By Frank Cadenhead A top orchestra manager in Paris once told me in private “What is Mikko Franck still doing in Finland?” Born in Helsinki in 1979, he was already on the international circuit at 23 and has frequently guest-conducted in Paris. He would be an obvious choice for a major orchestra and his leadership [...]
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By Rebecca Schmid „Kinder, schaff Neues,“ (Children, create something new) Wagner wrote in an adage frequently quoted by stage directors in Germany. In Bayreuth, 136 years after the founding of his festival, the spirit is alive and well. Provocatively-minded Regietheater, for lack of a better blanket term, has come to stamp the recently installed administration [...]
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By Rebecca Schmid The Bayreuth Festival has had its share of scandal to contend with as Wagner’s bicentenary approaches next season. An international investigation into exclusive ticketing practices; the publicized struggle to find the director for a new Ring cycle; administrative policies that have reportedly shortened rehearsal time; widely reviled productions; and—most recently—the last-minute withdrawal [...]
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