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News round-up - 21 January 2010
21 January 2010
_anita_rachvelishvili_(carmen)_credit_marco_brescia_teatro_alla_scala.jpg "Anita Rachvelishvili as Carmen at La Scala (Marco Brescia / Teatro alla Scala)")
Anita Rachvelishvili as Carmen at La Scala (Marco Brescia / Teatro alla Scala)
LA SCALA PERFORMERS PROTEST WORKING RULES ABROAD
Audience critical of dressed-down tactic
No beginning of any season at La Scala would be complete without controversy. Although the hugely successful opening of Carmen in December passed undisrupted, the final night of this production was recently marred when some performers and musicians donned casual street clothes instead of costumes. Their protest was an attempt to put pressure on the company to clarify its policy for pay and working conditions abroad. Shouts of “Shame” were heard from audience members critical of the dressed-down tactic.
NEW DEUTSCHE OPER DIRECTOR NAMED
Dietmar Schwarz to take over from Kirsten Harms in 2012
Dietmar Schwarz, the director of opera at Theater Basel, has been appointed to run Berlin’s Deutsche Oper from 2012, succeeding Kirsten Harms. His appointment follows Harms announcement in September that she will leave Deutsche Oper in 2011, and won’t seek an extension of her contract. Schwarz said in the statement that he hopes to bring “new and fresh ideas” to Deutsche Oper. Under his leadership, Theater Basel was Basel was chosen last year as “Opera House of the Year” by the German opera magazine, Opernwelt.
GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATION FOR WASHINGTON’S WOLF TRAP OPERA
John Musto’s Volpone makes Best Opera Recording category
The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts in Washington, US, has received a Grammy Award nomination in the category ‘Best Opera Recording’ for John Musto’s Volpone. Described as ‘a comic opera unfaithfully based on Ben Johnson’s 17th century comedy’, Volpone was commissioned by the Foundation and recorded by the Wolf Trap Opera Company with a cast including members from the company’s 2007 summer residency programme. The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on 31 January 2010.
- Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
- More about this year’s Grammy Award nominees
- John Musto’s official website
WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA 2010-11 SEASON
Risk-averse productions dominate due to financial constraints
Washington National Opera has announced a 2010-11 season comprising five productions judiciously selected to ensure box office success, including Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Strauss’ Salome and fourteen performances of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. The fifth opera – Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride – will be a company premiere featuring Plácido Domingo as Oreste. Domingo will also perform as part of a new celebrity concert series named after himself.
ROYAL OPERA HOUSE ANNOUNCES FREE EVENT FOR ARMED FORCES
Joanna Lumley to host Valentine’s Day performance
The Royal Opera House in London has become the first UK arts organisation to support Tickets for Troops, a charity that gives free event tickets to members of the British armed forces. Joanna Lumley will host a special evening of opera and ballet at Covent Garden on 14 February, marking the contribution of those who have served or are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. A total of 2,000 tickets will be available to serving military personnel and those medically discharged through injury since 2001.
CONDUCTOR CANCELS ALL ENGAGEMENTS FOR TREATMENT
Seiji Ozawa announces six months leave following cancer diagnosis
74-year-old Japanese conductor, Seiji Ozawa, has cancelled all his engagements for the next six months following a positive diagnosis for esophageal cancer. Ozawa has been music director at the Vienna State Opera since 2002. His contract is due to expire later this year, but he is confident of returning in July “in time to fulfil my summer schedule.”
