Cecilia Bartoli was de to make her first US appearances in five years later this month, sticking to the West Coast and avoiding New York.

But organisers U-Live say she has pulled out ‘due to unforeseen circumstances’. She’s hoping to resched for June 2016.

Shame.

cecilia-bartoli

carol jantsch

… perform a tuba concerto.

It’s by Michael Daugherty. The solost is Carol Jantsch. Noseda conducts.

More here

You read it first yesterday on Slipped Disc, with the full reasons.

Here’s the bleak statement:

 

chung

It is with profound regret that the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) has made the decision to cancel its forthcoming U.S. tour. The tour was scheduled for 14th – 24th April 2015 with seven concerts in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Davis, San Francisco, Seattle, Ann Arbor, and Chicago. The cancellation is due to a recent and significant cut in tour funding from the City of Seoul. The SPO, which is heavily subsidized by the City of Seoul, has failed to secure sufficient financial support from alternative sources and has therefore made the decision not to proceed with the tour. Maestro Myung-Whun Chung, Music Director of the SPO, has stated: “On behalf of my musician colleagues at the SPO, I am deeply saddened that the tour to the U.S. has been cancelled. This is due to financial reasons entirely beyond our control.”

 

The  former New York Times writer James B. Stewart has been working for a while on a substantial piece on the failures of the Peter Gelb regime. Stewart is a business writer who knows his way around company debt.

He tweeted a few hours ago that the piece is done and will be published on Monday: ‘Yes, my Metropolitan Opera opus for the New Yorker is finally done. It will be in Monday’s issue.’

james b stewart

People are already asking why the NY Times would not commission let alone publish, a Met investigation by its finance team.

UPDATE: There is strong speculation that the upcoming article provoked last week’s decision by board president Kevin Kennedy not to stand for re-election.

Meanwhile, Murdoch’s New York Post is also sniffing around a Met story.

This could be an uncomfortable springtime for Peter Gelb.

GelbTV

Read the published piece, and the surrounding controversy here.

In an interview with German NDR network, airing tonight, the incoming conductor of the Munich Philharmonic attacks the US president for the rise of Islamic State in Syria. Here’s the pre-quote released by the broadcasters:

Gergiev : ‘It is not always Russia that makes the wrong decisions. This is a very honest admission from me… Two years ago, Obama made the wrong decision when he did failed to heed advice by Putin to support the President of Syria, Assad.’

Russian President Putin presents a Hero of Labour award to Mariinsky theatre director Gergiev during an awards ceremony in St. Petersburg

Sam Denov, percussionist with the Chicago Symphony from 1954 to 1985, has died at the age of 91. Before Chicago, he played in the San Antonio and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras. He is the author of The Art of Playing the Cymbals (1963) and was one of the founders of ICSOM.

Condolences to Sam’s family.

(run video to 3:40)

 

sam denov