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Is this a good time to abuse Jews?

March 31, 2011 By

In the new issue of Standpoint magazine, I have written a short essay on the aftermath and implications of the John Galliano imbroglio at Christian Dior.Much ink has been spilled on the subject. I have tried to provide cultural context. It is my view, expressed elsewhere, that a floodgate has been opened. Anti-semitism has become once again socially admissible. The consequences are unforseeable.You can read the new essay here. … [Read more...]

03/31/11 9:45 PM | filed under: main |

Brazil – latest on the musician sackings

March 31, 2011 By

I have received an email from Deborah Cheyne, a viola player in the OSB and president of the Sindicato dos Músicos Profissionais do Rio de Janeiro, clarifying the latest situation. She was writing also on behalf of Luzer Machtyngier, president of the OSB musicians.Here's what Deborah has to say:On Monday, we had a final round of negotiation. Prior to it, we attended a call from the Ministry of Labour to sit in a round table with the ministry's mediator, where a proposal was offered. … [Read more...]

03/31/11 9:32 PM | filed under: main |

Seriously, isn’t it time we lightened up?

March 31, 2011 By

In the current issue of The Strad, I give encouragement to young recitalists who face half-empty halls, scattered with the elderly and disinterested (and that's just their families). Music has never shirked engagement with popular culture and, since stand-up is now one of the busiest draws at the box office, why shouldn't a good string player entertain his or her audience in other ways? Break a lance. Crack a smile.Here's part of what I suggest.Forget what the Blessed Dorothy told you in … [Read more...]

03/31/11 2:37 PM | filed under: main |

Breaking: Police arrest major violin dealer

March 31, 2011 By

Read all about it in The Strad. Right here.And more here in German.Rumours have been swirling for months and we have been unable to report them without hard evidence. here's some background from Der Spiegel (in English)The charges are fraud and misappropriation.  … [Read more...]

03/31/11 2:19 PM | filed under: main |

The Arts Council – an orchestral condemnation

March 31, 2011 By

Late yesterday, I received the following analysis of funding cuts from a distinguished and successful orchestral manager who has asked to remain anonymous. His statistics are deadly accurate and mortally revealing.The question he puts is simple: if the ACE, contrary to its assertions, has merely spread equal misery across all orchestras - who needs an Arts Council at all? The job could be automated.Here is his report:Major Orchestras in England   ACE Grants have now been  determined up … [Read more...]

03/31/11 10:09 AM | filed under: main |

A vote of confidence?

March 31, 2011 By

One of the most irritating responses to the Arts Council's grant allocations has come from company chiefs like the South Bank's Jude Kelly (in the Guardian today) who describe their diminished cut or slight increase as 'a vote of confidence' in the work they are doing.A vote for what, and by whom? Jude ought to know as well as anyone that the process by which these cuts were made was not rational or empirical. Many of the decisions were last-minute fudges. Her own South Bank, an Arts Council … [Read more...]

03/31/11 9:38 AM | filed under: main |

Very good news from Chicago

March 31, 2011 By

Riccardo Muti's back - well ahead of schedule and on top of his game.He tells Andrew Patner in the Sun-Times that seven weeks was quite long enough to get over heart surgery and a broken jaw. He has been left with a pronounced sibilance in his speech, but has been assured that it will fade in due course. If I were a player in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, I wouldn't ask the maestro in rehearsal where that hissing noise is coming from.The full interview will appear at the … [Read more...]

03/31/11 9:28 AM | filed under: main |

News just in: 44 musicians sacked in Rio

March 30, 2011 By

The Brazilian Symphony Orchestra has dismissed 44 players for 'insubordination', according to representatives of the musicians who have contacted me by email.See here for details.The orchestra is now officially a war zone. Foreigners might be well advised to stay away. … [Read more...]

03/30/11 7:27 PM | filed under: main |

More tales from Arts Council’s cutting floor

March 30, 2011 By

- London Review of Books did not apply for renewed funding after being warned it would not get.- Fellow-publishers were amazed at £40,000 for 'not-for-profit' Faber and Faber.- Poetry Book Society, which manages the T S Eliot prize, was scrapped altogether. 'I've not idea what they're trying to tell us,' said PBS chief Chris Holifield. Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy called it 'a disgusting decision'.- Southwest England got left out again. And again. And again.- Southwest London also also … [Read more...]

03/30/11 6:18 PM | filed under: main |

First film by Covent Garden’s new opera boss

March 30, 2011 By

Ummentioned in his acclamation last week as the new head of London's Royal Opera, Kasper Holten's first film opens next week in Copenhagen.Titled 'Juan' and based on Mozart's Don Giovanni, it opens with a rather fetching man in a hot shower (rear view) and seems to treat the subject with serious intent.Here are some promo shots.Christopher Maltman with Maria BengtssonElizabeth FutralHolten himselfAnd here's a smashing video clip in the shower.Don't miss it. … [Read more...]

03/30/11 5:36 PM | filed under: main |
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