Greek National Opera has secured a September 13 recital from Jonas Kaufmann at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, ‘thanks to the sponsorship of Rolex’.
He will perform with with the Orchestra of the Greek National Opera, conducted by Jochen Rieder.
Truly classical.
Message received:
The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s COVID protocols for the fall period of the 2021–22 BSO season at Symphony Hall, September 30–November 30, will require audience members to provide proof of vaccination or proof of a negative test result, either a PCR test taken within 72 hours of the performance or an antigen test taken within the last 24 hours. Options for proof of vaccination include showing a vaccination card, a photo of the card, or a digital vaccine record upon entering Symphony Hall. Proof of a negative test will be accepted for children under age 12.
Statement from Gail Samuel, President and Chief Executive Officer: ‘After an 18-month closure of Symphony Hall due to the pandemic, we are thrilled to be presenting a season of Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts for audiences this year. By requiring vaccinations and masks, we hope that people will feel comfortable at concerts and know that we are doing all we can to create a safe environment to gather for the collective experience of live music. We look forward to opening our doors and welcoming everyone—from loyal patrons to first-time visitors—to the BSO’s home.’
Vienna’s Third Man Museum is lamenting the death today of Cornelia Mayer, an expert exponent of the soundtrack music of the Carol Reed-Graham Greene film. A bassoonist in several Viennese orchestras, she developed a passion for the elusive zither.
It looks like Covid’s to blame.
The British conductor Timothy Redmond was ushered in with fanfares as music director of the Winston-Salem Symphony in October 2019.
Most of his first season was lost to Covid. The second has not gone well. In a statement, Redmond said the frequent flying to and from Winston-Salem was no longer sustainable and he feared burnout.
His resignation takes immediate effect.
Manchester-based Psappha, the only contemporary music group in the north of England, will open its 30th season with a note of regret.
Tim Williams, who founded the group in 1991, will step down as artistic director when the season ends.
He will be succeeded by the pianist Benjamin Powell.
The Lithuanian soprano has written to slippedisc.com to clarify some misconstrued remarks in her recent Times interview.
She comments: ‘I’m vaccinated. I chose to get vaccinated.
‘In my recent interview with “The Times,” I said that I don’t like to be forced into getting vaccinated in order to do my job. This is true. It doesn’t mean that I am against the vaccine.
‘As I had already had Covid-19, I had antibodies, and I followed the health protocols (tests and masks) that opera houses have put in place.
‘I have the utmost respect for my colleagues and the organizations I work with. This being said, my choice to get vaccinated was personal. I did it because I think today it is the best way to live my life, not for my contracts at the Met or The Royal Opera House…
‘I normally would not justify or explain myself, but when I see my quote from an interview being interpreted and extrapolated upon, I wanted to hopefully make my thoughts clear.
‘During this difficult time, let’s all be careful to come together and support each other, and rather than creating more conflict.
‘With love!’
The Konzerthausorchester Berlin has named Joanna Mallwitz as chief conductor for five seasons.
Mallwitz, 35, resigned recently as GMD in Nuremberg to have her first baby this autumn.
In Berlin, she will succeed the stopgap octogenarian Christoph Eschenbach.
The festival, which has just ended, has issued an end-of-summer summary.
It says, in part:
Glyndebourne was determined to proceed with its 2021 Festival and chose to invest in a significantly loss-making event in order to provide vital work for staff and freelancers and to stay connected to audiences. …
Despite the challenges, the company successfully presented five operas, including three new socially distanced productions from international creative teams – Káťa Kabanová, Il turco in Italia and Luisa Miller – and a concert series featuring the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
More than 41,000 people visited the event between May and August, with audiences for the first part of the season capped at 50% of capacity. A series of online operas broadcast via Glyndebourne Open House during the same period reached a further 115,000 people.
The European Union yesterday removed the United States from its Covid list of ‘white’ countries whose travellers can enter Europe without restrictions. From today, they will have to prove their visit is ‘essential’. something many musicians will struggle to articulate.
The measure is partly triggered by low vaccination rates in the US and partly by America’s block on vaccinated Europeans from entering the US without an ‘essential’ reason.
More here.
The classical streaming service Primephonic will be taken down by its new owners, Apple Inc., a week from today.
People who bought a Primephonic subscription will be given six months free access to Apple, which is not what they wanted. Many tell us they feel let down by the supposedly classical-friendly service.
Its Dutch co-founder Thomas Steffens and major shareholder Gordon Getty have offered neither regret nor reassurance.
Nobody is saying how much money changed hands, or what Steffens and Getty gained personally from the Apple deal.
Apple Music promises to launch a dedicated classical music app next year based on Primephonic’s classical user interface and ‘with more added features’. Let’s see. Apple has never previously bothered with classical music and many of its prior purchases have just vanished into the corportation’s bottomless maw.
Nothing about this deal is transparent, fair or consumer friendly. Announced over a holday weekend, it was timed to escape scrutiny. In the circumstances, we can have little confidence in the future of classical music on Apple.
There remains one other classical streaming service, Idagio. It should do well in the months and years ahead.
Islander – Dundee Rep
Click here for tickets – £15
on demand August 29-September 8
Eilidh stares out to sea and dreams of a new life beyond her lonely island. Myth and reality collide when the tide washes a mysterious stranger onto her beach, changing her life forever. Epic storytelling intimately staged with a contemporary Scottish folk-inspired score.
The two-hander cast of Kirsty Findlay and Bethany Tennick perform a whole host of characters while weaving, building and layering their voices using looping technology to create an expansive, ethereal soundscape for the ears and imagination.
Dundee Rep presents a filmed reimagining of Islander, the award-winning folk theatre musical conceived and directed by Amy Draper with music and lyrics by Dundee-born writer and composer Finn Anderson with a book by Stewart Melton.
Originally presented at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019, this new version of the show was filmed on Dundee Rep stage, and on location.
More here
Andrew Yee, cellist of the Attacca Quartet, got grounded by Wisconsin Air, a subcontractor of don’t-fly United.
Andrew Yee bought an extra seat in accordance with United and FAA policy on flying with a cello, and was then told that United and Air Wisconsin policy does not allow for “cargo” in the cabin.
Andrew says: ‘After they drag you off the flight they will insist your cello will be fine under the plane.
It has been a while since we last ran a musicians’ shame list of world’s worst airlines. On present form, United and its offshoots would come top. (Remember this?)
