Conductor Riccardo Muti has apparently pulled out of a lavish birthday celebration for the Prince of Wales after members of the royal family, including the Queen, attempted to change Muti’s planned program for the evening. Muti was to lead the Philharmonia Orchestra in a program that the royals thought “inappropriate” and “overlong.” As a result, Muti “absolutely refuses to have anything to do with the party now.”
Tag: 11.08.08
Gergiev’s Ossetian Adventure
During the conflict between Russia and Georgia a few months back, conductor Valery Gergiev, a native of the breakaway region at the heart of the conflict, was outspoken in his support of Russia, even as public sentiment in the West generally went Georgia’s way. And Gergiev isn’t backing down now. “He says he is vindicated by accounts by independent monitors… suggesting that Georgia was not acting defensively and had launched an indiscriminate attack.”
Texas Ballet Gets Some Breathing Room
“The Texas Ballet Theater announced Friday that it had received a $500,000 grant from the Dallas-based Meadows Foundation, enabling the financially beleaguered ballet to reach its goal of $2 million to keep its doors open the rest of the year.”
Old World Quality At A Reasonable Price
With the media gasping in awe every time a Stradivarius or Guarneri del Gesu sells at auction for some ridiculously inflated price, it can be easy to forget that there are modern luthiers crafting string instruments today that sound every bit as good as the old Italian masters. They may not be household names, but to musicians who could never hope to afford a Strad, they are an essential part of the music world.
Does Opera Ever Really “Just Get On With” Anything?
Robert Everett-Green was looking forward to John Adams’s operatic take on the Manhattan Project, Doctor Atomic. But he came away from the experience confused. “Why, I wondered (as [Tom] Wolfe did a decade ago about American fiction), is there so much free-floating introspection and soul-searching in this thing? With such a big story at hand – the first successful atomic detonation and the start of the nuclear age – why not just get on with telling it?”
Another Orchestra In Trouble?
Two years ago, Ontario’s Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony was on the verge of bankruptcy when public and private entities stepped in to put it on the path to recovery. Now, things are better for the ensemble fiscally, but “it is impossible to look at the symphony’s dwindling audiences and decreased ticket sales over the past year and not come away with serious questions about its future.”
Rosella Hightower, 88
“Rosella Hightower, an Oklahoma-born ballerina who became a leading figure in the European dance world and founded a major ballet school in France, has died. She was 88… Hightower, of Choctaw descent, was one of five American Indian ballerinas from Oklahoma who have received special honors in the state.”
de Waart Takes Santa Fe Off His Schedule
Conductor Edo de Waart is stepping down from the directorship of Santa Fe Opera after only two seasons, citing health problems stemming from the city’s extreme altitude, and a desire to see more of his family, who are based in Wisconsin. De Waart takes over the Milwaukee Symphony next season, and joins the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra as an “artistic partner” in 2010.
Changes In Minnesota
“Kim Motes has resigned as executive director of the Minnesota Shubert Center after seven years. Motes, who became personally identified with the effort, will become the first full-time managing director of Theater Latté Da, the fastest-growing midsized theater company in the Twin Cities.”
Mortier Pulls Out Of NY City Opera
Gérard Mortier has withdrawn from his contract to be New York City Opera’s artistic director beginning next season, saying that the company’s board did not come up with the budget he had been promised. His move leaves City Opera without artistic leadership and with only a skeleton staff.