The sudden and shocking death last month of Felicity Smith, 33, was caused by a pulmonary embolism, it has been disclosed. She had previously been treated for deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) in her native New Zealand, but was taken off the medication some time before.

As one who has lost a dear friend some years back to a similar cause, may I urge all who have been treated for this condition never to change medication without consulting a second opinion.

The loss of Felicity Smith has left a deep sense of shock among London’s opera community.

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More shocking Minnesota revelations from Emily E Hogstad, right here.

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British composer Iain Bell, whose Hogarth opera premieres next week in Vienna, has been hurling himself into education programmes. Read on…

 

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Months ago I agreed to take part in a series of workshops where Viennese college students would learn about A Harlot’s Progress, the behind-the-scenes reality of mounting an opera and a little about my life as a composer. I must stress that before agreeing to do so, I pressed the organisers to ensure the ‘children’ were of appropriate age to discuss syphilis induced insanity, rape and such like. Once I was assured that there was no such problem, I happily put the dates in my diary then largely forgot about it until a couple of days ago when I was contacted to confirm my participation.

I started to become a little nervous. Although by this point I had done my fair share of press and tv interviews, a room full of sixteen to eighteen year olds began to make me feel a little anxious. Rather than worry as I had previously done that they were too young to be dealing with the issues raised by the piece, I was now concerned as to whether they would be too old to care all that much.

Fortunately, I was given home advantage. I had assumed I would be heading out to their school, ghetto blaster under my arm, but learned the event would take place in one of the opera house’s ‘spaces’ often used for pre-performance talks and the like. To be somewhere familiar was a relief. What’s more, I realised the workshop would actually be taken by our rehearsal pianist Raphael Schluesselberg along with the theatre’s head of outreach. The pressure was now off as I was made aware I would be more of a guest of honour, there to answer a question or two. I now began to look forward to it….

One thing that did make me smile was the fact the organisers discreetly ‘warned’ me that the students weren’t from the best area, nor were they music specialists. I quickly reassured all concerned that having gone to secondary school in Slough, I was more than equipped to deal with this; it actually made me even more excited!

So I arrived ten minutes in advance of  show-time and headed down to the venue in the bowels of the theatre and chatted through the planned proceedings with the organisers. Then the kids came in. I was expecting a room of small-boned adolescents in school uniforms (as in UK) but was faced with a room of adults, most of the guys had stubble and were over 6 foot tall and the ‘girls’ were trendily turned out young women. Things have changed since Slough!

After a brief intro from Raphael, they were invited to ask questions. I was delighted that they ranged from studious (inspiration for the piece etc.,) to very cheeky and familiar  which suited me perfectly and meant the atmosphere very quickly warmed.

Choral excerpts from the opera were played through and taught to the group to which they were all really responsive. A percussionist and double bass player from the orchestra played some jazz and demonstrated their instruments including a whip(!) and anvil from the Bridewell Prison scene which aroused a great deal of curiosity indeed!

I was really happy with how it went but nothing could have prepared me for their response after it officially ended. They flocked to me wanting photos taken, asking me if I was on Facebook, Twitter etc. It was so touching to know they were revved up by the workshop and I will be sure to do these again and again whenever possible.

Emily E Hogstad, an independent string player in her 20s, has offered some of the most sane and insightful coverage to emerge from the Minnesota Orchestra crisis, on her site Song of the Lark. In an exclusive article for Slipped Disc, she notes that it is customary for the Association’s chair to step down after two years. That’s in December. Could this be an opportunity for the deadlock to be broken? Will Big Jon do the decent thing? Here are Emily’s observations.

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After the music director Osmo Vänskä handed in his resignation letter to Minnesota Orchestra Association, he led three sold-out concerts on October 4 and 5 with the Minnesota Orchestra musicians. He also added an unscheduled Egmont Overture to the program. Anyone who knows the story of Egmont – and heck, anyone who doesn’t – got his message loud and clear. The concert was a sacred experience for all who were involved, whether as performers, patrons, or listeners on the radio.

Despite this body blow, the orchestra has not folded. As the musicians note on their website:

The weekend of October 4th, 2013 was the end of an era; Osmo Vänskä’s farewell concerts for the community. It was also the beginning of a new era; opening night for the Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra.

So what next?

In early December the board of the Minnesota Orchestra will gather for their annual meeting. In recent years, board chairs have served two year terms, and current board chair Wells Fargo VP Jon Campbell ascended to the position in December 2011. Obviously many eyes will be on Mr. Campbell this December.

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Orchestra management will continue to rent out the newly renovated Orchestra Hall for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and Republican fundraisers. Unfortunately for management, no unionized performer will perform there until the lockout ends. A number of acts have canceled, including Bill Cosby, the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies, and VocalEssence. It seems likely the management will miss out on earned revenue from the lucrative Christmas season.

Happily for the community, the musicians have a much more interesting season planned. As they note on their website, resigning en masse and creating their own organization would just enable the management to hire non-union employees, or to dissolve the orchestra part of the organization altogether. That being said, the musicians are forging ahead with producing their own season, and also assembling an internal governance structure with which to do it. Former Minnesota Orchestra music director (and possibly the most energetic 90-year-old in the orchestra business) Stanislaw Skrowaczewski is slated to direct Wagner, Mozart, and Brahms at a mid-November concert. This show is on track to sell out weeks before the date. More concerts will follow.

Even after a year of lockout, the musicians have a great deal of community support. Just one example: in September, the musicians gave a free community concert at the Lake Harriet Bandshell, and according to park police, over 7000 people attended. (The Star Tribune reported there were 4000. Interestingly, the Strib’s CEO is on the Minnesota Orchestra’s board of directors…) More people tried to attend but couldn’t find parking less than half a mile away. This concert used to be a beloved community tradition before current Minnesota Orchestra CEO Michael Henson axed it in 2008. But it’s back now under musician control, and more successful than ever. Many listeners hope that the wildly successful Lake Harriet concert is a harbinger of what will happen in the new season.

People often ask me, “How will this end?” Here’s the answer: nobody knows. Even a year into the lockout, there are too many variables at play. Crazy stuff can and probably will happen. For example, ex-Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson recently went public with a suggestion that the Vikings football team should donate to the orchestra. The story is not over yet.

As we mourn what has been lost – and make no mistake, we have lost a great deal! – we refuse to remain immobilized by cultural tragedy. Minnesotans are a stubborn and resilient people. One way or another, we will find a way to make great symphonic music happen.

If anyone is interested in supporting the Minnesota Orchestra musicians, they are currently accepting donations from around the world via their website. Even $5 has an impact on the musicians’ ability to continue their vital education work and exciting experiment in artist-driven governance.

Half a million has gone missing at the Peninsula Symphony in Palo Alto. The police have been called in. The executive director, Steve Carlton, is no longer at his desk. And, while the season will start on schedule, the prospects do not look bright. The orch has an annual budget of $600,000. More here.

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1 Some of the LP covers in this set should never have been taken out of wraps

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2 Songs to the moon by two of our faves

3 Reinventing Tarzan. Click here.

4 Life and death at the British Museum’s current blockbuster. Click here.

5 Exclusive preview: Tribute to Victor Jara, 40 years after his murder

In a bid to break down exclusivity and the traditional ten-year wait, tickets to one-third of next summer’s performances are being put online from October 13 for everyone to buy. We hope there are no strings attached. Don’t all rush at once.

Read the information here (auf Deutsch).

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Let us know if there’s a problem.

The arthouse movie on the making of an opera with Natalie Dessay had its debut at the London Film Festival last night.

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When the camera was not electrified by Ms Dessay, it was trained on the rather self-satisfied director  or on fairly trivial details of stage preparation. The eye strayed from its intended object. One saw that the London Symphony Orchestra needed to upgrade its warm-climate wardrobe. Louis Langrée, the conductor, managed simultaneous communication in French, Italian, English and music.

All very impressive,often riveting. The reviews have been kind, the box-office deadly. The film has grossed (I’m not sure the verb is appropriate here) $6,282 in the US.

For my companion and me, the most compelling scene showed the production repetiteur, a young Italian woman, giving an exposition to a young singer of the famous clarinet solo with such passion and knowledge that Verdi himself would have applauded.

The repetiteur is mentioned nowhere in the credits. Can anyone identify her? She ought to be working at one of the top houses.

See the film for yourselves when it’s released in the UK this winter, and watch out for that inspiring repetiteur.

 

UPDATE; Mutual friends identify her (with her permission) as Roberta Ferrari, working at La Fenice in Venice and at the Aix festival.

 

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Lend me a tenor.

 

IanBostridge5_bySimonFowler (c)Simon Fowler)dr who

The faltering record magazine has been sold by Haymarket Publishing, its owners for the past decade and more.

 

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The new owners are to be the Mark Allen Group, publishers of healthcare, edcation and travel trade journals. The group is family-owned, which may help restore Gramophone to its recording roots. The magazine describes itself these days as ‘The world’s authority on classical music since 1923’.

The South African soprano Pretty Yende  is flying home for a short break and a reconnection with her roots.  “I’m especially interested in small rural villages,” she says. “I want at least one child in every village to play an instrument. I know there’s lots of hidden talent out there.”

Pretty, 28, is being hotly pursued by record labels after triumphs at La Scala, Vienna and the Met. She was the first winner of Placido Domingo’s Operalia and is revelling in prime roles, but taking her time and manitaining her core priorities – the growth of music in her native land.

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The fabulous pipa player Wu Man won worldwide attention when a US Airways attendant broke her instrument while stowing it for takeoff on an internal flight to New Haven, Connecticut.

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US Airways have now made amends and paid for Wu Man to have new instrument built in China. She is one of few to win this kind of dispute.

But she’s taking up the cause for others – an Indian sitar player, for instance, who had his instrument broken on a British Airways flight and is still fighting for compensation. “He’s angry,” she says. “It’s the same story again and again and again for musicians these days.”

Read more here.

 

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(If you know the sitar player, please ask him to contact Slipped Disc.)

Wu Man will play her new pipa for the first time tonight.

 

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