The femocratic arts centre is celebrating women. It’s that time of year.
Southbank Centre is pleased to announce that we are once again recruiting female musicians to join the Women of the World Orchestra.
We reported that event in January 2015, only to learn that the SBC had no intention of paying the women it was purporting to celebrate.
We kicked up a bit of a fuss, hoping it might do some good next time round.
Some hopes. A Slipped Disc reader tells us today:
So somebody dropped out of this Women of the World Festival taking place at Southbank on Sunday and I said I would be available to play second bassoon, but am now feeling slightly uneasy about the fact that they are asking players to perform for free.
… The Festival Hall are not even offering comps to players – they’re offering 40% off the ticket price, so they’ll be profiteering from the players’ family and friends who are probably going to make up the majority of the audience.
It seems exploitative and hypocritical to be participating in a festival that celebrates women but doesn’t pay them, and I wonder if Sue Perkins or Sandi Toksvig are giving their time away for free.
Indeed. Or these two executives below who run the artistic side. They certainly don’t work for free.
It is only uncelebrated women that the South Bank exploits.
The award-winning Pavel Haas Quartet has been forced to make a personnel change.
Statement by their agency, Intermusica:
Due to a serious illness in his immediate family, Pavel Nikl, the viola player and founding member of the Pavel Haas Quartet, has very sadly had to take the difficult decision to leave the quartet. Radim Sedmidubský, up until now a member of the Škampa Quartet and a longstanding friend of the ensemble, has joined the Pavel Haas Quartet to replace him with immediate effect.
Czech viola player Radim Sedmidubský studied at the Prague Academy of Music with Milan Škampa, a former member of the legendary Smetana Quartet. In 1989 he co-founded the Škampa Quartet of which he has been a member for more than twenty years. He has also performed with ensembles such as the Keller, Endellion and Borodin Quartets, held chamber music classes all over the world and in 2001 was appointed visiting professor of chamber music at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Pavel Nikl:“ I am sorry that difficult personal circumstances have forced me to leave the Pavel Haas Quartet. Personally, I am glad that in these unanticipated circumstances the brilliant violist Radim Sedmidubský has agreed to join the quartet. Not only is he a great player and lasting friend but also, having studied like myself with Prof. Milan Škampa, he shares our philosophy and musical values.“
The Spanish tenor José Ferrero died on Friday night at his home in Chinchilla, apparently of a heart attack.
After an early debut as Don José in Carmen, he developed a scholarly passion for baroque music and founded La Capilla Antigua de Chinchilla, with whom he made three Naxos recordings.
On the major-house circuit he sang at La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Sao Carlos in Naples, Teatro Real in Madrid, the Liceu in Barcelona. From 2011-2013 he sang Cavaradossi at Scottish Opera and later at Berlin State Opera. He was just easing his way into Wagner roles in Luxembourg and Geneva.
(c) Lebrecht Music&Arts
The death is reported of Jerzy Godziszewski, 81, a highly regarded artist who was awarded second distinction in the 1960 International Chopin Piano Competition as well as a special prize founded by Witold Małcużyński.
Jerzy went on to study for two years with Arturo Benedetti-Michelangeli but took more to teaching than performing. From 1978 he was professor of music at the High School of Music in Bydgoszcz.
He can be seen in this 1960 news film at 2:40.
Four baritones, two sopranos, a mezzo, a tenor and a counter-tenor are the last singers standing from 1,500 hopefuls who applied from across the US and Canada for the coveted Met auditions.
The final is a ticketed event hosted by Deborah Voigt next Sunday.
Salzburg is flying a black flag over the Festspielhaus today. ORF changed its programming. France Musique is playing only Harnoncourt all day. And tributes are pouring in for a man who changed the musical world.
From the Vienna Symphony Orchestra:
A great loss for the musical world: Nikolaus Harnoncourt died yesterday. He was cellist in our orchestra under Herbert von Karajan and Wolfgang Sawallisch from 1952-69. As a conductor he led us in 91 concerts and performances between 1983 and 2008. We are deeply grateful for sharing these and innumerable magical moments and experiences more with him. He will never be forgotten!
From the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra:
With great sorrow, we received the news of the death of our Honorary Member Nikolaus Harnoncourt while traveling from Bogotá to São Paolo. The Vienna Philharmonic takes a deep bow before one of the greats. After Nikolaus Harnoncourt, nothing is the same as it was before. We will miss his unique perspectives, his out of the box thinking and the manner in which he plumbed the depths of the human soul. Under his baton, we experienced many compositions, from Johann Sebastian Bach to Alban Berg, in a completely new light. His groundbreaking interpretations pushed us to our limits and beyond. They affronted us, they unsettled us – and they convinced us. We extend our deepest sympathy to his family. Without his wife, Alice, the cosmos of Harnoncourt would not have been possible.
From the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra:
The Berliner Philharmoniker are much saddened by the death of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, who died on 5 March at the age of 86. Ulrich Knörzer and Knut Weber, members of the orchestra board: “Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor laureate of the Berliner Philharmoniker and recipient of our Hans von Bülow medal, embodied the vitality of classical music more than almost any other. The unquestioning acceptance of tradition was a horror to him. With unrelenting curiosity and freshness, he illuminated and questioned musical scores again and again. In this way we learned an immense amount from him – also, and particularly, with regard to repertoire which we have played from time immemorial. This process was even more fascinating for us as it was not limited to philological discussion. It was Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s gift to transform his amazing knowledge into fantastically lively music making. Even his last concert with us, a Beethoven evening in October 2011, was of undiminished intensity and will be remembered by us as a highlight of our work together. Nikolaus Harnoncourt was in the truest sense an incomparable musician and a wonderful, close friend of the Berliner Philharmoniker. We will miss him enormously.“
photos (c) Marion Kalter/Lebrecht Music&Arts
Gidon Kremer writes: ‘Nikolaus Harnoncourt, with whom I shared many intimate moments in music by Mozart, Schumann, Beethoven, Brahms and – especially – Alban Berg, was always the most generous partner whose presence inspired me to focus on the deepest substance of the scores we performed and recorded together.
Lang Lang writes: ‘I’m in shock today over the news of Maestro Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s passing. He was such a special, genuine, sincere, and talented musician and human being. He taught me so much and opened up musical doors for me – especially with Bach, Beethoven, and of course, Mozart.’
Franz Welser-Möst: ‘An interpreter who changed our world more than any other over the past 50 years.’
Thomas Hampson: An immense loss for the musical world: Nikolaus Harnoncourt … was more than a conductor, a cellist, an “early music specialist”. Nikolaus Harnoncourt was one of the most enlightened souls I have ever met and had extraordinary influence on generations of musicians. His unbridled curiosity, relentless search for the truth of the matter, his egoless risk of the moment, founded in that staggering renaissance knowledge of music as the language of life’s limitless questioning, have set him apart. Nikolaus Harnoncourt was a pioneer, a rebel and a deeply profound soul. For all of these reasons and so many more, Nikolaus fundamentally shaped my own re-creative process and how I listen and think about music.
Thank you, dear Nikolaus, mentor and colleague, for sharing your light, your passion and your fire with all of us so generously and thank you for a beautiful personal friendship that started more than 30 years ago. We will miss you beyond description, but your legacy will live forever in all those you touched. Mine and Andrea’s deepest condolences and love abide with your precious wife Alice and of course to your entire family.
Nikolaus once said that “the Arts are the umbilical cord to the Divine”. Surely he now rests in everlasting Divine Peace.
From the Salzburg Festival press release (a conflation of equivocations):
Harnoncourt’s career in Salzburg … From 1972 he taught performance practice and historical instruments as a professor at the Mozarteum. His first performance as a conductor in Austria took place thanks to the Mozart Week, where he conducted the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam in 1980. The Mozarteum Foundation was also responsible for his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic. After all, Herbert von Karajan did not want him to appear at the Festival during his lifetime. Karajan and Harnoncourt – those were separate musical worlds. However, they did have one thing in common: they were both after truthfulness in music. Both remained seekers throughout their entire lifetimes, but their searches took radically different paths.
In 1992 the time had finally come, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt first stepped onto the conductor’s podium at the Salzburg Festival.
From the German-based violinist Noé Inui:
photo: Yannis Gutmann
Here is a nice story from yesterday.
I was invited to perform the second violin concerto of Mozart in D Major with the Kosice Philarmonie in the south of Hannover (Bad Münder). The concert was planned for 7:30pm. My one and only rehearsal was at 6pm.
The conductor arrives and asks the tempo of the third movement. (I thought that for the KV 211 the 1st mvt’s tempo should be more relevant.) Anyway I decide to sing my tempo and the conductor looks at me with round eyes…..
Yes you got it. They had prepared the D Major KV 218!!
So now begins the running to find a place to print the score on a Sunday evening in a small german “Kurort”. We fortunately found a hotel where we printed the score (with brand new cadenzas!?!). We were ready for rehearsal at 6:50pm for about 15min and then concert.
A rare change for the better. Richard Harwood tells us:
Last night, I was told by a member of cabin crew that the previously unique and crazy BA method of securing cellos is now a thing permanently left in the past. No ropes and none of the recent multiple belt methods. Even more importantly, nobody ever coming on board to tie it in for you! The cabin attendant showed me the document that was released in December 2015 to all cabin staff detailing the new policy which came in to effect on January 1st, 2016.
“With effect from 1st January 2016 a new procedure will be introduced to be used when securing a cello in a seat. This procedure has been developed in conjunction with our ground teams and is based on customer feedback.”
“Cellos (and similar instruments) will be secured by the owning passenger. The passenger will receive securing information as part of the booking process. The procedure requires the use of a single extension seatbelt. The images show correct positioning. The seat utilised must always be a window seat (excluding emergency exit rows) with the passenger occupying the adjacent seat. The seat must be in an upright position with armrests down, ensure seat cushion is stood upright, behind the main body of the cello. The cello head must NOT be resting on the floor. Assistance should be offered if required.”
Success!!
Here are BA’s instructions for all classes of travel.
