Thomas Füri’s moment of fame arrived as the band played ‘Nearer My God to Thee’ when the Titanic sank on screen in James Cameron’s film.

He’s in the picture, third from left, with his I Salonisti ensemble.

A Max Rostal student from Berne, he directed the city’s Camerata for 14 years and enjoyed an international solo and string quartet career. He played a 1761 Guadagnini.

Thomas died yesterday, just after his 70th birthday.

Film clip here.

 

At Musica Mundi in Belgium last night, Ivry Gitlis played duets with Menahem Pressler.

Ivry was born in 1922, Menahem in 1923.

Long may they endure.

Andrei Osipov was arrested in March during a rehearsal in the Volga town of Cheboksary, accused on taking part in an anti-Putin demonstration. Other muicians filmed his arrest, an international outcry followed and Andrei walked free.

Now the police have returned to arrest Andrei, once more in rehearsal. The BBC has film of his arrest and his trial.

You can watch here.

Sentenced to 20 hour of community service, Andrei said he will continue to demonstrate against corruption.

The former director of English National Opera and Bavarian State Opera will take the stage at Bayreuth later today to deliver a homage to Wieland Wagner in the centennial year of his birth.

This is not just the first time Peter takes a solo bow the Bayreuth stage.

It may also be the first time Wieland has been mentioned on stage since his brother Wolfgang erased all trace of his work after his death in 1966.

 

The Slovak born singer Sacha Hatala has gone public today on the appalling rates that are being paid at some French music festivals to hardworking professionals.

On Friday, Sacha sang at the International Festival of Baroque and Romantic Music at Beaune. For three days of rehearsals and a four-hour performance as Pelopida in Alessandro Scarlatti’s Il Mitridate with the Orchestre Les Accents conducted by Thibault Noally. The opera was recorded for broadcast this week by France-Musique.

For this intensive effort, Sacha was paid the princely sum of €256.46. That’s less than $60 a day.

She skipped meals in Beaune in order to have some money left to bring home to her family.

Is this low pay even legal? she demands.

Here’s her open letter:

LETTRE OUVERTE, au SFA, Syndicat Français des Artistes
Le Festival International de Musique Baroque et Romantique de Beaune : Des Escrocs !
Les défraiements (remboursements ou prise en charge des frais inévitablement engagés)
Le cauchemar du Musicien Classique et du Chanteur Lyrique :
Comment la Loi du Silence est en train de tuer le Métier.

Bonjour,

Je viens tout juste de « me faire arnaquer » par l’organisation du Festival International de Musique Baroque et Romantique de Beaune, et je me tourne donc vers Vous Tous, trop amère et écœurée, afin de tenter la sauvegarde du minimum de dignité nécessaire à la poursuite de mon Métier de Chanteuse Lyrique que j’aime passionnément.

J’ai ainsi chanté « quasi gratuitement » avant-hier, vendredi 21 juillet 2017 à la Basilique de Beaune, le rôle de Pelopida en tant que Contralto, dans l’opéra Il Mitridate de Scarlatti, avec l’Orchestre Les Accents dirigé par Thibault Noally.
Ce concert sera d’ailleurs retransmis le 26 juillet prochain sur France Musique.

Vous trouverez en pièce jointe, la lettre que j’ai adressée hier même et par mail à Monsieur Kader Hassissi, Directeur du Festival.
Par ailleurs, vous constaterez que dans ma Note de Frais, je n’ai pas mentionné de repas !
En effet, en comprenant plus précisément les conditions de mon engagement, j’ai préféré jeuner pendant quatre jours, pour essayer de ne pas revenir les mains totalement vides face à mes trois garçons en bas âge et face à mon époux, le crédit de notre maison continuant lui à courir……
De façon moins pleurnicharde, et très sérieusement, aujourd’hui mes questions sont les suivantes :
– Un tel contrat est-il légal ?
– Une chanteuse lyrique, à qui un Festival propose un rôle soliste avec Orchestre dans une œuvre captée et retransmise par France Musique, peut-elle se retrouver au final avec 256,46 € pour trois jours de répétitions et un Concert de presque quatre heures ?
– Dans ces conditions, l’organisation du Festival n’est-elle pas bien en dessous du seuil des minimas de rémunération prévu par la Convention Collective ?
Pour finir, fille d’immigrés Slovaques réfugiés politiques en France en 1968, mes parents n’ont pas décidé d’abandonner leur pays en fuyant un régime totalitaire – Tchécoslovaquie 1968 – pour que leur fille se retrouve victime d’un vol dans un Etat de droit, sans oser rien dire car le Silence est la loi du milieu.
La peur de parler tue notre profession ; nous sommes isolés et fragilisés, retranchés dans un état de précarité extrême.
Si nous osons dénoncer les conditions inacceptables dans lesquelles nous travaillons, nous savons que nous ne serons pas rappelés……
Les employeurs en jouent avec une délectation perverse……et Nous, nous nous taisons !

Je suis trop écœurée pour continuer à chanter dans ces conditions, car il en va de la survie de mon instrument de travail.

Merci par avance de votre compréhension et de votre aide.

Sacha Hatala

UPDATE: The festival responds.

The Scottish critic Ken Walton has an interesting letter in the Times. He points out that players in the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra are paid an average £30,000 a year, a total wage bill of £2.1 million.

That is slightly less than the fee paid each year to one entertainment host, Chris Evans, who earns £2.2m.

Value for money, BBC?

 

 

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Timothy Lees is suffering a recurrence of repetitive strain injury that put him out of action last year.

He’s being replaced on Cincy’s high-profile tour of Europe next month by David Halen, concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony.

We wish Timothy a swift recovery.

Full story here.

The US violinist is asking fans to design her next DG album.

Read here.

The distinguished soloist and teacher Ole Bohn was forced to miss his plane tonight after a Qantas official refused to allow his violin on board.

Ole, former concertmaster at Norwegian Opera and now professor at the Sydney Conservatorium, was due to fly by Qantas from Santiago de Chile to Sydney.

Here is what he tells Slipped Disc:

 

‘I was denied boarding the plane, QF 28 Santiago-Sydney on July 23 at 1:30  unless I put the violin in the baggage hold , something I explained I couldn’t do.

‘The manager Christian Carlos, refused to show me the rules he was referring to. I have later been sent Qantas rules on musical instruments where it specifically states that you can take violins onboard. I have never had any problems before and I even hold a Gold Card from Qantas.

‘I have now been rebooked on a Latam flight which is leaving 11 hours later.

‘It has really messed up my agenda. I was supposed to get into Sydney on Monday evening, sleep to be ready to teach and rehearse on Tuesday morning. Later that day I fly to Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, to teach at a festival . Now there will be two nights on airplanes and no teaching on Tuesday morning in Sydney.’

We have asked Qantas for an explanation.

 

Dutch musicians are reporting the death of Jan Stulen, a busy conductor, educator and television celebrity.

His official bio:

From 1964 to 1970 he was under contract with the Städtische Bühnen Münster, Germany, in various positions. He returned to Holland in 1970 to become chief conductor of the Nederlands Ballet Orkest, then music director of the Nederlands Danstheater.

As permanent conductor for the public broadcasting stations in Hilversum, he made countless radio and television programmes. For many years he directed the television series “Jonge mensen op het concertpodium” (Young people in concert ) and “Una Voce Particolare”  (A distinct voice). Between 1986 and 1996 he was also permanent conductor for the WDR Rundfunk Orchester.

From 1989 to 2000 he was the director of the Deutsches Kammer Orchester Frankfurt am Main and of the Nederlands Promenade Orkest. Since 2003 he has been permanent conductor and artistic advisor of L’Orchestra Particolare (Netherlands). He has conducted orchestras and opera companies throughout Europe, Egypt, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand.

 

Last night was the Swiss conductor’s final appearance as music director of the Verbier Festival Orchestra.

He succeeded James Levine in 2009 and has now accepted the title of Conductor Emeritus.