Some 40 members of the federal and state Bundestag have launched a new petition to save the the SWR Baden-Baden and Freiburg symphony orchestra which a bull-headed broadcasting management plans to merge with Stuttgart. If the issue goes federal, the SWR bosses could well lose. Until now, the orch has benefited chiefly from support by eminent musicians.
As in Minnesota, however, the orchestra is being destabilised and both players and conductor are looking to their future.
Here’s the list of politicians:
Die Initiativgruppe:
Kerstin Andreae (MdB), Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, WK Freiburg i.Br.
Dr. Gernot Erler (MdB), SPD, WK Freiburg i.Br.
Matern von Marschall (MdB), CDU, WK Freiburg i.Br.
Christoph Bayer (MdL), SPD, WK Breisgau
Bärbl Mielich (MdL), Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, WK Breisgau
Dr. Patrick Rapp (MdL), CDU, WK Breisgau
Gabi Rolland (MdL), SPD, WK Freiburg II
Weitere unterzeichnende Abgeordnete in alphabetischer Reihenfolge:
Dr. Franziska Brantner (MdB), Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, WK Heidelberg
Prof. Dr. Lars Castellucci (MdB), SPD, WK Rhein-Neckar
Elvira Drobinski-Weiß, (MdB), SPD, WK Offenburg
Thomas Dörflinger (MdB), CDU, WK Waldshut
Dr. Johannes Fechner, (MdB), SPD, WK Emmendingen-Lahr
Axel E. Fischer (MdB), CDU, WK Karlsruhe-Land
Thorsten Frei (MdB), CDU, WK Schwarzwald-Baar
Josef Frey (MdL), Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, WK Lörrach
Anneke Graner (MdL), SPD, WK Ettlingen
Manfred Groh (MdL), CDU, WK Karlsruhe I
Walter Heiler (MdL), SPD, WK Bruchsal
Karl-Wolfgang Jägel (MdL), CDU, WK Rastatt
Gabriele Katzmarek (MdB), SPD, WK Rastatt
Ernst Kopp (MdL), SPD, WK Rastatt
Sylvia Kotting-Uhl (MdB), Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, WK Karlsruhe
Kordula Kovac (MdB), CDU, WK Offenburg
Dr. Dr.h.c. Karl A. Lamers (MdB), CDU, WK Heidelberg-Weinheim
Ulrich Lusche (MdL), CDU, WK Lörrach
Thomas Marwein (MdL), Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, WK Offenburg
Reinhold Pix (MdL), Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, WK Freiburg I
Heribert Rech (MdL), CDU, WK Bruchsal
Wolfgang Reuther (MdL), CDU, WK Singen-Stockach
Dorothee Schlegel (MdB), SPD, WK Tauber-Odenwald
Gabriele Schmidt (MdB), CDU, WK Waldshut
Alexander Schoch (MdL), Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, WK Emmendingen
Armin Schuster (MdB), CDU, WK Lörrach-Müllheim
Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, (MdB), SPD, Staatssekretärin, WK Waldshut
Willi Stächele (MdL), CDU, WK Kehl
Johannes Stober (MdL), SPD, WK Karlsruhe I
Georg Wacker (MdL), CDU, WK Weinheim
Peter Weiß (MdB), CDU, WK Emmendingen-Lahr
Ingo Wellenreuther (MdB), CDU, WK Karlsruhe-Stadt
Sabine Wölfle (MdL), SPD, WK Emmendingen
Steve Rubin, former New York Times arts writer turned leading publisher, had – for once in his life – seen enough. An exclusive report for Slipped Disc.
Photo: Cory Weaver
Borodin’s PRINCE IGOR hasn’t been perfor med at the Met in almost 100 years. The current team decided to bring the work back to its origins, by sacking the tampering of Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov, both of whom tried to stitch together the scenes left by Borodin after his death. Say goodbye to the gorgeous overture; it was written by Glazunov. Director/designer Dmitri Tcherniakov has in essence produced “his” edition of the piece.
Musically, I can only comment on the performance, not the edition. Dramatically, I think the Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov made some interesting choices, none of which panned out. It all started with a multi-media approach–Igor projected on a screen. But it led nowhere. The prologue takes place indoors, thus diminishing the scene’s major event, an eclipse of the sun. Act I takes place on a field of poppies, which is visually striking, but ultimately gets in the way of the action.
There wasn’t a single singer who stood out. Unquestionably, the best vocalist on stage was the charismatic bass Ildar Abdrazakov, but his voice is at least three sizes too small for Igor at the Met (as it was for Attila). Gianandrea Noseda, the conductor, was more than competent, but rarely exciting. And the Met chose to lose 72 seats by allowing the chorus to sing from the side boxes in the famous Polovtsian Dances. It was fabulous because of the singing, but the choreography by Itzik Galili, was ludicrous, not helped at all by the endless poppies.
When we returned from the first interval, my lovely companion asked, “want to go?” Without a moment’s hesitation, we fled.