Dmitri Shostakovich was always the composer who couldn’t get no respect, even (or especially) in his own country. Now, with celebrations of Shostakovich’s centennial underway around the world, the birthday boy is under fire once again, this time by the Russian Orthodox Church. “The State Theater of Opera and Ballet of the Republic of Komi, a region once notorious as a center of the prison camp system, or Gulag, recently bowdlerized a commemorative performance of ‘The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda’… after the local diocese objected to the portrayal of the priest in the work.”
Tag: 10.05.06
Well, You Could Always Move It To Manhattan
“Some people strolling past the Queens Museum of Art in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park [New York] assume that the building is closed. And many motorists speed by it on the Grand Central Parkway without realizing that the museum even exists. The building itself has an eclectic history cluttered with the contributions of earlier architects.” So how do you remake a museum in such a way as to encourage people to take note of its very existence?
If Only More Classic Novels Had Sequels
“A sequel to children’s classic Peter Pan has been published – more than 100 years after the original… The book is set 20 years after the original, with Peter Pan’s friend Wendy now having children of her own and the Lost Boys having grown up… Publishers tried to keep details of the book secret but were forced to launch an investigation back in August after an American newspaper printed a summary of the plot. The book is being published in 30 different countries in 34 languages.”
How To Make Fundraising Fun (And Successful)
The much-beleagured Scottish Opera, so recently forced to shut down for a year as a federally imposed cost-cutting measure, is taking a unique approach to fund-raising for its latest production. “In an attempt to raise extra funds towards the cost of the production, and give audiences a chance to get more involved, the company offered patrons a chance to sponsor individual characters for any sum between £25 and £5,000. It was inundated with requests and ended up with each character being sponsored more than once.”
Montreal Opera On Life Support
Montreal Opera was once a vibrant company on the rise, but these days, it’s happy even to still exist. “Money does make the opera world go round, and there is definitely not enough of it in the Montreal opera company coffers. The accumulated deficit is $1.95 million, generated over two years — quite a sum for a company that spent only $6.9 million in 2005-2006… There is no artistic director, Bernard Labadie having submitted his resignation in June, more or less on the grounds that in such an atmosphere there were no serious artistic decisions to be made… So what went wrong?”
Another Canadian Band On The Brink
The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, a regional ensemble in Canada’s most populous province, says it needs to raise CAN$2.5 million by the end of the month to avoid immediate bankruptcy. That goal might well prove unreachable – the total contributions of the orchestra’s board members to the emergency drive total only $230,000.
Apparently, There’s A Bit Of Money In The Bay Area
One day after San Francisco Opera announced an unprecedented $35 million gift, the San Francisco Symphony has great news of its own. The SFS is the recipient of a $10 million challenge grant designed to bolster its endowment, which already stands at an impressive $180 million.
BBC Phil Locks Up Its Maestro
The Manchester-based BBC Philharmonic Orchestra has extended the contract of its music director, Gianandrea Noseda, through 2010. “The partnership has proven fruitful, with nine CD’s for Chandos and dynamic performances of large-scale choral works and operatic repertoire… [Noseda’s] Beethoven Symphony Cycle last year – offered free for download via the BBC’s website – won ITV’s South Bank Show Award in January.”
Change Roils Brooklyn Museum
Major changes at the Brooklyn Museum have the institution in turmoil. “Curators see the changes as a way of diminishing their traditional power to conceive, propose and organize exhibitions. As many as eight curators have retired or resigned over the last two years.”
Vinyl Makes A Comeback
“Most of us have a soft spot for records, whether for the memories that the picture sleeves conjure up or simply because we think a slab of vinyl is a lovely thing. And for vinyl lovers, the news is good: last year, sales of 7in singles were 1,072,608, compared with a dismal 178,831 in 2001.”