Singers are lamenting the death of Luca Targetti, former casting director at La Scala who changed back to becoming an agent in 2011.
He was well liked, a discreet gentleman, fit and healthy, hugely knowledgeable.
Luca was 62. His friends report that he had fallen ill with the virus.
Message from La Scala:
Sovrintendente Dominique Meyer, Music Director Riccardo Chailly, all the artists and staff of Teatro alla Scala together with the Academy Teatro alla Scala have learnt with dismay of Luca Targetti’s sudden passing after a short illness. Luca Targetti was responsible for the singing companies of Teatro alla Scala for thirteen years from 1997 and then for international relations of the Academy before successfully returning to the agency where he started his career. His competence and sensitivity, diplomacy and sense of humor, always clear correctness and generosity have made him a reference point for artistic directions, famous artists and young talents he accompanied in the first steps of his career, but also for everyone Those who worked in the theatre have enjoyed their professionalism and joy together. Superintendent Dominique Meyer remembers him like this: ‘He was a friend of mine for more than twenty years. We used to see each other regularly when we participated in singing contest juries and every time we stayed talking for a long time: Luca always knew how to combine seriousness and fun. His disappearance is an important loss for the world of work, but today we think first of all about the pain of the many people who met him and have been his friends ‘.
Two reasons:
1 Insurers
2 Lawyers
Carnegie, the Met and other venues were advised they would not be covered in the event that patrons or staff fell seriously ill on their premises.
Lawyers were hovering already, waiting for a test-case.
Nothing to do with much-repeated ‘concern for our visitors’. More to do with concern for finances.
Message just in:
We regret to inform our audience that all Met performances have been canceled through March 31, effective immediately.
The safety and security of our audiences and employees is the Met’s highest priority, and in canceling performances, we are following the lead of our city, state, and federal elected officials as well as the recommendations of the Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
If you have tickets for any of these performances, the value of the tickets will automatically be credited to your Met Opera account.
This Saturday’s Live in HD cinema presentation of Der Fliegende Holländer has also been cancelled.
UPDATE: Why NY shut down so fast
Message just received:
With the health and safety of its public, artists, and staff as its foremost priority, Carnegie Hall today announced that it will be closed for all public events and programming through the end of March, effective midnight tonight, in an effort to reduce the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19).
All events and programming at Carnegie Hall from Friday, March 13 through Tuesday, March 31, 2020 have been cancelled.
The Metropolitan Museum has also announced closure. It can only be a matter of time before the Met Opera shuts.
UPDATE: It has now.
UPDATE: Why New York shut down so fast.
Boston has shut Symphony Hall.
Statement from the NY Philharmonic: Out of concern for the safety of our public, musicians, and staff, and in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus), all New York Philharmonic concerts from tonight through March 31, 2020 are cancelled. For information about refunds or exchanges, ticket holders should contact Customer Relations at (212) 875-5656. This is a rapidly evolving situation, and we will continue to provide updates as we receive new information. As always, the safety and security of our guests, musicians, and employees is our highest priority.
Salzburg Easter Festival has been cancelled.
Die Salzburger Osterfestspiele sind wegen des Coronavirus abgesagt worden. Der Aufsichtsrat habe am Donnerstag eine entsprechende Entscheidung getroffen, teilten die Festspiele mit. das Festival hätte am 4. April mit seiner Hauptproduktion, der Oper „Don Carlos“ von Giuseppe Verdi, beginnen sollen. Bei den diesjährigen Osterfestspielen standen auch die Kammeroper „La piccola Cubana“ von Hans Werner Henze und mehrere Konzerte auf dem Programm. Das von der österreichischen Regierung verfügte Verbot von Veranstaltungen in Gebäuden mit mehr als 100 Teilnehmern endet zwar am 3. April, eine Verlängerung gilt aber wegen der weiter steigenden Zahl an Sars-CoV-2-Infektionen als wahrscheinlich.
Baden-Baden is still hanging on, hoping for a miracle.
These are unprecedented events.
Finland has cancelled all public events of over 500 people until end of May.
The Netherlands shut down all concerts with more than 100 until April 1.
The Tonhalle, which has been in damage-limitation mode all week, has now shut down.
André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra have ended a US tour and are trying to get flights for 100 people home to Holland.
After their first concert in Tampa last night, Rieu watched Trump’s speech to the nation and called off the rest of the tour to Sunrise, Orlando, Atlanta, Phoenix, San Diego, Las Vegas, Anaheim and Oakland until March 22. More than 70,000 tickets had been sold.
Rieu said: It is with great sadness that we must confirm the rescheduling of our remaining USA tour dates due to the risks of COVID-19.
The well-being of our beloved fans, musicians and staff is always our top priority. Although we are very disappointed not to be able to perform for you now, we are committed to doing our part to help protect you at this stage.
We are already working to reschedule the concerts and all tickets will be honored for the new dates.
My orchestra and I look forward to returning to the US to celebrate unforgettable nights of joy, music and dance with all of you. Please stay safe.
Much love, André Rieu & his Johann Strauss Orchestra
From the Berlin Phil:
The Philharmonie Berlin will be closed until 19 April – as a measure to counteract the spread of the Corona virus. However, the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle have decided to give their concert anyway: without an audience, live and free of charge in the Digital Concert Hall (12 March) with repeats on 13 & 14 March. Watch here.
From the Staatsoper Unter den Linden:
If you can’t come to the opera, we bring the opera to you – together with rbbKultur. Tonight you can watch the CARMEN performance under the musical direction of Daniel Barenboim and with Anita Rachvelishvili in the title role online on the website of rbbKultur: bit.ly/2IEOF59 and on our website: www.staatsoper-berlin.de from 7pm!
The federal culture minister Monika Grütters has issued a statement saying she is aware of the burden placed on cultural institutions by the virus situation, and that individual artists are in ‘considerable distress’.
She added: ‘Artists and cultural institutions can rely on this, especially with regard to living situations and production conditions…: I won’t let them down! We have their concerns in mind and will work to ensure that the special interests of the cultural and creative sectors are included when it comes to support measures.’
Künstler und Kultureinrichtungen können sich darauf verlassen, gerade mit Blick auf die Lebenssituationen und Produktionsbedingungen der Kultur-, Kreativ- und Medienbranche: Ich lasse sie nicht im Stich! Wir haben ihre Sorgen im Blick und werden uns dafür einsetzen, dass die speziellen Belange des Kulturbetriebs und der Kreativen miteinbezogen werden, wenn es um Unterstützungsmaßnahmen und Liquiditätshilfen geht.
The San Francisco and New Jersey symphony orchestras have cancelled the coming two weeks of concerts due to new restrictions. The San Francisco concert hall is shut. UPDATE: The SFSO’s farewell tour to Europe with Michael Tilson Thomas is also off.
The Cleveland Orchestra has called off this weekend’s concerts.
Opera San Jose and Opera Maryland have scratched upcoming productions.
LA’s Piatigorsky International Cello Festival is off.
Itzhak Perlman has dropped out of a six-city tour. Yuja Wang has called off a Europe tour, as has the Emerson Quartet.
Curtis on Tour concerts in Chicago, Washington, DC, and Detroit have been cancelled, along with student auditions.
Music colleges have told students not to come in for tuition or rehearsal. They are encouraged to make online contact with teachers.
From the Eastman School of Music:
We know that social distancing is effective in slowing down or stopping the spread of a disease. Earlier this week, we put some social distancing measures into effect, limiting the size of some gatherings and prohibiting international and domestic business travel. The intent of these measures is to limit exposure both to those who may be ill and to those who may be contagious but who are not displaying symptoms. These measures may keep you from getting sick; they will also greatly lower the risk that COVID-19 will be introduced to our campuses and healthcare facilities, so that these measures may also keep others from getting sick.
In consultation with the University Cabinet, we have decided that more stringent social distancing measures must be taken until the end of the semester. This means that:
For the rest of this academic year, instruction for Undergraduate and Graduate students in AS&E and for most schools at the University will take place online. University ITS and our Department of Online Education have developed information on preparing for remote teaching, learning, and working and for transitioning traditional courses to online courses. Faculty who transition to online classes will retain copyright to their instructional material.
Audience restrictions limited the turnout at last night’s Israel Philharmonic concert to around 300 in a 2,850-seat hall.
As the concert was about to begin, the orchestra’s manager Avi Shoshani went on stage to announce that Bibi Netanyahu and his health minister had just issued an instruction to the effects that no events with more than 100 people were allowed. He went on to say: ‘We are more than 100 people and are in an age group of higher risk I would say. So we are very sorry but we will not be able to continue with the event this evening. Your health is important to us and the health of the orchestra’s members. We just can’t take this risk.’
The concert went ahead in an empty hall, broadcast on the orchestra’s Facebook page.
The conductor, Osmo Vänskä, performed Mozart’s clarinet concerto, itself a late substitute. The second half was a stunning Sibelius 5th symphony.
