The Spectator today publishes my exclusive interview with Catherine Foster, Bayreuth’s Brünnhlde for the past six summers, whom no British opera company has asked to sing a major role.
Why ever not?
Every summer for the past six years, Bayreuth has risen to its feet to acclaim an English Brünnhilde. Catherine Foster, from Nottingham, was the heroine of Frank Castorf’s anti-capitalist staging of Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle. The director was booed to the rafters, the singer hailed as saviour. Three perfectionist conductors, Kirill Petrenko, Marek Janowski and Christian Thielemann, insisted on her return each year. Across Europe, Foster commands the roles of Elektra, Isolde, Senta (Flying Dutchman) and Turandot. At 44, she is approaching her vocal prime.
So it is a bit odd to find that no British company has offered her a leading role, or presently plans to do so. Six years of ovations at Bayreuth count for nothing in Blighty. Something has gone fairly rotten in our state-subsidised system if a regnant British soprano cannot get a call from Covent Garden.
I decided to make the call myself, catching Catherine Foster on WhatsApp as she was looking forward to a summer spent cultivating her garden. Bayreuth is resting the Ring and this is her first holiday since 2013. ‘I love my garden,’ she assures me in a mid-Midlands accent that would have set D.H. Lawrence purring…
Read on here.
The Austrian pianist Jörg Demus, who died in April, owned 20 harpsichords and several antique pianos in his chateau at Thouron, France.
The building has since been prey to squatters. One instrument has been used as firewood another as a toilet.
Full report here.
The University of Michigan has initiated a process to dismiss Professor David Daniels, the countetenor who has been arrested in Texas for alleged rape.
He has been on paid leave for 11 months since he was accused by a former student of raping a Rice University student together with William A. Scott Walters, who is Daniels’s husband.
Latest report here.
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in New Zealand has been stunned by the death of John Ure, one of its founders. He was 67.
Ure was not only principal horn, but quickly took up the roles of personnel manager, operations manager and artistic manager. In 2016, he was named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Read on here.
James Huang Zheng, 41, is alleged to have hit an 11-year-old boy during a drunken airport fracas at XiAn.
Zheng, who was ordered to be detained for 15 days, is a member of the international board of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and an international emissary for the Royal College of Music.
A former Hong Kong Philharmonic player, he has also been associated with the Lang Lang Music Foundation.
The grandly named National Philharmonic Orchestra, operating out of Bethesda, Maryland, has called in the liquidators. Here’s what the musicians are being told:
Dear National Philharmonic Chorale,
National Philharmonic will be issuing shortly the press release attached about its impending shutdown. You may already have seen the article in today’s Bethesda Beat about the staff furlough, so the word is out and we have to address it now. We have been attempting to remain in close contact with Strathmore Foundation and County Executive and Council staff, but our calls are being returned less and less promptly, with less and less substantive information being provided. In addition, we have retained bankruptcy counsel to prepare a Chapter 7 Liquidation filing. Our final strategy is to release the press release in a last-ditch attempt to focus attention and hopefully obtain funding for National Philharmonic. If that doesn’t happen, we will have to file the petition and shut down in an orderly manner.
It is our goal to complete operations of the Summer Choral Institute.
Let me know if you have any comments or questions. We will continue to update you should there be new information.
Kind regards,
Leanne Ferfolia
President
National Philharmonic
The usually reliable magazine reports that Stephane Lissner has obtained an extension to his contract up to 2023, after which he will be succeeded by Alexander Neef, German boss of the Canadian Opera Company.
Neef will have to trigger an escape clause in his Toronto contract which runs until 2026.
Paris, meanwhile, will be treading water, and several members of the Metropolitan Opera board will be furious that Neef got away from them. He has worked wonders in Canada.
The music director resigned this week at the Maggio Musicale, following the general director’s withdrawal over political changes in the makeup of the governing board.
Here is what Fabio wrote to the Mayor of the city:
Dear Mayor, dear Superintendent,
it is with a feeling of extreme unease and great personal regret that I submit to you my resignation as Music Director of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
I reached this final decision despite the intense, fruitful work with the theater and all the collaborators – above all with my fellow orchestra professors and choir artists – with whom we had to face the effort to start a coherent artistic revival whose full results could have been appreciated only over time, despite the affection shown to me by the audience on various occasions and despite the undeniable artistic successes achieved by my own, by our team within the Maggio. For this reason I thank all the organization of the Maggio, first of all Orchestra and Chorus, the closest to me on the way to return to the apexes of the European musical proposal.
A musician, as an artist, has the task of measuring himself against reality in a dialectical and therefore critical confrontation, avoiding elitist attitudes, which is why I allow myself to formulate some considerations.
The incomprehensible strategic choices of the last few days have convinced me that in Firenze the desire to continue the program started and shared since the beginning with the superintendent Cristiano Chiarot, the artistic coordinator Conte and with my collaborators and colleagues of the Maggio Fiorentino, is missing. There is, on the other hand, the desire to give a turning point of a political nature to the management of the Maggio, a turning point that will necessarily be reflected (and whose early signs I have noticed for some time) on artistic programming.
Unfortunately for me, therefore, it is no longer possible to continue in this direction, a direction that was mine and of Chiarot, which I would like to publicly thank for his humanity and the competence demonstrated in these years of common work.
What happened in these last days cannot be declassified into ordinary administration, so after a careful thought of a few days, necessary to avoid emotional responses, I came to the decision to resign, decision taken considering the advantage of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Foundation as primary interest .
Precisely in this perspective, I do not feel able to cancel the Florentine commitments of next September both in Firenze and for the tour in Bucharest at the Enescu Festival, an event of such an international importance that if it were cancelled would damage the prestige and the international reputation of the Foundation itself.
I thank you dear Dario, and with you I would like to thank the whole city for the affection you all gave me. I wish Florence – I am more than certain indeed – can always count on a Teatro del Maggio Musicale worthy of its history.
The Proms usually commemorate musical anniversaries, but there are some notable composer omissions this year.
Jacques Offenbach (200) – just one overture
Siegfried Wagner (150) – nothing
Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno (50) – nothing
Galina Ustvolskaya (100) – nothing
Franz von Suppé (200) – nothing
Leopold Mozart (300) – apparently nothing.
These are major holes in an important tradition.
Any more?
The Maduro regime has released Karen Palacios after 44 days in jail for issuing a dissident Tweet.
An online outcry, led by Slipped Disc among others, appears to have helped spring her from being held without charge, but Karen has been warned not to use social media again if she wants to stay free.
Venezuela is a lawless state.
The mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly has received a diagnosis of breast cancer and is taking time out for treatment.
Dame Sarah is one of the most engaged and outspoken artists, a fighter for her art and its institutions. The entire music community joins in wishing her a swift recovery.
She has pulled out of the BBC Proms and out of a forthcoming Coliseum opera.
Here’s a statement from ENO:
English National Opera are sorry to announce that Dame Sarah Connolly has had to withdraw from English National Opera’s upcoming production of Orpheus and Eurydice for personal reasons.
Dame Sarah Connolly said: “Last month, I had an unwelcome birthday present, breast cancer. Like so many women afflicted with this disease, I will face whatever is coming as best I can. Imminent surgery means I must withdraw from ENO’s ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’ and ‘L’enfance du Christ’ at the BBC Proms. I hope, however, to fulfil all my other concert and recording commitments over the coming months. I’d like to thank ENO and the BBC Proms for their kindness and understanding, and I look forward to working with them both in the near future.”
Everyone at ENO sends Dame Sarah our love and we hope to see her back on the London Coliseum stage soon. We all send her our very best wishes and support as she undergoes treatment.
Alice Coote will now perform the role of Orpheus. ENO would like to say a huge thank you to Alice for stepping into the role at such short notice and look forward to welcoming her to rehearsals very soon.
Message received:
The Metropolitan Opera Announces Chorus Auditions for the 2020 – 2021 Season
The Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Extra Chorus offer unique and rewarding career opportunities for highly qualified performers. Classically trained professional singers who have been invited to audition should be prepared to sing two operatic arias in different languages from memory. Selections should demonstrate the applicant’s ability to sing lyrically. An accompanist will be provided.
All qualified applicants will be considered for Full Time (Regular) and Extra Chorus positions for the Metropolitan Opera’s 2020-2021 season.
Applicants shall submit via email addressed to ChorusAuditions@metopera.orgthe following materials:
- in the subject line of the email, please format: Last Name, First Name; Voice Type; AGMA or non-AGMA
- a cover letter requesting an audition; please indicate your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd audition session preferences from the dates below
- a current one-page resume and photo/headshot
- an audio clip (MP3 file, no larger than 10 MB) of an operatic aria (please no YouTube clips or links)
- a list of no more than 5 operatic arias, two of which will be selected as your audition pieces
Auditions will be granted by invitation only, and will be held at the following times:
- Session #1 Thursday, November 21st, 2019 3:00pm to 5:30pm
- Session #2 Tuesday, December 10th, 2019 3:30pm to 6:00pm
- Session #3 Thursday, January 9th, 2020 3:00pm to 6:00pm
- Session #4 Friday, February 7th, 2020 3:00pm to 5:30pm
Applications must be received on or before 12 midnight EST, Saturday, September 21st, 2019.
