“Set-Back” for Opera Carolina
Actually, Opera Carolina won’t be getting any sets back. In early May, an employee of Opera Carolina stopped by to check on the Crescent Resources building where all of the scenery, props and mechanical equipment were being stored for an upcoming production of “Cold Sassy Tree.” A shocked General Director James Meena soon after received a phone call from that employee informing him that the building had been leveled and all of the stored sets destroyed. The building had been demolished by a Duke Energy subsidiary at the request of the police department. Opera Carolina, however, was not informed of these plans due to a miscommunication between the two companies. The production will go on in February as planned; in the meantime, there are $579,800 in replacement costs.
All-Chinese Turandot Turned Away
Tibor Rudas has not had any problems booking the Three Tenors, but as of early June, he has not been able to secure a single location for the all-Chinese miked production of Turandot planned to tour through North American stadiums in the fall.
Staatsoper’s Age Beginning to Show
During a mid-May performance of Don Giovanni at Berlin’s Staatsoper, an ancient hydraulic stage lift collapsed, bringing down parts of the set. The production was halted for 20 minutes; fortunately, no one was injured. Musical Director Daniel Barenboim calls the 18th century theater a danger and is insisting on renovations.
Alagna Plans Duet with Madonna
According to the July issue of Gramophone magazine, Roberto Alagna has indicated his intentions to produce a CD with Madonna.
Kathleen Battle Takes on Hollywood
On June 28, Kathleen Battle, Bernadette Peters and Randy Newman were inducted into the Hollywood Bowl of Fame, which was established to pay tribute to artists whose achievements “embody the spirit of the world Hollywood Bowl.”
Met Miffs Miller
In the June issue of Opera News, Met stage director Jonathan Miller rips apart the Metropolitan Opera, as well as many of the singers he has worked with, describing Pavarotti as being “massively inert” and stating that Carreras “just can’t act.” Miller claims he was fired from the Met after a dispute with Cecilia Bartoli in a production of The Marriage of Figaro several years ago. Miller may be out of favor at the Met but he is favor with the Queen of England; he was recently granted Knighthood—along with Mic Jagger—at the Queen’s birthday celebration.
Money Issues in Dallas
In the efforts to raise money for the upcoming Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, two philanthropists have donated $42 million of the needed $250 million. The center will now be called the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House. In the wake of this donation comes a blow to Dallas Opera, which stands to benefit greatly from the new opera house. After only two years of being General Director of Dallas Opera, Anthony Whitworth-Jones has turned in his resignation effective May 31. Whitworth-Jones said that he and his wife missed England and also that they were frustrated with the lack of fund-raising support from the local community, in particular because of the competition from fund-raising efforts for the new Center for the Performing Arts.
Renée Fleming Honored By French
Gramophone magazine reports that on June 14, French culture minister Jean-Jacques Aillagon bestowed upon Renée Fleming the honor of “Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres,” one of France’s most prestigious awards.
Pavarotti Sr. Dies
On May 24, Fernando Pavarotti passed away at the age of 89. Pavarotti Jr., who reportedly was at his father’s side at the time, lost his mother, Adele Venturi, in January.
Non-Profit Orgs. Turning Out Quite a Profit
A new study commissioned by Americans for the Arts revealed that non-profit arts organizations are actually stimulating a lot more economic business for their communities than their investors have previously thought. According to this study, which covered 3,000 arts organizations in 91 cities as well as 40,000 of their patrons, 4.85 million full-time jobs are generated by these “non-profit” organizations, which is a larger percentage of the workforce than, for example, lawyers. Two million of these jobs are musicians/curators, which is up from 1.3 million 10 years ago. The study reports that these groups generate $134 billion in economic activity.
Pirated CD’s Setting Sail
What’s one more illegally copied CD, you might think? Pirated CD sales have skyrocketed to 950 million units last year, twice what they were the year before. Pirated recording sales, including cassette tapes and CDs, were at 2 billion in 2001, meaning that two out of every five recordings sold throughout the world was an illegal copy. The International Federation of Phonographic Industries has estimated that over $4.3 billion has been lost as a result of the pirated recording industry.
Sandor Konya Dies
At the age of 78, Sandor Konya passed away on May 20. The Hungarian tenor was known for his Wagnerian roles and was on the Metropolitan Opera roster from 1961 to 1974.
CLASSICAL SINGER WEBSITE
The two new directories on the CS website are getting rave reviews. The new Classified Ad system and the new Competitions searchable database are up and running and in use by singers. The online magazine also features a new, legible layout with fast loading for subscribers with dialup access.
