The hard-working Russian-American violinist Philippe Quint has moved to the heat-seeking Coumbia roster.

He will be managed by Stefana Atlas and Martin Wittenberg.

The blue jacket’s new as well. Barely two hours up on social media.

Kim Diehnelt has just become conductor of the Me2/Orchestra in Burlington, Vermont, an enseble formed in 2011  by Ronald Braunstein for musicians with mental health issues and those who care for them.

Kim is commendably up front with her own issues. The autism diagnosis four years ago, she says, was more traumatic than her recent cancer.

Read on here.

 

Dozens of singers, conductors and other opera people are posting condolences for Rodolfo Longo, a passionate opera lover, who has died after being hit by a car in Genoa.

Rodolfo was 83.

The condolences are posted here.

 

Sample message from Daniela Barcellona Vitiello: ‘Ciao Amico mio! Ho appreso la terribile e scioccante notizia della tua scomparsa: mi mancherai tantissimo con la tua sempre squisita gentilezza, il tuo affetto ed il tuo amore per la Musica. Buon viaggio Rodolfo caro: se lassù incontrerai la mia mamma, alla quale eri tanto caro, dalle un bacio da parte mia. Ti voglio bene.’

The former head of the Kennedy Center was once described as the Turnaround King.

But that was decades ago.

Since he left Washington five years ago, demand has dropped for the Kaiser’s snake-oil.

But then Baltimore is so far behind the times, they might easily have hired Rudolf Bing.

Dumb, dumber, dumbest.

Here’s the press release, just dropped:

November 19, 2019 – The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Inc. (BSO) announced today that Michael Kaiser of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management will help develop the Orchestra’s plan for the future.

“We are pleased to have an expert of the caliber of Michael Kaiser to work with us to develop a multi-year plan,” said BSO Board Chairman Barry Rosen.

BSO President and CEO Peter Kjome stated, “The year ahead will be pivotal for the BSO, and we are deeply grateful that generous supporters of the Orchestra have enabled us to engage Michael Kaiser. With the active involvement of stakeholders across the organization, our efforts working with Michael will result in a compelling plan that better integrates artistic vision and business strategies.”

“The musicians are very encouraged to have Michael Kaiser on board to help preserve the amazing orchestra that has been built here over the last 104 years,” said BSO Players Committee Chair Brian Prechtl. “Michael recognizes that compelling art is the key to helping arts organizations prosper.”

 

It has added Spanish and Chinese to six existing surtitle languages.

No plans yet for Yiddish or Hebrew.

 

Press release: For international visitors of the Wiener Staatsoper two additional languages have been added to the offer of subtitles for the opera performances: in all, there are now subtitles available in eight languages, with the previous selection of English, German, Italian, French, Russian and Japanese supplemented by Spanish and Chinese.

What the pianist unwore for the LA Phil at London’s Barbican last night.

What do you call these – backless dungarees?

It was a cold night.

The costume was made by Rosemarie Umetsu.

She played the John Adams concerto.

The Heldenbaritone John Wegner has died after a struggle with Parkinson’s Disease.

Born in Germany, he was raised in Australia by an elder brother after his mother died when he was five.

After 11 years with Australian Opera, he joined the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf and started to make regular appearances at Bayreuth, singing five roles in six summers.

He also excelled as Boris Godunov, the Flying Dutchman and Jochanaan in Salome.


He wrote a frank account of life with Parkinson’s.

 

Michael Haefliger, long-standing director of the Lucerne Festival, has been accused of bullying by one of his senior employees, reported elsewhere to be Dominik Deuber, outgoing managing director of the Lucerne Festival Academy.

Haefliger (pic), 58, has run the festival for 20 years.

The matter has been referred to the board of the festival which, in turn, has passed it to an independent law firm.

Nobody’s saying more in the meantime.

We’ve received this statement from the Festival:

Der Stiftungsrat bestätigt, dass er von gewissen Vorwürfen eines einzelnen Mitarbeiters Kenntnis hat und diese von unabhängiger Seite prüfen lassen wird. Darüber hinaus geben wir zur Zeit keinen Kommentar ab.

The Board of Trustees confirms it is aware of certain allegations made by a single employee; they will be independently audited. More than this we have currently no comment.

 

UPDATE: In a further statement, the Festival says:

Der Artikel aus der NZZ am Sonntag ist fehlerhaft und stellt seltsame Zusammenhänge her. Kai Uellendahl beispielsweise war rund 5 Jahre beim Festival tätig und ging nicht «nach wenigen Monaten» wieder, einzelne Solisten springen bei uns wie bei jedem anderen Veranstalter auch mal aus Krankheitsgründen ab, und die Gründe für den Rückzug von Matthias Pintscher haben mit dieser Thematik ebenfalls nichts zu tun.

The NZZ am Sonntag article is flawed and makes strange connections. Kai Uellendahl, for example, was active at the festival for around 5 years and did not return “after a few months”; individual soloists drop out for illness, as at any other presenter, and the withdrawal of Matthias Pintscher has nothing to do with this issue.

 

Florian Lutz is to be the new intendant in Kassel.

Lutz, 40, will be leaving Halle, where his contract was terminated after what local media describe as ‘vehement staff conflicts’.

Dem ging eine heftige Personaldebatte voraus, die auch als Bühnenstreit bekannt wurde.

Sounds lively.

 

The Turtle Bay Music School, which has provided tuition for impoverished families for almost a century, has run out of funds.

Aside from the children it immediately abandons, TBMS provides music lessons in schools in a wide surrounding area. This is a devastating loss of musical infrastructure.

Here’s the farewell message:

Dear TBMS Students, Supporters, Families and Friends,
The Turtle Bay Music School was born out of a desire to provide the highest quality music education and experiences to all who seek them. We fulfilled that mission for 94 years but today, with a heavy heart, we are saddened to report that our time as a community music school will soon come to an end.

Confronting reality, changing times in the cultural and educational landscape, and society’s shifting priorities have made the TBMS business model no longer sustainable. We are saddened to report this news to the very people who have given life to our school, but barring an immediate and very significant financial investment, the doors of Turtle Bay Music School will close on January 29, 2020.

 

Simon Stone’s new Munich production of Korngold’s post-1918 signature opera received wave after wave of applause.

The first reviews are no less ecstatic.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung headlines it as ‘huge success’.

 

 

BR24 reports ‘great cheering’ at the curtain calls and says the entire run is sold out.

Its reviewer waxes ecstatic over Jonas Kaufmann and Marlis Petersen in the central roles. Kirill Petrenko conducted.

photos: Wilfried Hösl / Bavarian State Opera Munich

Some audience views:

 

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra has extended its contract with Maxim Emelyanychev to 2025.

Emelyanychev, 31, has only been in Scotland for a year but he made a splash at Glyndebourne last summer with Jakub Józef Orliński and at Covent Garden with Joyce DiDonato.

Evidently one to watch.