At the national auditorium in Madrid, Wednesday’s performance of Handel’s Messiah was interrupted by a mobile phone going off in a side-row close to the stage during the aria, He was despised.
‘Out!’ yelled Christie at the phone owner. ‘You have just ruined one of the most beautiful passages of one of the most beautiful works ever written.
Full report here (in Spanish).
More mail coming our way on the contentious redesign of the NY Times arts section:
For Dean Baquet
Executive Editor
Dear Mr. Baquet.
While we have never met, I spent the last few decades at The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News, institutions that have also periodically redesigned themselves — and not always happily.
That said, your new arts section (actually boxed reviews were tried out during Paul Goldberger’s tenure) is particularly dimwitted in its old-fashioned notion that subscribers like me read papers for their pictures. Just now, I have stared at two stupid pictures of an idiotic game show. Wouldn’t one do? And why do I need two pictures of dancers in tights and little skirts — outfits worn by a lot of dancers actually. The gigantic illustration of the Coward playlet is wider than the stage at 59E59.
I’m not finished. What a day. Please study your mildly interesting story about preening academics tussling over a Beethoven manuscript. Now why did this need three illustrations?
Instead you might have squeezed in a review of an area of inquiry you almost completely ignore though it is the most important of topics in a time when so many of us walk around gob-smacked by the latest flabbergasting odes to money and power. Architecture.
Your arts section should reflect the city illuminating your name.
Please try again.
Manuela Hoelterhoff
Pulitzer Prize-winning editor and critic.
cc. Liz Spayd
This is Katherine Needleman, principal oboe of the Baltimore Symphony.
On recorders.
So what’s your party trick?
The following email has been sent to the Arts section editors of The New York Times:
As President of the Wagner Society of New York, I, plus many thousands of readers of The New York Times, have noticed over many months, and most recently in the last two weeks, that the coverage of culture in the Arts pages has greatly decreased. I’m also writing on behalf of my husband Harry L. Wagner (editor of our publications); we have relied on the Times for decades as a source of information and reviews.
Announcements of the redesigned Arts sections have appeared in recent days, beginning on Dec. 11. The editors stated that they are “excited about design changes and new features.” We are exercised, not excited, about these changes. You are giving much less space to the events listings, and also much less space to reviews of music events, as has been the case for some time. This is a very bad trend, seen nationally, but one had hoped that the Times would not succumb to this weakening and dilution of arts coverage. The arts, particularly music, are the reason many of us live in the New York area, and the Times needs to cover this essential aspect of life, including for its national readers..
On Dec. 13, we were informed in an boxed item entitled “A New Look for These Pages” that there is an expanded “Arts, Briefly” column and we note the new feature “Ready, Set, Go — Your Daily Arts Fix” which selects three items that we should look for. But we need listings, not editorial opinions in an over-designed format. Huge and excessive photos in the Arts sections mean they don’t have to do as much work in compiling the listings that are far more valuable to their readers. Photos have been getting bigger and bigger; information and listings, fewer and fewer, and highly selective.
One editorial response to a reader and friend stated: “You can find all of our classical music reviews online at https://www.nytimes.com/spo
We note the following message from the editors, which has appeared briefly in Arts sections: “Tell us what you think at culture.feedback@nytimes.
Nathalie D. Wagner
President
Wagner Society of New York
In the last hours before Christmas, when hardly anyone is at their screens, the Philharmonia Orchestra has slipped out the announcement that it has found a new managing director.
She is Helen Sprott, director of music at Arts Council England.
Her predecessor, David Whelton, arrived at the Philharmonia by the same route.
The orchestra has been expert at working the public funding conversation.
Press release follows.
The Philharmonia Orchestra is delighted to announce that Helen Sprott is to be the Orchestra’s new Managing Director. Helen moves to the Philharmonia from Arts Council England, where she has been Director of Music and has worked since 2005.
Helen will take up the post in April 2017 as the permanent replacement for David Whelton, who retired in August 2016 after 29 years with the Orchestra, and takes over directly from Interim Managing Director Alistair Mackie.
Helen Sprott said: “I have been a fan of the Philharmonia Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen since my student days. The Philharmonia is one of the world’s great orchestras, generating extraordinary passion and loyalty among its followers, and it is a real privilege to be appointed Managing Director. My ambition is to support these wonderful musicians to reach new audiences across the world, whether virtually or through live concerts, so that as many people as possible see and hear the Philharmonia, and experience the incredible work of this Orchestra.”
Kira Doherty, Chair of the Philharmonia Orchestra, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Helen to the Philharmonia. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience as well as a deep love of music and respect for the Orchestra. We very much look forward to working together.”
Esa-Pekka Salonen, Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor said: “It is great news for the Philharmonia that Helen will be the new Managing Director. She has tremendous passion for our art form, and will bring her considerable energy and expertise to the role. I look forward to working with her and the exciting times ahead.”
Prior to joining Arts Council England, Helen Sprott was Commissioning Editor for Music and Performing Arts with Channel 4 Television, a music specialist on BBC 2’s The Late Show, and Commissioning Editor, Music Books, with the publisher Faber and Faber. She trained as a cellist and graduated with a BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature from University College, London.
The marvellous Austrian soloist and conductor Heinrich Schiff has died today in a Vienna hospital. He had been in poor health for several years after suffering a stroke and he no longer played the cello, but his teaching and his conducting lit up the music world.
We mourn his loss.
Heinrich Schiff was artistic director of the Northern Sinfonia in England from 1990 to 1996. He was also chief conductor of the Copenhagen Philharmonic and the Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur.
Our diarist Anthea Kreston lives close to the market that was attacked. Here are her resolutions, as an American in Berlin.
This week, Berlin suffered a tragedy – a terrorist attack at a Christmas Market close to our home. Similar to the attack in Nice, France, this major attack (by a truck cutting a tornado of death and destruction through a festive market) was the deadliest terrorist act on German soil in many years. Germany now joins Brussels, France in a tragic reality of fear and unsettled sadness. This is the third, and most immediate terrorist experience for me since our move here.
The Christmas Market which was attacked surrounds the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church – or, the “Broken Church”. It remains, as it was at the end of World War II, a jagged tooth – a broken reminder of what befell. It is just down the street from us – on the glamorous Ku-Damm, our version of 5th Avenue. I was practising and Jason came in – he said have you looked at your phone? – and I looked down and it was going crazy with messages. He said – it happened, it happened here. I almost immediately threw up. The girls were asleep already, but on my phone are fresh photos of them on the kiddie rides at the market, just days old.
When I started this diary for Slipped Disc 10 months ago, I decided to give myself a few simple restrictions. One of these was to remain neutral politically. As a musician, we often find ourselves at a cross-road. We, as musicians, are a multi-colored, multi-oriented and multi-national band of people who make our way through life in always creative ways – looking for connection, for inspiration from one another. We often find ourselves as a small island of entertainers, entertaining people who may not share our natural openness, our desire for inclusiveness. Conversations after concerts with patrons can be sensitive, and we more often than not steer clear of any possible conflict – innately sensing when a fundamental difference exists.
So, with this in mind, I have been asked to share my thoughts of recent events here and in the States as a musician living abroad. Here goes – I will do my best.
I am afraid, afraid for my children, my friends, for myself, and for the earth. I am afraid of the inherent darkness of humans – and the encouragement of this darkness. I am afraid of the way people may feel they can teach their children – the newly acceptable parameters of right and wrong.
The day after the US election, the night of which was spent in fits and starts as I continually checked the New York Times coverage, I felt powerless. Somehow, I had expected a confirmation of our belief that women were indeed equal, powerful and capable of whatever they desired. Am I fooling myself? Are we less? Can we not be trusted with great responsibility? All the teeny and not-so-teeny slights I have experienced my whole life – I was ready to turn a new leaf, to kindly but firmly mark my space, to not brush aside these daily reminders of my place in the world as a woman.
My daughter, the day before the election, told me her friend at school said that if the man became president, there would be a war. I assured her that this would not be the case – to not worry. There is a swirling darkness, something that is not right with the world now. I don’t have any answers for my daughter.
With the attack this week in Berlin, I experienced a strange numbness. I stopped, hesitated, spoke to Jason, posted an “all is well with our family” on Facebook, then went back to practicing. I just felt, and still feel, like I am in a dream state. I have begun to accept this new reality. Angela Merkel is in trouble. The Right is attacking, and she is the last head of state who stands strongly for democracy here. With the United States at a crossroads, Europe in a struggle between right and left, I can’t shake the feeling that we are living at a juncture in history. A juncture which will become a fundamental curriculum in school for children in the future. They will ask, “why didn’t they see it coming, why didn’t they do anything?”
I regularly speak by FaceTime to my friends in the States. I feel far away and unsure of what the feeling is there on the ground. I walk around with my safety pin on my shirt. It is a symbol of support for those in need of support – I will stand by you in any moment of injustice. I believe in equality. I know this is a small thing – to put a pin on my shirt – but I do stand up for others and will continue to do so. I have always been unafraid and quick to act in danger. I will continue to work with the refugees here. I will continue to teach my children strength of character and kindness. I will steady myself, stay focused and strong. I will do this for myself and for my family. I know you will too.
The shock hit of the season is a pair of classical crossover singer, Michael Ball and Alfie Boe. Their Together record has sold quarter of a million UK copies in a fortnight and is firmly predicted to be the all-coveted #1 in the pop charts on Christmas Day.
This is a record made not so much in heaven as across a desk.
A record exec – let’s spare her blushes – had an idea that two lads on the loose might work better together than apart.
You never know til you try.
Rafael Baghdasaryan, solo clarinet of the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra of Russia and professor of clarinet at the Moscow Conservatory, has died. He was in his early 80s.
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has posted this:
At the request of the U. S. Presidential Inauguration Committee, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has accepted an invitation to sing at the swearing-in ceremony during the presidential inauguration at the U.S. Capitol next month in Washington, D.C.
On January 20, 2017, the Choir will perform during the inauguration ceremony for President-elect Donald J. Trump and Vice President-elect Michael R. Pence.
This performance will mark the sixth time the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has sung at an inauguration. These inaugural events include the official swearing-in ceremonies for George H. W. Bush (1989), Richard M. Nixon (1969), and Lyndon B. Johnson (1965). They performed in inaugural parades for George W. Bush (2001), George H. W. Bush (1989), and Ronald W. Reagan (1981).
“The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has a great tradition of performing at the inaugurals of U. S. presidents,” said Ron Jarrett, president of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. “Singing the music of America is one of the things we do best. We are honored to be able to serve our country by providing music for the inauguration of our next president.”
A protest campaign is gathering here.
Things that go wrong when you’re doing your best…
Ed Rosen, baritone, founder of Premiere Opera Ltd and insatiable enthusiast for the art, died yesterday after a short illness. He was a vital hub of the New York operatic scene.
Here’s what was posted on his fb site:
I am writing this post on behalf of Ed Rosen. With deep sadness I have to announce that Ed passed away late last night after a brief illness that started at Thanksgiving. Ed had made a point with me that I was not to inform anyone about his illness until he was feeling strong enough to correspond directly with all of you. The Opera community was the joy of his life and I am planning a tribute to Ed in Manhattan in the New Year. I will be reaching out to many of you in the days and weeks ahead, however, I can be reached at steve.striffler@gmail.com anytime and will respond quickly. Having known Ed for the past 35 years and he being a part of my family, it is a difficult time for all, but we take comfort in the fact that he did not suffer and died peacefully. Best wishes Steve Striffler
