Search Results for: zdf

Film director Oliver Berben has confirmed that he is making a 110-minute film on the Wagner family for ZDF. Shooting starts next month. It's a big deal in Germany. Cosima is to be played by Iris Berben, making it even more of a family saga. A request to film at the Festpielhaus in Bayreuth has been coolly declined. I wonder who he gets to play the English son-in-law, Houston Stewart Chamberpot. … [Read more...]

It was the shot that shocked the world. On June 28, 1914, the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz-Ferdinand in Sarajevo set in motion the diplomatic confrontations that led to the outbreak of the greatest war the world had ever seen. One hundred years on, the Vienna Philharmonic, representing old Austria, will perform with the opera chorus of the Sarajevo National Theatre near the site of the fateful event. Franz Welser-Möst will conduct and the event will be broadcast live in … [Read more...]

The final figures are in from the festival and the most impressive is the response to an appeal for a new roof on the Felsenreitschile. A matter of 140,729 passersby chipped in one Euro each. Less impressive are the attendance figures - at 90 percent, somewhat on the low side. Ticket revenue was 28.25 million Euros. The press release carefully avoids specifying whether this was under or over budget. Read for yourselves below: * August 31, 2012 (SF) “I am convinced that a festival … [Read more...]

A Russian journalist, Anastasia Butsko, followed the bass-baritone during the Bayreuth rehearsals for The Flying Dutchman, from which he was ultimately ejected for having a swastika tattoo. He was the first Russian ever to win a title role at Bayreuth. A month ago, he said to her:  'This is a dangerous adventure for me. We must do everything to get out of here alive.' We wonder what he meant by that. He also referred to the tattoos on his body as 'a second passport' and spoke of a … [Read more...]

The bass-baritone who was fired from Bayreuth for his body art has issued a statement on the Mariinsky site. Заявляю категорически, татуировки, которые у кого-то вызвали ассоциации с нацистской символикой, никак с нею не связаны. На одной стороне груди изображены скандинавские руны, в пору занятий тяжелым роком я был … [Read more...]

This is the ZDF report that cost Yevgeny Nikitin his role as the Flying Dutchman in Bayreuth. It's worth watching to hear the actual words of his justification for having a swastika tattoos. As youngsters, he says in English, we did 'good, crazy things'. Hmmm. Watch here. … [Read more...]

The Russian baritone Yevgeny Nikitin has been forced to leave Bayreuth, where he was to sing to titled role in Flying Dutchman, after TV cameras picked up a large tattoo of the Nazi emblem on his chest. Nikitin said he'd had it done when he was young and foolish, but after the symbol was shown on ZDF's Aspekte program he had nowhere to go today but out. See picture here. That leaves Bayreuth four days to find a new Dutchman for its only new production. The festival opens Wednesday. More … [Read more...]

Depressed by the Vienna mass audience? The good news is that, for the second year running, the Berlin Philharmonic extravaganza on German ARD television has been overwhelmed in the ratings by the Dresden Staatskapelle on ZDF - and this despite a Netrebko no-show in the Meissen china showcase. Details on intermezzo. It's a big win for Christian Thielemann and an embarrassment for Simon Rattle, whose German media appeal is not what it was. Thiely has also taken over Rattle's slot at … [Read more...]

Barrett Wissmann, disgraced owner of the talent agency IMG Artists, was forced to step down from his front-office role after he copped a state prosecutor's plea to securities fraud involving the state pension fund in upstate New York. But you can't keep a fixer down. Six months ago, Barrett secured a Russian investor to help save the classical business. This week, he's declared he's coming back as co-chairman after retiring his frontman Charles Hamlen and sharing the company 50-50 with his … [Read more...]

It is abundantly clear that the 14th Tchaikovsky competition differs from its predecessors in one significant respect - its trasnparency. Every round can be watched live online, viewers are encouraged to cast their votes and several judges are using their cellphones and notebooks to tweet and email their emotions as the contest progresses. This is not just a necessary and healthy process: it is the perfect antidote to Russia's Got Talent. Here's a personal report from one of the piano … [Read more...]

Remember when Abba won Eurovision in 1974 with that ghastly song, Waterloo? The man who directed the orchestra had dressed up for the occasion as Napoleon. His name was Sven-Olof Walldoff and he's just passed away, aged 82. He's in here, somewhere. And Here's some video. … [Read more...]

In a recent review of Jens Malte Fischer's disappointing German best-seller of a Mahler biography, I deplored Fischer's unquestioning dependence on a man who is widely held to be the post-War champion of Mahler scholarship in western Germany. His name is Hans Henrich Eggebrecht and many of the leading musicologists at German universties are his worshipful apostles. I was never much convinced by Eggebrecht's Mahler convoluted analyses, which misread the composer's complex multicuturalism as an … [Read more...]

The new intendant of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Martin Hoffmann, has been explaining their departure from the Salzburg Easter Festival. The festival, he said, was no longer following Herbert von Karajan's founding principles and the offer from Baden-Baden was not only 'richer' but allowed the orchestra to perform at lower ticket prices. You can read the interview in German here. I have three questions for Herr Hoffmann (and for Sir Simon, who's in the same frame): photo: … [Read more...]

When the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra cancelled its deal with the Salzburg Easter Festival 10 days ago, many saw the withdrawal as a crippling blow for the Karajan-founded event. The Berliners said they had been offered more money by Baden-Baden. After 45 years, they were happy to trade down high prestige for a mess of pottage. Their conductor, Simon Rattle, stayed conspicuously shtum. I wrote at the time that Berlin stood to lose more than it gains from the Baden-Baden betrayal. Within … [Read more...]

Barrett Wissman, disgraced owner of the IMG classical artists agency, has bounced back. After copping a plea to securities fraud two years ago in New York and withdrawing from active management of the agency, he has just landed a major fish to help haul his business back into serious contention after a series of major setbacks. IMG represents many of the world's top conductors and singers, including John Adams, Antonio Pappano and Franz Welser-Möst. The new part-owner of IMG is a … [Read more...]