Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
In the wake of the Metropolitan Opera’s PR disaster that is the James Levine disgrace, the field as a whole has a debt to pay with owning up to and dismantling the Maestro Mystique culture it worked to build and perpetuate over the last 70 years. There’s a superb article in the 3/13/18 edition of the New York Times by Zachary Woolfe that examines this very issue. For those unaware, conductors …
Initial fallout over The Metropolitan Opera’s (The Met) suspended music director James Levine’s alleged sexual misconduct is positively radioactive. There is no shortage of discussion on the topic, you’ll find thousands of comments across social media threads and online classical music outlets. Passions run deep and a sizable portion of that outrage is directed toward The Met’s executive leadership. At the time this article was written, The Met’s official Facebook page …
There isn’t much that will distract me from blogging but adopting a 12-week old kitten is decidedly one of those exceptions to the rule. Consequently, you have two choices for today’s post… Door #1: Peter Gelb News For those of you who absolutely, positively must have a suitable culture blog topic, you should swing by two articles by Norman Lebrecht. Never one to mince words, Lebrecht focuses his attention on The Metropolitan …
If you haven’t taken the time to read James B. Stewart’s missive in the 3/23/2015 edition of The New Yorker about the Metropolitan Opera’s recent labor dispute and related political rapids, then you’re missing out. Yes, it is nearly 9000 words, but you’ll be glad you allocated the time. Even if you’re already quite familiar with The Met’s recent rumble, the article goes a long way toward filling in some of …
The opening night for the Metropolitan Opera’s production of The Death of Klinghoffer came and went. The protesters dissented and few even attempted to disrupt the performance albeit, fortunately, to no avail. If nothing else, the media storm attached to this particular performance will hopefully serve as the high water mark for John Adams’ embattled work and from here on out, protests will drift away to nothing more than occasional “remember …