claims to be the first Musicians Dystonia Summit, and I have pasted details below.

Among those whose careers were disrupted or ended by the condition are the eminent pianist Leon Fleisher and ELP’s Keith Emerson. The disorder can prompt muscle spasms that cause twisted and repetitive movements.

Here‘s a link to recent scientific thinking.

Scientists and Artists Seek Answers at First-ever Musician’s Dystonia Summit

CHICAGO, Feb. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A neurological disorder called dystonia is estimated to have ended the careers of at least one member of every major American metropolitan orchestra. Dystonia has claimed the livelihoods of musicians across genres including the acclaimed pianist Leon Fleisher of the Peabody Conservatory of Music, former first oboist of the Chicago Symphony Alex Klein, acoustic guitarist Billy McLaughlin, classical guitarist Liona Boyd, keyboard playerKeith Emerson of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, and others.

The Dystonia Medical Research Foundation (DMRF) is convening the first-ever Musician’s Dystonia Summit, March 9-10, 2012in New York City. Leading medical experts and musicians will convene to review the latest research, support affected musicians, and chart new directions toward better treatments .

Musician’s dystonia is characterized by involuntary, controllable muscle spasms triggered by playing an instrument.  The muscles spasms are present only when playing the instrument and disappear at rest. String and piano players experience symptoms in the fingers and hands. Brass and woodwind musicians develop symptoms in the hands or embouchure, the muscles of the face and lips. Musicians may perceive the early symptoms of dystonia as the result of faulty technique or lack of sufficient preparation.

Billy McLaughlin began experiencing symptoms at the height of his career. He began white-knuckling his way through performances, baffled by the realization he could no longer play his own compositions. “I went from intricate and beautifully composed pieces to whatever I could get my fingers to play,” he explains.  Critics began to speculate that McLaughlin had a substance abuse problem because of his sudden and uncharacteristically “sloppy” playing.  He was diagnosed with dystonia in 2001.

Treatment of musician’s dystonia is limited, and few musicians are able to regain the technical proficiency achieved prior to the onset of symptoms. However, several musicians have succeeded in reviving their careers by dramatically altering performance techniques over a long period of time.

Recent data estimated that 1-2% of professional musicians are affected by dystonia, but there are likely large numbers of musicians living with symptoms who remain unidentified.

The Dystonia Medical Research Foundation (DMRF) is a 501c3 organization whose mission is to advance research toward improved treatments and a cure, promoting education and awareness, and providing support resources to affected individuals and families. The organization can be reached at http://www.dystonia-foundation org or 800-377-DYST (3978).

 

If you write an opera and call it In the Penal Colony, there is a fairly reasonable chance it might get staged in Australia.

They can get a bit shirty about local history, though. Here’s the selling image for the Aussie premiere.

And here’s the press release:

SYDNEY CHAMBER OPERA presents:
IN THE PENAL COLONY by PHILIP GLASS
Based on a short story by Franz Kafka
In April, Sydney Chamber Opera will present an important first for Sydney: the Australian premiere of In the
Penal Colony, the first opera by Philip Glass ever to be staged in Sydney. Philip Glass, founding father of minimalism and cult icon of modern music, celebrates his 75th birthday in 2012. Famous for his wildly popular opera Einstein on the Beach, collaborations with Leonard Cohen and Mick Jagger,and film scores including Francis Ford Coppola’s Qatsi trilogy, The Truman Show, The Hours and Notes on a Scandal
(starring Cate Blanchett), Glass is a true iconoclast beloved by classical aficionados and avant-garde rock fans alike.

The opera In the Penal Colony is an adaptation of Franz Kafka’s dark and confronting short story of the same name, in which a distinguished visitor is brought to a strange place to witness an execution. The execution

is to be administered by a sinister machine… But not everything goes according to plan. The visitor does
nothing, and we as spectators are forced to ask: at what point does silence become immoral? When does nonintervention become a crime?

No, not the Philharmonic – that would be a revolution. It’s the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and they are in Spain with the stunning  Mireia Farrés.

On second thoughts, why can’t she play in the Vienna Philharmonic? Remind me.

UPDATE: Mireia is principal trumpet of the Barcelona symphony Orchestra. Here she is, blowing the opening of Mahler 5th.

A group of Hungarians decided to deliver a 90th birthday serenade to former president Arpad Göncz, who led and liberalised the country for a decade (1990-2000) after the end of Communism.

Uncontroversially, they chose to sing Va, pensiero, from Verdi’s Nabucco. It was instantly understood as a protest against the present rightwing regime and is going viral online.

If you haven’t heard Va, pensiero in Hungarian, this is your chance. Almost better than the original.

We’ve seen enough conductors who can hardly be bothered to yawn at work.

Here’s one who really loves his job. Introducing Joseph R. Olefirowicz playing to the orchestra camera in a Vienna Volksoper performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide.

Book that man.
olefirowicz

UPDATE: here

She’s Russian, but she lives in Costa Rica. Varvara Soyfer gives her first television interview.

We’ve been getting reports that the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra has laid off a concertmaster and eight other players. There are already 20 unfilled vacancies in the ranks.

The problem doesn’t seem to be financial, as there’s plenty of oil sponsorship from Petronas to pay for high-profile recordings and cheap concert seats. There’s a residue of bad blood from the departure of founder-conductor Kees Bakels a few years back, along with complaints against high-handed management.

A Save the Malaysian Orchestra page has been opened on Facebook, but there’s low visibility around in a fog of misinformation. If you know more about the situation, do post below.

Read the latest UPDATE here.

An investigation into the weird and far from wonderful ways that the Bayreuth Festival decides who’s in and who’s out has ruled that there’s nothing illegal going on. Report summary here.

Such a relief.

Much of the investigation focused on which media were invited and whether they got one seat or two. As for the poor festival staff who no onger get a look-in and the hundreds of sponsors’ guests, well let’s not go there, shall we?

Well, some might say he forced a lot of good sopranos’ voices down a register, but what did this one do to deserve 50,000 Euros?

The eyebrows of the year award goes to Cecilia Bartoli.

Here‘s the story.

We’ve been crunching the numbers of the late Charles Anthony (birthname: Carusoto) who sang a record 2,928 times at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, between debut in 1954 and retirement in 2010. He died yesterday, aged 82.

Everyone is saying his is a record that will never be beaten.

Perhaps in a single opera house, it won’t.

But across an international career there has to be at least one singer who has delivered 3,000 nights and more.

Take, for instance, Peaceful Sunday. He made his opera debut as a baritone in 1959, aged 17, and is still singing in that register to the present day. There was also a long, glorious interlude when he was known as a tenor.

Placido Domingo

Over 53 years as an opera singer, averaging 70 nights a year at his prime – well, do the math.

Placido Domingo may have sung close to 3,500 nights of opera, not to mention over 100 studio recordings. Phenomenal.

 

A resolution has been passed in Strabourg, calling for an investigation into whether Hungary, increasingly isolated by its racist government, is complying with EU laws and values. Press release here. The move appears to chime with an appeal last week by conductor Adam Fischer.