The incoming principal conductor at La Scala Milan is one of the most candid men on the podium, honest with his situation and with himself.
We’ve had a wide-ranging conversation on film for sinfini.com about his life, his work and the massive challenge he faces. There is a short version (click here) about the problems at La Scala, which he describes as the worst in its history, adding, ‘I am not a masochist.’
In the full half-hour film we discuss his memories of Claudio Abbado, Herbert von Karajan, Franco Ferrara and others shaped him. Claudio’s motto was: ‘Keep the door always open.’
Chailly is one of the first to break down barriers between conductors and audience, to explore together new meanings in familiar works. ‘Machine-gun conducting in standard repertoire does not interest me at all,’ he says.
Watch.
James Fountain, 20, a third-year student at the Guildhall School of Music, has been named Principal Trumpet of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
They’re getting younger all the time.
We clicked on a link and found this:
We’re sorry but this site is not accessible from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not funded by the licence fee. It is run commercially by BBC Worldwide, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BBC, the profits made from it go back to BBC programme-makers to help fund great new BBC programmes. You can find out more about BBC Worldwide and its digital activities at www.bbcworldwide.com.
Do you need further help?
Actually, no. If the BBC is now two organisations, public and commercial, the case for maintaining the licence fee is fatally weakened.
There’s a bit of a fuss in Australia over the sacking of the ‘beloved and esteemed’ Artistic Director of the Sydney Youth Orchestra, Max McBride. McBride is a former principal double-bass of the Sydney Symphony and Australian Chamber orchestras, a popular and highly competent teacher.
No cause has been given for his dismissal, but what is giving rise to concern is the ‘deceitful’ way new applicants have been made to pay audition fees to the orchestra believing Max McBride to be in charge, when he was not. Here’s what appears in a petition for the board’s dismissal:
Max was touted on audition marketing collateral as being the Artistic Director without any indication that this arrangement would not continue, and I am disgusted by the way that SYO collected application fees from hundreds of applicants who believed this to be the case. Whilst SYO members have been informed, albeit conveniently after they have wasted time preparing an audition, I am yet shocked at the fact that new applicants have been kept in the dark.
Josef Herowitsch, pastor of the Austrian village of Lockenhaus, has died aged 78.
In 1981, he persuaded Gidon Kremer to co-found an adventurous, long-lasting festival in his parish, mostly with emigré artists from Eastern Europe.
‘They send us bishops, who drive people away from attending church,’ said the rebellious Father Herowitsch. ‘Artists bring them back.’
Disney has released a clip of the Hollywood actress going Into the Woods for Stephen Sondheim. The clip is prefaced by the kind of gush you expect on these trailers, but as soon as the movie plays there are flaws that grate the ear. Meryl Streep is a movie actress who sings a bit, not always on the note.
Watch. Listen.
Lindsey Stirling, the gyrating American violinist, has a new album out. She plays and dances on NBC Today, but we think she could pay for those backward contortions late in life. Why does’t she just play safe?
Professor Robert Herzl, who has died aged 74, was Oberspielleiter at the Volksoper from 1973 to 2000, responsible for 47 productions and for the revitalisation and coherence of the house’s production style. He will be much missed.
A master of Viennese operetta, he also loved working on new operas by Henze and Matthus.
His narrative of how he nabbed the spring campaign, which was shot by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin in Chelsea, is pretty straightforward.
“I’ve got a close mutual friend with [Hugo Boss creative director] Jason Wu, who suggested me,” Siem said. “That’s about it.”
With that terse response, he glossed over his prior modeling experience, which includes editorial shoots in Vogue, CBS Watch magazine, as well as a shoot in Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld’s book “The Little Black Jacket: Chanel’s Classic Revisited.” He has also appeared in Dunhill’s ad campaign and more recently, he was the face of Giorgio Armani’s Eau de Nuit fragrance.
It’s another world.
Our fashion correspondent is away this week, but that suit looks fir for Alan Yentob.
Alex Poots, founding artistic director of Manchester International Festival (MIF), will leave next summer to run New York’s Culture Shed.
The last music chief to go straight from Manchester to New York must have been John Barbirolli in 1936.
Or have we missed someone?
An Italian tabloid reports that the pair, both unattached, met at a London exhibition and are seeing each other.
Madonna wants them to make a record together.
The exciting news has been picked up by both Russian and US-based media. Our social affairs correspondent reports that her eyebrows could not go any higher if she attached them to an elevator.
Alla Sizova was Rudi’s preferred dance partner in St Petersburg before he fled west. She died there today, aged 76.
