Rest in Peace, Nicolai Ghiaurov
On June 2, Italian newspapers announced that the great Bulgarian-born bass, Nicolai Ghiaurov, passed away at a private clinic in Modena. He was 74 years old but had only been ill for a short time.
Ghiaurov and his wife, soprano Mirella Freni, had lived in Modena, where she was born, for many years. Ghiaurov made his professional debut in Sofia, Bulgaria during a Bolshoi Opera tour in 1956, as Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville, and soon achieved worldwide fame for his interpretation of Italian and Russian roles. He sang professionally for more than 40 years.
“I was at a performance at the Met once where Mirella Freni was singing,” writes fan Brenda Zwickel. “At the curtain call, the man next to me stood up and loudly bravo’d and applauded. He sat down, beaming, smiled at me and uttered one word: ‘Wife!’
“Now that I knew who he was, I told him how much I loved him in Don Carlo. He smiled again [and] said: ‘Thank you, but tonight is my wife’s night!’”
San Francisco Opera and AGMA Reach Agreement
After more than a year of very difficult negotiations, the San Francisco Opera Association and the American Guild of Musical Artists announced they have agreed on the terms of a contract that will, to the fullest extent possible, protect the wages and working conditions of union members while allowing the opera company to stay within a reasonable budget. General Director Pamela Rosenberg made a particular point of thanking the members of the chorus, who made significant sacrifices to make the agreement possible.
www.agma.org
Met Broadcast Announcer Retires
Having completed his 29th year as announcer of the Metropolitan Opera’s Saturday broadcasts on April 24, announcer Peter Allen recently announced he has chosen to retire. Allen is 84 years old—but his age was never evident on the air. He said that his Met stint had been “a very rich experience” and that he intended to stay connected to opera in some way.
Allen, a Canadian, took over the job in January of 1975, upon the sudden death of Milton Cross, who had held the position since 1931, when the opera company first began broadcasting from the old Met.
www.metopera.org (Click on “History”)
New York Times Appoints New Cultural Editor
On May 12, The New York Times announced the appointment of Jonathan I. Landman to the post of cultural news editor, while at the same time acknowledging that the appointee has a lack of expertise in that field. Former editor Steven Erlanger will become the new chief of the Jerusalem bureau, the announcement added.
Landman’s appointment may not be permanent, but he is expected to broaden the scope of the paper’s arts sections during his tenure.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05132004/business/kelly.htm
Truck Driver Stalks Diva
Police arrested Victoria Glover, a 39-year-old unemployed truck driver from Detroit, in New York City on May 18 for harassing opera great Beverly Sills. It is alleged that Glover, calling herself “Jesus Emmanuel,” had telephoned the Metropolitan Opera frequently between November of 2003 and May of this year, asking to speak with Sills and stating that she wished to marry the retired singer.
Between May 10 and 17, Glover allegedly called the opera company as many as five times a day.
When she arrived at the Met on Tuesday and asked to see the legendary diva, she was met by police instead.
http://news.findlaw.com/entertainment/s/20040521/peoplesillsdc.html
States Cut Arts Funding
Despite statistics that prove the arts bring in tourism dollars, attract major companies to a particular area and generate tax income, governors of some states have again seen support of the arts as an area that can be cut without offending large numbers of voters.
Hence the governors of New Jersey, Florida, California, Colorado and Oregon are planning severe reductions in their spending on the arts. Those cuts will probably result in less inventive but more popular programming and a reduction in the number of performances in those states.
www.cbca.org Denver Study
Lyric Opera of Chicago Ends Season with a Surplus
Despite the bad news coming from many opera companies this year, Lyric Opera of Chicago reports that even though it incurred a deficit of $11 million during its 2002-2003 season, it has maintained a strict budget during 2003-2004, resulting in a surplus of $700,000. The company had always run “in the black” before 2002, and it sold 98 percent of its tickets for the 2003-2004 season.
Some of last season’s cost-cutting measures included the cancellation of new productions of Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini and Montemezzi’s L’amore Dei Tre Re, which were replaced by Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates Of Penzance and a revival of Gounod’s Faust. www.lyricopera.org
Young Toscanini resorts to emergency measures
When legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini was 8, his family sent him to a rather militaristic boarding school that would give him a good musical background. On one occasion, according to the website paramaitaly.com, he was punished and told to go practice his cello. When he asked to go to the bathroom the answer was “no.” Sometime later, the teacher asked young Arturo if he still needed to use the facilities, “No,” he replied. It was only then that the teacher noticed the little boy’s ‘cello was somewhat aromatic.
www.parmaitaly.com/toscaninik.html
www.scena.org/columns/anson/020701-PA-toscanini.html
Fort Wayne Philharmonic Discovers a Classical Surprise
In analyzing its ticket sales for the past season, Indiana’s Fort Wayne Philharmonic found that falling ticket sales and reduced contributions have left the orchestra with a $300,000 deficit.
An analysis of sales showed that it was the “pops” concerts that sold poorly, suffering a reduction of more than 30 percent in subscriptions over the past three years. Concerts in the classical series showed a marked increase over the same period of time.
www.fortwaynephilharmonic.com
