Rest in Peace Thomas Stewart
On Sunday, September 24, the great American baritone Thomas Stewart died suddenly while playing golf near his Maryland home, according to the New York Times. He was 78 years old. Evelyn Lear, his wife of more than half a century, noted that he had undergone heart surgery earlier in 2006.
He began his long career at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and at New York City Opera but received his big break in Berlin. In 1966 he made his Metropolitan Opera debut and from that time on he was a fixture there, singing not only the Wagner roles for which he was so justly famous, but also French and Italian parts.
After their retirement, Stewart and Lear worked tirelessly with the Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers Program which continues under the auspices of the Wagner Society of Washington D.C. More information on the program is available at www.wagner-dc.org.
Selections from Stewart’s recordings can be heard this month on Ken Meltzer’s Sunday evening program World Class at www.wqed.org/fm.
www.nytimes.com/2006/09/26/arts/music/26stewart.html
King Charged with Assault
Robert King, the 48-year-old founder of the King’s Consort, was ordered to stand trial in England on fourteen counts of assault, according to the Boston Globe. The incidents are supposed to have taken place between 1986 and 1991, and one of the alleged victims is said to have been under the age of 16. Released on bail and speaking through his lawyer, King denied that any such events took place and said he would plead not guilty.
King founded King’s Consort in 1980 while he was at Cambridge University. One of their currently available recordings is Songs of Henry Purcell with soprano Barbara Bonney.
www.boston.com/ae/news
http://ap.lancasteronline.com/4/people_robert_king
Does Your Dog Ever “Sing” Along with You?
During the first scene of act 2 of Aida on the stage of a major opera company, Amneris was accompanied not only by her slaves but also by a pair of beautifully groomed Afghan hounds. Whenever she sang, they bayed! They howled with the chorus, too. Finally, at the end of the number that follows the dance, Amneris declaimed “silenzio,” and to everyone’s amazement, the dogs obeyed.
www.bassocantante.com/opera/gossip.html
Internet Archives Available in the United States
Amsterdam’s European Archive Foundation has placed an enormous archive of free music and film on the Internet, according to the Associated Press. The archive is a nonprofit organization that collaborates with national libraries and other organizations to make uncopyrighted material available to the public. The database contains some 250 gigabytes of information and is expanding rapidly.
Since copyright law is much stricter in the United States than in most European countries, the European Archive has reserved the right to block requests for information from U.S. Internet addresses.
www.europarchive.org
Pittsburgh Opera Offers New Service
Beth Parker, Pittsburgh Opera’s director of community outreach, publicizes the fact that she answers to “Hey, Opera Lady!” She makes herself available both by phone and e-mail to any prospective operagoer who has questions about some aspect of the art. Because patrons can speak with her privately, they don’t have to worry about asking questions that might reveal their lack of knowledge.
www.pittsburghopera.org
Radio Station Feels the Power of the Classical Music Listener
Local Los Angeles radio station KUSC broadcast the spoken introduction of the opening of the new Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in nearby Costa Mesa. When the music began, featuring tenor Plácido Domingo and violinist Midori, the station switched to other prerecorded fare. At that point, KUSC was deluged with calls from classical music buffs nationwide who had expected to be able to hear these artists on the Internet, proving that large numbers of music lovers listen online.
www.calendarlive.com/music/classical/cl-et-pacific25sep25,0,2475555.story
Listening to Opera 24/7
The Metropolitan Opera can now be heard all day everyday on Sirius Radio Channel 85, according to Playbill Arts. You can hear archival performances most of the time and live broadcasts as often as four times a week during the company’s New York season. Sirius is available by subscription on specialized receivers and over the Internet.
Since the Met’s ticket sales have decreased from 93 percent to 77 percent of capacity since the 1999-2000 season, it is hoped that more radio broadcasts will encourage a larger number of music lovers to visit the opera house. New General Manager Peter Gelb would like to draw a younger crowd of people who work in the city and do not go south in the winter.
www.playbillarts.com/news/article/5257.html
www.sirius.com
Metropolitan Opera Offers Rush Tickets
The Met announced that it will now offer any $100 seats that remain unsold on the day of the performance at $20 per ticket, according to the Long Island publication Newsday. The price will be in effect for selected performances Mondays through Thursdays. Discounted tickets will only be sold at the box office two hours before the opera, but their availability can be ascertained on the company’s website www.metopera.org or by telephoning (212) 362-6000.
This discount is being underwritten by a member of the board of directors.
www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny—met-cheaptickets1002oct02,0,3374685.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
http://parterre.com/2006/theres-a-kind-of-rush.html
Music Critic Richard Dyer Retires
At the end of September, Richard Dyer wrote his last article for the Boston Globe. In it, he discussed the reasons why we will always have both classical and popular music even if they are not in the forms we now recognize. He noted that while almost every human being has a response to music, it would be very difficult to find someone who likes every kind there is.
He also noted that music has always been a perilous profession and that great musicians have often had to overcome tremendous obstacles. Thus, our generation is no different from that of the composers we venerate.
www.bostonglobe.com
www.playbillarts.com/news/article/3367.html
