The operatic soprano Malena Ernman has boldly shed professional neutrality and launched a stinging attack on the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrat party, which she calls neo-fascist.

Malena, who is about to sing Handel’s Xerxes, says that she saw while living in Switzerland how racism and Islamophobia has become the norm in many countries across Europe. ‘I feel very strongly that enough is enough,’ she said.  ‘I think we all need to help each other and not just think about ourselves, understand that the whole world belong together. We, the rich part of the world, need to think about and start sharing with others.’

Attacks by the Sweden Democrats as a Leftist-extremist, she replies ‘I am a Royal Court singer.’

How Left is that?

Here she is singing last night on Swedish TV.

malena ernman1

UPDATE: She also lays into UKIP, here.

He told a press conference today that he can’t live with government cuts at the Palau de les Arts, where he has conducted since 2005.

Subsidy has fallen from 1.4 million Euros in 2011 to 400,000 this year. The number of musicians in the orchestra has dropped from 96 to 57.

 

mehta sofia

Heitor-Villa-Lobos-playing-billiards-while-smoking-a-cigar-

Heitor Villa-Lobos

Dmitri-Shostakovich billiards

Dmitri Shostakovich

What, no photo of Mozart?

Andrey Gugnin, 28, is the one to watch. He won the Salt Lake City contest on Rach 3. He gets a date at Weill Hall in Carnegie and a disc on Steinway’s promo label.

Chi Ho Han, 22, was runner-up.

andrey gugnin

 

The Budapest Festival Orchestra, conductor Ivan Fischer, is on a tour of towns and villages that were stripped bare of Jews during the Nazi-led Holocaust of 1944-45. Many synagogues have stood derelict ever since.

‘I come from a Jewish family,’ said Fischer. ‘My grandparents lived in a typical Hungarian village like this one and they were deported to Auschwitz. My mother, their only child, survived because she was hiding.

‘Hungary’s Holocaust was an especially tragic one, because proportionally it was an incredibly high number killed – about 500,000 Jews [from a population of 800,000]. Jews were almost completely wiped out in villages. That leaves us with many abandoned synagogues in the countryside…

Tthe people living in the community only have the experience of an empty building. They know very little about what it was for, what its real function was. Maybe, if they understand these were ordinary people, not some sort of strange cannibals – that these were their neighbours and their children played together – it could reduce some feelings of antisemitism or antagonism. If only a few of them think twice when they hear the next hate speech, then we will have accomplished a lot.’

ivan-fischer

Full – and very moving – report in the JC, here.

 

The absurd, draconian results of a well-intentioned White House measure to protect elephants has united the museum world with musicians who, like Christian McBride (pictured) earlier this week, are getting their bows and instruments confiscated by an out-of-control Transport Security Administration.  Here’s part of an AP report.

christian-mcbride

 

 

 

VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — Museums and musicians are concerned that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s stricter rules on the transport of items containing elephant ivory are inflicting unintended complications on the music community.

The new strategy for fighting trafficking through enforcement, approved by President Barack Obama in February, puts a near complete ban on the commercial trade of elephant ivory.

Musicians and collectors say the rules will limit their ability to travel abroad with antique and vintage instruments they acquired decades ago, and could put them risk of fines and the possible seizure of their instruments.

“We’ve kind of been caught up in the clampdown that’s designed to prevent the extinction of these populations, but we’re not really the ones causing the problem,” said Arian Sheets, curator of stringed instruments for the National Music Museum in Vermillion.

The order from agency director Daniel Ashe initially allowed the noncommercial import of worked elephant ivory that was legally acquired and removed from the wild prior to February 26, 1976, and has not been sold since then. The agency eased the rule slightly in May, keeping the 1976 acquisition date but extending the instrument sale date to February 25, 2014.

Very few people, Sheets said, kept documentation on ivory before 1989, when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species classified the African elephant as endangered and banned sales of Ivory.

Sheets, who is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs, said the order applies to items ranging from vintage pianos with 88 ivory keys to smaller ornamental uses such as ivory-tipped violin bows and nuts and pegs on C.F. Martin guitars. She said the directive puts the burden of proof of how the ivory was obtained on the instrument owner instead of on federal agents.

“They don’t have to prove anything,” Sheets said. “All they have to say is, ‘You don’t have the right documentation,’ and your object is gone.”

Press release:

stephane deneve

 

The Brussels Philharmonic has appointed Stéphane Denève as its next Chief Conductor and inaugural Director of the new Centre for Future Orchestral Repertoire (Cffor). The French conductor, who succeeds Michel Tabachnik in September 2015, was chosen for the post to help realise the innovative and pioneering Orchestra’s ambitious artistic strategy. The Centre for Future Orchestral Repertoire, meanwhile, is set to create an extensive online database, which will be a global platform for the Brussels Philharmonic’s ground-breaking enterprise to promote the finest 21st-century orchestral compositions to repertoire status. Cffor will gather key information about symphonic works created since 2000 and begin the great debate about those compositions most likely to endure for decades to come.

 

In the Beginning

Stéphane Denève made his debut with the Brussels Philharmonic in November 2013, performing works by Gershwin, Roussel and Shostakovich. “The experience exceeded all my expectations: the talent, the dedication, the good mood and open-minded spirit offered by the musicians during our rehearsals were totally inspiring. The passion, generosity and enthusiasm shared during our first concert together made a strong impression on me. The warm audiences, and also the modernity, boldness and flexibility of the whole institution and its management, helped me to foresee an extremely fulfilling and exciting collaboration. And this, in turn, allowed me to imagine an ambitious and innovative artistic project.”

 

Denève’s subsequent discussions with the Orchestra’s General Manager, Gunther Broucke, prepared the ground for Cffor’s creation and for his appointment as Chief Conductor. “I was so excited by Gunther’s creative mind and positive outlook when we first met that I gladly accepted his invitation to work with the Orchestra last year,” the conductor recalls.

 

A Meeting of Minds

Denève found a close ally in Gunther Broucke. Both men expressed concerns about today’s orchestral repertoire, its increasing dependence on a narrow stream of works from the past, and the urgent need to introduce audiences worldwide to the present century’s best symphonic compositions. The idea for Cffor arose during their early meetings and influenced Denève’s decision to join the Brussels Philharmonic’s artistic adventure. “I believe the stars are in perfect alignment for this project,” he comments. “The Brussels Philharmonic is a fine orchestra with an excellent manager. There has been a ‘buzz’ in the news about the orchestra’s work in recent years, thanks not least to its innovative programming and successful touring with Michel Tabachnik and because of its soundtrack recordings for movies like the Academy Award winner The Artist.” He believes that Brussels, with its strong cultural life and place at the heart of European affairs, offers an ideal base for the revitalisation of orchestral programming…

 

and so on…

 

John Shin, who posted video of his violin being stolen, has got it back. All’s well that ends well. No word yet on the fate of the thief.

Here’s what John has just posted:

 

stolen violin1

Dear friends/colleagues/musicians/people, 

I sincerely thank all of you for the incredible past 2 weeks. 
Not only was I able to experience all kinds of emotions and gain wisdom, most importantly, I was reminded that I am surrounded by incredible friends, musicians, and colleagues who has been caring, supportive, and thoughtful during my difficult time. I know I act foolish, immature, and insensitive from time to time, but you have been much “bigger” than I am during those times. I am flattered to have such people around me and I appreciate you guys for everything.

Also, I am proud to say that… as of 10:00 PM, June 26, 2014… my violin has been finally recovered!! I thank and honor Ethan and Tim for finding my instrument and reporting it to the police and also notifying the University of Utah music department. The instrument is in perfect cosmetic condition and I am planning to take it down to the maker for a check up as soon as possible. What’s odd is that the suspect took the most random items from my case… pencils, nail-clipper, used violin strings, my inspirational photos of Kogan, Kavakos, and Oistrakh/Menuhin, metronome, and electronic thermometer. He also took a bow but it was a free bow that was given to me previously and not my main bow…Talk about my luck!!
THANK YOU EVERYONE! (now off to practicing)

 

h/t: Holly Mulcahy

Nick Cohen, in the new issue of Standpoint, lays into the spinners and manipulators that blight his life as a political commentator:

Press officers have no concern with truth. It is not that all of them lie — although many do — rather that truth and falsity are irrelevant to their work. Their sole concern is to defend their employers’ interests.

alistair campbell

 

 

He’s right, up to a point. In the music world, where PR is no less end-oriented, lies don’t have legs. They may have a pair of high heels, but they don’t last long without getting exposed by the reality of high performance. PRs who lie don’t last long.

PRs who bully and bribe may thrive at the lower levels of the food chain, but serious writers avoid them as pestilence, ignore their emails and slam the phones down on their interns. (Twice this week, as a matter of fact.)

The best PRs are the ones you’ve never head of. The best I’ve ever known had three great churches competing for his funeral service when he died, so much had he done for them on the quiet.

So I can’t agree with Nick. I never condemn any profession in its totality, especially prostitutes. There are always good individuals on the job. That said, in Nick’s neck of the woods, British politics has never harboured a muckier pond of turds.

 

 

 

Shia LaBeouf, an ex-Disney actor best known for his exposure in Lars Von Trier’s Nymphomaniac, was removed in handcuffs last night after disrupting a performance of Cabaret on Broadway. The cops said: ‘He was being rather difficult and combative, verbally… To the point where security guards asked him to please leave the premises and he refused. Police were called and he was detained and arrested.’

nymphomaniac-labeouf

 

Farewell to Mary Rodgers, daughter of Richard, mother of Adam Guettel. Se was 83. Has there ever been a more stage-musical family?

Maryhad a hit in 1959 with Once Upon a Mattress, based on Hans Christian Anderson tale, The Princess and the Pea. Carol Burnett starred.

She also wrote From a to z  and The Madwoman of Central Park West.

Her most famous song was co-written with Stephen Sondheim (under the pseudonym Esteban Rio Nido).

mary rodgers

freischutz

Isn’t it about huntsmen in a primal forest?

freischutz