It’s summer and the flying’s getting harder. This just in from Andres Cardenes, former concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony and a busy teacher and performer:

Just when I start thinking the airlines understand the law regarding violins as carry-on, the B35 gate agent in Pittsburgh tells me I can’t carry it on, nor would it fit. I immediately argued, whereupon she began laughing at me. Fortunately, I carry a copy of the law in my case and showed her. She then proceeded to ignore me as I tried to enter my FF#. Power trip, ignorance, disrespect and rudeness. Nice job description, USAir/American Airlines.

violin on plane

 

No apologies or even acknowledged me after I argued it was the law. Another gate agent took care of me while the original one ignored me.

Something slightly weird is bugging our chers copains at resmusica.

Tomorrowland is a hard-core electro-pop music festival in Antwerp.

This weekend they’ve invited the Belgian National Orchestra to show how it’s done unplugged.

Go figure.

tomorrowland

The retired bass-baritone explains in a radio interview how he came to be conducting Bach’s St Matthew Passion at the Verbier Festival tonight – his maestro debut.

Tommy, 55, says the idea came from Verbier chief Martin Engstroem not long after he gave up singing for health reasons. He thought about it long and hard, discussed it with his wife and friends, listened to dozens of recordings and finally took up the challenge.

‘We’re going to have a lot of pleasure together,’ he says, ‘but don’t start thinking I’m the next Karajan.’

Listen to his interview in German, here.

In another interview he says, ‘what do you call it when you conduct without arms?’ referring to his physical disability.

Go for it, Tommy.

Thomas Quasthoff

You can hear the concert on medici.tv.

quasthoff conducts

He’s in Australia, talking to Andrew Ford on the ABC:

On politicians who question public funding for the arts: ‘The fact that I think they are idiots doesn’t mean it surprises me. I grew up with a generation of politicians who had a hinterland, who’d been through wartime and realised the value of anything that helps the human spirit. Those were different times…We lose arts and culture at our peril.’

On relative values:  ‘In Germany there has always been the feeling that the arts are absolutely central to everything. England isn’t a particularly rich country but London is one of the wealth centres of the known universe….We all have to fight our corner. With 85 billionaires there, don’t there have to be two or three who have an interest in the arts?’

Listen here.

 

simon rattle vesa siren

 

Next week marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mario del Monaco.

A repository of the great tradition, Mario enjoyed a huge international career after the War in all major houses. Posterity has been less kind to his memory, eclipsing him between the long shadows of Bjorling and Pavarotti.

Mario deserves better.

There is a splendid audio, film and photographic tribute here. Watch this genius interviewer:

mario del monaco otello

Mario Sereni, who sang leading baritone roles for 27 seasons at the Metropolitan Opera, died on July 15 in his birthplace, Perugia, aged 87.

Mario had a lovely voice and formidable technique but he was overshadowed at the Met by US baritones Leonard Warren and Robert Merrill. His art is well represented on record.

mario sereni

(skip the wobbly intro, the voice is secure)

A Hollywood first?

tom cruise vienna

We are reliably informed that the soundtrack of Mission Impossible 5, which premièred yesterday at the Vienna State Opera, has the Vienna Philharmonic, chorus and soloists perform excerpts from Turandot.

About 20 minutes of the movie plays around, in and on top of the roof of the State Opera building.

Turandot is sung by Lise Lindstrom, who will play the role next season in Vienna. The tenor is Gregory Kunde.

High art meets high-wire action film.

tom cruise vienna

 

 

Brian Dickie, former head of the Chicago Opera Theater, is the first to pronounce on Barrie Kosky’s production of Handel’s Saul at Glyndebourne. He has no reservations whatsoever. Read here.

Saul-Glyndebourne-110-700x455

Photo: Tristram Kenton

Brian is not alone. See here and here.

Simon Mellor, Executive Director Arts and Culture for Arts Council England, has been deputed to work two days a week in Manchester as project director for the new £78m Factory theatre.

Let’s figure this out: either the ACE doesn’t need a full-time exec director, or Manchester’s project is in such trouble that the rest of England can go hang two days a week while the boss dons a hard hat.

Either way, the ACE’s clumsy executive structure needs cutting down. Too many bosses, not enough work.

 

simon mellor

Benjamin Dickerson started out as a boy treble in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. Pianist Alden Gatt won the accompanist award. Details here.

 

benjamin dickerson

The Beijing International Music Competition has called off its violin contest in September after it ‘encountered serious financial difficulties’.

BIMC goes on to state that ‘the governmental reform on cultural activities are inevitably beneficial in a long run however, this leads us into financial plight.’

Make of that what you will.

The cello competition is scheduled to go ahead unaltered.

beijing competition

The French pianist who caused a sensation at the Tchaikovsky Competition has given his first in-depth interview to Bertrand Boissard, at Parlons Piano.

Among other topics, he discusses his Russian teacher Rena Shereshevskaia, his two years working at a supermarket till, his preference for learning Prokofiev by ear and his favourite pianists of all time, singling out among French artists the little-known Marcelle Meyer.

lucas debargue paris
Photo ©Bertrand Boissard.

Read the full, in-depth interview here.

Ismene Brown has generously created an English translation here.