The ones you need to know:
Helga Rabl-Stadler, president of the Salzburg Festival, made 212,700 euros in 2017 rising to 218,300 euros in 2018.
Markus Hinterhäuser, artistic director, and Lukas Crepaz, commercial director, averaged 235,100 euros in 2017 and 226,900 euros the year after.
Bregenz Festival, artistic director Elisabeth Sobotka made 194,800 euros (2017) and 211,700 euros (2018).
The salary of Dominique Meyer, director of the Vienna State Opera, has not been separately released. It is issued as an average joint figure with the commercial director: 244,200 euros in 2017 and 248,500 euros the following year.
These salaries are, of course, a tiny fraction of the US $1m+ emoluments awarded to Peter Gelb at the Met, Clive Gillinson at Carnegie Hall and Deborah Borda at the New York Philharmonic.
Rabl-Stadler pictured with her Russian gas partners
From the Lebrecht Album of the Week:
I’m guessing not many readers are familiar with Beethoven’s Sonata in D, opus 6. Published in 1797, though possibly dating from the composer’s teens, it begins with the unmistakable opening phrase of the Fifth Symphony. Seriously? That work that did not achieve fruition for another decade. Like me, you may have trouble believing your ears…
Read on here.
And here.
Dr Andrew Palmer Todd, who tried to exclude three musicians from the Grand Teton Music Festival and was forced to back down, resigned yesterday as president and CEO of the festival.
Here’s the press release:
December 13, 2019 (Jackson Hole, WY) – With sincere regret and sadness, the Grand Teton Music Festival (GTMF) board announces today that they accepted President and CEO Andrew Palmer Todd’s resignation.
GTMF Board Chair Christine Hartley comments, “I speak for the entire board when I express our gratitude for Andrew’s contributions to our Festival. His leadership in Jackson Hole and with our organization has exceeded our expectations. On a personal note, I respect and admire Andrew, and I am very sorry to see him leave. We wish him well in his future endeavors.”
Andrew Palmer Todd has led the Grand Teton Music Festival through a period of strong growth in audience cultivation and financial security. During Dr. Todd’s tenure, the Grand Teton Music Festival grew from 35 events during the summer to 100 events annually, including the Winter Festival. He expanded summer programs, created a community concert series, and launched a scholarship competition.
The Summer Festival attendance has grown 69% since 2014, and individual contributions have tripled, just reaching an all-time high of $2.4 million in annual contributions for 2019. The Festival’s national notoriety also grew with international attention from The New York Times, London’s Daily Telegraph, BBC Music, Performance Today, and The Guardian.
Dr. Todd comments, “I am indebted to the Jackson Hole community, to the dedicated GTMF staff, our devoted board, and the GTMF musicians. I appreciate the Board’s willingness and trust in me to do my part in leading this organization. It has been a rewarding challenge and privilege.”
GTMF will announce a national search for Dr. Todd’s replacement in the upcoming months.
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra has named Simone Young as its next chief conductor, starting in 2022.
It’s a perfect fit. Young, 58, is a Sydney girl who grew up with the orchestra, studied with some of its players and has stayed attuned to its needs through an international career that has taken her to most of the world’s great opera houses, inlcuding a remarkable 10 years as Generalmusikdirektor of the city of Hamburg.
Since leaving Germany, she has enjoyed a burgeoning reputation in the US with the New York and Los Angeles philharmonic orchestras.
This is a great catch for the Sydney Symphony, which is not in great shape financially.
The only caveat is time. Both conductor and orchestra, when I asked them recently, firmly denied any possibility of a link-up between them. I deduced from this that she could not give Sydney the time it required.
So they have settled for a compromise – eight or nine weeks a year, arranged in three blocks.
That’s a good start, but it’s not enough in general terms, to effect the kind of transformation Sydney needs.
Young is high-energy and full of ideas. But she’s being asked to work a miracle.
She says: I am so happy to be able to announce this! This marvellous orchestra, with whom I have worked as a guest for so many years, and with whom I already have so many wonderful memories, has appointed me their next Chief Conductor, starting in 2022. I am very honoured to be able to lead this wonderful group of musicians and look forward to some exciting times in Sydney! I will still be working a great deal in Europe, the USA and Japan, but this closer tie with my hometown will bring me home far more often – Sydney, I do love you!
The Library of Congress has been taking testimony from Bernstein’s associate Charlie Harmon, including his opinions on other conductors.
Here’s what he made of Giuseppe Sinopoli’s Mahler Resurrection. Watch.
