Some very odd statements from Mayor Eric Garcetti.
‘Los Angeles can do a better job promoting the arts than by subsidizing them,’ he said. Followed by: ‘We have a tremendous amount of wealth in the city that’s waiting to be asked in the right way.’ Hmmm…
City spending on arts, Mike Boehm points out, is currently $8.96 million a year, down 38.5% in real terms over the past decade.
Slipped Disc will be there next month. Happy to help change the Mayor’s pre-sets.
Ilya Lehman, 70, admitted one count of forcible sexual conduct against a child in the second degree in exchange for a relatively light two-year sentence. A former Manhattan school teacher, Lehman is owner of The Early Ear schools. Trial report here.
No surprise. Putin’s the casting director. Details here (in Russian).
And so he tweets: I am very excited to announce that I will be recording Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Berlin Phil and conductor Daniel Harding!
Yundi’s on DG, Lang Lang’s on Sony. Let battle recommence.
The numbers are in for the first 12 days of 2014 and they are not good. Top of Nielsen’s sales chart as expected is the annual waltz set from Vienna with all the usual hullabaloo, but the total is meagre. Just 611 sales across the whole of the US.
Second best selling is Hilary Hahn with 411.
Bleak.
Press release, just in. Boris says: Jolly good thing.
Menuhin Competition returns to London in 2016
in celebration of Yehudi Menuhin’s Centenary
7-17 April 2016
The Menuhin Competition – the world’s leading competition for violinists under the age of 22 – announces its return to London in 2016 in celebration of Yehudi Menuhin’s centenary.
Founded by Yehudi Menuhin in 1983 and taking place in a different international city every two years, the Competition returns to London in 2016 after first being held there in 2004. The centenary event will take place in partnership with some of the UK’s leading music organisations: the Royal Academy of Music, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Southbank Centre, the Yehudi Menuhin School and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. It will be presented in association with the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Radio 3 which will broadcast the major concerts.
Yehudi Menuhin lived much of his life in Britain, and his legacy – not just as one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century, but as an ambassador for music education – is the focus of all the Competition’s programming. More festival of music and cultural exchange than mere competition, the Menuhin Competition in 2016 will be a rich ten-day programme of concerts, masterclasses, talks and participatory activities with world-class performances from candidates and jury members alike. Competition rounds take place at the Royal Academy of Music, with concerts held at London’s Southbank Centre. 2016 jury members include previous winners who have gone on to become world class soloists: Tasmin Little OBE, Julia Fischer and Ray Chen.
Duncan Greenland, Chairman of the Menuhin Competition comments:
“We are delighted to be bringing the Competition to London in Menuhin’s centenary year and working with such prestigious partners. With Menuhin’s legacy at its core, a sense of learning and participation is as important as the competition itself and, with its festival spirit of collaboration and collegiate sense of nurturing, the Menuhin Competition is unique among music competitions.”
Welcomed to London by the British Government and London & Partners, The Mayor of London Boris Johnson says:
“It is wonderful that the prestigious Menuhin Competition is coming back to London in 2016, the centenary year of the great maestro. This exciting showcase of some of the best young violinists from across the globe will be a feast for music fans, which I hope will inspire other gifted young people in the capital and across the country.”
The Competition’s aim to discover and help exceptionally talented young musicians from around the world develop into artists of the highest calibre, is demonstrated by its impressive array of previous winners, which include Tasmin Little OBE, Julia Fischer, Ilya Gringolts, Nikolaj Znaider, Ray Chen and Chad Hoopes.
The next Menuhin Competition takes place from 21 February – 2 March 2014 in Austin, Texas, in the first time the Competition is being held in the USA. The Competition can be followed via live-stream at www.menuhincompetition.org and its winners will be performing at the opening concert of the 2016 Menuhin Competition in London.
A musical is being written on the life of the late Venezuelan dictator, sponsor of el sistema (pictured).
It’s being conceived in Bielorussia, one of the nastiest ex-Soviet tributaries. Its corrupt president Lukaschenko counted Chavez as a personal friend.
Premiere in Minsk this summer. Don’t miss it. It will be really big. In Minsk.
The ultra-discreet Le Monde reports today that Julie Gayet, the actress who shared President Hollande’s breakfast croissants, had been put onto one of the country’s most presitigious panels, choosing the artists who will live off a state stipend at the Villa Medici in Rome.
The Ministry of Culture has quickly clarified the situation: Eric de Chassey, director of the Académie de France in Rome, Villa Medici, proposed her appointment but the Minister has vetoed it.
Cartagena, on a northern promotory of Colombia has been off the operatic map since the 1950s. All the more reason for Rinaldo Alessandrini to put it back where it belongs with a production of Rossini’s Cenerentola. All we ever read about Colombia is drugs. Here’s a different take.
Here are explanatory extracts from an open letter from musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra, explaining why they’ve signed off on a big pay cut:
Keeping salaries in the top ten was a critical issue as it allows the orchestra to attract and retain the finest musicians in the country, building on the tradition of excellence that has been cultivated by the community over many generations. The agreement achieves this priority.
With this agreement in place, we look forward to working with new board leadership to rebuild our relationship and the trust within the organization. We take heart that our treasured relationship with our audience will continue at Orchestra Hall.
Reading between the lines, the musicians appear to have accepted the deal in exchange for a board commitment to get rid of its hardball negotiators, including the president, Michael Henson.
The longest lock-out in the history of American orchestras is over.Late on Tuesday, the musicians and board of the Minnesota Orchestra signed a three-year agreement. Details here.
The musicians take a cut in pay and benefits of 15 percent. They had been locked out 15 months ago after refusing cuts of two to four times that amount. Average pay will be $118,000, which is still among the top ten in the US. UPDATE: Musicians reactions here.
The board get a reprise from a dispute that had forced its members to hire bodyguards and had given them an image of redneck philistines, riding roughshod over sensitive artists. The orch is now down to 77 players (from 95) and only seven will be hired by 2017. Real savings have been made.
Peace has been declared in Minneapolis.
But who wins? No-one. The Minnesota Orchestra today is a broken reed. Its music director, Osmo Vanska, has fled. More than 15 of its best musicians have migrated to other orchestras and the core that remains is embittered by financial hardship and humiliation at the way they have been treated by the president, Michael Henson, and his board.
Today is zero hour in Minnesota.
