Starts at 7:20

A passing conversational remark triggered this contemporary thought: have our performer prototypes ever been so clear-cut.

If you’re a violinist, for instance, are you a

 or a ?

For cellists, are you hair

 or thair ?

And while on hirsuteness, maestro mops:

 or  ?

Which are you?

What kind of pianist are you?

 or ?

As for managers….

 or  ?

Your call.

Beat this.

A passionate performance of Bohuslav Martinu’s sonata for viola and piano.

No famous names. Just total commitment.

Read more about the work here.

Further to Juilliard’s decision to refuse accommodation to foreign students over the holidays, we have received this submission from an anonymous contributor. We have no way of validating the person’s identity or the facts of this case, but the school’s heartless attitude to overseas students makes this account all too plausible. Si non e vero…:

As a first year Juilliard student, I have been sleeping in NYC’s Penn Station, the 24-hr FedEx on 59th St, and sometimes random Hotel lounges to make ends meet. I asked if there were any of the dorm rooms available for students who are homeless and the Dormitory people never responded after emailing twice, the Financial Aid office said “sure – just sign here for $18,000+ a year like all the rest of the students do” and when asking someone on the Deans Level they said “let me get back to you” and nothing.  While I’d like to remain anonymous- it is true I wander  the streets at night after Juilliard closes as midnight and count the minutes til it opens around 8am. Sometimes security will let me in at 6:30am if I can catch the right guy.  The school has millions of not over a billion in donations and the vast majority of it goes to the bloated Administration staff salaries for a private school like Juilliard and the students are told “just take more loans, you’re not an exception”. Even after telling them my circumstances.  The answer came back “we’ll tell us if you’re returning or not for the Spring”.  I said “you’ve just lost another Juilliard student because I can’t afford it”. They answer the same every time “just sign here and get more loans”. And off they go to their comfortable Mahanttan apartments, another days hard work is ended.  Would love to see the number of what salaries are and how much donations they get.  It’s criminal.  And I’m done.

I got a job teaching 10 1/2 hours away and lived in a little office there (we are NOT supposed to and people check the rooms for homeless people sleeping there every morning) but that money going to transportation to get to NYC has been used and I’m struggling to better myself and get an education at Juilliard when the truth is, they don’t care – and I have explained my case to Juilliard. They really don’t. They set aside rooms for people who might need them – but you ask they want to charge you the full standard rates and fees and shrug if you don’t want to.

Juilliard chief Joseph Polisi with students

 

UPDATE: Juilliard’s homeless students – some harsh facts of life.

And they’re till complaining….

But we love them anyway.

Two artists went around Helsinki collecting common gripes.

Then they had them set to music by Esko Grundström.

Not surprised that sauna conduct comes pretty high.

But don’t miss the ringtone moment.

 

The conductor Charles Dutoit is consulting with lawyers and has vowed to clear his name after recent allegations of sexual assault.

Without prejudice to his course of action, and without making further accusations of sexual violence, Slipped Disc has received several reactions from female musicians, reporting the discomfort they experienced in Dutoit’s presence.

The following email, which we have been permitted to publish, comes from the photographer Barbara Luisi, who is married to the international conductor Fabio Luisi:

Dear Norman,

Concerning the latest news about Dutoit…. I was for a long time thinking about my own experience with him, I told the story  to Fabio already many years ago…

As a young violinist at Bamberg Symphony (I was 23 or 24… so 1988/89) I was sitting on stage before the concert rehearsal studying my part… Only a few musicians were there, when I suddenly felt a hand softly touch my back upwards to the neck on my bare skin and rest there…hearing Mr. Dutoit quietly talk to me at the same time. It was him. I froze completely. At this moment Mr Walter Forchert, our concertmaster and my friend and teacher entered the scene, saw this and said with a strange smile and a very decisive language: in this orchestra the women are not to be touched.

I immediately left and tried to wash the uncomfortable feeling off.

As an artist and a conductor’s wife I felt I just would keep it to myself. Now it seems only logical to me, that there must have been other cases much more interesting ones…

best wishes

Barbara

 

 

 

An overnight statement from the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal:

 

OSM LAUNCHES AN INVESTIGATION
In the wake of the revelations relating to Mr. Charles Dutoit*(1), the Executive Committee of the OSM decided today to undertake a verification process in relation to sexual harassment in its institution.

This decision is motivated by the fact that the management of the OSM has, for the first time, received at the end of yesterday afternoon a complaint of this nature.

The OSM has decided to entrust to an independent third party the mandate:

1. to establish the relevant facts through, for instance, meetings with the person who made the complaint and with any other who could come forward;

2. to give the necessary support to those who need it and

3. to make recommendations to the Executive Committee for the implementation of measures and mechanisms to prevent such misconduct.

The OSM is determined to maintain and intensify its unconditional commitment to respect the dignity and fundamental rights of its musicians and employees. In this respect, it sets the bar at zero tolerance level.

The OSM assures his musicians and employees of its compassion and unwavering support for achieving these objectives.

*(1) Charles Dutoit left the OSM in April 2002 as music Director

From the Lebrecht Album of the Week:

As the last releases of the year drop through the door, this is an instant ear-grabber. The debate has raged for three decades as to whether Dmitri Shostakovich was a limp Soviet puppet or a secret resistant. One view was advanced by US musicologists, who would not be satisfied until they had a signed document saying ‘I hate Stalin’, the other by Russian friends and fans of the composer who heard his dissidence expressed in the music.

Thankfully, the dispute is being resolved by a new generation of musicians who come fresh to the music….

Read on here.

And here.

photo: Vera Weber

(Philadelphia, December 22, 2017)—Effective immediately, The Philadelphia Orchestra Association has discontinued its affiliation with Charles Dutoit and removed his honorary title of Conductor Laureate. The Association does not tolerate harassment of any kind and is committed to providing a safe, supportive, and respectful work environment. We encourage anyone in our organization who has experienced inappropriate conduct of any type to come forward, and we will respond with the utmost seriousness and sensitivity.

Earlier, former Philadelphia Orchestra president Joe Kluger told AP that Dutoit’s ‘extremely flirtatious’ reputation was a factor in causing the organization to pass him over twice for the job of music director.

He said: ‘I do recall telling our staff to be wary around him and encouraged them to report any inappropriate behavior immediately.’

The Scottish soloist wants to clear the air about the airline’s slippery attitude to musical instruments after an announcement last week of a policy change, later retracted.

Benedetti says BA has behaved in a ‘totally appalling’ manner and its staff are lacking in ‘training and knowledge’.

She has requested a prompt meeting with Alex Cruz, BA’s cut-cut-cutting chief exec.

Let’s see if she gets it.

If not, she can always go to the boss.