Archive for the ‘An American in Paris’ Category

Emilie Mayer, a Forgotten German Composer?

Friday, January 5th, 2024

By: Frank Cadenhead Is the German composer Emilie Mayer (1812-1883) an important composer who has been wrongly forgotten? Laurence Equilbey and her Insula Orchestra will be performing her First Symphony on 27 and 28 February 2024, sharing the program with works of Schubert. Plans are to record the work with Warner and to continue to […]

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A New Vision for the festival in Evian

Wednesday, November 30th, 2022

Frank Cadenhead, Nov. 30, 2022 Starting with the opening on June 28, the Rencontres Musicales d’Evian will likely have a higher profile among festivals around Lake Geneva (Lac Léman in French). The violin star Renaud Caupçon has just been named Artistic Director and it will take place in Evian-les-Bains. The hall, La Grange au Lac, […]

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First Concert in a Long While

Thursday, October 27th, 2022

Oct. 27, 2022 – by Frank Cadenhead A few months ago, I made my first musical outing in more than a year. (The next one is this Sunday – Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony appropriately). The first one was… ahh… problematic – not with musical issues but with my age and a new society. The concert was […]

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Nuremberg’s Temporary Opera House.

Saturday, February 19th, 2022

By: Frank CadenheadFebruary 19, 2022 It was called “Starlight Bowl” and it was an outdoor performance space in the center of the vast Balboa Park in San Diego. I have so many memories of the San Diego Symphony and their Summer concerts. Mostly light fare but usually programmed with classics from Mozart symphonies to Moussorgsky’s […]

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The New Virus Variant.

Saturday, November 27th, 2021

By: Frank Cadenhead, November 27, 2021 It was almost funny…. no actually it was laughable. At a Paris press conference at noon on November 25. Minister of Health Olivier Véran assured the performing arts sector that there would be no future closings of public venues and no other restrictions on the size of audiences. He […]

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New Directions for Opera in France?

Tuesday, October 19th, 2021

Many years ago, my French wife was surprised when I explained that America does not have a Minister of Culture. “Who supports the arts?” she asked and I explained what donors contribute to performing arts functions. “Then the rich control the orchestras and operas?” “Ahhhh…. yes…” I admitted. And, since the rich do not necessarily […]

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The French “Legion of Honor” Awards

Monday, July 19th, 2021

By: Frank Cadenhead, July 19, 2021 The Légion d’Honneur is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. It was created in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte and has been retained by all later French governments and régimes. The seat of the order is the Palais de la Légion d’Honneur, just next to the […]

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French Minister of Culture and Covid

Monday, March 29th, 2021

By: Frank Cadenhead, Mar. 29,2021Many in France were concerned in recent days after their popular Culture Minister, Roselyne Bachelot, 74, was hospitalized after contracting the Covid-19 virus. She had tested positive on the 20th of March and hospitalized on the 24th with oxygen therapy. Her son, Pierre, in a statement on Sunday, was reassuring, indicating […]

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Notice of Cancellations at the Paris Opera

Wednesday, January 13th, 2021

By: Frank Cadenhead This is an update of the projections for the Opera National de Paris. It is probable that the cancellations until the end of January will continue well into 2021 as the virus will not be fully contained until appropriate general protection is gained with the vaccines. The same actions have been, or […]

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“A Particularly Painful Decision”

Thursday, December 10th, 2020

By Frank Cadenhead, December 20, 2020 Tonight’s televised announcement of the French Prime Minister was another blow to the performing arts. The bad news came although the government’s Coronavirus control efforts were aggressive and it was working. Masks are a requirement in any public place and permission to leave your home had to be formally […]

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