The deeply troubled Toronto Symphony is selling a pedigree instrument to its own foundation in order to deal with a larger-than-expected deficit, blamed on its last boss.

A board member told the Globe and Mail: ‘There were commitments made by (Jeff) Melanson that were more expensive than anticipated.’

Report here.

melanson

Report from Rudolph Tang in Beijing:

Magic Flute, a show created for children performed by the UK-based The Classic Buskers, was called off at the last minute by the Beijing Concert Hall where a performance had been scheduled for June 3rd.

Parents who attended a performance by The Classic Buskers in Shanghai on June 1st complained that Mr Ian Moore, a Cambridge organist and choir master who was playing the Queen of Night, went on stage apparently without wearing knickers under the short skirt.

Some parents sitting at the front rows left the City Theatre abruptly, taking their children with them and filed complaints to the press and the tour management. They demanded an apology from the troupe, and cancellation of it’s China tour.

According to several reports, Ian Moore apologized for his “forgetting to wear knickers after changing costume” in a video apology. But Beijing Concert Hall called off the performance, citing “unwellness of the performer”, and offering ticket refunds. The City Theatre also released an apology to the parents. Before the incident took place, the show had been running in China for three years.

We have asked The Classic Buskers for a response.

ian moore

picture from Chinese social media

UPDATE: ‘He was wearing something…’

A rediscovered backstage romp after a NY Phil concert.

What’s Henry Kissinger doing there?

The first in an occasional series on women who have transformed musical perspectives.

Our first subject’s motto: ‘Cut through the noise that says you can’t.’

Read profile here.

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Anne Parsons, president and CEO of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and her husband, Donald Dietz

Absolutely fascinating essay by Christoph Wolff on a missing link in the chain of discovery that led Felix Mendelssohn to give the first performance of St Matthew Passion for a century, and thereby set in motion the great Bach revival.

Sara Itzig Levy, a sometime pupil of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, had an extensive library of Bach manuscripts and encouraged her nephew to read them.

Read here.

sara itzig levy