|
The Atlanta Symphony has found itself in a difficult position lately, what with contract negotiations at a standstill, and the season cancelled until further notice.
Now there's word that the orchestra's CEO, Stanley Romanstein, has resigned. Click here for the latest.
0 Comments
Christopher Hogwood, British conductor and early music specialist has passed away at the age of 73. Hogwood is probably best known for founding the Academy of Ancient Music in 1973.
Hogwood had been ill for a few months (the nature of his illness undisclosed to my knowledge). BBC News has more here. Riccardo Muti, music director of the Chicago Symphony, has also been conducting productions at the Opera of Rome--until now. He was scheduled to conduct performances of Aida and The Marriage of Figaro, but has pulled out, severing his association with the Opera.
More about what led to his decision here. I haven't seen a lot of news regarding the tense situation in Atlanta between the management and players of the Atlanta Symphony, but I did run across this article that indicates that one of the sticking points is the size of the orchestra. Two years ago, orchestra musicians took a pay cut of around 14 percent, and the size of the orchestra was reduced from 95 to 88. Now management seems to have its sights set on reducing the size of the orchestra even more.
My question for ASO management is this: So just how many people do you have on the payroll in the central office? And are you looking at equivalent cuts there? At any rate, negotiations seem to be at an impasse. You can read more here. Kudos to all at WHQR in Wilmington, NC for putting a full-time classical station on the air! "Classical HQR" as they're calling it is at 96.7 FM, and went on the air at 5:30 yesterday afternoon.
The station will air mostly syndicated content from Classical 24 (a Minnesota-based service), but will have some locally hosted music. Perhaps at time goes on, they can add more local hosts. You can learn more at the station website: whqr.org Is classical music dead?
Click on this link for the definitive answer. The good news--classical music is exploding! Record sales are up and there's more interest these days. So says an article in the New York Daily News.
What some will consider the bad news is that much of the renewed interest is in the area that might best be called "crossover classical". The whole story is here. There's still no agreement in Atlanta, and so the players remain locked out. But the ASO yesterday released a new CD on its label, ASO Media. It's an all Vaughan Williams disk, featuring the 4th Symphony, The Lark Ascending, and Dona Nobis Pacem.
One commentator found some irony in the release of the Dona Nobis Pacem, which means "grant us peace". More about the disk here. So goes the old saying when one takes from one hand to give to the other. Such is the case in Denmark. Danish Radio is de-funding their chamber orchestra to provide support to their symphony orchestra.
Adam Fischer, until now conductor of the chamber orchestra, says he is in shock. You can read his comments here. Fischer previously recorded the complete Haydn symphonies with the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra. Management and musicians of the Atlanta Symphony have failed to reach agreement, and so yesterday the orchestra's management began a lockout. How this will affect the 2014/15 season is yet to be determined.
The New York Times has more which you can read here. |
AuthorI'm a classical radio announcer, blogger, and musician. Archives
April 2022
Categories |
RSS Feed
