The rising soprano Sumi Hwang, star of the last Winter Olympics, insists she’s no slave to Samsung:

It’s being announced in Monte Carlo that the Italian mezzo-soprano will take over as director of the Opéra in January 2023.

‘I shall put my passion at the service of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo,’ was Bartoli’s opening statement. The announcement was made by Princess Caroline.

Bartoli, 53, succeeds Jean-Louis Grinda who has been in charge at M-C since 2007.

Hubert Achermann, chairman for the past 11 years, is leaving the board.

He will be succeeded by Markus Hongler, an insurance chief.

We hear a certain amount of suppressed turbulence behind this transition. Achermann has been involved with the Lucerne Festival Academy, whose chief executive Dominik Deuber is also leaving.

The Festival director Michael Haefliger is facing a legal inquiry over bullying charges.

There’s more going on here than is publicly reported.

We understand there will be two periods of reconstruction work at Lincoln Center that will displace its Philharmonic tenant.

In the first onslaught in 2022, the NY Phil have booked an overseas tour and a longer than usual summer break.

In the second, they will put on a season at Carnegie Hall which has cleared its schedules for the return of its erstwhile resident.

The risk is, the players may get so nostalgic for Carnegie love they won’t want to go back home.

We hear that the talented Frenchman Lionel Bringuier has left his boutique manager Mark Newbanks and joined HarrisonParrott.

A Dudamel protégé in Los Angeles, Bringuier was promoted too soon to the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich and is now in job search mode. He works often with his pal Yuja Wang, who also left Newbanks not long ago.

Newbanks has been Dudamel’s only manager through his career. He is left with just three sticks: Dude, Salonen and Paolo Bortolameolli.

My new book is published today by Simon & Schuster.

Available from all good bookstores and from Amazon.

UPDATE: Genius and Anxiety is #2 in the Washington Post’s Books for Christmas list

I’ll come over for a book tour in the Spring.

First date: Toronto, April 1, 2020.

First Beethoven marathon of the anniversary year:

On 11 October 2020 the Concertgebouworkest and pianist Krystian Zimerman will perform all five of Beethoven’s piano concertos on one Sunday afternoon.

You comment. We couldn’t possibly.

UPDATE: Artur Pizarro will do the same thing with the Wuppertal Sinfonieorchester and Julia Jones on June 22, 2020, touring it to Lisbon and recording for Odradek.

Staatstheater Cottbus has appointed a music director to succeed the turbulent American, Evan-Alexis Christ.

The new man, Alexander Merzyn, has been holding the fort as interim chief since Christ departed 16 months ago.

The interesting statistic is that 140 conductors from all over the world applied for this not very significant vacancy.

It’s tough out there.

The Met will launch its post-Levine Sexual Harrassment training programme today. Attendance is obligatory.

From Diane Zola:

Please plan to attend a mandatory anti-harassment workshop, scheduled for 9: 00-10:15AM on Tuesday, December 3rd in the Belmont Room.

During this workshop, a representative from the Met’s Human Resources department wants to facilitate a discussion on sexual harassment-specifically, what it is, what it is to do with you, and how we can help it not hospitable (sic) to harassing behavior. There is also room for rehearsal and staging processes.

New York City and New York State have recently passed laws that provide annual anti-harassment workshops like this….

We take very seriously our responsibility to provide a safe and supportive space for all the members of the Met community, and we believe these workshops are an important part of our efforts.

Sincerely,
Diane

Diane Zola
Assistant General Manager, Artistic
The Metropolitan Opera

The National Institute of Social Sciences will honour the Metropolitan Opera General Manager at its annual New York dinner on Thursday.

Peter Gelb has a social conscience? He’s a secret scientist?

Whatever next?

The world’s foremost oboe virtuoso, Heinz Holliger, has been honoured with a doctorate by the University of Basle.

It’s his 80th birthday year.

He is named in the citation as ‘one of Switzerland’s most important music artists’.

One of?

Donald Trump’s favourite pianist is feeling seasonal.

When her fingers start to feel the cold, that’s when the topless dancing begins.

Surely it can’t be long before she plays the Salzburg Festival. If only at its Putin gala.