Rattle to Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Sir Simon Rattle

Photo: Mark Allan / Courtesy of the London Symphony Orchestra

The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) spent goodness knows how long hoping to lure Sir Simon Rattle from Berlin back to London, and a few years back, they finally signed him.

Now that Brexit has arrived, Rattle is heading back to Germany, this time to the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO, aka Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks) in 2023. Well, UK, you were warned about what might happen to the vibrant cultural scene if Brexit went through.

The mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena, who is Rattle's wife, and their children live in Germany, where the children are in school. Money quotes:

“My reasons for accepting the role of principal conductor in Munich are entirely personal,” he said in the statement, “enabling me to better manage the balance of my work and be close enough to home to be present for my children in a meaningful way.” Mr. Rattle’s family is based in Berlin, where he led the Berlin Philharmonic from 2002 to 2018.

Mr. Rattle declined to comment beyond that statement. But he has been a vocal critic of Brexit, which was voted on after he accepted the London Symphony post in 2015. And progress has been sluggish on the Center for Music, the much-desired new home for the orchestra that was conceived alongside Mr. Rattle’s appointment.

He's succeeding the late Mariss Jansons at the BRSO. 

Museum Mondays

 

Mary McFadden

Pleated garment in two states

Metropolitan Museum of Art

May, 2016

Friday Photo

Wine Bottles

October, 2006

 

Museum Mondays

Greek Sculpture

Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

May, 2016

 

Friday Photo

Artichoke

 

Goodbye, 2020, and Good Riddance

College Avenue, Oakland

April 12, 2020

Photo taken from the middle of the street with no risk to the photographer (me).

Well, it certainly has been a dumpster fire of a year, one that I'm very happy to say good-bye to.

On the positive side:

• My partner and I had work, a roof over our heads, a cat who tolerates us, and each other.
• We didn't get COVID-19, owing to some combination of luck and caution.
• We still like each other, after approximately 9 months of being stuck in the house together.
• We are going full speed ahead on a long-overdue remodel of our kitchen, which is falling apart (literally).
• I had a shockingly productive year at work, after a week of getting used to being home.
• I read 77 books. I am way behind in Wagnerism, but okay. It's not light reading.
• Joe Biden and Kamala Harris take office in just under three weeks. I will be able to stop worrying that I will wake up to find that the President of the United States nuked [country name] in a fit of pique.

Looking at my calendar, I attended three concerts before everything shut down: Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, in a lovely program that included a new piece by Kurt Rohde and Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time and both of Esa-Pekka Salonen's programs at SFS. One of the highlights was hearing his Violin Concerto again; they were both wonderful.

The last "normal" things I did before the shutdown were:

• Attend the American Judo & Jujitsu Federation's annual convention (March 6-8); amazingly, it seems nobody spread the coronavirus at this, despite hundreds of people in close contact all weekend.
• Teach safe rolling & falling on March 8, the last in a ten-week series of classes
• Teach the one student who came to regular class that week, on Thursday, March 12
• Get my hair cut and colored (fun colors, not cover-the-gray coloring)

On the negative side:

• Hundreds of thousands of Americans are dead from COVID-19.
• Even minimally competent leadership would have greatly reduced that.
• Donald Trump would have been a hero if he'd modeled wearing masks and staying home. People on the left would have believed the science and worn masks. People on the right would have believed Trump and worn masks.
• He would have been re-elected. 
• Utter economic disaster for far too many Americans, owing to mismanagement, terrible unemployment insurance, the GOP Senate and Mitch McConnell's unwillingness to provide adequate relief.
• Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died and McConnell rammed through her replacement in record time just weeks before the election.
• No concerts, no theatre, no opera since very early March.
• Musical institutions of all sizes are under enormous economic pressure. They won't all survive.
• Some are doing terrible things to their performing and theatrical staff. Yes, I'm looking at you, Metropolitan Opera.
• Most musical performers have lost a year of work and might not perform in person again until late in 2021.
• In institutions where management isn't trying to break unions, a lot of performers are looking at reduced pay for years to come.

It didn't have to be this way. We have giant amounts of money floating around; the government can print money quite freely; paying everyone who couldn't work safely to stay home, paying everyone who lost their job, enrolling everyone who lost a job into the ACA automatically at no charge, ongoing rent and mortgage relief for those who couldn't pay - if only the GOP and far too many Americans don't believe in taking care of other Americans. So much suffering could have been avoided, had we the political will and decency to do so.

Music Journalism Insider

Thanks to a Twitter thread by the redoubtable Steve Smith, whose Substack you should read, I recently learned about the existence of the Substack called Music Journalism Insider,  run by Todd L. Burns. This is of obvious interest to anyone writing about music.

I subscribed immediately; some day I will have time to be more than a very, very part-time music journalist, and I expect to get some useful insights from Music Journalism Insider.

Museum Mondays

Drawn Stone, by Andy Goldsworthy

Site-specific work for the DeYoung Museum of Art

San Francisco, CA, 2006

 

Friday Photo, Christmas Edition

Nativity scene

Alte Pinakothek, Munich

August, 2015

 

Museum Mondays

The Cloisters, NYC

February, 2010

 

Bang on a Can Streaming Marathon

Received from Bang on a Can:

Bang on a Can will stream performances from all four 2020 Bang on a Can Online Marathons - “A Marathon of Marathons” for on-demand viewing from December 24, 2020 - January 1, 2021 at marathon2020.bangonacan.org. Each online Marathon in 2020 (May 3, June 14, August 16, and October 18) featured performances from musicians' homes around the country and across the world -  a total of 95 performances including 31 world premieres of new commissions and over 130 composers and performers. All Marathon performers and composers participating live have been compensated by Bang on a Can. In all, Bang on a Can signed more than 150 paychecks to working artists to create and play the music on these marathons. The online collection also includes dozens of artist conversations with Bang on a Can Co-Founders and Artistic Directors Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, who interviewed many of the composers throughout the 24 hours of Marathon concert streams. 

The stream is free, but the organization encourages audience members to buy a ticket to help support the composers and performers whose work went into this enormous presentation.

New Award for Librettists

Mark Campbell, who has had a very successful career writing opera librettos, has established an award with Opera America, to be awarded annually to an American librettist who demonstrates exceptional talent and the potential to make a substantial contribution to the opera literature. There's a $7,000 check with the award; read more about it, including the schedule for applying, at the Opera America web site.

Good News from Florida

Opera Orlando, a small company in Florida, managed to stage the first full, indoor operatic production in the US since March. Considering what the last couple of weeks have been like in the public health section (horrible beyond words), this is quite a feat. I had actually meant to post about this before the performances, which were on Thursday, 12/17, and last night.

You can read and watch a video about how they did it, with appropriate social distancing on and off stage, at the Opera Orlando web site.

And, if you'd like to see Die Feldermaus: The Revenge of the Bat, they'll be streaming the production from 7 p.m. on New Year's Eve, December 31 to Friday, January 15th at midnight (presumably Eastern time).

Robin Sutherland

Terrible news from San Francisco Symphony: Robin Sutherland, retired longtime Principal Keyboard, died this morning following a short illness. Seiji Ozawa created the position for him, and he held that title for some 46 years, before retiring in 2018. He was a terrific player and seemed like a lovely person the couple of times I chatted with him. Deepest condolences to his husband Carlos Ortega, other friends and family, and everyone at SFS.

I heard Robin in lots and lots of performances over the years, and...what can I say. I thought he'd have a long and musical retirement and I was looking forward to hearing him in chamber music and in appearances with other organizations. He was on leave for a time a few years ago (I think) for medical reasons, and perhaps he had a reoccurrence of whatever ailed him then. I'm just sorry that he's gone.

You can read more about Robin Sutherland and his career, and the thoughts and memories of his friends and colleagues, at the SFS press room. Joshua Kosman has an informative obit at the Chron.

Friday Photo

 

Cemetery

Oahu, Hawaii, 2012

Dear Kaiser: Come ON.

Received today, email from Kaiser Permanente, from which I have gotten my health care for about 30 years now, and which generally I like very much: a pointer to an article on the Kaiser web site about Scandinavian-style well-being.

5 Scandinavian secrets to a happier, healthier life

Scandinavian winters are dark, cold, and long. Depending on the city, a typical day could have little to no sunshine, freezing temperatures, and lots of snow. Some people might see those conditions as a recipe for seasonal depression. But despite their harsh winters, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Iceland have topped the World Happiness Report — which surveys 156 countries by asking their citizens how happy they are — for several years in a row.

So, what is it that makes Scandinavian people so content? The answer may lie in their approach to life — which contains several feel-good philosophies that promote an overall sense of well-being. Let’s take a look.

The article then lists gokotta (waking up early in the morning to go outside and listen to the birds sing.), hygge (coziness), fika paus (coffee break, but it's a ritual coffee break), friluftsliv (spending time in nature), and lagom (balance).

Now, I have no objection to anyone incorporating nature, coziness, coffee breaks, or balance in their lives. But the reason Scandinavians (and Finns, who will be happy to tell you that they are not Scandinavian) are among the happiest and most content people in the world has more to do with what they have done to create a decent society that provides for its people:

1. High taxes
2. Universal health care
3. High-quality public schools
4. High-quality, low-cost university education
5. Universal child care
6. Lengthy parental leave
7. Laws that enforce gender equality
8. Etc.

Sure, happiness is a state of mind, but there's no substitute for having a roof over your head, an income, enough to eat, and health care. We can be as cozy as we want in the United States, but until we actually have a government that levies higher taxes and spends that money on people - rather than the overgrown and enormous military we have - we're not going to have the kind of society that Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland have.

Unsurprising Update from SFO

Not exactly a press release, but a note to the press:

Due to the ongoing pandemic, San Francisco Opera is re-envisioning our upcoming 2021 schedule. The originally announced 2021 Spring Season running April 25–May 16 at the War Memorial Opera House—Rossini’s The Barber of Seville (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg, and concerts featuring sopranos Lianna Haroutounian and Iréne Theorin—will not take place as planned.

Please stay tuned—on Tuesday, February 16, we’ll be announcing a newly imagined lineup of events and experiences, whether in new digital programs/content or reimagined live performances, as public health mandates allow. Complete details about the new programming, as well as information for current ticketholders on how spring tickets can be transferred, will be shared on February 16.  

Please also note: We currently anticipate announcing the 2021–22 Season in late spring of 2021 and will keep you posted.

There's also a longer and more emotive version to subscribers, over Matthew Shilvock's signature and using many of his signature phrases. :) 

  

Museum Mondays

 

The Cloisters, NYC

February, 2010

Bonus Friday Photo

Berlioz

Musée d'Orsay, Paris

October, 2018

Because it's his birthday.

Friday Photo

 

College Avenue, Rockridge, Oakland, CA

Pandemic photos: looking south and north

April, 2020 

San Francisco Performances: I'm Scratching My Head

SFP cancels several performance and reschedules one....in March?

MEDIA UPDATE
SAN FRANCISCO PERFORMANCES ANNOUNCES THE
FOLLOWING 2020/21 SEASON SCHEDULE CHANGES 
 
CANCELLATIONS
BEATRICE RANA, PIANO AND RENAUD CAPUÇON, VIOLIN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021, 7:30pm 
Herbst Theatre
 
NICOLA BENEDETTI, VIOLIN; LEONARD ELSCHENBROICH, CELLO; ALEXEI GRYNYUK, PIANO  
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2021, 7:30pm 
Herbst Theatre
 
DREAMERS’ CIRCUS 
FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021, 7:30pm
Herbst Theatre
 
CHIAROSCURO QUARTET
SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021, 7:30pm 
Herbst Theatre
 
---------------------
 
DATE CHANGE
MODIGLIANI QUARTET
NEW DATE: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2021, 7:30pm 
Herbst Theatre
(Originally scheduled Thursday, March18, 2021)

These changes are all because of health and safety requirements around COVID-19. I don't understand why March 18 isn't okay but March 17 is. 

San Francisco Opera 100: A Different Angle

War Memorial Opera House Interior

December, 2019

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

Another way to think about the centennial season is: who would conduct? Several conductors must be in the pit for something:

• Music Director Eun Sun Kim
• Former Music Director Nicola Luisotti, who would get the Verdi (or Puccini, if, say, there's a revival of Il Trittico)
• Former Music Director Sir Donald Runnicles, who would get Something Big and probably German
• Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Summers

That leaves a few open spots. Herewith some nudges possibilities.

• Presumably coming in for Innocence but would be great to have on the roster in general: Susanna Mälkki; might be busy if she succeeds Philippe Jordan in Paris
• Lives locally, proven excellence in conducting opera, might have some free time these days: Michael Tilson Thomas
• Lives locally, proven excellence in conducting opera, might be too busy: Nicole Paiement
• Lives locally (or will by then), proven excellence in conducting opera, will be working nearby: Esa-Pekka Salonen
• Eminence grise: Sir Andrew Davis
• Eminence grise with some SFO history: Christoph von Dohnanyi, a great conductor, but now 91 and has cancelled some US appearances
• Lives a short flight away, proven excellence in conducting opera, who knows whether his organization will survive the pandemic: James Conlon
• Proven excellence in conducting opera, hasn't been to SF for anything (I think): Franz Welser-Most
• Has some history with SFO, proven excellence in conducting opera, but probably too hot to handle politically: Christian Thielemann
• Could be on stage or in the pit: Nathalie Stutzmann
• Could be on stage or in the pit: Barbara Hannigan (reminding me that it's a long time since SFO performed either of Alban Berg's operas, and also that I would love to see Berenice again)

 

Museum Mondays

Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris

H. Husson, 1909

October, 2018

 

San Francisco Opera 100: Speculation

War Memorial Opera. House

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

It's been a few years since I speculated on what the 100th season of the San Francisco Opera might look like. We're rapidly approaching the date; since the company's first performances were in the 1923-24 season, the 2022-23 season will be number 100.

The current season, which would have been the 98th, will be at best incomplete; it's just barely possible that SFO will be able to perform the planned spring operas and concerts in June, by which time some number of us will have been vaccinated. But it's also possible that the company will go the conservative route and have no performances this season (or in 2021).

Will next season, that is, 2021-22, be announced as the 98th season or 99th? Who knows! I guess we will know in approximately six weeks, if the pattern of the last few years holds. I can guarantee that there won't be an in-person press event; maybe we'll get a press release only, or, now that SFO has had a lot of practice with Zoom events, maybe there will be a live online announcement.

In any event, here's what I now hope for / suspect:

• Make it a ten-opera season, not the eight operas we have had for the last few years.
• A commission: well, it seems reasonable to think that Kaija Saariaho's Innocence, which was to have premiered at Aix-en-Provence this past summer, might be on the centennial schedule.
• Something big, maybe something big that a recently-knighted former music director would be the ideal conductor for. It's now more than 30 years since SFO's last bring-up of Die Frau ohne Schatten, which is beyond a doubt in the wheelhouse of Sir Donald Runnicles. SFO also presented the US premiere of the opera.
• Something else big: it's been more than 20 years since the last Parsifal, which, ahem, Sir Donald would also be most excellent in. Or maybe this could go to new music director Eun Sun Kim.
• The greatest opera SFO has never performed: with Les Troyens out of the way, I'll nominate From the House of the Dead. General Director Matthew Shilvock has been eyeing Moses und Aron. The advantage of From the House of the Dead is that SFO has a longer tradition of performing Janacek than the Met; we've had two runs of The Makropulos Case since 2010, so I can't suggest that one.
• Another work that SFO is associated with: Dialogues of the Carmelites, whose first US performances were here in 1957, 20 years before the Met finally got to it. The New Prioress, Madame Lidoine, was sung by Leontyne Price, who was also in the cast, again as Madame Lidoine, in the 1982-83 season, the last time SFO performed the opera. I say, bring it back!
• Revival of a recent popular work: Les Troyens. Yes, it's expensive to produce, but it sold out.
• Something really weird that they'll never do again: this is the Birtwistle slot. 
• Something Baroque
• Something by Verdi. Il Corsaro? Les Vepres Siciliennes?
• Something by Rossini that they've never done before (Il viaggio a Rheims?) or William Tell
• Well, that's ten. Maybe go for twelve?

Above and beyond this, I'd love an announcement about major donations to the endowment, further commissions, and innovations sparked by what has happened to the current season.

Currentzis / Fragments

Email this morning alerted me to the existence of a new project by conductor/provacateur Teodor Currentzis, called Fragments, which will consist of videos of opera scenes. The first video is the first roughly 20 minutes of Act III of La Traviata.

The Prelude is about as good as it gets, dark, flexible, sorrowful. The video, shot in moody black and white, is similarly dark, shot in fields and ruins. (The phrase "ruin porn" did cross my mind; ruins as a metaphor for Violetta's tuberculosis, which in itself is a metaphor for suffering, fallen, women.)

I made it past the letter reading, "Teneste la promessa," and then gave up, because the soprano isn't so much reading as whispering. The solo violin in the scene is lots louder than she is. It's as if the audience doesn't really need to hear what she's upset about.

It's true that this is a video, not a recording, not a live performance, not a video of a live performance. It's very much a studio production. Does it matter how far the performers deviate from what would work in live performance? In the opera house, you can't get away with whispering; you need to be heard out there. Should I be more tolerant of the total artifice of the Fragments video? I'm really not sure.

For your listening and viewing:

• Teodor Currentzis / Nadezhda Pavlova, Act III Prelude through "Addio, del passato".
• Claudia Muzio, a classic reading of the letter and "Addio, del passato," made in 1935.