Hot pianist walks out on IMG
mainThe Italian pianist Beatrice Rana, already signed to Warner, has quit the IMG warehouse to join boutique agency, Primo Artists, for north and South America.
Primo is run by ex-IMG high-flier Charlotte Lee. She looks after Itzhak Perlman, Nicola Benedetti and some others.
Beatrice, a silver-medallist at the Cliburn and a BBC New Gen Artist, is planning to devote much of her next season to Bach’s Goldberg Variations. On the piano, which is considered the opposite of cool.
Hot, in fact.
Good luck, Beatrice and Charlotte. These artist signings have cycled over the last 75 years from boutique agencies to the big corporate concerns, back to boutique agencies. Today, we have both and like puzzle pieces, each artist and representative fit together as they see fit. Technology has also changed the way managers and artists do business.
Very true about technology, it has turned some “artists” into media whores who are much better at blogging and pushing their name forward when they really should be practicing, to quote Mr. Graffman.
Does IMG have a disproportionate turnover of artists compared to other agencies?
Sexist headline from a sexist blogger.
The sexism on this blog is getting more and more unbelievable.
Wonderfully and so succinctly stated. The younger generation would simply evoke, quite deservedly so, the term “perv”, to Mr. Lebrecht’s characterization of women. This is an individual, who has lamented the fact, that the VPO and other orchestras do not have his quota of female musicians on their roster! Selective criticism, to be sure.
While I’m occasionally mildly offended by Mr. Lebrecht’s content, in the case of Ms Rana I fear that the PC police have gone over the top in their responses above. As I read it, the description refers to her as “a hot pianist” and not “a hot woman”. Come on, folks …. lighten up!
…and pianists cannot be women?
Absolutely agree. Best not to take any notice of the PC prigs with their heads up their own backsides.
I wish there were an upvote facility here – your comment would certainly get a tick from me!
….but the same description wouldn’t have been shied away from had the pianist been male.
But the implications would not have been the same if it had been a male. Name me one male pianist/musician who is regularly accused of owing his career only to being “hot”; now, I am certain you can name, without thinking too long, at least 10 women who regularly face the same insinuation. That’s the kind of prejudice we’re talking about.
The move is logical, the largest agencies collect a certain number of rising talents and leaves them as filler artists for the rosters. While no one wants to believe they are that category, the sooner they can get to an agent who can promote them aggressively, the better. The singers agent ZG has been notorious for wtecking several brilliant talents by signing them and simply neglecting them until their careers are dead, then dropping them. I’m sure they’re hardly the only one.
Hey, the Goldberg Variations! Who woulda thunk of that?
I am sorry but the remarks of RESPECT are totally uninformed. There is no such category as ‘filler’ and the ZG agency has not wrecked any careers. Agencies are not peopled by cynics but hard working conscientious people who believe in what they are doing. Yes, mistakes are made and some artists and their agents go off the boil but on balance the system allows talent to reach their level.
One thing many young artists need to understand that it is not the name of the agency, but the representative that matters. Much as when a young budding musician decides to go to a particular school, it is usually because the teacher they seek to study with is at a particular school. It isn’t the name of the school, but the teacher they should address primarily. Same for artist managements. It is the representative who ‘clicks’ with the artist that matters most. This could be at a huge concern, or a small agency. Hopefully, Beatrice has found the puzzle piece that fits.
I second that- exactly my sentiments!