The French four-hand pianists Katia and Marielle Labeque and the Canadian singer Barbara Hannigan have posted a video in response to the coronavirus situation.

They write:

Hildegard of Bingen was a 12th century mystic and visionary, a composer, and writer of theological, medicinal and botanical texts.

Recent events have led us towards the desire and need to offer this recording to anyone, anywhere, who wants to listen, and who may find an oasis of calm within this meditative music.

Around the time (1150) that Hildegard of Bingen wrote this music, there was a total eclipse, and the world expects another at the end of 2020. An eclipse can be viewed as a time to focus on internal and political change, and to remember that the sun does return after complete darkness.

This offering comes out of our explorations and rehearsals for multidisicplinary collaboration called Supernova, with the above-mentioned artists as well as pianist Marielle Labeque and composer Bryce Dessner. Supernova will premiere in autumn 2020 as a coproduction of LA Phil and Lincoln Center.

Directors of struggling English National Opera have committed to carry on paying the singers it booked for this season.

ENO says it will honour ‘all contracts until the end of the main stage opera season up to and including performances on April 18’.

That is brave, and decent, and the right thing to do.

The Met, on the other hand, has flashed the ‘force majeure’ clause in its contracts, releasing it from the need to pay for events outside of the company’s control. The singers it hired will not receive a cent. This is mean, borderline unethical, and plain wrong.

So what’s to be done?

The Met is forever appealing to the ‘generosity’ of patrons, latterly asking them not to claum refunds for tickets they have bought for the rest of this cancelled season. The Met itself is showing extreme lack of generosity in relation to its artists.

Met goers should recognise that Peter Gelb’s company has something wrong with its human values.

Donors can draw their own conclusions.

 

 

The Festival has immediately halted online ticket sales for this summer’s programme.

The ticket site will not reopen before the end of May.

Katharina Wagner says: ‘We are currently in close consultation with our committees and the relevant authorities and will provide you with information on our website as soon as possible. Naturally, the health of our guests, all participants and staff is our top priority.’

Yesterday, Grange Park Opera called off its summer festival and Glyndebourne said it was reviewing its situation.

Herbert Blomstedt, regretting the loss of concerts, has been speaking to a journalist, Georg Rudiger, from his home in Lucerne:

At the age of 92, you belong to the risk group most at risk from the coronavirus. How restricted are you in your life?
Not at all. I live a completely normal life, feel fit and have an uninhibited zest for action.

On Thursday the Berliner Philharmoniker played under Simon Rattle in the empty Berlin Philharmonie – the concert was broadcast free of charge as a live stream in the Digital Concert Hall. What do you make of it?
I think it’s very nice. Many orchestras are now streaming their concerts so that they can reach even more audiences worldwide. In two weeks I will presumably conduct a concert with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm with Mozart’s C minor mass – there will probably be no concert audience either. It’s a little strange, but we’re used to it. The rehearsals also take place without an audience. Nevertheless, we are highly concentrated and look forward to playing with each other.

How does the audience in the hall influence the interpretation?
The basic concept is not changed. But the audience has a very big influence on the concentration of the orchestra. The atmosphere in the hall can vary a lot. Total silence is a tremendous inspiration for us.

Most crises also have a chance. Do you see an opportunity in the corona crisis?
We now have a lot of time to think. You always have to make the best of such crises. Complaining or grieving does not help. Every crisis is an opportunity for improvement…

Read on here.

As the world’s #1 classical music and opera website we shall continue to bring you the latest goings-on to the best of our ability through the difficult weeks and months ahead.

Visits to the site have risen by 25 to 30 percent in the past week alone as mainstream media abandon arts coverage and an embattled music sector seeks information and consolation from an independent source.

This is not easy. We are working around the clock to keep apace with unprecedented shocks and events, rubbing our eyes at times in amazement as the tide rolls in and out.

It is not all bad news. There are stories of courage, generosity and hope. There is music to share. There is love.

We would like to express our thanks to all who visit us in these troubled times, and to our loyal advertisers and partners. We have more than 2 million monthly readers. To ensure tghat you see all of our posts, follow @NLebrecht on Twitter, or ‘like’ the Slipped Disc Facebook page.

Stay with us. It may be a rocky ride, but there is light in the world and plenty of room for happiness and creativity.

Enough of that.

Let’s get the day on its feet.

 

The pianist is Harry Ebert. The interpretation, on the eve of war, is out of this world.

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