By Rebecca Schmid The tolerance of German audiences for extreme stage productions is a source of national pride and the envy of many abroad. But a production of Tannhäuser at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein which had to be stripped down to concert performance last week has set off a national debate about the sanctity [...]
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By: Edna Landau To ask a question, please write Ask Edna. Anyone who has read my blog over the past year knows that I am fascinated by the career trajectories of successful people. This week, I have chosen to spotlight a much admired viola professor. My first introduction to Barbara Westphal was in the early 1980’s [...]
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By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: We are a small non-profit that runs a performing arts center. In up dating our by-laws, its been recommended that we establish term limits for our directors and officers, as well as a formal nominating committee. Do we really need such formalities? We’re very small and [...]
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It may have been Robert A. Heinlein or Napoleon Bonaparte who first crafted that variation on Occam’s Razor “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.”
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by Sedgwick Clark Evgeny Kissin Two pianistic superstars played two days apart last weekend at Carnegie Hall. I had avoided their recitals for years but thought I should try again since I was in town for the weekend. The first was Evgeny Kissin, 41. His prodigious prowess is documented from his earliest years at the [...]
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By: Edna Landau To ask a question, please write Ask Edna. ‘Tis the season to perform in a competition. A little over two weeks ago, the American Pianists Association announced that pianist Sean Chen is the winner of the 2013 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship, valued at over $100,000. As I write this column, 63 candidates are [...]
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By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: May a non-resident alien (Russian) musician here for an advance graduate school degree on an F-1 visa be paid for playing some off-campus recitals? Are they considered “Curricular Practical Training” which is supposed to be allowed, if approved by the Designated School Official? (Of course, 30% of the gross [...]
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By Rebecca Schmid The Deutsche Oper’s Tischlerei, a new wing for alternative music theater, hosted the results of Neue Szenen—a competition for composition launched by the Hans Eisler Conservatory—on April 8. Three young composers, Evan Gardner, Stefan Johannes Hanke and Leah Muir, emerged from a pool of 52 applicants with their musical settings of a [...]
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By ANDREW POWELL Published: May 4, 2013 MUNICH — Adam Fischer keenly propelled a revival here last night (May 3) of Stephan Kimmig’s 3½-year-old staging of Don Giovanni for the Bavarian State Opera. Predictably, perhaps, the music fared better than the dramma. Hanna-Elisabeth Müller brought an evenly produced, warmly intoned Zerlina. After a tenuous start [...]
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by Sedgwick Clark The Rite of Spring, the centennial of which we celebrate on May 29, has been played everywhere this season and undoubtedly will the next. But while The Rite is forever ubiquitous, much of Stravinsky’s huge output languishes—such as his rarely played sacred works, which New York’s Trinity Church presented in toto in [...]
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