Archive for February, 2011

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Credit Where It’s Due

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

by Keith Clarke

Those nice people at MasterCard seem to be all over the London arts business at the moment. No sooner has the ink dried on a three-year agreement with the Southbank Center that will support three annual summer festivals than the pen has come down on another three-year deal. Newest beneficiary is the Society of West End Theaters, which is using the cash (or is that credit?) to relaunch the Olivier Awards.

The society’s suitably theatrical president, Nica Burns, was clearly very excited to announce the news at the Theater Royal, Drury Lane on Feb. 7, almost going into vertical take off as she enthused over the healthy state of London theaters, which last year enjoyed a record $822 million and 14 million ticket buyers. “How brilliant is that?” asked Nica with a rhetorical flourish. And she had a ready answer: “It’s because we’re just bloody good at what we do!”

Such hearty back-slapping may have seemed a little un-English to arts writers quietly dunking their chocolate chip cookies, but never mind. Enjoying a bloody good place in the opera nominations was English National Opera, winning two nominations, for Elegy for Young Lovers and A Dog’s Heart. That should bring cheer to a company that is currently weathering the charge that it has a produced a turkey in Mike Figgis’ Lucrezia Borgia, just at the moment that it is being weighed in the Arts Council balance, along with every other arts organization in the country.

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Nervous times at BBC Radio 3, the UK’s principal classical music station. The mighty BBC Trust has passed some tablets down the mountain, expressing the view that the station is elitist, heavy, inaccessible and daunting. What needs to be done, apparently, is to make Radio 3 “more welcoming and accessible”. 

This will cause consternation among those for whom the station’s moves towards greater accessibility have already been unpalatable. At a time of monumental dumbing down, while Radio 3 has loosened its stays considerably in recent years (I understand some of the presenters even wear open-neck shirts), it has managed to maintain its position as a network for grown-ups with brains that are still functioning. If the BBC Trust wants to bring in the kind of unbelievably idiotic continuity announcers who fill the BBC Television networks with saccharine, there will surely be an uprising among Radio 3’s loyal and discerning listenership.

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A footnote to the obituaries for the great Welsh soprano Margaret Price: Some years ago she came on to the stage of the Wigmore Hall to do a recital, supporting herself on crutches, one foot heavily encased in a plaster cast. Was it a skiing accident? Some falling scenery in the opera house? Not at all. She had dropped a magnum of champagne on her foot, she explained.

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Whose Rights Are They Anyway?

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

by Edna Landau

I was fortunate to have as a guest lecturer in my class at the Colburn School earlier this week the noted entertainment lawyer, Don Franzen. He gave a wonderful presentation entitled “Overview of Entertainment Law for Musicians,” which assisted me greatly in answering the following questions.

Dear Edna:

I am a flutist and am interested in producing my own CD. I am wondering if there are legal issues that I need to address as I start this process. Do I need rights to record works for sale? From whom would I get them? Some of the works are older (J.S. Bach), some newer (Ravel, Shostakovich), and some very new. I’m guessing that the process might be different for each.  —Flutist

Dear Flutist:

Your guess is excellent and correct! According to copyright law, you are required to pay a royalty to a composer whose music is not in the public domain (i.e., it is still protected by copyright) if you record their music. You are free and clear in the case of J.S. Bach but in the case of Ravel, some music could still be under copyright protection, depending on when it was written. The music of Shostakovich and  younger composers is definitely not in the public domain. In order to record it, you must obtain a mechanical license. You can accomplish this quite easily through the Harry Fox Agency (www.harryfox.com). Note that the procedure will differ according to how many units you intend to produce. It also bears mentioning that this procedure would apply even if you intend to distribute the recordings for free. You can find more detailed and helpful information about this on the Harry Fox Agency website and in Angela Myles Beeching’s excellent book Beyond Talent. (See the section entitled “Licensing Issues.”) In that book she explains that if the work you are recording has never been recorded before, rather than pursuing a mechanical license, you must get permission from the composer or his/her publisher. Ms. Beeching also gives the following guidelines regarding works under copyright protection: “As of this writing, copyright protection is good for the life of the composer plus seventy years if the work was composed on or after January 1, 1978. For works composed before that date, it’s the life of the composer plus renewable terms totaling ninety-five years. If the copyright on a work has expired, it falls into the ‘public domain’ and can be recorded without a mechanical license.”

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Dear Edna:

 I’ve had cases where composers have asked me via e-mail to perform their compositions and I or the concert presenter was still charged for performing a contemporary work. I do want to promote contemporary works and young composers but this is discouraging. Does it make a difference what sort of venue you perform in?  —adventurous pianist

Dear adventurous pianist:

It is great that you are eager to champion young composers. Please don’t get discouraged! Undoubtedly, you recognize and understand that composers need to be paid for their works just as you expect to receive a fee for your performances. In the majority of cases, performers don’t need to concern themselves about paying rights fees because they play in halls that have blanket agreements with performing rights societies such as ASCAP and BMI and the costs are assumed by the concert presenter. The proliferation of smaller, more informal venues as popular performance spaces is a relatively recent development and those venues are not likely to have such agreements. In such a circumstance, you have a few choices: a) find out the cost in advance and ask the venue if they will take care of it b) assume the cost yourself as part of your overall expenses relating to the concert, if you are presenting it, and hopefully you will be reimbursed through ticket sales or donations c) choose not to play contemporary music on the program (a shame) d) ask the composer who wrote to you personally and seems eager for exposure if they would waive their rights in this particular instance. Hopefully, as time goes on, you will become so comfortable with this matter that you will be able to address if up front with any venue in which you are thinking of performing, and your excitement about performing new music and attracting a potentially new and young audience will inspire them to pay the performance royalty as just a part of doing business.

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Dear Edna:

I have recently been asked to appear on local television in brief interview and performance formats. Can you tell me who owns the rights to what they decide to air? If I were to want to put it on YouTube, would there be a problem? —TV novice

Dear TV novice:

Your question is an important one and it is not asked often enough. If a video recording is made of you by a second party, they retain the rights and you must request permission for further use of it. What you do own are your spoken words and therefore you could publish a transcript of what you said without cause for concern. People are amazingly casual when they upload to YouTube but in truth, the use of any performance footage should be cleared with the source of the footage including, by way of example, a presenter, venue, competition or media entity.

© Edna Landau 2011

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Musical Pointe Shoes: New Chamber Ballet

Monday, February 7th, 2011

By Rachel Straus

When a ballet dancer runs, the box of her pointe shoe hits the floor. The sound is unmistakable: low in timber, dense, much like a percussion instrument. Most choreographers don’t want the audience to hear dancers’ feet. But in Miro Magloire’s Night Music, which had its world premiere at City Center Studio 4 on February 4, the German-born choreographer made percussion the subject of his ballet. Reminiscent of Kabuki for its formalism and pregnant pauses, Night was the second of five works presented by Magloire’s New Chamber Ballet.

In Night, Madeline Deavenport, Katie Gibson and Lauren Toole become multi-instrumentalists, thanks to the black claves they grasped in their hands. Unlike the majority of works on the evening’s program, Night did not present the dancers in conventionally feminine ways. In black velvet tunics, the women engaged in abstract combat (lunging into each other’s space, circling like birds of prey). When one dancer struck her claves together, the others dropped to the floor, as though felled by the force of the sound. This was dramatic, but occurred midway through the dance. And when the performers rose from the floor as though nothing had happened, Night lost some of its edge.

The other two premieres on the program also possessed striking moments. But in the bare bones environment of Studio 4 (no lighting, no wings), the works’ choreographic weaknesses became more glaring. New Chamber Ballet (lead by Magloire) spends its funds engaging live musicians and highly trained ballet dancers rather than renting formal theaters. It’s too bad that a presenter (like Joyce Soho) hasn’t offered this small but ambitious troupe a better performing space.

In Emery LeCrone’s premiere Virtuoso, Alexandra Blacker’s wingspan and suppleness was exceptional, but her close proximity to the audience made her appear more vulnerable than wondrously superior. Then there was the choreography. Against Camille Saint-Saëns’ melodically torrential Violin Sonata No. 1 in D minor—played live by Erik Carlson (violin) and Steven Becker (piano)—choreographer LeCrone failed (or chose not) to develop cascading phrases reflective of the composer’s first movement, Allegro Agitato. Consequently, the music and dance felt at odds with each other.

The last premiere on the program was Constantine Baecher’s Sketches of Woman Remembering. A dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet, Baecher has contributed five works to New Chamber Ballet. His sixth ballet takes its inspiration from Vaslav Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun (1912) in which a Faun’s sexual advances are rejected by three nymphs. In Sketches, three women—Alexandra Blacker, Victoria North, and Lauren Toole—dance solos of regret. It’s important to know that back in 1912 the Faun was Nijinsky, who was the non plus ultra of sexuality on the ballet stage.

Sketches begins with the barefoot dancers standing upstage like Greek columns (instead of togas the women wear pink leotards and are covered in a diaphanous fabric). One by one each walks forward. Each solo involves the manipulation of their floor-length veil. In Nijinsky’s ballet, a similarly translucent piece of fabric is stolen from the lead nymph. It becomes the surrogate for the nymph’s body. In the ballet’s scandalous finale, Nijinsky (legend has it) simulated climaxing into the scarf.

Nothing so sexual occurs in Baecher’s ballet, which is also choreographed to music by Claude Debussy. Against Preludes – Book 1, Nos. 6, 3 and 1 (as performed by Steven Becker), the fabric becomes a symbol of mourning. But dancing about a lost sexual opportunity isn’t easy to convey. The strongest moment was when Katie Gibson wrung her shroud out in time to the music’s trilling, as though attempting to wash away her regret.

All three new works have the potential to become dances worthy of seeing again, especially if they are presented with some theatrical distance and more dramatic lighting.

The other works on the two-night program were Magloire’s Klavierstück, to Karlheinz Stockhausen, and his Sculpture Garden, to George Frederick Handel’s Violin Sonatas in A Major.

 

 

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Nixon in Amber

Friday, February 4th, 2011

By James Jorden

It’s not hard to guess why Peter Gelb would choose to import a recreation of the original production of Nixon in China instead of devising a new staging from scratch. It would hardly be prudent to blow a million dollars on a six-performance run of a work unlikely to be revived any time soon, and surely the Met’s General Manager felt he should offer an olive branch to Peter Sellars after the snub of Dr. Atomic.

On the other hand, if I wanted someone sensible and kind running the Met, I wouldn’t have voted for Peter Gelb. (more…)

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The Greatest Composers?

Friday, February 4th, 2011

by Sedgwick Clark

It’s one thing to list one’s ten favorite composers and another to maintain that these are the “greatest” composers of all time, which is what the New York Times‘s chief classical-music critic Anthony Tommasini did in an admittedly “preposterous”-seeming exercise that began while I was on vacation. The man’s got moxie, that’s for sure.

By virtue of the paper he writes for, Tony’s the target of every classical-music crackpot in the world, especially the opera nuts. They all think they know better. Besides his daily reviews he has to dream up features and “think pieces” regularly, and in this latter case he set upon a real doozy: He would select the top ten classical composers of all time, in order, and in the process clarify “what exactly about the master composers makes them so astonishing.” I’m not sure he was any more successful than Budd Schulberg was with What Makes Sammy Run? in discovering the basis of human nature, but I’ll say one thing: He made me think. For two weeks he kept readers in suspense in a five-article series, tipping his hat to personal but improbable favorites like Britten and teasing readers with such possibilities as Chopin instead of Brahms. He was rewarded by “more than 1,500 informed, challenging, passionate and inspiring comments” from readers. His final picks were revealed on Sunday, January 23, and last weekend the Times came full circle, printing excerpts from several readers’ responses.

So who are the Greatest in Tony’s book?

1. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

2. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

3. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

4. Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

5. Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

6. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

7. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

8. Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

9. Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

10. Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

All greats, no doubt, sensibly ranked. Since I decided to write this blog entry, I’ve been lying in bed late and waking up early, contemplating whom I would include. I’m especially happy to see Debussy, Stravinsky, and Bartók—the leaders of my favorite century in music—on Tony’s list. (I’ve often thought I should have been born around the time of Afternoon of a Faun, but then my wife reminds me that indoor plumbing and antibiotics hadn’t been invented, and my Romantic illusions fade.) Debussy’s is my favorite piano music in the entire literature, bar none—the most beautiful, elusive, sensuous, and sensual use of 240 strings I know. There’s hardly a single succession of notes in his mature output that fails to pass my goose bump test. Stravinsky? He’s my default composer; his Rite of Spring changed my life. I can’t imagine life without Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle or Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta or the solo concertos or Concerto for Orchestra.

However.

Tommasini’s artificial exclusion of “one of the Vienna Four” in order to include enough Romantic and 20th-century composers is impossible. You either belong or don’t belong on such a list, and there’s no conceivable way that Haydn should be knocked off to include Bartók. Personally I’d eliminate Schubert and rank Haydn before Mozart, but then it’s not my list. I’ll just say that CDs of this most warm-hearted, infinitely witty, and human composer’s music resound in my music room more than those of any other composer, usually in Bernstein performances. Sony has packaged a convenient set of all of Bernstein’s Columbia recordings (88697 480452), most with the New York Philharmonic. And his 1984 recording of the “Oxford” Symphony No. 92 (Deutsche Grammophon 413 777-2) has been foisted on more unwitting visitors than probably any disc in my collection.

P.S. My fellow blogger Alan Gilbert also wrote on this subject this week, and I deliberately refrained from reading it until filing my own ruminations. I look forward now to seeing what he has to say.

Looking Forward

My week’s scheduled concerts:

2/8 Thalia at Symphony Space. Mahler Society President Lewis Smoley and baritone Thomas Hampson discuss Mahler.

2/9 Metropolitan Opera. Adams: Nixon in China.

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Into the valley

Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

by Keith Clarke

Well done Arts Council England for putting a positive spin on these chilly times. In the face of tough cuts, the council decided to ditch the current funding arrangements and invite all arts organizations—currently funded or not—to put in a bid for some of the cash. There was a fantastic response, said chief exec Alan Davey, clearly moved by the success of the venture. Perhaps there would have been more room for amazement if no one had bothered.

Behind this “great response” was the chilly fact that some 600 of the form fillers will be given the cold shoulder. Into the valley ride the 600—but which 600? That is in the laps of the Arts Council gods.

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Meanwhile the council had more fun and games when it put out an announcement that it had set up a media partnership with Rupert Murdoch’s great media conglomerate News International. This was clearly good news, since the deal was “offering arts organisations the opportunity to gain profile across their titles.”

The announcement went on: “The partnership will include editorial content to help readers gain more of an understanding about a variety of artforms, as well as exclusive offers and promotions. We are now looking for arts organisations who would like to take advantage of this opportunity.”

No sooner had arts groups begun to put up the bunting and blow up balloons than the Arts Council withdrew the statement, went a bright shade of puce and apologized for a misunderstanding.

Clearly someone at the council had come up with the plan, and is no doubt now sitting in the Naughty Corner, pondering the wisdom of it all. The Arts Council is funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which is also responsible for dealing with competition issues in the media. And guess what? Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt is currently trying to make his mind up whether to let Murdoch’s merry team take total control of broadcasting outfit considering BSkyB.

Curiously, this does not seem to have been reported in any of News Corp’s illustrious titles—The Times, the Sunday Times, the Sun and the News of the World (the last currently the center of attention over a phone hacking scandal).

Oh how they must have laughed at the Arts Council when the penny dropped.

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So MCT Community Theater felt obliged to apologize for listing Sarah Palin among characters who “would not be missed” in its production of Mikado. English National Opera has been running that gauntlet for a quarter of a century, with Jonathan Miller’s classic production returning again this month for a silver anniversary run.

Alfie Boe, who steps into the role of love-struck Nanki-Poo, must still have been in diapers when the production first opened, but Mikado veterans Richard Angas as the Mikado and Richard Suart as Ko-Ko will be on hand again to show him the ropes.

 Will there be a “Sarah Palin” moment? We’ll have to wait and see. But ENO has played a pretty daring game over the years. I remember Richard Suart telling me how he would compile his “little list” on the train up from his Kent home, and no one knew who was included until he stepped on stage to sing it.

It must have given the lawyers a few worrying moments over the years, but as far as I know no one has grown litigious as a result. Must be something to do with fair play and a well-developed sense of humor. Just like Sarah Palin, of course.

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The Truth about Managers

Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

by Edna Landau

This promises to be a hot topic on “Ask Edna” and I will undoubtedly address it repeatedly, so please don’t be discouraged from sending further questions of this type. I have a hearty appetite for queries about my former line of work!

Dear Edna: 

I recently heard the story of a young artist who was on the roster of a management agency. He was finding and booking all of his engagements by himself, but still paying a percentage of the fees to the manager. From your experience, how common is this situation? For an artist who is talented but young and not well-known, do you think it is better for him to have the added prestige of being on a management roster even if the manager is not doing much for him?

–Daniel Teitler (Taipei) 

Dear Daniel: 

I find it appalling that a young artist is finding and booking all of his own engagements and still paying a percentage of the fees to his manager, unless the manager is providing some other service of value to the artist. This might consist of contracting the engagement and/or interacting with the presenter to relieve the artist of logistical details such as travel arrangements or providing publicity materials. In such an instance, the artist should still not be paying full commission to the manager and might want to contemplate whether it would be cheaper to hire a capable friend or student to do this for him. 

N.B. There is NO prestige related to being on a management roster unless the management is recognized as being effective on behalf of its artists and has earned respect and recognition in the industry. If not, their calls to presenters will go unreturned and the artist might be better off employing a very bright, personable and healthily aggressive individual with some basic orientation in the process of artist management to work on their behalf, until their performance profile reaches a level that might truly attract a prestigious management, large or small.

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Dear Edna: 

I am an aspiring artist who has recently been selected from a large number of my professional colleagues to appear on two well-known, nationally prestigious showcase opportunities this year. Both of the stages on which I am to perform contain the possibility of changing my professional trajectory, as they have for others, if utilized in the right way and seen by the right people. Will these highly publicized events typically attract distinguished artist managers and/or would it be appropriate to contact a manager from within a firm and invite them to the event? What is the best way to attract positive attention from the managerial world for these important opportunities? -Unmanaged 

Dear Unmanaged: 

Congratulations on having been chosen to appear on not one but two nationally prestigious showcases. 

You ask whether these showcases will “typically attract distinguished artist managers.” Unfortunately, there is nothing typical when it comes to discussing artist managers except to say that all the really good ones are overworked! If they have room to add an artist, it will often be one that was recommended to them by someone they trust in the field. If they recently lost an artist (heaven forbid!) or want to add a certain type of artist in order to have more variety to offer a presenter, they might go to a national showcase because they recognize that the participants represent top quality emerging artists. Your first step should be to contact the organizations presenting the showcases to urge them to invite distinguished managers, if they haven’t done so already. Feel free to review with them your proposed list of the most appropriate managers to target. You should then think about people you know who have clout and could write to those managers to give them a heads up about the opportunity to witness your artistry. After that you can follow up personally, expressing how much it would mean to you to have them attend. In your letter, point out any connections that you think might have significance. For example: “I know that Artist X on your roster would be happy to speak favorably on my behalf.” Or, “I’m sure you are in regular contact with Presenter Y who has seen me perform on several occasions. I would be most grateful if you would be willing to give them a call.” Be sure to attach or enclose the most recent, most favorable testimonials of your work (limit your choices for maximum effectiveness), as well as links to video footage if it represents you at your best. The only thing left after that is to pray!

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Holiday Mash Up Heralds Year of the Rabbit

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

by Cathy Barbash

As China increasingly looks simultaneously outside and inside to triangulate its place in the cultural world, we find marvelously surreal mashed-up holiday entertainments scheduled. Let’s welcome in the Year of the Rabbit with an illustrated tour (with unexpected ending).

In the old days, the celebration of western holidays in Beijing was mostly confined to the expatriate community. Now, while many of us ring in the New Year with Viennese waltzes, Beijingers celebrate our New Year too, but with Chinese characteristics:

Top Chinese leaders watch Peking Opera in New Year gala (English.news.cn 2010-12-31 00:36:56)















Chinese top leaders Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang pose for a group photo with performers after watching Peking Opera in a gala to celebrate the New Year at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 30, 2010. (Xinhua/Zhang Duo)

Jump ahead to this week: The Year of the Rabbit hops in February 3. In addition to the Temple Fairs celebrating traditional Chinese culture, offering performances of Beijing Opera, acrobatics, cross-talk and traditional instruments, expats and Chinese hipsters flock to clubs for all genres of contemporary music, be it black metal or fusion Mongolian folk rock. A surviving fixture from last century however is the inevitable CCTV Spring Festival Gala Evening—think the marathon Guy Lombardo telecasts of our youth. Here are Chinese leaders congratulating and posing with the talent.















Li Changchun (front R), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, shakes hands with actors at the rehearsal of the Spring Festival Gala Evening at China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing, China, Jan. 31, 2011. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)














Li Changchun (3rd Row, C), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, poses for a group photo with actors at the rehearsal of the Spring Festival Gala Evening at China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing, China, Jan. 31, 2011. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

But wait, some local Beijing presenter has decided that if they can ring in the New Year with Beijing Opera, why not offer Strauss for Spring Festival? Listing from the Beijinger weekly:

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Symphony: Radetzky March – World Masterpieces New Year Symphony Concert

 

 

Take part in what might seem to be a surprising tradition in Chinese holiday celebrations: ringing in the new year with Johann Strauss’ Radetzky March. RMB 100-880. 7.30pm. Beijing Concert Hall
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And there’s more western classical music later in the holiday week:

Piano: Leon Fleisher

 

 

He’s worn many musical hats, including that of a left-handed soloist when his right hand failed him midway through his career. Watch as the celebrated piano genius woos the capital at his first solo recital in China. RMB 180-580. 7.30pm. NCPA Concert Hall

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And meanwhile in one of Beijing’s prime rock venues let’s not forget:

Bob Marley Day

 

 

Ultimate Productions’ annual toast to Jamaica’s most famous son. Mitabe play live, with DJs from Ultimate Productions, Meiwenti Sound and Shanghai crew Solution Hi-Fi. For more information, call 136 9360 5284. RMB 50, RMB 30 (advance). 8pm. Yugong Yishan

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My personal favorite illustration to multicultural holiday celebrations took place back in mid-December, however. (Full disclosure, I was one of the perpetrators.) The early music ensemble ¡Sacabuche! included residency activities and a few holiday concerts in their Beijing tour. Knowing the Chinese fondness for gambling, and wanting to program more than just Christmas carols, it was decided that their audiences might enjoy learning about some Hanukkah traditions, especially, playing dreidel. So they schlepped over a menorah, candles, Hanukkah gelt and 100 dreidels (of course, made in China). It was hilariously successful. (Photo by Ani Katz)

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