Benny Gal-Ed, former head of the Jerusalem Music Centre and the America-Israel cultural foundation, has died of cancer, his family have announced. He was 71.
Benny offered financial and moral support to three generations of artists, dancers and musicians.
The soprano has posted this picture of her leg on Instagram after a stage accident.
She assures followers that it is not life threatening.
UPDATE: Two days later, she’s fine. See here.
Ari Vilhjalmsson, who was bumped off Norwegian after refusing to stow his instrument in cargo, has ended the week on a high note.
He has been confirmed as co-principal second violin of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, and Norwegian has not only apologised to him but promised to change its policy in respect of on-board instruments.
The apology reads: ‘We are very sorry about the problems that Ari encountered with his violin and fully understand that his experience was very frustrating. Due to this situation, Norwegian is currently in the process of modifying our guidelines for the transportation of musical instruments. We would like to apologise to Ari for the problems he encountered.’
This sounds like a win-win.
We are very sorry to learn of the sudden death on Friday of Robert Tuggle, Director of Archives at the Metropolitan Opera for more than 34 years. He was 83, still at work on the day of his death.
Before reaching the Met, Bob worked in the education department of the Metropolitan Opera Guild, starting in 1957 when he was 24 years old. He knew all there was to know about opera history in New York.
Bob was one of the friendliest faces in an often crabby organisation. We worked together happily on researching Gustav Mahler’s brief period at the Met.
He had been working for some years on a biography of Kirsten Flagstad.
photo: Met archives
UPDATE: First appreciation here.
The Long Thibaud Crespin Competition has sent out a notice cancelling its 2016 edition, dedicated to singing.
The causes are lack of funds and a need to come to grips with ‘new’ social media and streaming opportunities.
The organisation promises to stage the singing competition in 2017.
The competition has been running since 1943.
h/t: Pierre-Jean Tribot
The Mayor has issued a notice that all vehicles except emergency services must be off the streets by 2.30pm today.
Mayor’s text message: Emergency Alert: All non-emergency vehicles must be off the roads in NYC by 230pm until further notice.
Bryn Terfel revels in snow, outside the Met.
Just up on the Metropolitan Opera page:
We are experiencing very high call volume right now, but if you have tickets for one of today’s performances and are unable to attend, please call us at 212-362-6000 at any point in the next week and we will reschedule your tickets for a future date, pending availability.
Earlier:
Despite the weather, all performances this weekend are scheduled to take place as planned. If you are unable to attend due to weather conditions, please get in touch with us at your earliest convenience by calling 212-362-6000.
Please be aware that we are experiencing increased call volume at the moment; if you cannot get through, please try again at a later date. Thanks and stay safe this weekend.
UPDATE: An hour later, the Met announced the cancellation of Saturday afternoon and evening performances.
Cute video for Detroit’s upcoming Brahms fest.
The second essay on the Future Symphony Institute is by a regular Slipped Disc polemicist, composer John Borstlap.
Sample:
There may be progress in terms of physical means – like the types of pigment used in paint, which became more stable in the last century, or the relatively cheap paper for musical notation that became available with the advent of the 19th century industrial revolution, or the iron fittings in architecture that allowed builders to vault bigger spaces….
But expression, artistic vision, the quality of execution has never been dependent upon the physical means of an art form: Vermeer has not been superseded in terms of artistic quality by Picasso or Pollock, Bach not by Mahler or Boulez, Michelangelo not by Giacometti or Moore, Palladio not by Gropius or Le Corbusier.
And we can appreciate the brilliance of the “primitive” masters of Flanders, who lived before the great surge of 16th century inventions in Italian painting, just as we can the music of Palestrina, who had no clue of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven or Chopin simply because he lived in an earlier time.
Read the full essay here.
Things you never knew.
‘How many practical uses are there? Practically none…’
