“Whereas 18 months ago £37.50 – £45 was pretty much the range for a top price seat for a West End show, £55 or more is now the going rate. The difference really hurts if you’re buying more than one ticket. As West End prices rise to a point where a ticket becomes a real luxury item, only affordable as a special treat, why does the experience often feel so stressful?”
Tag: 12.29.06
Classical Music – Who Died In 2006
A list of the greats who left us.
Classical Music – The Year That Was
“There were openings (a good half-dozen new or renovated performance venues) and closings (Tower Records), arrivals (Peter Gelb at the Metropolitan Opera, Kent Nagano in Montreal and Munich, James Conlon in Los Angeles) and departures announced (Eschenbach from Philadelphia, Gatti from Bologna). And, of course, there was lots and lots of Mozart.”
La Scala Cancels “Candide” w/ Dancing George Bush
La Scala opera house has canceled a production of Bernstein’s “Candide” that features a scene with actors dancing in underwear while wearing masks of world leaders including President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Husband Charged In Hermitage Thefts
The husband of a former Hermitage Musum curaor will be charged with the thefts of 200+ objects from the museum. “Officials said that Nikolai Zavadsky will be tried for stealing rare and valuable objects from the Hermitage along with his wife, Larissa, a former curator who died suddenly in October 2005.”
Long Lost Mozart Work Performed
It’s a short two-minute keyboard work. “Experts think Mozart wrote the piece when he was aged between six and 10. It bears the title Allegro di Wolfgango Mozart and was contained in a volume of anonymous manuscripts.”
Hollywwod Has An Up 2006 At The Box Office
2005’s box office was down, but 2006 came roaring back. “Hits like Pirates of the Caribbean helped total sales reach an estimated at $9.42 billion, compared with 2005’s $8.99 billion. Summer takings were particularly strong but the year ended relatively weakly. A rise in ticket prices is partially responsible for the increase but actual attendance figures rose by 3% on the previous year.”
Robert Spano At Mid-Career
The conductor reflects on his career and the future. “The thing of which I’m most proud is the American composers of my generation that we’ve been able to work with on an ongoing and regular basis,” he says. He singles out three in particular: Christopher Theofanidis, Jennifer Higdon, and Osvaldo Golijov. “It’s great to have an American composer of about 40 years old being mobbed in the lobby — and not because people are upset but because they loved it, which happens to Jennifer.”
ART Artistic Director Woodruff To Leave Theatre
“Robert Woodruff, artistic director of the American Repertory Theatre, will leave the ART at the end of this season, when his contract expires. Woodruff, who succeeded founding artistic director Robert Brustein in 2001, plans to return to his native New York as a freelance director and a teacher.”
Setting Plans For Getting Harry To His Readers
The UK’s Royal Post Office is already making plans for delivery of the next installment of the Harry Potter series. Some 500,000 copies will have to b delivered in a single day. “While the number represents only a fraction of the 80 million items the Royal Mail delivers daily, the security — and secrecy — surrounding the work mean the books have to spend as little time as possible on warehouse floors, complicating their distribution.”