Remember?
There were giants in those days.
We hear that PBS have recommissioned Scott Yoo’s TV series for a third season.
Next month it starts screening on Korea TV network EBS.
The Greek contralto Yeoryia Megremis has died at an advanced age this weekend.
Her celebrated Upper West Side practice studios, which she made available to singers of limited means for as little as $12 an hour, will remain open for the time being.
It was the 90th birthday yesterday of Aleksandra Pakhmutova, composer of some of the most ear-wormy Soviet ballads. Among those who attended her gala were the Russian president and the roaming soprano, who broke off a European tour for the day to be in Moscow.
Here’s Putin having a cuddle with the birthday girl.
Here’s a classic ballad of hers.
She also wrote concert works.
But here’s what she did best.
We have been notified of the death of Werner Andreas Albert, a Karajan protégé who flourished in Australia from the 1980s.
After a spell as music director in Nuremberg, he became principal conductor with the Queensland Symphony and went on to work with all the Australian orchestras.
He made numerous recordings.
Our condolences to his wife, Sabine.
This is seriously intriguing.
The Berlin Staatsoper’s revival of Yuval Sharon’s production of Mozart’s Magic Flute shows a change of conductor.
Alondra de la Parra, who conducted the premiere run in February in place of Franz Welser-Möst has herself now been substituted by Julien Salemkour and Alexander Soddy.
The initial run received appalling reviews.
De La Parra this weekend conducts her final concert as music director in Queensland, Australia.
The death is reported of Laurel Griggs, a singing actress who made her broadway debut in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at six years old.
She played a run of 17 months in Once.
The cause, her grandfather said on social media, was an asthma attack.
We hear that the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera season is going ahead without the leadership of Holly Mulcahy, who is suing the orchestra for breach of contract over the cancellation of a solo engagement.
Holly has not performed since April 25, and audiences have begin to notice.
One board member has resigned over the CSO’s mishandling of a straightforward issue. Its Executive Director Samantha Teter is speaking only through lawyers. It’s not a great way to run a candy store.
Holly Mulcahy has, by contrast, issued her side of things via Slipped Disc:
I can’t begin to express how much it means to hear from so many of the CSO’s patrons and supporters. I want everyone to know that I’d love nothing more than to return to the stage to be among my colleagues and continue to be a part of the Chattanooga community. Being absent has been heartbreaking.
When I came to Chattanooga seven years ago, I felt strongly that this was the right community, in the right place, at the right time to accomplish something special. Everyone from my talented and supportive colleagues on stage, to the music director, principal pops conductor, chorus director, CSO staff, and board were focused on not only maximizing community potential, but creating something that is more than the sum of its parts. Something that represented the unique nature of the city and its residents.
Since so many of you have been asking about where things are, I wanted to provide some backstory to help explain how I think things can move forward in a positive fashion. Upon accepting the position in 2013, the then executive director acknowledged that the concertmaster position was underfunded and that she planned to grow the position to what it should be. My commitment to those efforts included increased fundraising and community engagement efforts.
We made wonderful progress over those years but recent changes to executive leadership have modified that vision and redefined what those leaders believe the concertmaster’s role should be. I fully acknowledge and respect those decisions are theirs to make although I am disappointed they were made without input from me or any of the orchestra’s artistic leadership. As of now, the only thing preventing everyone from moving forward, is finalizing the terms of my individual contract. The key issue is how many concerts per year I’m able to provide.
During my contract negotiations the CSO’s executive leadership asked me to guarantee that I’ll be at the majority of masterworks and chamber concerts. I agreed to those terms and for the 19/20 season confirmed I could perform 5/7 masterworks and 2/3 chamber concerts plus two additional pops concerts. Early in the negotiations, we reached a written agreement on this term. Regrettably, the CSO revoked that written offer without explanation and began moving the goalpost toward even higher commitments. They went so far as to insisting on a full-time commitment for part-time pay.
The good news is the situation is not beyond remedy and I am optimistic we can reach an amicable resolution. Every other term in the individual agreement for my concertmaster contract is settled. I even proposed, and they accepted, financial concessions as a sweetener to help settle the deal. All that’s needed is for the CSO’s executive leadership to accept that I’ve given them what they asked for: a commitment to perform at a majority of masterworks and chamber events along with extra pops concerts.
I hope this can be resolved quickly and amicably and I can return to the orchestra and the city I love.
Holly is also concertmaster in Wichita
A spot of Ostalgie for an anniversary morning.
1985 this was, and wonderfully stilted.
Who watched?
We’ve been notified of the death of John Wakefield, a mainstay tenor in British opera houses and, in the latter part of his career, professor of voice at Trinity Laban.
He was one of the early winners of the Kathlees Ferrier award.
Abroad he sang in Brussels, Lyon, Munich and Santa Fe.
