Classical Music USA

Louis Andriessen wins 2011 Grawemeyer Award for Composition

The 2011 Grawemeyer Award for Musical Composition has been awarded to Louis Andriessen for his multimedia opera 'La Commedia'. The award has a cash value of $100,000 and is considered the most prestigious prize in composition. It is awarded every year by the University of Louisville from funds donated by the industrialist H. Charles Grawemeyer in 1984.

'La Commedia' is based on Dante's 'The Divine Comedy'. It is Andriessen's fourth opera and his largest work to date. The opera was premièred in 2008 at the Holland Festival in Amsterdam. The original production was the result of a collaboration between Andriessen, Netherlands Opera and the American film director Hal Hartley.

Riccardo Muti denies rumours of Rome Opera contract

Italian conductor Riccardo Muti has denied rumours that he has singed a contract to be artistic director of the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome. Muti has recently been appointed as Principal Conductor of the Chicago Symphony, and said at a press conference this week that he was "too busy abroad" to take up the Rome appointment.

Muti explained "In a world where directors suffer continuously from jet lag, to accept the offer and then fail to really commit to the job would have been immoral." However, he did not rule out taking up the appointment at some stage in the future. "Who knows what the future holds in store?," he said.

The rumour of Muti's Rome appointment came from Associated Press who claimed to have a source in Rome City Hall. It was later circulated by the New York Times.

Romanian Soprano Roxana Briban commits suicide aged 39

The Romanian soprano Roxana Briban has been found dead at her home in Bucharest, having apparently committed suicide.

Briban made regular appearances in lead roles at both the Vienna State Opera and the Romanian National Opera, although her contract in Bucharest was recently terminated, lead to a period of depression.

A few days ago, Briban posted an image on her Facebook page of a bloodied hand from a production of 'Madame Butterfly', and on the day of her death she posted a video of herself singing Violetta's death scene from 'La Traviata'.

Her husband claimed that Romanian National Opera had demanded she stop singing in Vienna if she wanted to continue with the national company, something she was reluctant to do. However, Catalin Ionescu Arbore, Director of Romanian National Opera, denied that any such demands had been made.

Further therapeutic claims for Mozart's music – It helps bananas ripen and sake ferment

The number of bizarre uses for Mozart's music appears to be on the increase. Previous claims for its powers have included accelerating sewage digestion in Austria and increasing milk production from cows in Spain.

Now Japan is in on the act, with bananas and tomatoes ripened to Mozart and sake fermented to his soothing strains.

At the Ohara Shuzo, a sake brewery in Fukushima Prefecture, the fermenting vats are played one hour of Mozart every morning and every evening for 24 to 30 days. The brewers originally experimented with a range of music including jazz, Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. They eventually narrowed down the repertoire to Mozart's Symphony No.41 and his 20^th Piano Concerto. According to a spokesperson for the brewery "It makes the sake have a richer fragrance and a milder taste."

Bananas prefer the 17^th String Quartet and the 15^th Piano Concerto, which apparently improve the sweetness of the fruit. Other products to be produced with the aid of Mozart in Japan include soy sauce, udon noodles and maitake mushrooms.

There may not be any scientific basis for these claims, but that hasn't stopped the food companies from charging a premium for their Mozart products. Mozart's face appears on the bottle of the sake his music has aided, while Mozart bananas are labelled with a graphic that includes a conducting stork and musical notation in which the note heads are replaced by bananas.

So far, most of the Mozart products are only sold locally in individual prefectures, but sales are healthy and a number of companies are now considering wider national distribution.

 

Wagner Society of Israel gets Government Approval

The first Wagner Society to be founded in Israel has been given the green light by a government agency. The news suggests that official attitudes towards Wagner's music in the country are becoming more relaxed, although performances of his music there remain rare.

The new organisation has already been accepted into the International Association of Wagner Societies.

Yonatan Livni, the lawyer who will head the new association said: "It's time to allow those who desire to hear Wagner's music in Israel to be able to do so...Karl Orff and even Richard Strauss, who was president of the Reich's State Music Bureau, are played in Israel. So why is it prohibited to play Wagner, who died years before the Nazis came to power? This boycott no longer makes sense."

Livni faces a considerable challenge in promoting Wagner in Israel, but plans to focus his attentions on Tel Aviv opera, where he is hoping Israel’s first staging of a Wagner opera will take place.

Earlier this year there was a major public backlash in Israel when it was announced that the Israel Chamber Orchestra would be performing at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. The row was only resolved when the orchestra agreed to perform instead at another venue in the city.

No end in sight for Detroit Symphony Industrial Dispute

The players of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra who have been on strike since 4 October, have announced a series of Christmas concerts in aid of their strike fund.

The dispute centres on pay cuts that the management are currently trying to impose. Under the plans, the current members would face an immediate pay cut of between 20% and 30%. But the players are more concerned that new members would be offered a salary 40% lower than the current level, making recruitment of top quality players all but impossible.

The industrial action has so far included the cancellation of all DSO concerts at Orchestra Hall, which have been replaced by fund-raising events in the suburbs. Tomorrow night a concert will take place at the Temple Beth El Synagogue in Broomfield Hills with a programme of Mozart and Tchaikovsky. This will be followed by three 'Holiday Glow' Christmas events at other venues around the city.

The events in Detroit are being followed closely by orchestral players and administrators across the US, many of whom are anticipating similar stand-offs within their own organisations as cuts are implemented. So far, the highest profile American ensemble to face similar problems has been the Cleveland Orchestra. The Cleveland players have provisionally accepted a two year pay freeze, but are concerned that their situation might yet deteriorate further. 17 players from the Cleveland Orchestra have so far taken part in fund-raising concerts for the Detroit Symphony players.

US Cellist Denied Entry by UK Border Agency

A lecture recital by the Carpe Diem Quartet at the University of Leeds is in jeopardy after the ensemble's cellist, Kristin Ostling, was denied entry into the UK.

The Quartet landed at Heathrow Terminal 3, and while the other members of the group passed through immigration unhindered, Ms Ostling, who is a US citizen, was detained. The event at Leeds was to be an unpaid appearance, but the immigration officials apparently considered any musical performance to be work, therefore requiring a specific visa. She reports being bullied and rudely questioned for eight hours before being put on a plane back to Chicago.

During the incident, and apparently under some duress, she signed a statement claiming that her airfare had been paid by the University of Leeds, which is untrue. After arriving back in Chicago, she immediately went to the UK Consulate, but was told that they were unable to help because she did not need a visa to enter the UK.

Although the full details of the affair have yet to emerge, there is some speculation that this decision is part of a wider tit-for-tat dispute between immigration officials in the UK and the US.

Scientists unveil world's first jamming robot

 

A team at the Georgia Institute of Technology have created the first robot instrumentalist with the ability to interact with other musicians. 'Shimon' performs jazz improvisations on the marimba in collaboration with human musicians. His programming takes on board stylistic traits from jazz greats like and Thelonious Monk, but when performing he combines this with live interaction with human musicians, based on both sound and vision sensors. The next stage in the development process is to get Shimon to recognise the hand and head gestures used to coordinate jazz combos.

Conductor accused of sexual assault performs excerpts from Tosca in Court

A court hearing a sexual assault case in the German city of Würzburg was treated this week to an impromptu rendition of excerpts from Tosca. The defendant, Jin Wang, brought his violin to the hearing and performed the Puccini in an apparent attempt to gain sympathy from the public and press galleries.

The case centers on an incident in 2007 when Wang, then Principal Conductor at the Mainfranken-Theater in Würzburg allegedly assaulted a student violinist after a concert.

The trail had been expected to last around two days, but has been lengthened considerably as a result of the defendant's erratic behaviour.

Vienna Philharmonic bassist dies climbing Mount Fuji

Georg Starka, a double bass player with the Vienna Philharmonic, has died while attempting to climb Mount Fuji in Japan. The 41 year old musician was in the country as part of a tour with the orchestra.

Starka had played with the VPO since 1999. He was also a member of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.