Further to our story earlier today, NPR says it has spoken to four employees at the Metropolitan Opera who are unhappy at having to work with Placido Domingo, following allegations of sexual harrassment As ever, the complaints are made anonymously:
...”Everybody knows that Domingo is a womanizer and that he could be persistent,” one of the Met employees, who has worked at the opera for decades, told NPR…. The same source also told NPR that there were a number of women at the Met who in the past have gone so far as to change their work schedules — denying themselves artistic and potentially career-furthering opportunities of working with the long-revered and influential singer — specifically to avoid having to interact with Domingo. “A lot of that stuff started happening in the 1980s,” this employee said. “As he got older, it was less of a big deal. But still, women knew.”
Another Met employee, a member of the orchestra, said that at least one person has already called in sick for rehearsals and performances of Macbeth to avoid working with Domingo, and said that they personally felt “livid” for having to perform alongside him. “I feel queasy in the pit during rehearsals, seeing him onstage,” the musician said. “Especially given that the Levine debacle is still so fresh, the Met had an even greater responsibility to show that it had evolved. Instead, here’s just one more catastrophic crisis — and it seems that at the Met, sufficiently powerful, popular men are beyond reproach.”
The Milwaukee Symphony has just announced today that Frank Almond will retire as concertmaster at the end of the season. Appointed by Zdenek Mácal, Mr. Almond has served as concertmaster for 25 seasons under Andreas Delfs, Edo de Waart, and now Ken-David Masur.
Following his retirement, Frank will remain with the orchestra as an Artistic Advisor, working closely with Masur and others.
Frank says: ‘It has been an immeasurable honor to serve under the direction of such transformative and insightful music directors, and to perform with superb musicians who are treasured by this wonderful community. When I first started with the MSO, I never could have imagined the journey I’ve uniquely experienced. And while my passion for performing has never waned, now is the right time for me and my family to begin a new chapter. I’m excited by what’s in store for this season and look forward to continuing to contribute to the artistic vibrancy of both the MSO and Milwaukee in the years ahead.’
The Hyperion record label had its first hit many years ago with Tatiana Nikolayeva’s immersive account of the Preludes and Fugues Op 87. To all who know that epic album, I need only say that this recording comes close, very close. Almost to the edge of elsewhere….
Message to spectators of the performance of La Traviata on Tuesday 24 September 2019 at 7:30 pm at the Palais Garnier
As a result of a national strike regarding the proposed reform of the pension system, the performance of La Traviata scheduled for Tuesday 24 September 2019 at 7:30 pm at the Palais Garnier is unfortunately cancelled.
Message received:
Baltimore (September 20, 2019) Collective bargaining is ongoing with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and its musicians. Efforts continue to make progress, but unfortunately the Season Preview Concert, scheduled for Saturday, September 21 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, has been canceled.
The BSO is making every effort to bring our concerts back to the stage as quickly as possible. As negotiations continue, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is hopeful that an agreement will be reached soon.
The tenor Yusif Eyvazov, who likes to keep busy at the Met while his wife is centre-stage, has got himself four extra nights as Calaf in October’s Turandot revival.
Roberto Aronica has pulled out ‘for personal reasons’.
Performances in the second half of October will be sung by Riccardo Massi.
We hear that Englsh National Opera has earmarked its choice of next artistic director.
The person being wooed is Annilese Miskimmon, director of Norwegian Opera and Ballet.
Others on the shortlist include two staffers and a chap from Norwich.
Not much of a search.
We have been informed of the death in St Petersburg of the venerable mezzo-soprano Irina Bogacheva, the artist whom Dmitry Shostakovich chose for the premiere of his song cycle to poems of Marina Tsvetaeva.
Irina was the city’s foremost mezzo, the Mariinsky’s regular Carmen, Azucena and star of all the deep-voiced Russian operas, notably Marta in Khovanschina.
She was a sought-after teacher at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire. Olga Borodina was among her star pupils. Her husband was head of the conservatoire’s opera-directing department. Her daughter Elena is a pianist.
It was the diva’s 48th birthday and she managed to look surprised.
But the Met is not a happy house at the moment with Domingo skulking around in the same production of Verdi’s Macbeth. We hear from a deep throat that there have been complaints about his presence from members of the chorus, among others. No action is being taken but the situation is being monitored day by day. We are told it is pretty tense.
E-mails went out this week from investigator Debra Wong Yang of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher inviting staff members of LA Opera to share any relevant experiences with their general director Placido Domingo.
‘We intend to speak with many current and former employees and contractors of the LA Opera,’ the message added.
The signs are that this will be a large-scale inquiry that will not be resolved for many months, possibly until after Domingo has announced that, in his 80th year, he has reached retirement age.
Expect no further news from this quarter for a while.
The Orquesta de Gran Canarias (pictured) has called off next month’s international conducting competition, ostensibly in order to redirect its funds and energies to relief work for communities hit by forest fires.
Our insider says they did not receive enough applications. It’s a new competition, in mid-season, with snall prizes and not much media.
Here’s what they have told the few applicants:
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 19 de septiembre de 2019 Estimado Sr.: Sentimos informarle de que el Concurso Internacional de Dirección de Orquesta Martín Chirino ha sido cancelado. Esta decisión constituye una muestra de apoyo y solidaridad con el pueblo de Gran Canaria, dado que la isla busca recuperarse de los devastadores incendios que afectaron a más de 10.000 hectáreas en un perímetro de 112 km y con 9.000 personas evacuadas. Se trata de una decisión política motivada por una causa de fuerza mayor, a la que la Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria muestra su total apoyo. Por supuesto, tenemos la intención de llevar a cabo el concurso en el futuro, pero dado que somos una orquesta dependiente de fondos del Estado, apoyamos completamente esta decisión política y consideramos que todos los recursos de la OFGC deben estar destinados en estos momentos a realizar proyectos que sirvan para conseguir fondos para los numerosos damnificados en estas trágicas circunstancias. Lamentamos profundamente esta cancelación y sentimos las molestias que pueda ocasionarles. Por supuesto, la Fundación OFGC les devolverá el dinero de la tasa de inscripción a la mayor brevedad. Atentamente,
May I inform you that we received confirmation of 60 participants who paid their inscription fees, which is verifiable through the corresponding bank transfer receipts.
This should clearly demonstrate that there was enough interest to have staged this competition and that the decision to cancel was not only an honorable one but a political one which was requested and agreed by the Regional Government (Cabildo) for the reasons we have already highlighted in the note you published.
