Turin musicians back embattled maestro
UncategorizedPlayers in the Teatro Regio have issued a unanimous letter of support for their music director, Gianandrea Noseda, who has threatened to resign unless the theatre appoints a more compatible manager. The orchestra plays tomorrow night at the Edinburgh Festival. Rumour has it that Noseda has already resigned.
Here is the players’ letter:
The Teatro Regio Torino Needs Maestro Noseda
The news of Maestro Noseda’s withdrawal from the Music Directorship of Teatro Regio Torino is forcing us to clarify our position.
The orchestra hereby states that the artistic and cultural value of an opera house is the fundamental element for its existence locally and internationally. Only the quality and the international profile of our theatre (and consequently of the city of Torino) will allow – in a new strategically driven vision – to attract the financial support, which the political institutions of our country are unable to grant. Our theatre shall continue to pursue the program that has been designed and executed by Gianandrea Noseda, to export its performances, now highly requested worldwide.
Today, facing the news of the departure of our Music Director, the alternative is no longer to perform in Torino instead of in New York, but to stop performing at all.
The Teatro Regio Torino has been suffering a while from a lack of sufficient public funding, which is essential for its activities. Despite the accurate administration of the resources, the financial situation of our theatre is now close to a state of emergency. Time is of the essence, if it has not already expired.
It is an essential and urgent project of further development, which will blend the fund raising activities with a cultural vision of the highest profile.
The Orchestra of the Teatro Regio Torino, based on the results so far achieved with Maestro Noseda, believes that his presence is needed to achieve these goals and urges Mayor Fassino to intervene and make sure that Maestro Noseda’s requests will be met and his stay granted. There is no longer room for additional delayed answers.
Statement approved unanimously by the Orchestra of the Teatro Regio Torino
As far as I know, they are not rumors: Gianandrea resigned but will honor his conducting commitments for the entire season.
Although I don’t know the very details of this issue, knowing his personal integrity I support him in his decision and wish him – and his orchestra in Torino – all the best (as I already did privately).
I believe it is a very poor move on Noseda’s part that he saw it fit to use his (aka Gergiev’s) media power to moan about a theatre that after seven years has decided to look somewhere else for a music director. It’s not like he was prevented from working there.
-Why complaining about it to the New York Times? is that news for anybody outside Turin or maybe Italy? he is showing that he can get big media coverage to Turin? does he need to?
-Having just your orchestra backing you and not the chorus or anyone from the theatre shows that maybe you know how to run an orchestra, but that is not the same as knowing how to run a theatre.
– It’s a known fact in Italy that Maestro Noseda needed to run an Italian theatre in order to be considered a good sell as Italian Maestro abroad (in London and New York at least, both Gergiev controlled cities, BTW). The Regio served him in this, and now for him it’s time to move on, maybe?
-During these seven years, the level of the Regio has gone up in productions led by Maestro Noseda, but very much down on all the other productions, often given to B if not C singers and conductors,(mostly his assistants, winners of his Spanish competition, or related to donors to the Stresa Festival which he runs. Again, Maestro Gergiev’s style)
-The many tours that Noseda (and his manager, who makes profit for this) did with the Teatro Regio, while surely important for the image of the theatre, have cost the Regio million of euros and little if any income. In this particular moment in Italy, it’s only understandable that administrations would rather assure the audience a few more seasons in the future rather than patting Noseda’s shoulders for conducting Traviata in Shangai.
This is an interesting comment. So you complain about your opera house achieving international acclaim? Typical provincial attitude. I say “your opera house” since you write like someone who thinks they know details or actually does work in the house. This situation is a microcosm of the situation facing our country. We as a people can decide to remain provincial and frightened of moving forward or we can achieve something together. Tonight the Teatro Regio Torino is in Edinburgh for the first time in its history. Perhaps you would have preferred to be on holiday tonight as many of our countrymen. On the contrary, the Teatro Regio Torino works tonight on a global stage. If that is the Maestro’s contribution, well, that’s not a bad thing, is it? Additionally, in typical provincial thinking you cannot credit the orchestra, chorus, opera house or Maestro wity achieving anything without the help of outsiders. How often are people reminded that Toscanini conducted at our house? That La boheme was premiered here? You should wake up and recognize your irrelevance. You could be part of the solution but instead you rain on the parade. Have a goodnight in Torino while the world watches in Edinburgh.
a top rate performance of william tell in edinburgh. bravo – come back turino!
In coverage I have seen elsewhere Turin’s Intendant states that he supports Noseda’s ambitions for the house, including foreign touring, but essentially not at any price. i.e. in these straightened times, you can’t travel abroad and make vast losses when you are fighting to survive at home. I think both Noseda and the intendant have valid points – artistic ambition includes being on the international stage, and good governance includes being cautious with money. It’s a tension that occurs in every well-run house or orchestra.
By the way, Richard Naxos, what do you mean by London being a Gergiev controlled city? What rot. He certainly doesn’t ‘control’ the LSO, much less any other performing institution or venue in London.
Noseda is a conductor of maximum impact. I have just seen him lead guglielmo tell in auld Reekie to grand acclaim, Torino cannot affford to lose him in the opinion of this tifoso Caledoniano, nossignore,