At the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, apparently.
The Juilliard School’s Dean and Director of Music, David Serkin Ludwig, is one of four composers to receive $10,000 music awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The others are Eve Beglarian, Nicole Mitchell and Roscoe Mitchell. In addition to the awards, each receives a further $10,000 towards a recording of their work.
Two Goddard Lieberson Fellowships of $15,000 each are awarded to Zosha Di Castri and Andy Akiho.
The funeral is taking place today of Mariann Ábrahám, a popular pianist an teacher who was a cornerstone of the city’s musical life for six decades.
A memorial plaque is to be unveiled at the Béla Bartók Conservatory building.
The National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan has cancelled a March 5 performance by Anna Netrebko ‘after controversy over her links with the Russian President Vladimir Putin’.
The Ministry of Culture issued a statement saying that, though it respected the orchestra’s independence, there could be no ambiguity about Taiwan’s position on the war in Ukraine.
There were additionally, it said, ‘ concerns over public opinion’.
Vienna’s Arnold Schönberg Centre has named the flautist Ulrike Anton as its next director, starting in May.
She replaces interim director Therese Muxeneder.
Anton, presently deputy head of Vienna’s Exilarte Zentrum, has specialised in retrieving and performing works by composers exiled, suppressed and murdered during the Nazi regime.
The Schönberg Centre moved to Vienna 25 years ago after being evicted from the campus of the University of Southern California.
photo (c)Julia Wesely.
The owners of Frankfurt’s Festhalle have cancelled a scheduled performance by Roger Waters of Pink Floyd following claims that Waters is an unapologetic antisemite.
One of his stage props is reported to be ‘a balloon in the shape of a pig with a Star of David printed on it alongside a host of corporate logos’.
His former bandmate David Gilmour’s wife, Polly Samson, recently tweeted: ‘Sadly, @rogerwaters you are antisemitic to your rotten core. Also, a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac….’ Gilmour followed up, saying his wife’s statement was ‘demonstrably true’.
Waters has also been cancelled in Poland.
Seems a bit out of time…. but that’s what th Hall is saying:
Carnegie Hall today announced that violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Daniil Trifonov must regrettably postpone their Carnegie Hall recital scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, February 28, 2023 as Mr. Bell has tested positive for COVID-19. This all-star duo recital has been rescheduled for Tuesday, May 30 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. The program will include works by Beethoven, Prokofiev, Bloch, and Franck. Tickets for the February 28 recital will be honored on May 30.
With Richard Mantle easing towards retirement next year as general director of the Leeds company, Henry Filloux-Bennett (pictured with Mantle) has been brought in as executive director, starting in May.
He is presently Executive Director and Deputy CEO of HOME in Manchester.
photo: Samantha Toolsie/OperaNorth
On the eve of Kalevala or Finnish Culture Day, the Finnish Cultural Foundation has granted three awards of 40,000 euros for significant cultural achievements.
This year’s recipients are the architect Benito Casagrande, the violinist and conductor Pekka Kuusisto, and the microbiologist Mirja Salkinoja-Salonen.
The OPER! AWARDS 2023 were presented during a festive gala on 27 February 2023. Among the awardees of the main categories are the US soprano Lisette Oropesa (Best Female Singer), the German baritone Michael Volle (Best Male Singer), the Belgian conductor René Jacobs (Honorary Lifetime Achievement) and the Franco-Lebanese festival director Pierre Audi (Best Festival). Already in January, the Theater Dortmund under its director Heribert Germeshausen had been announced as the winner of the Best Opera House award.
The award for Outstanding Engagement was presented to the Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv (pictured). Not only was she the first female conductor at the Bayreuth Festival and the first woman to become leader of an Italian opera orchestra, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. She has also grown to be a role model for other artists through her untiring social engagement in the face of Vladimir Putin’s war against her home country.
Apart from awards for outstanding artists and organisations, the jury also presents a ‘Golden Raspberry’. This year, the anti-award is presented to the city of Krefeld for the neglect of its theatre forecourt: “If you want to attend the opera in Krefeld, you will have to make your way through the local drugs scene. There are dealers on the theatre’s parking deck, its forecourt is a refuge for the town’s homeless addicts, with all the attendant issues: violence, desperation, destruction, rubbish, death. In the lingo of the municipal public order department this policy is described as ‘bundling’. What it means is: ‘exclude and forget’.
BEST OPERA HOUSE: Theater Dortmund
BEST FEMALE SINGER: Lisette Oropesa
BEST MALE SINGER: Michael Volle
BEST CONDUCTOR: Gianandrea Noseda
BEST DIRECTOR: Claus Guth
BEST ORCHESTRA: Berliner Philharmoniker for Pique Dame
BEST CHOIR: Slovak Philharmonic Choir for Pique Dame
BEST WORLD PREMIERE: Eurydice – Die Liebenden, blind at the Opera Amsterdam
BEST PERFORMANCE: The Devils of Loudun at the Bavarian State Opera
BEST STAGE DESIGNER: Ulrich Rasche for Elektra at the Opera Geneva
BEST COSTUME DESIGNERS: Ersan Mondtag and Annika Lu for Antikrist at the Deutsche Oper Berlin
BEST SOLO ALBUM: Arias with Jonathan Tetelman
BEST OPERA RECORDING: Robert le Diable (Palazzetto Bru Zane)
BEST NEWCOMER: Konstantin Krimmel
BEST REDISCOVERY: FOKUS ’33 of the Theater Bonn
BEST FESTIVAL: Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
BEST SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE: Musiktheater im Revier & Theater Regensburg
HONORARY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: René Jacobs
OUTSTANDING ENGAGEMENT: Oksana Lyniv
BEST EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES PROJECT: Not presented this year
GOLDEN RASPBERRY FOR THE BIGGEST NUISANCE: The theatre forecourt in Krefeld
The prodigious Alexander Pereira, successively head of Zurich Opera, the Salzburg Festival, La Scala Milan and latterly the Maggio Musicale in Florence, has resigned abruptly from his last job.
The reasons he gives are the toll the job has taken on his physical and mental health. He does not mention a live police investigation into his use of a company credit card – the kind of inquiry that often arises in Italian opera houses and is usually instigated by internal malice. Pereira has weathered several such claims before.
His departure leaves Florence in a familiar state of chaos. Pereira, 75 this year, can probably afford to retire.
Here is the full text of his resignation letter:
Dear president, dear members of the executive council
I am sorry to have to announce that I resign as Superintendent of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
When Dario gave me the Assignment at the end of 2019, I thought I was making the most of an impossible situation. Perhaps the impossible was to think that the Fondazione del Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino could be brought to an artistic level of international renown with a debt of 57 million euros with a horrendous cash flow problem and with the need to create a profit around €3.5 million via artistic programming, ticketing and sponsor research amid a pandemic. This was the reason why Dario Nardella chose me and this commitment to the future quality of the theater was a priority in every policy council.
Evaluating the results of the last year and especially of the last 6 months, I can proudly state that we have managed to reach this artistic level.
We opened the Sala Mehta with Fidelio with Zubin Mehta, we won the Abbiati prize with the Return of Ulisse in Patria directed by Robert Carsen, which the theater hadn’t won for 17 years and also the opening of the Sala Grande with Don Carlo directed by Daniele Gatti and the premiere of Doktor Faust directed by Davide Livermore, visited by more than 100 critics and journalists from all over the world. These are strong testimonies of this artistic development, which have placed Il Maggio Musicale Fiorentino among the first theaters of ‘Europe. And in addition to this I also add many other opera titles and obviously the many symphonic concerts with great conductors.
Unfortunately, with the beginning of my mandate, the pandemic began which not only blocked public attendance but also made the search for sponsors very difficult.
But despite this I still managed to bring 9.7 million euros in sponsorship. Finally, the ticket office is also giving very encouraging signs, because compared to the year 2022 in the first 4 months of 2023 we have increased the ticket office to €1,200,000 gross.
The year 2022 was particularly difficult not only due to the pandemic but also due to the war in Ukraine which led to an increase in bills and this greatly increased the costs of the infrastructure.
The real reason for my resignation is a personal matter. Apart from having a very difficult task, of being at the same time always attacked from inside the theater and from outside, especially by the press. So I never had a moment of peace, and this situation made me lose 20 kilos and also led me to a moment of health crisis in early December.
I had great harmony from the audience and the artists who always supported me, but the forces that worked against me never wanted to take this position of the audience and the artists into consideration.
I’m sorry that after having worked for so many years in the great theaters in Vienna, Zurich, Salzburg and Milan, this experience in Florence has become so sad that I no longer feel like continuing it.
I want to thank everyone who gave me their love and artistic enthusiasm to create this beautiful theater, which could be one of the best in the world with the right support it deserves.
Cordial greetings.
Alexander Pereira
mi dispiace di dover annunciare che mi dimetto come Sovrintendente del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
Quando Dario mi ha dato l’Incarico alla fine di 2019, io pensavo di fare il possibile da una situazione impossibile. Forse l’impossibile era di pensare che si può portare la Fondazione del Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino a un livello artistico di fama internazionale con un debito di 57 milioni di euro con un orrendo problema di cassa e con una necessità di creare un utile intorno a 3,5 milioni di euro tramite programmazione artistica, biglietteria e ricerca sponsor in mezzo di una pandemia. Questa era la ragione, per cui mi ha scelto Dario Nardella e in ogni consiglio d’indirizzo questo impegno per la futura qualità del teatro era prioritario.
Valutando i risultati dell’ultimo anno e specialmente degli ultimi 6 mesi, posso constatare con orgoglio che siamo riusciti ad arrivare a questo livello artistico.
Abbiamo aperto la Sala Mehta con Fidelio con Zubin Mehta, abbiamo vinto il premio Abbiati con il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria nella regia di Robert Carsen, che il teatro non vinceva da 17 anni e anche l’apertura della Sala Grande con Don Carlo diretto da Daniele Gatti e la prima di Doktor Faust con la regia di Davide Livermore, visitata da più di 100 critici e giornalisti da tutto il mondo, Queste sono forti testimonianze di questo sviluppo artistico, che hanno messo Il Maggio Musicale Fiorentino tra i primi teatri d’Europa. E oltre a ció aggiungo anche tanti altri titoli d’opera e ovviamente i tanti concerti sinfonici con grandi direttori.
Sfortunatamente con l’inizio del mio mandato è cominciata la pandemia che non solo ha bloccato le presenze del pubblico ma ha anche reso la ricerca per gli sponsor molto difficile.
Ma nonostante questo sono comunque riuscito a portare 9,7 milioni di euro di sponsorizzazione. Finalmente anche la biglietteria dà segnali molto incoraggianti, perché rispetto all’anno 2022 nel primi 4 mesi del 2023 abbiamo aumentato la biglietteria a 1.200.000 € lordi.
L’anno 2022 è stato particolarmente difficile non solo a causa della pandemia ma anche per la guerra in Ucraina che ha portato un aumento delle bollette e ciò ha fortemente alzato i costi dell’Infrastruttura.
La vera ragione per la mia dimissione è un fatto personale. A parte di avere un compito molto difficile, di essere allo stesso momento sempre attaccato dall’interno del teatro e dall’esterno, specialmente dalla stampa. Cosi non ho avuto mai un momento di tranquillità, e questa situazione mi ha fatto perdere 20 chili e mi ha anche portato a un momento di crisi di salute all’inizio di dicembre.
Ho avuto grande armonia dalla parte del pubblico e dagli artisti che mi hanno sempre sopportato, ma le forze che hanno lavorato contro di me, non hanno mai voluto prendere in considerazione questa posizione del pubblico e degli artisti.
Mi dispiace che dopo aver lavorato tanti anni nei grandi teatri a Vienna, Zurigo, Salisburgo e Milano, questa esperienza a Firenze è diventata così triste, tanto che non mi sento più continuarla.
Voglio ringraziare a tutti che mi hanno dato Il loro amore e entusiasmo artistico per creare questo bellissimo teatro, che potrebbe essere uno dei migliori del mondo con il giusto supporto che merita.
Un cordiale saluto.
Alexander Pereira
The Mariinsky Theatre has confirmed that a chorus singer was hurt by falling scenery during Rimsky-Korsakov’s Snow Maiden.
The singer was rushedto hospital for a CT-scan, then sent home.
Such incidents have become relatively frequent on Russia stages.