The orchestra’s president Gary Ginstling has engaged Katya Jestin, of law firm Jenner & Block, to undertake an investigation into the culture of the New York Philharmonic. She has been asked ‘to look at everything and leave no stone unturned, including any new allegations as they are reported.’
The following message went out today to members of the organisation:
Dear New York Philharmonic Community,
The details revealed in the New York magazine article are horrifying to me personally, and, while not yet a year into my tenure as President and CEO of the New York Philharmonic, I am deeply concerned about not only the specifics but broader issues of institutional culture. Therefore, I have taken the following immediate steps:
At my direction, the Philharmonic has engaged Katya Jestin, co-managing partner of the law firm Jenner & Block, to launch an independent investigation into the culture of the New York Philharmonic in recent years. Katya has extensive experience handling sexual misconduct investigations and related matters involving extremely sensitive interviews. I am empowering Katya to look at everything and to leave no stone unturned, including any new allegations as they are reported. I pledge to share the recommendations with our board, our staff and our musicians as well as with the general public. More details on the process will be coming shortly.
For the time being, musicians Matthew Muckey and Liang Wang are not being assigned to any Philharmonic activity as we work through this process, and a decision about their future with the New York Philharmonic will be made in due course.
The New York Philharmonic is preparing to seek changes to its audition and tenure review policies and procedures to provide more transparency, oversight and equity to the process. We look forward to working with Local 802 and our musician colleagues on these changes.
Nothing is more important than the culture of our orchestra and the safety of our musicians and staff, and it is only through this process that we will build the kind of vibrant and inclusive culture we all want.
Thank you,
Gary
by Susan Hall, New York:
Address Unknown, a short 1938 novel by Katherine Kressmann Taylor, has been made into a play by Marianna Arzumanova. Mounted at Town Hall in New York by the Cherry Orchard Festival, it stars world-renowned pianist Evgeny Kissin as Max and world-renowned opera baritone, Thomas Hampson as Martin. Can these gentlemen act? We’ve seen Hampson as the Don, Germont pere, Dr. Faustus and Roald Amundsen racing to the South Pole. Now he makes his mark as Martin. Kissen has mixed poetry with piano performance.
Set in 1932-33 Germany, the work consists largely of correspondence read aloud by Max and Martin, who have been friends since school days. Gaudeamus igitur, a 13th-century student song celebrating youth, the pursuit of knowledge, friendship, and the transient beauty of life brackets the soundtrack. Kissin performs some piano music.
Max, a Jew, and Martin, an Aryan German, became business partners in the sale of paintings. Nazi propaganda may have insisted that Aryan Germans did not buy and sell for profit and loss as Jews did. Yet Max makes money selling art, and so does Martin.
Max emigrated to America. Martin remained in Munich, at first attracted to Hitler. We are accustomed to works like Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt, which examine the aversion of gaze from the horrors surrounding us.
Address Unknown is unusual in its penetration of the gaze of Martin. It follows the arc of fascism. He will write to Max: “I have never hated the individual Jew. Yourself I have always cherished as a friend, but … you will know that I speak in all honesty when I say that I have loved you, not because of your race but in spite of it.” Exempting one good Jew is a dangerous feature of anti-Semitism.
Febrile ideology wrecks the friendship, as Martin moves on from a mild attraction to Hitler, asking “Is he quite sane?” and replying “I do not know.” to his adoration of “the Gentle Leader”, ready to cooperate in cutting out “the cancer” that ails the Fatherland. He then writes: “The Jewish race is a sore spot in any nation that harbors it.” Martin’s suffering as the Gestapo turns on him and his mistaken support is particularly moving.
Hampson remarks that he joined a family enterprise. Kissin’s sister-in-law and wife, Marianna and Karina Arzumanova, respectively wrote this work and acted in it. Both men speak of the importance of resting our gaze on fascism today. Musicians like Evgeny Kissin and Thomas Hampson live very much in our world and contribute to it in often surprising ways.
Susan Hall
They’ve announced the 2024 program today. Here’s one report:
This summer’s programming, just announced, will lead off with “the debut duet of two superstar queens from the blockbuster reality competition ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’” followed by “Argentinian queercore,” comedians of “Indian heritage” and “silent disco.”
Shanta Thake, the center’s chief artistic officer, pledged to “really confront our past head-on as we move into the future” by “opening this up and really saying that this is music that belongs to everyone” — implying, of course, that Mozart does not belong to everyone.
Read on here.
The UK conductor Jonathan Bloxham has been chosen as chief conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie.
He succeeds Jonathon Heyward, who is now in Baltimore.
Bloxham, in his mid-thirties is also Music Director at the Lucerne Theater and Resident Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the London Mozart Player.
Last night’s conflicted concert is reviewed on Midlands Classical Music by Norman Stinchcombe:
CBSO at Symphony Hall ★★★★
Did the CBSO’s chief executive Emma Stenning attend this concert? One hopes so because she would have been able to see the early fruits of the silliest of her new innovations. The orchestra and soloist Ian Bostridge were about a quarter of the way through Britten’s ‘Les Illuminations’ when the tenor motioned to conductor Gergely Madaras, raised his hand and halted the performance. He addressed a small group in the audience who had been filming him on their mobile phones. “Their lights are shining directly in my eyes – it’s very distracting,” he said. “Would you please put your phones down.” A performance by one of the finest British singers of the last fifty years, and a world-renowned interpreter of Britten, was interrupted by a handful of intellectually challenged mobile-obsessed dimwits. Their antics are positively encouraged by the orchestra’s administrators who print this in the concert programme: “We are very happy for you to take photographs and short video clips at our concerts, but please refrain from recording the whole performance. We’d love you to share them with us @TheCBSO.” Perhaps Stenning will castigate Bostridge for encroaching on the liberty of the officially-sanctioned mobile movie makers? One feels that anything is possible under this barmy new dispensation.
That hiatus apart this was a really engaging performance of Britten’s song cycle where in the opening ‘Fanfare’ Bostridge proclaimed that, “I alone hold the key to this savage parade”. So he did, opening the doors to a succession of the poet Rimbaud’s hallucinatory, cryptic visions. The work demands immense versatility from the soloist – a series of brief sharply etched character roles – with Bostridge in turn languorous, epicene, conspiratorial, delirious and declamatory. For a tall slender reed of a man he can be surprisingly stentorian. Britten uses the string orchestra as musical partners not mere accompanists as writes dazzling for them – as he did in the Frank Bridge variations – and the CBSO seized their opportunities. Particularly succulent was a passage where the leader serenaded, accompanied by cellos strummed like guitars and finger-plucked basses.
The Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s music falls into three categories: Apocalyptic as in the impressively monumental ‘Catamorphosis’ given its UK premiere by the CBSO in 2022; Atmospheric, suitable soundtracks for the ‘Alien’ film franchise, like ‘Metacosmos’ heard here in 2023; Noodling, where nothing happens very slowly – sadly ‘Dreaming’ was a prime example of this. String susurrations, percussion stroked and banged and a closing climactic moment when Eduardo Vassallo scraped and tapped on his cello. He got a round of applause for that which indicates how exciting the previous sixteen minutes were.
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.1 ‘Winter Daydreams’ was once neglected but has become more popular in recent years. There have been fine CBSO performances under Andris Nelsons and Ben Gernon but this one from Madaras was possibly the best. It’s a youthful work, brimming over with enthusiasm, profligate with themes, occasionally prolix and in need of nips and tucks. But with the CBSO in sparkling form urged on by Madaras its shortcomings were overlooked and its virtues displayed: the opening winter landscape frozen as if by a magic spell; the Adagio’s gorgeous long-breathed melody; the scherzo’s dances looking forward to the great ballets. Best of all was the finale, the theme ponderously slow and sepulchral in the basses, then speeded up and embracing the orchestral in full cry. The bass drum and cymbals added a brazen, possibly vulgar touch, but I found it utterly irresistible.
Norman Stinchcombe
The London-based agency is about to pop corks for the opening of AskonasHolt Berlin.
In effect, they are taking over Opus3 Berlin with the consent of Opus3 New York.
The Berlin office looks after the pianist Daniil Trifonov and conductors Ruth Reinhardt, Andrey Boreko and Ingo Metzmacher, among others.
The new AskonasBerlin will be run by Alexander Hollensteiner, presently Managing Director of Kammerakademie Potsdam.
He says: ‘Ich kenne und schätze meine neuen Kolleginnen und Kollegen bei Askonas Holt seit vielen
Jahren und freue mich sehr, Teil der Familie zu werden und dieses neue Kapitel leiten zu
dürfen. Ich freue mich darauf, zusammen mit Katharina und dem Berliner Team die Karrieren
vieler herausragender internationaler Künstlerinnen und Künstler zu gestalten sowie die
Möglichkeiten für Orchester und Ensembles im deutschsprachigen Raum in
Zusammenarbeit mit dem preisgekrönten Tourneeteam in London zu erweitern.’
The Berlin Philharmonic chief conductor Kirill Petrenko has cancelled all of this weekend’s concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic at very short notice.
No reason has been given. UPDATE: Health reasons are now given.
Christian Thielemann has stepped in with a different programme.
Freitag, 19. April, 6. Soirée
Samstag, 20. April, 7. Abonnementkonzert
Sonntag, 21. April, 7. Abonnementkonzert
Montag, 22. April, Konzert der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien
Richard Wagner: Vorspiel zur Oper „Lohengrin“, WWV 75
Richard Wagner: Vorspiel und Liebestod aus „Tristan und Isolde“, WWV 90
Pause
Johannes Brahms: Symphonie Nr. 2 in D-Dur, op. 73
The conductor Semyon Bychkov told his orchestra this morning that he will step back in 2028 after ten years as music director. Theirs has been the most successful musical partnership in the eastern half of Europe, with a fertile record deal and multiple tours.
Here’s what Bychkov said:
It’s been a remarkable season in every conceivable way, even if it is still continuing with enormous projects yet to come.
I will come back to it later, but first I would like to talk to you about some of the very special events that we have planned for the next season.
It is still the Year of Czech Music and so it will conclude with the release of the Dvorak’s last three symphonies and three tone poems. As you know our recording of Má vlast was released 6 weeks ago and received a rare unanimity of approval. In that same spirit of Czech music, we will conclude the year 2024 with three concerts at Carnegie Hall (a very rare privilege only given to the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras) and 2 concerts in Toronto: Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass with our own choir, Mahler’s 5th Symphony, three poems of Má vlast and all 3 concertos of Dvořák will become a celebration of Czech musical culture and its legacy.
These concerts will be followed later by the residences in London, Vienna, Paris, Amsterdam, Brugges, and Cologne. They will be focused on the music of Mahler, Shostakovich, and Mozart.
Here in Prague, we will combine (not in the same performance!) two enormous masterpieces which are so related spiritually: Bach’s B minor Mass and Mahler’s 8th Symphony. Mahler’s performances will bring us to the completion of the recording cycle of his symphonies, which will have taken 7 years to realize.
And now allow me to come back to the most recent tours of Korea, Japan, and Europe. I do not recall receiving such positive intensity and unanimity of response for every single performance as we received on this tour. Audiences loved our Dvorak. They clearly felt the orchestra’s identification with his music, its performing tradition, and the joyful personality it exudes both on and off stage. People clearly experienced that Dvořák’s music was shared with them with an authenticity of spirit so unique, that it could only be conveyed by the Czech Philharmonic. You cannot imagine how much joy and pride I felt in my colleagues living for every note, every phrase in every moment of every performance. There was not a single concert that I would call substandard. Not even once did the fatigue associated with the difficulties and challenges of travel affect the performance.
Watching it, while also being part of it, brought me to a conclusion that the dream that I had when I started leading this orchestra 6 years ago – the dream of the Czech Philharmonic being part of the tiny group that make up the world’s orchestral elite and, making sure that the world knew it and recognized it – this dream has been realised.
When I was first asked by the musicians to become their next music director, following the untimely death of the beloved Jiri Bělohlávek, they also asked me to become their Daddy. And what is every Daddy’s mission? To help his children grow up well, secure, and independent, so that eventually they become free. Like birds getting their wings to fly.
This is what has been happening, and much faster than any one of us ever anticipated. This is what made me come to the happy conclusion that my mission has been accomplished. When that became clear, it was only natural that, in 2028, after 10 years of leading this orchestra, the time will have come for me to step back as its chief conductor and music director.
Why am I sharing this with you today, with 4 more years ahead of us? For a very simple reason. In today’s music world plans are made a long time in advance. The 4 coming years will allow my colleagues to ensure that the next chapter in their life will be a harmonious and organic evolution, as will the next chapter in mine.
We have planned many very exciting projects for the next several years, and this orchestra will continue to be as much the artistic centre of my life as it has been since day one.
Amid fresh political turmoil in Georgia, it’s a relief to report that the family of the late pianist Alexander Toradze are staging a festival in his memory in June.
Lexo, as he was known, was adored throughout the musical world.
Among the colleagues taking part are Paavo Järvi, Gianandrea Noseda, Gergely Madaras and Noemi Gyori and Elisabeth Leonskaya.
Details here.
We reported yesterday that Aigul Akhmetshina, everyone’s favourite Carmen, was the sweetener in the new ‘strategic alliance’ between the Tact agency and IMG. She now seems to be declaring she was an active participant in the business deal:
I am extremely excited to share the news, something we had been working over the last months to build and develop two great companies.
TACT Artists Management and IMG Artists start collaboration creating the biggest musical network in world, bringing together fantastic artists, managers and years of experience on both sides of the globe.
Has she got shares in the new business structure?
UPDATE: her agent informs us that, in an excess of enthusiasm, Aigul posted his statement as her own.
The conductor continues his agitation for a new concert hall in Munich with a greeting to his orchestra on its 75th anniversary.
I wish the BRSO that they play for at least another 75 years with the emotional depth and passion they always had. We all love this orchestra, it is an extraordinary ensemble. This despite having to work under very difficult circumstances. It is the only homeless top orchestra in the world, the only top orchestra that does not have a permanent home in its own city. You travel back and forth between the concert halls. And yet they managed to reach this extraordinary level and have a feeling for music like few others. This is truly remarkable. Of course, I also wish you happy GurreLieder on your 75th. This work by Arnold Schoenberg is particularly closely linked to the BRSO: Kubelik’s interpretation, which was very unusual for the time, showed the world what a masterpiece it was. People tend to forget that Schoenberg was only in his early twenties when he wrote this. He was a composer who knew who he was.
Meaning?
Schoenberg said to himself: ‘This musical heritage that I can access, from Austria, Germany, from Brahms, Schumann, Wagner especially, and to a certain extent from Mahler – I can do that too. Greater. Better. Further. I can do it!’ This work was his liberation. According to the motto: ‘OK, Wagner. You have your Hagen, who calls for his men in the twilight of the gods. I can do that too – and with a lot more people. Simply more!’ Everything Schoenberg does is like a greeting to the past, an ‘I am here’. And if it weren’t such an incredibly beautiful and endearing piece of work, you’d have to give him a slap on the ass for behaving in such an impossible way. You can’t just perform this piece like that. I actually discovered this as a child because I was basically living in the music archive in Liverpool at the time. I was so impressed by the score, which was as big as myself. I couldn’t believe what he was asking an orchestra to do. There was a recording of it in the archive, which I took home with me, and the work has been part of my life ever since. I have always loved the piece. Especially if you love epic romantic music, there’s nothing that can beat this. And yet you can already feel how it is getting closer to today.
image: BR/Astrid Ackermann
We have received notification of a complaint filed against St Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, its choir school and a named staff member, who is accused of grooming and seducing a student there some 20 years ago.
The complaint reads, in part:
1 This action arises out of the sexual abuse of the Plaintiff by Defendan [name redacted], a paid choir member, professional singer, and lay clerk at Defendants Church and School, owned, supervised, controlled, and/or operated by or under Defendant Episcopal Diocese of New York, while Plaintiff was a minor….
5. In and around the ages of approximately 10-16 years old Plaintiff attended Defendants Church and School where Plaintiff was repeatedly sexually abused by Defendant [redacted], a paid choir member, professional singer, and lay clerk at Defendant Church and Defendant School.
6. Plaintiff’s claims are timely under the provisions of the Child Victims Act creating a now twoyear window, beginning August 14, 2019, within which to file previously barred claims regarding childhood sexual abuse….
40. In approximately 2004, when Plaintiff was approximately 16 years of age, Defendant first sexually abused Plaintiff. Upon information and belief, Defendant continued to be a paid employee at both Defendants Church and School in 2004 and 2005. During this same time period, approximately 2004 through 2005, Plaintiff was contacted by Defendants School and Church and asked to work on a website project. In that same time period, Plaintiff was also working with Defendant on a Book of Psalms musical compilation intended for Defendants Church and School.
Further documents pertaining to the impending lawsuit can be found here.
St Thomas recently revealed plans to close its choir school.
