Message from veteran director Frank Salomon:
As we start a new season with Co-Artistic Directors Mitsuko Uchida and Jonathan Biss, their senior colleagues, and a wonderful group of young professional musicians, I marvel at all that has transpired at Marlboro since I joined the family in 1960….
It’s where I met the remarkable Martha Laredo, my love, my partner and muse until her death in 2015; it’s where we brought up our two wonderful daughters and made dear friends for a lifetime. If that wasn’t enough, as is the case with most every musician and staff member who has been a part of this unique community, we learned invaluable musical and life lessons that helped shape who we became.
It was Rudolf Serkin’s vision, standards, and inspiration that were the primary force that made Marlboro, in the words of The New Yorker, “the classical world’s most coveted retreat.” He showed by example that “the spirit of generosity” was at the heart of the Marlboro ideal.
For fellow administrator Anthony Checchia, whom I have greatly admired and worked closely with all these years, and for me, as we reduce our involvement, we are thrilled to see the seamless artistic and administrative transition that assures that Marlboro will continue to thrive for generations to come.
Participants who became leaders in every area of music have returned to carry on valued traditions and bring fresh perspectives. Similar important contributions are being made by Philip Maneval, Miles Cohen, and the rest of their team on the administrative front. They and their successors will see that Marlboro remains “an enchanted place” every year of our new 99-year lease with Marlboro College.
Come share in the magic this summer.
The Three Choirs Festival has received phonecalls from Brexiteers, threatening to organise a boycott of a symphony that contains the EU anthem.
From the Observer today:
A spokeswoman for the Three Choirs festival, which is held in Gloucester every three years, alternating with Hereford and Worcester, said that an email and a phone call had made the feelings of a small minority of local people very clear.
“I was told that some people felt it was not an appropriate programming for a concert in an area that voted overwhelmingly for Brexit,” she said. The complainant then promised to call for other people to stay away.
“We can’t be sure this is why there are still tickets,” said the spokeswoman.
Read on here.
Through two world wars, Beritish audiences flocked to hear Wagner, the most German of composers. The anti-Beethoven intolerance, manifested in this week’s actions of Brexit MEPs (above), gives the whole Brexit movement a profoundly unEnglish character.
The home of Italian opera is in mourning for the tenor Giuseppe Bellanca, a chorus member and frequent soloist who was killed on Thursday when his Honda Hornet motorbike collided with a truck in the Piazza Ovidio.
Giuseppe, who was 48, died on the spot. Police say the truck driver did not respect a Give Way sign.
Palermo born, Giuseppe graduated from his hometown opera house to La Scala on winning a competition in 2004.
He sang solo roles with Gatti, Maazel and Barenboim, among others.
Maestro del Coro Bruno Casoni called him ‘a sensitive and passionate artist, animated by inexhaustible love for music, dedication to his work and an extraordinary vitality’.
A minute’s silence will be observed at La Scala before tonight’s performance.
The violist Antoine Tamestit has been telling the Strad of his struggles playing what he refers to as the ‘Mahler’ Stradivari.
The name is a complete misrepresentation.
The instrument, dated 1672, was bought by a Swiss amateur cellist called Rolf Habisreutinger on July 7, 1960. That date happened to be the 100th anniversary of Gustav Mahler’s birth, so the new owner named it his ‘Mahler’ Strad.
It has since gone out on loan to several soloists who assume it has something personal to do with the great composer and refer to it as ‘he’.
Beware of phony attibutions.
photo: Habisreutinger Foundation
We hear that the Orchestra and Chorus of Accademia Nazionale Santa Cecila, Roma, were in studio recording Verdi’s Otello for Sony Classical with a cast including Jonas Kaufmann, Federica Lombardi and Carlos Alvarez conducted by Antonio Pappano.
From the man himself:
Former students are mourning the death of Karen Shaw, professor of piano at the Jacobs School of Music at the University of Indiana from 1968 and an acclaimed performer in her own right.
Steven Spooner writes: ‘For those of you who didn’t know her well, you missed a gem. Loyal, straightforward, sincere, believe it or not, tender, and always on your side…’
JamesLesniak adds: ‘Grateful for the extraordinary influence of Karen Shaw. She was the ideal teacher for me during my MM at IU, and has left a legacy of stunning pianists during her tenure at IU.’
Several hundred artists and company managers demonstrated last week on Victory Square, protesting a new round of Government cuts which, they say, will force layoffs. Culture Minister Daniel Breaz has announced an audit of the National Theater, claiming it is wasting money.
The Enescu Festival faces severe cutbacks.
Iasi Opera chief Beatrice Rancea said: ‘You can’t use fewer ballet dancers or musicians just because the ministry has cut the funds.’
Read RFE report here.
The baritone Mariusz Kwiecień, who was dropped by the Met three months ago and pulled out of several other productions, has withdrawn from today’s Marriage of Figaro in Munich.
His last-minute replacement is Christoph Pohl.
