Multitasking is essential in today’s classical music world, where music directors are expected to be fundraisers and cheerleaders as well as conductors, and composers can’t even get a foot in the door without a finely honed set of self-marketing skills. But recently, composer/conductor Loren Maazel has been raising eyebrows with his own version of the musical multitask: spending his own money to get his own opera produced by one of the top companies in the world. “The London papers report that the Maazel project has caused bitter infighting at all levels of the company… Gifted composers would line up to write a commissioned work for Covent Garden. But Mr. Maazel has bought his way to the top without having paid his dues as a composer.”
Tag: 05.15.05
Can Architecture And Naïveté Point The Way Forward For Palestinians?
Architect Doug Suisman doesn’t really know much about Mideast politics, and doesn’t pretend to know how Israelis and Palestinians can ever be made to live in peace side by side. But Suisman’s idealistic design for a post-war Palestine, commissioned by the Rand Corporation, is raising eyebrows in geopolitical circles for its breadth of vision and pie-in-the-sky hopes for a thoroughly modern state. “Rand, where the analysis is meant to be astringent, not romantic, has now bet heavily on naïveté. It has presented Mr. Suisman’s idea of Palestine to the White House, the European Union, the World Bank and others, as well as to the Palestinians and Israelis. The idea has captured the attention, and imagination, of at least some Palestinian policymakers.”
Growing A Better Breed Of Conductor
Ask any orchestra musician to name the biggest problem in their industry, and you’ll likely hear, “not enough good conductors.” But like the weather, everyone talks about the lack of conducting talent on the international scene, but nobody does anything about it. Except maybe Leonard Slatkin, whose five-year-old National Conducting Institute brings together talented young baton-twirlers to learn not only the finer musical points of the job, but also the diplomatic skills necessary to succeed in orchestral music’s most difficult and multi-faceted profession.
Melbourne Opera Merger Called Off
Two Melbourne opera companies have called off a planned merger. “Independent opera companies Melbourne City Opera and the Melbourne Opera Company announced plans in December to merge under the new name VicOpera. The new company appeared destined to benefit from a State Government funding boost, but the merger has been scrapped.”
Jack Soto’s 25 Years At NY City Ballet
“Jock Soto retires from the New York City Ballet’s stage on June 19 at the age of 40, after 25 years with the company. For the latter part of that period he has been extolled as a partner—as if that were his main (even sole) virtue, as was, essentially, the case with the company’s Conrad Ludlow in the past and Charles Askegard today.” But there was so much more to his dancing…
Looking In On Captive Writers
Three writers are spending a month locked up together while they write. “Architects and designers created three studio “pods” for the writers to live and work in – an indoor “treehouse” with grass on the roof, a high-tech Japanese-style angular box with rice-paper walls, and an open-plan space made of boxes and movable walls that can be hoisted with ropes and pulleys. The writers are allowed to use a roof terrace and other areas within the gallery for 90 minutes a day – they must clock out on time cards. There are no locks on the doors, but they are encouraged not to leave the building.”