Musical America Blogs

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 declared and only authorized for vital activities like work, doctor appointments and to seek food or drugs. Gatherings could not exceed six persons. The second wave of the Covid-19 infection rate was turning downward (unlike the present US rate, which is three times higher and growing) but was still above the desire goal.

PM Jean Castex ordered this confinement and mask requirement to continue for the next three weeks, until January 7. Theaters and concert halls, along with movie theaters and sports stadiums, will continue to be shuttered, even though some orchestras, operas and ballet companies were in rehearsals expecting to open in a few days. Castex recognized that this was “a particularly painful decision” for all affected and he was certainly more aware than most of how the impact would be felt. Before President Macron made him prime minister on July 3, he was mayor of Prades, not far from the Spanish border. That small town happened to be the home of the Pablo Casals Festival every summer and he was chairman and actively involved in all facets of the festival. He certainly would be acutely aware of the impact the festival closure would have on the artists and staff and even the mere existence of the festival.

The hope is that infections continues to decline and that, by the January date, France can continue to return to normal and live performances again be on the menu.

By: Frank Cadenhead. 28 September 2020. Tonight’s opening performance of Lully’s Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme at Paris’ Opéra Comique has been cancelled. The next four nights also. The reason: one of the “artistic team” has Covid-19. The performances of 3 to 8 October are still planned, with the assumption that the situation would be under control by then.

With a staging by Jérôme Deschamps and the Musiciens du Louvre conducted by Marc Minkowski, this was the last of a number of comédie-ballets by Lully and Molière. The theater will refund the price of tickets for cancelled performances. The financial impact of the loss of so many performances must be seriously painful to the theater and discouraging for the artists. “We are sorry for this situation and thank you in advance for your understanding” says the Opéra Comique. It is certainly something that is likely to be repeated in the coming months as many more performances return to the stage.

UPDATE, 29 September, 2020. Now it is the turn of the Opéra de Rouen. Sunday’s performance of Wagner’s Tannhauser was cancelled when a member of the artistic team was diagnosed with Covid-19. Today, the opera’s director, Loïc Lachenal, cancelled the two final performances with the discovery that another member of the team has the virus. “We can imagine the disappointment of the spectators and we share that” he affirmed. The opera had build a special platform for the orchestra, and other work, so that distances between players could be maintained. One can only imagine the financial – and spiritual – loss to the company.

By: Frank Cadenhead. The photo below – two recent front page features in a regional newspaper in France – suggests just how high the visibility is of the world of culture in France. It also suggests the wide concern about this world which is usually centered around a public assembly in these pandemic times. Art openings, operas, concerts, theater – they all depend on large gatherings.

Many major institutions are making past recordings of their performances available on the internet – most all for free – but those of us who actually make their way to the halls for live performance know that there is no substitute for experiencing the event together with others. The recordings, however well-captured, are not the same experience.

I am pleased to be in a country who values the performing arts as an important part of the national ideal. The 100 billion Euro “recovery” budget for France includes 2 billion for the support of the arts. While only 2% of the total, it will provide important support. No government aid is planned for US arts, for example, and their future – depending on strong ticket sales and the deep-pockets of the wealthy – is not assured and is a concern for all performing arts administrators.

By Frank Cadenhead.

The July 14th Concert at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris went ahead as planned last night – with some adjustments for the current health climate. This iconic Bastille Day event, followed by a famous fireworks display, is now in the eighth year, and was televised in France, on Eurovision throughout Europe, and on television in more than 50 countries and on the internet around the world.

Conducted by Eun Sun Kim, the Orchestre National de France had only 65 musicians on stage for this performance (about half of normal) but was also on occasion joined by the children’s and adult Radio France choirs on stage garding a certain space between each vocalist. The star-filled lineup includes singers Ludovic Tézier, Benjamin Bernheim, Fatma Said, Sonya Yoncheva, the cellist Sol Gabetta, violinist Lisa Batiashvili, with 21-year-old Lucienne Renaudin Vary on the trumpet playing music from West Side Story, and pianist Khatia Buniatishvili. The lack of audience drained some of the spirit out of the event and the only applause for the performers was from the orchestra members themselves. Looking briefly at the long and empty park space, Champ de Mars in front of the stage was sad, remembering that the previous year counted some 300,000 attendees. Seeing the sun set on Paris from the circulating helicopter, however, gave some solace. It was followed by the spectacular fire works display using the Eiffel Tower as the centerpiece.

The only part of the concert now on YouTube is Yoncheva singing “Eben? Ne andro lontana” from Catalani’s La Wally – the aria brought to the world by the film Diva. The entire concert will probably be available on YouTube soon.

By Frank Cadenhead. March 16, 2020.

This is a major declaration of French opera’s performing artists. This “Cri du Coeur” makes plain that the abrupt cancellation of all opera everywhere in France at Midnight on March 14 leaves both artists and staff without any idea of when this will end and if there will be any reimbursements for lost pay.

“CLOSING OF PERFORMANCES: THE ‘CRI DU COEUR’ OF LYRICAL ARTISTS!

In the difficult medical crisis that the country is currently experiencing, the lyric artists, today, gather together to draw the attention of the public authorities to the seriousness of the professional and personal situations that this crisis is causing.

We are well aware that the urgency today is to take care of the most fragile people in the face of this scourge whose spread must be stopped, but it is important to think about its social consequences.

All of the classical music institutions, opera houses and concert halls, have decided to cancel all of their performances.

If we speak collectively today, it is because the current health crisis dramatically accentuates a state of precariousness and isolation in which we experience already. More and more theaters are now announcing their complete closure and we are witnessing an unprecedented accumulation of unilateral breaches of contracts throughout our sector: especially among soloists, choir artists, instrumentalists, conductors, directors, dancers , technicians, extras, choir leaders and artist agents that we would all like to associate with our declaration. Our job is a passion but that should not make us forget the reality: the clear breach of one or more contracts for the coming months means the total cessation of our professional activity as well as an immense loss of artistic opportunities, especially for the youngest among us.

In French labor law, performing artists are employed in “fixed-term contracts”. These contracts, negotiated directly with the organizing companies, are the result of long years of work and waiting. In addition, they give entitlement to the unemployment compensation plan known as “the intermittence of the spectacle”. These contracts are essential for us in more ways than one. First, they are our main and often the only source of income. On the other hand, it is a career issue: a contract can have decisive consequences in the development of an artistic career. Finally, they are the central parts of the calculation of our hours that allow us to benefit from the essential safety net that constitutes intermittency.

The breach of these contracts is normally framed by labor law but, the current situation being unprecedented, we hear a plurality of responses from our employers. A number of them are doing their best not to penalize anyone, sometimes at the risk of endangering their cash, however some singers seem to have to give up their entire salary.

Are we in a case of force majeure? If so, does the Covid-19 epidemic characterize a “force majeure incident” within the meaning of article 1234-4 paragraph 2 of the labor code? Where applicable, this public policy provision prohibits a unilateral termination of the CDD on the initiative of the employer without compensation for the benefit of the employee, notwithstanding any contractual clause to the contrary.

Are we, as employees (even on fixed-term contracts) eligible for the partial unemployment procedure announced? If not, is it fair that we are excluded from the state’s promise not to let any employee lose their job? How will the hours lost in calculating our status be counted? What compensation for loss of opportunity is possible?

We need clear answers to the gravity of a crisis which threatens the future of a large number of artists and greatly accentuates the precariousness in which some of them already find themselves. We appeal to our supervisory Ministry, as well as to the Ministry of the Economy and to the Prime Minister. Art and culture are essential to our society and to the influence of our country in the world. We are the proud representatives in France and elsewhere. As such, we deserve not to be treated as mere adjustment variables subject to the arbitrary decisions of certain employers.

We ask that no decision relating to the cancellation of contracts and the payment of wages be taken until the legal framework has been defined. We are ready to make efforts in this common test but, in no case, to sacrifice our future as artists.

We all hope to quickly return to the stage and our audience, our greatest support. Once this ordeal has been overcome, it will be essential, in the country of cultural exception, for a substantive debate to begin on the statutory protection of our performing trades.”

Roberto Alagna, Kévin Amiel, Guillaume Andrieux, Jean-Luc Ballestra, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Cassandre Berthon, Christophe Berry, Julien Behr, Benjamin Bernheim, Thomas Bettinger, Yann Beuron, Jean-Vincent Blot, Jean-François Borras, Jean-Sebastien Bou, Ambroisine Bré, Raphaël Brémard, Chloé Briot, Hélène Carpentier, Albane Carrère, Nicolas Cavallier, Adèle Charvet, Nicolas Courjal, Marianne Croux, Marianne Crebassa, José van Dam, Thibault de Damas, Stéphane Degout, Camille Delaforge, Mireille Delunsch, Antoinette Dennefeld, Léa Desandre, Karine Deshayes, Charlotte Despaux, Sabine Devieilhe, Jodie Devos, Olivia Doray, Pierre Doyen, Julien Dran, Cyrille Dubois, Yoann Dubruque, Alexandre Duhamel, Philippe Estèphe, Mathilde Etienne, Aude Extrémo, Loïc Felix, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, Julie Fuchs Christophe Gay, Paul Gay, Véronique Gens, Anne-Catherne Gillet, Emiliano Gonzales Toro, Olivier Grand, Sébastien Guèze, Delphine Haidan, André Heijboer, Eric Huchet, Enguerrand de Hys, Philippe Jarrousky, Caroline Jesteadt, Marie Karall, Marc Labonnette, Florian Laconi, Marc Laho, Jean-Christophe Lanièce, Marion Lebègue, Matthieu Lécroart, Aimery Lefèvre, Marie Lenormand, Alix Le Saux, Lionel Lhote, François Lis, Philippe-Nicolas Martin, Clémentine Margaine, Héloïse Mas, Rémy Mathieu, Elodie Méchain, Régis Mengus, Anaïk Morel, Laurent Naouri, Stéphanie d’Oustrac, Eléonore Pancrazi, Julie Pasturaud, Patricia Petibon, Gabrielle Philiponnet, Anthéa Pichanik, François Piolino, Camille Poul, Marie Perbost, Julie Robard-Gendre, François Rougier,  Pauline Sabatier, Francesco Salvadori, Chantal Santon-Jeffery, Vannina Santoni, Anas Séguin, Jean Fernand Setti, Philippe Talbot, Jean Teitgen, Marie-Ange Todorovitch, Catherine Trottmann, Béatrice Uria Monzon, Florie Valiquette, Mathias Vidal, Guilhelm Worms.

By: Frank Cadenhead. When I heard that there was a box in the Opéra-Comique that was still in the possession of an aristocratic family, I thought it was a joke. There is a French version of The Onion available but this item was in Le Monde.

It appears that Louis XVI gave a box as a gift to Duke Etienne-François de Choiseul in 1781. Choiseul was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under Louis XV, among other posts. Next to the former royal box, it has remained in the same family for well over two centuries, and that is now ten or twelve generations. That is no small achievement because the family’s right to the box, according to the gift order, would expire without a male heir to continue their occupancy.

The Opéra-Comique’s long-time press rep, Alice Bloch, explained that the revolution I remembered reading about, in 1789, did not affect cultural matters. It actually did have a substantial impact and the “court” fashion in art and music immediately disappeared. One example is my encounter with a young couple who were restoring an important chateau they owned in the north of France.  There was a large room with walls completely covered by mirrors. When they started removing the mirrors for restoration, they discovered that the walls of the entire room were covered by an important but seriously degraded fresco by Antoine Watteau. A central figure in the Rococo period of French art, his art would have been seriously “out of fashion” after the revolution. While paintings of this nature usually ended upon the basement, the aristocrats who then owned the chateau felt compelled to create a minor “Hall of Mirrors” to hide the fresco.

But, somehow, the Comique’s gift box keeps on giving. In the past two centuries expanding waist-lines and various fires and restorations have reduced by half the original number who attended performances at the Comique and the Choiseul box, originally for 12, now seats five. This means that the Comique looses a five figure number for seats it cannot sell – between 20,000 and 40,000 euros each year. The good news is that the family and their friends are regulars at this historic theater and there is seldom empty seats.

By: Frank Cadenhead. This is (mostly) a Google translation of an item from the French site Forum Opera:
After declaring in 2015 that he would not go back on the stage of the Orange Theater, Roberto Alagna announces he will give up Otello on July 12 and 15, 2020 in Munich to make his return next summer to the Chorégies d’Orange alongside Anita Rachvelishvili in Samson and Dalila. He will be replaced in Munich by Gregory Kunde. The story would stop there but the Bayerische Staastoper issued a statement informing the spectators already holding tickets for these two dates that they could change them at their convenience. The gesture, if it is commercial, is not only unusual but above all offensive to the alternative singer. On his Facebook page, Gregory Kunde shared his surprise at the inelegance of the process, causing a pile of indignant comments that he did not take the time to moderate. Some of these comments put the two tenors in the balance to affirm the American’s superiority over the French, in pithy words customary of social networks. Reading them, Roberto Alagna, offended, posted a critique of his colleague for not having suppressed insulting remarks: “You let your best friends target me and rant on your Facebook page. On mine, I never let my fans and friends slander or even criticize other singers. Offensive comments about my colleagues are systematically removed because I respect them. You seem to do exactly the opposite. [….] You complain about Munich, well, why don’t you have the … to cancel? “. The quarrel could have festered if Gregory Kunde hadn’t immediately waved the white flag on Facebook: “I have to comment on an article I hastily published last night (which I have since deleted) about of the situation in Munich. Roberto Alagna is my friend and colleague. The message did not concern him, but denounced the way in which the news was announced. I read some of your comments and although I appreciate your support, I cannot accept the degrading and derogatory comments about another colleague. That’s why I deleted the original message. Do not forget this when you post on my page … Almost ALL the tenors who sing today are my friends. We are not rivals … We are colleagues. I sincerely apologize to Aleksandra Kurzak and Roberto Alagna for the unfortunate responses to this article. You’re a great singer, Robby. And I’m proud to know you, you and Alex.” Phew! The war will not take place.