The anonymous purchaser of the Du Pre-Harell Stradivarius has placed it on extended loan with the young Hungarian cellist István Várdai.
The ‘Du Pré-Harrell’, made in 1673, is one of fewer than 65 surviving Strad cellos. Past owners include Jacqueline du Pré (who also played the 1712 ‘Davidov’ Strad), the American cellist Lynn Harrell and the Russian-American Nina Kotova, wife of IMG co-owner Barrett Wissmann.
The ultra-conservative philosopher was invited to speak at the Donaueschingen festival, birthplace of post-war musical modernism. Being English, he was very polite to them in his opening remarks.
Then he put the boot in.
Important composers from Schoenberg and Stravinsky to Ligeti and Stockhausen, have been premiered in this place and before this audience. Along with Darmstadt, Donaueschingen has helped to restore Germany to the central place in European musical culture that it has occupied in the past and will always deserve. Now, in its latest and securest phase as the Musiktage, the Donaueschingen festival has become a symbol of musical modernism, and it is a great honour to be invited to speak from this podium to one of the most educated musical audiences in the world today. But in this short talk I will try to outline why I question the prominence in our musical culture of the experimental avant-garde….
The contrary obstacle also lies before us: the dictatorship of the difficult. Bureaucrats charged with giving support to the arts are, today, frightened of being accused of being reactionary. I suspect that everyone in this room is frightened of being accused of being reactionary. The history of the French salons in the 19th century, and of the early reactions to musical and literary modernism, has made people aware of how easy it is to miss the true creative product, and to exalt the dead and the derivative in its stead. The safest procedure for the anxious bureaucrat is to subsidize music that is difficult, unlikely to be popular, even repugnant to the ordinary musical ear. Then one is sure to be praised for one’s advanced taste and up-to-date understanding. Besides, if a work of music is easy to assimilate and clearly destined to be popular it does not need a subsidy in any case.
Discuss.
The label aims to capitalise on the success of neo-populist composers like Max Richter and Ludovico Einaudi by hiring an ex-Boosey publisher to develop new copyrights.
Press release:
London, December 14th 2016: Decca has appointed highly respected publishing executive Natasha Baldwin to launch a music publishing division dedicated to expanding the opportunities for neo-classical composers to write for television, film and video games. Decca Publishing, which launches in the UK this week, will complement the classical division of Universal Music Publishing, one of the largest and most respected publishers of classical music in the world.
Baldwin joins Universal Music Group as Senior Vice President, Head of Decca Publishing from Imagem Music where she was Group President, Creative & Marketing. Based in London, she reports directly to Dickon Stainer, President and CEO Universal Global Classics, while working closely with the senior team at Universal Music Publishing in London, New York and Santa Monica.
With streaming services and mood-based playlists providing a new platform for original works by neo-classical composers, Decca will offer an aligned recording and publishing strategy for its artists and their unique creative projects, such as Ludovico Einaudi’s Elementson Decca and Max Richter’s Sleep on Deutsche Grammophon.
Decca Publishing will work with Universal Music Publishing Classical on appropriate projects and synchronisation opportunities involving their respective composers and repertoire. The new division will also enhance Universal Music UK’s other recent soundtrack composer initiatives, such as Globe Soundtrack and Score, a label services offering for film makers and composers launched in conjunction with Abbey Road Studios.
David Joseph, Chairman & CEO of Universal Music UK, says: “Bringing together records and publishing under one roof at Decca will help us build the UK’s number one home for modern classical composers. Natasha’s incredible knowledge and vision for the potential of neo-classical music mean she is uniquely qualified to be its architect.”
Dickon Stainer, President and CEO, Global Classics, Universal Music Group says, “Natasha Baldwin is an exceptionally skilled and experienced publishing executive with a renowned track record. Her appointment will enable us to offer new publishing and synchronisation services to our classical artists and neo-classical composers, alongside the recording activities of our legendary classical labels and the world-famous Universal Music Publishing Classical catalogue.”
Natasha Baldwin says, “Using the platform of global brand campaigns, movies and media exploitation I’ve spent many years proving the versatility and accessibility of classical and neo-classical music. We’ve reached a moment where the democratisation of music discovery via streaming is giving developing genres a voice like never before. Through Decca Publishing my goal will be to amplify this offering and further broaden the impact of neo-classical music worldwide.”
Baldwin has had an illustrious career within the publishing world. Latterly as Group President, Creative & Marketing for Imagem Music Group, she represented the rights of some of the world’s most celebrated artists including Elvis Presley, Pink Floyd and Mark Ronson alongside many of the world’s best-loved musicals and the classical Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishing composers. Her role saw her use brand partnerships and sub-publishing deals to build the company’s footprint in developing media and emerging music markets.
About Natasha Baldwin
Before joining the central team at Imagem in 2009 as Group VP, Synch and Creative Services, Natasha Baldwin spent seven years at Boosey & Hawkes in roles including Head of Music Consultancy (Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers) and Head of Sales (Cavendish Production Library Music). She is Chairwoman of the MPA Education and Training Board and a speaker for BPI, AIM and MPA. She was also a UK Imagem board director.
The board of the Camerata Nordica, based in Oskarshamn, Sweden, has cancelled the rest of the season and announced the resignation of artistic director Terje Tonessen. The reason given is ‘unstable finances’.
That’s the official side of things.
Unofficially, players tell us that nobody on the board or in the management could be bothered to reply to emails from Terje Tonessen for the past six months.
The musicians, who make recordings for the Bis label, are keen to continue. They want an investigation into the board’s use or misuse of public funds.
We have been notified by musicians in Vienna of the death of Paul Leggett, a respected and popular viola player and teacher in Australia.
Paul, 48, was swimming in Ellery Creek Big Hole, near Alice Springs, when he apparently suffered cramp and went under. His body has not yet been recovered.
Before moving to Alice Springs, Paul played as associate principal in the opera orchestra in Melbourne.
His sister, the cellist Sarah Porter, writes: ‘I don’t know how to begin to say that my brother tragically drowned yesterday in a waterhole just outside of Alice Springs on a school excursion. I feel devastated and in shock to lose such an amazing person. I will miss our times of joking and playing music together. Please rest in peace, Paul.’
The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic has posted: ‘Last night was a shock and today has been a hard day. A sad day. A reminder that we should never take people, or life, for granted. That all of those lucky enough to have music in their lives have a profound ability to share it with others and make the world a better place, even if at times life can throw you a tough gig and things don’t always seem to go your way. That every person is put on this earth for a reason, and that we should all respect those who want to undertake that reason without fanfare or financial reward. Today we have lost a good person who just wanted every child to have the chance to share his love of music. Rest in peace Paul Leggett. Your never ending enthusiasm will be missed my many.’
Our condolences to his family and many friends the world over.
A reader complained that the new roundup feature is taking the space once allocated to concert reviews. He cited two New York Philharmonic concerts in a week that went uncovered. This was the creepy response:
Hi (name withheld)
Thank you for reaching out, and thank you for your feedback. I understand your frustration with the changes we’re making, but they’re necessary to keeping up with the current, fast-paced arts climate.
The redesign of the daily arts and Weekend sections reflects an investment in arts coverage and a commitment to giving readers the best experience possible on all platforms, especially print.
The changes have all been made with the goal of being a more engaging and useful resource for readers, who are confronted with more information and options than ever before. Being more intentional in our coverage, and delivering stories and reviews with the visual emphasis they deserve enhances engagement and tells readers that what they are reading matters.
Thank you for being a valued subscriber.
Kristen Stanley,
Customer Care Advocate
The New York Times
After four years of consecutive surplus, the Cleveland Orchestra has posted a $2.4 million deficit for 2016, its first year under the leadership of Andre Gremillet.
Some of the loss was incurred in the Miami residency. And the endowment shrank in vaue by 4.4 percent.
Strange statement on the deficit from the orchestra’s board president Dennis LaBarre: ‘We face our challenges… We could have made [it] go away, but we want our challenges to be out there to incentivize ourselves to overcome them.’
Hm.
In September, the Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård stepped in at three days notice to conduct the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam.
Last month, he stood in for Valery Gergiev with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Next week, he’s replacing Dan Ettinger for Turandot at the Bavarian State Opera.
He’s classical music’s last-minute.com.
It’s an exclusive offer being advertised on Slipped Disc. Click here.
Musicians in the orchestra of the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele of Messina are in shock today at the death of Greta Medini, 26, who fell from a viaduct onto the Salerno-Reggio Calabria highway.
It was confirmed today that Greta had driven her red Fiat onto the viaduct, stopped, left the car and jumped.
Her body had to be winched up by helicopter.
Greta played in the Messina orchestra between 2013 and last year, often occupying the concertmaster’s seat. Se is described as ‘shy, sweet and unaffected’.
The president-elect is struggling to find musicians who will agree to play at his inauguration.
Donald J Trump has shown no great interest in the arts, and many in the arts recoiled from the abrasive tone of his election campaign.
It is now reported, in the New York Daily News’s Page 6, that the president elect met on Friday with the Italian crooner Andrea Bocelli, offering him up to a million bucks to sing on inauguration day.
A source exclusively told Page Six, “Trump has a long-standing relationship with Bocelli, and wants to ask him in person to perform. The plan is to have acts at the inauguration that are meaningful for Trump, and he’s a huge fan of Bocelli.”
Any repertoire suggestions?
Picture from a 2010 event at Trump’s Florida estate
The Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili has been voted Musician of the Year on the main French television channel, TF1.
