The Spectator magazine thrives on turning the clock back. Here’s its associate editor, Damian Thompson:
…who knows what might have happened if the Berlin Philharmonic hadn’t chosen Rattle instead of Barenboim? Sir Simon is coming back to London in 2017. And bear in mind that Claudio Abbado gave the greatest concerts of his career as he was being eaten away by cancer in his seventies. Surely there’s still time to give the Berlin job to the man who should have got it in the first place.
UPDATE: For the other side of the argument, why Barenboim would be wrong for the job, click here.
Musicians of the Ribeirão Symphony of Sao Paolo haven’t been paid in four months. Their orchestra, one of the oldest in Brazil, is facing closure. So on Saturday night they stopped the concert and warned the audience of the likely consequences.
‘MIT researchers and violin makers at Boston’s North Bennet Street School have analysed measurements from hundreds of Cremonese-era violins, identifying features that contribute to their acoustic power, or fullness of sound.
‘…The researchers found that a key feature affecting a violin’s sound is the shape and length of its “f-holes,” the f-shaped openings through which air escapes: the more elongated these are, the more sound a violin can produce…’
Meet Omar Tsereteli. He is paid to keep watch at Georgia’s National Library. When he gets bored, he does this.
A passing tourist heard him and started filming. Anyone name the piece? (Einaudi?)
In four days, Tsereteli has gained more viewers than Lang Lang’s latest.
‘Today I signed a record agreement for the next productions with the label DECCA. It begins with a recital that will be ready in summer!!!’ announces Carlo Colombara on his Facebook page.
The label has yet to confirm.
Eleonora Belyaeva, presenter of The Music Box for more than 30 years on Soviet television, as died at 80.
An Honoured Artist of the RSFSR, she lost her voice at music college and rose through the system to find fame – and some popularity – as a presenter of new recordings on the small screen.
Yekwon Sunwoo, 26, won the Internationalen Deutschen Pianistenpreis at the Alte Oper, Frankfurt. He collected the 20,000 Euro award. The audience prize went to a Latvian, Andrei Osokin.
A Juilliard graduate, Sunwoo won first prize at the 2012 William Kapell International Piano Competition but missed out at Van Cliburn. He told local press that it is his lifelong dream to live in Germany.
He has an elaborate preparation ritual.
This may be a new kind of meet-and-greet service, we’re not sure.
Alexander Pereira, the Scala boss, announced at the reopening of the renovated airport that he is planning a performance there in September. Live on TV. He won’t say which opera, or parts of opera. (UPDATE: Austrian newspapers predict L’Elisir d’amore).
Perhaps we can offer some suggestions? The Magic Flight? Fidelayo? Orfeo ed Queueridico?
Elizabeth Braw reports for Newsweek that opera and ballet companies are running low beause ‘fashion colleges don’t teach students how to sew’.
So serious is the crisis that Opera Philadelphia’s new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Don Carlo is under threat because Don Carlo requires a huge range of hand-stitched costumes strong enough to withstand the nightly rigours of the lead role. ‘We pay the best rates in the city but there just aren’t enough qualified stitchers available.’
That’s the argument of a doctoral thesis by Anne-Marie Quigg, presented at the University of London. The subtitle is ‘When Creative becomes Coercive’.
You can read the full thesis here (we’re saving it for the weekend).
This is a summary (below). You know it happens. You’ve seen the movie Whiplash. Be aware.
The original research carried out in a range of arts organisations in the UK included employees at every level within both commercial and subsidised performing arts organisations in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It demonstrates that bullying in UK performing arts organisations is common and increasing in frequency: it is damaging, oppressive and unacceptable. Clear evidence is presented of the failure of management satisfactorily to address bullying: some arts workers tolerate intimidating behaviour by powercut managers because they believe in, and are committed to, the Arts. Among managers, the notion of the arts as vocaffon persists. The widespread perception is that arts organisations work outside the rules and limitations of the ordinary milieu, choosing to work in theatres and arts centres rather than in offices, factories and shops, and that the arts are different and exempt from normal rules and regulations. The research found that many aspects of working in the performing arts are not peculiar to the profession, they occur in other employment sectors and are more likely to be characteristic of the times in which we live, than specific to the sector in which we work. In assessing workplace stressors, it is the response of the organisation, alongside the individual response, that determines negative stress levels. The apportionment of responsibility for successful resolution of negative behaviours within arts organisations is examined. The need to develop suitable policies for dealing with bullying is highlighted. The nature of the behaviour, its effects on individuals and organisations and the role of the perpetrator are outlined. The experience of, and steps taken by, other countries are examined, notably Australia, Canada, France, Sweden and the United States where the profile of bullying behaviour continues to be featured regularly in the press and media, although not yet in the performing arts.
h/t: Ian Pace
Lovely story from Graham Spircer at Gramilano.
James Hobley, 15, from Redcar, is autistic. So is his twin brother. And his elder brother. They have been schooled at home by their mother, Sheila, after having to endure bullying at a state school.
James conceived a passion for dance. He went on Britain’s Got Talent. Now he has won a place at ballet school.
