Archive for August, 2011

Legal Smarts

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

By Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

The answers below were prepared with the kind assistance of my good friend and distinguished colleague, attorney Brian Goldstein of FTM Arts Law, to whom I express my heartfelt thanks.

Dear Edna:

I love reading your blog and I had a question that I hope I am not repeating. I am an international student currently studying in the states. I am interested in publishing a cd with cdbaby.com but I am not sure whether it is legal for me to receive money from cd baby from sales while I am a student here. If not, are there any other options for me? Thank you so much for your time. —–Kit

Dear Kit:

Thank you for submitting an excellent question. Visa regulations are in general quite complex and, like most legal issues, depend on an analysis of your specific circumstances. Therefore, it is almost always advisable to seek personal legal advice when trying to understand them.  As a general rule, U.S. law requires an artist to have a visa with work authorization any time an artist performs in the U.S.—even if the artist performs for free or is paid outside of the U.S. The mere act of “performing” triggers the need for work authorization. As a result, performances are almost never permissible on a visitor visa which, by its very nature, contains no work authorization. While recording a live performance in front of an audience would clearly be illegal without work authorization, it’s unclear as to whether or not a recording made in a studio would constitute a “performance”. Regardless, a visa with work authorization is also required any time anyone sells goods in the U.S.  In your case, you have not indicated your current visa status in the U.S. but for the purposes of this blog, we will assume that you are here on an F (student) visa. While F visas do not inherently permit students to perform in the U.S., the student’s school can authorize such work. It may be possible for you to make and sell a recording here if you obtain work authorization from your school to engage in such an activity and it is related to your studies. If your school will not provide you with work authorization, you could still make and distribute a studio recording for promotional purposes, but not sell it. Please note that if you are here on a J (exchange) visa or other type of student visa, different rules may apply as it is up to your sponsoring organization to approve your activities. You might want to approach Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts with your question. They have a legal hotline to field a broad range of questions, Art Law Line, which is fielded five days a week. You can also look at www.artistsfromabroad.org or have a look at the visa information on FTM Art Law’s website, www.FTMArtsLaw-pc.com.

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Dear Edna:

My fellow students and I are often asked to sign consent forms. Sometimes we are told that the wording is very standard and that we have nothing to worry about. Usually these forms are presented to us at the last minute and we end up signing them because it seems like less trouble that way. Those of us who do not speak English as a first language find the legal jargon intimidating and confusing but we don’t want to admit to not understanding it. I was recently handed a release that, if signed, would have granted my consent to the “absolute and irrevocable right and permission to use my name and likeness to reproduce, edit, exhibit, project, display, copyright and publish the moving pictures and/or videotaped images of me with or without my voice and to circulate the same in all forms of a particular filmed show and/or any other lawful purpose whatsoever.” I was also asked to waive any compensation for such consent. I did not sign this release but there is still a negotiation going on. I am wondering: is there such a thing as a standard consent form that would be less one-sided and would give us more control?  —concerned musician

Dear concerned musician:

If there were such a thing as a standard consent form, the world of the performing artist would be a simpler place. In fact, all terms are negotiable. Just because someone tells you a specific form or contract is “standard” does not mean you have to agree.  I understand the emotions you have experienced when someone gave you a form to sign at the eleventh hour and you felt pressured, especially if you thought that the future release of your filmed or recorded performance might have a major impact on your career. However, you should never feel pressured or compelled to sign any agreement or form and you should never grant any right to another party unless you understand everything about how those rights will be used and are comfortable with the terms. If necessary, any future usage can be subject to a separate agreement to be negotiated at a later time. You are always entitled to ask questions. You are also entitled to take the time you need to seek legal advice and you should, either from a personal attorney to whom you have access or via an organization such as Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (see above). Ultimately, whether it’s an engagement contract, a recording deal, or a consent form, if you want terms that are less one-sided and would give you more control, you are entitled to propose different terms. The words “absolute and irrevocable right and permission” are scary because they would give someone the right to use your name, images, and a recording of your performance for any purpose and at any time in the future, without having to seek your permission or pay you any fees. Your name, image, and recordings have value. Even if you may not be receiving compensation for your performance (by prior agreement), your name and likeness could have significant value as your career grows. The time to take control of this type of situation is right at the start, at the first mention of possible audio or video recording of your interview or performance. If you were not informed that camera crews or recording engineers might film or record your rehearsal, performance or participation in an extended event, such as a festival, you shouldn’t hesitate to speak up and question such an occurrence at first glimpse of a camera or recording microphone. In fact, unless you specifically object, your consent could be implied. You mention that you did not yet sign the release and that there is still a negotiation going on. That may not be enough  to protect you. In any situation where someone presents you with a contract or form, even if you do not sign it, if you proceed with the performance and do not specifically reject the terms you find objectionable or specifically clarify, in writing, which terms are still under negotiation, you may be legally bound by the contract. Oral or implied consent can also be legally binding. A contract need not necessarily be signed.

I hope this information will make you feel more secure and in control when situations like this present themselves in the future.

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2011

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“The Sharks are gonna have their way, tonight.”

Sunday, August 21st, 2011

by Cathy Barbash

“I Sing Beijing,” the Hanyu Academy of Vocal Arts, wrapped up its inaugural program on August 18 with a gala concert at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. (http://isingbeijing.org/I_SING_BEIJING/Program_Information.html) A colleague of mine in attendance reported:

“WELL DONE Hanban, Tian Haojiang, and Martha Liao! This concert was wonderful. Lots of old “red” lyric songs from 50s films and Cultural Revolution Model Operas, as well as some Rossini, Puccini, and even Bernstein’s “Tonight.” The audience cheered throughout, though on occasion the applause was a bit too quick and had a bit of “Waaaaah! Look at the talking monkey!” edge to it. The young singers had clearly mastered the art of singing in Chinese, right down to the gestures borrowed from Chinese opera.”

I wonder what market there will be for these hard-won new skills. I’ll look for these newly-minted singers of Chinese in upcoming National Day and Chinese Spring Festival Embassy and Consular celebrations. One hopes that the singers will also be supplied with some good Chinese art song literature to be included in their future recitals. Finding good appropriate repertoire will be key, and for a start, I highly recommend tenors look first at the hauntingly beautiful work with piano, Huang Ruo’s “Fisherman’s Sonnet.” Check back in a few days, I’m sourcing a recent Beijing performance to include with this post. For now enjoy the Qun poetry:

Fisherman’s Sonnet Huang Ruo
(b. 1976)

An old fisherman, with a fishing rod, leans against a cliff by the side of the bay.

Boats come to and fro without a care.
Sandgulls dot the shore, clear waves in the distance.
At Di harbor, the wind whistles, the day turns cold.
I sing a loud song, and the waning sun sets.
In a single moment, the waves shake the golden shadows,
I suddenly lift my head, and the moon rises on east mountain.

And meanwhile, back in Beijing, while “I Sing Beijing” international singers engaged in a “model unit”-worthy cultural exchange performance, up near the Birds Nest Stadium, Life was imitating Art imitating Life, with the Georgetown Hoyas and People’s Liberation Army Bayi Rockets basketball teams rumbling, alas, complete with racial epithets.

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Time Out for Bard

Friday, August 19th, 2011

by Sedgwick Clark

Last weekend I attended the opening concerts of the Bard Music Festival. This year’s subject is “Sibelius and His World.” There were the usual fascinating works being heard for the first time in perhaps a century (and possibly never again) and some thought-provoking panel discussions as befitting the academic environs. Musically, Sibelius’s early choral symphony, Kullervo, found conductor Leon Botstein and the American Symphony at their most impressive. But we’ll consider these and the second weekend’s treats next week.

We’ll see if Botstein dares to play the ending of Sibelius’s Fourth Symphony mezzo-forte, without ritarding, as written (only Colin Davis has the nerve to do that). To hear if he captures the rich, Romantic humanism of Nielsen’s Third Symphony (“Sinfonia espansiva”). Also to hear his brilliant combination of works for the festival’s final program: Sibelius: Tapiola. Barber: Symphony No 1. Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5. Sibelius: Symphony No. 7. He’s set himself a mighty aspiration.

Tune in next week.

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Off to the seaside

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

by Keith Clarke

It was with a mixture of admiration and pity that I discovered many years ago that those who toil on the western side of the Atlantic do so virtually every day of the year. In the UK we like to take weeks and weeks of vacation, plus there are all the public holidays (quaintly called bank holidays), a day off here to watch the royal wedding, a day off there to celebrate May Day, etc. From what I can make out, on your side of the pond you like to take off one Thursday in November to roast turkeys, but you work for most of the other 364 days.

So at the risk of offending the prevailing work ethic, I confess that I am packing my soft shoes, swimming shorts and crushable Panama and heading for the sea, and it is most unlikely that I shall be staring at the laptop this time next week in an effort to add to the sum total of this blogspot.

This will naturally come as a grave disappointment to my three readers (four if you count the editor), but try and contain your sorrow and I’ll do my best to summon up the energy to bounce back in due course.

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Before setting off, I feel obliged to draw attention to the plight of British flute player Carla Rees. For anyone who didn’t catch the story at the front of this site (August 15), she lost a lifetime collection of ten or more flutes when her home was burnt to the ground in the recent riots. Also lost were 600 pieces of unpublished music written for her and her ensemble.

Given the way the riots escalated, she may feel lucky to be alive. But rebuilding a career from such a devastating loss is going to take a whole lot more than courage and pluck. Anyone in a position to help is greatly encouraged to visit a special website.

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You might think that learning music at school is not something that you would have to explain to anyone as being desirable, useful and a basic human right, come to that. Yet the UK’s politicians beg to differ. Music is not included as a subject in the new “English baccalaureate” (Ebacc). Schools are to be assessed on the basis of how many students manage to get a C grade in English, math, two sciences, history or geography and a modern or ancient language. But music? Forget about it, along with arts, drama and any other creative subject.

This has caused a predictable stink among musicians’ organizations, which are campaigning for the importance of learning music to be recognized. Leading the fight are the Incorporated Society of Musicians and Music Teacher magazine, whose editor Chris Walters says: “Essentially a performance measure, the EBacc will inevitably have negative consequences for any subjects that are excluded from it. Music Teacher is therefore delighted to be part of a campaign not only to include music but to introduce an entire sixth pillar of creative subjects, which we believe would greatly improve the impact of the EBacc in our schools.”

You can read more about it here.

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Mostly Mozart/Some Stravinsky

Friday, August 12th, 2011

by Sedgwick Clark

Lincoln Center’s attempt to add variety to Mostly Moz is just fine with me, especially if the variety is Stravinsky. Audiences seem to agree too, for a Saturday afternoon of Stravinsky films and two concerts of his chamber music by the spiffy International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) were packed.

The first of the films was the familiar CBS New Special on the composer, narrated by Charles Kuralt. There’s a lot of good material here (unfortunately in a washed-out video source so typical of the 1960s), particularly an appearance in Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, where Le Sacre du printemps received its scandalous premiere on May 29, 1913. The aged composer tells of that infamous occasion and walks to the seat in which he sat that night. But not for long, as the audience’s catcalling began almost immediately and the infuriated composer arose from his seat, shouted “Go to hell,” and headed backstage.

The second film documents a powerfully emotional 1963 Budapest performance of the composer leading the Hungarian Radio Orchestra in his Symphony of Psalms. Ensemble is iffy, tuning of the winds is wishful, and the orchestra is obviously following the concertmaster rather than Stravinsky’s jerky beats. But none of this matters in light of a mesmerizingly slow third movement that never loses its rapt concentration and buoyant rhythm. How could he ever have said — even to make an anti-Romantic point — that “music is powerless to express anything”?

The third film was choreographer Pina Bausch’s 1978 rendering of Le Sacre (to Boulez’s Cleveland recording), overpowered by the music as usual. The fourth film was Julie Taymor’s fanciful production of Oedipus Rex, which was about as far from the composer’s austere conception as could be imagined, and presumably welcome to those who find the music marmoreal. Jessye Norman and Philip Langridge sing well, with Seiji Ozawa leading the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra.

Stravinsky on ICE

The pair of ICE concerts on Monday, August 8, offered rarely played works in sterling performances. The 7:30, in Alice Tully Hall, was all Stravinsky, and the 10:30 concert in the Kaplan Penthouse was Stravinsky and several short works written in memoriam to him by Denisov, Berio, Carter, Finnissy, Schnittke, and Zorn. (The complete listing of works is at the end of my previous blog.) So, let’s talk about the guest conductor, Pablo Heras-Casado. The day after this concert, my friend Mark Swed, music critic of the Los Angeles Times, called to ask if I had heard these concerts (silly question) and what I thought of Pablo. To tell the truth, I hadn’t heard of him before reading Steve Smith’s Times review on Monday of an earlier concert in which H-C reportedly set very fast tempos in Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, which is the only way I can abide the piece (after all, Wolfy did specify Molto Allegro and Allegro assai for the outer movements). But now that I have I won’t miss his next local appearances. His bio says he’s “A champion of contemporary music” and that he has the imprimatur of Pierre Boulez. Oddly, however, there’s no mention of his home country and age. He’s 34, hails from Granada, Spain, and has a bush of dark, curly hair that rivals Gustavo’s. He, too, is blessed with matinee idol looks. From the Tully balcony he looked to be all of 20 when he smiled, but seemed closer to his given age in the intimate Penthouse.

He certainly knows his way around a score. Stravinsky’s Ragtime, “Dumbarton Oaks” Concerto, Eight Instrumental Miniatures, and the Octet downstairs zipped along delightfully. He might have reined in his ICE players a bit and achieved crisper textures, but such sins of youth are forgivable in light of such clean rhythms and lively tempos. Only the thorny Concerto for Piano and Winds disappointed; had I not heard the revelatory performance last season at Zankel by Jeremy Denk and John Adams conducting the Ensemble ACJW, the performance in Tully would have seemed impressive. But Peter Serkin’s technically unimpeachable yet comparatively monochromatic solo work paled next to Denk’s fleet-fingered, balletic romp.

Perahia’s Bach

A Sony Classical re-release in a three-CD set (88697 82429 2) of Bach keyboard concertos played by Murray Perahia is so darned musical that one wonders where nearly everyone else went wrong. So warm, expressive, joyous, naturally paced—if you don’t have these recordings already, don’t hesitate.

Contents: Keyboard Concertos Nos. 1-7; Concerto for Flute, Violin & Harpsichord in A minor, BWV 1044; Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050; Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971.

Looking forward

8/12-13 Bard Music Festival. Sibelius and His World.

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Welcome to the war zone

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

by Keith Clarke

As the UK sweeps up after its traditional summer round of rioting, looting and pillaging, it will probably be a whole lot easier to find a London hotel room, for anyone with a brave spirit and maybe a tin hat. After due consideration, the tourist board decided to take down online ads reading “Great Britain: You’re invited” that were running side by side with footage of buildings on fire, cars being wrecked, bricks hurling through the air and shop windows being smashed. Among visitors during the riots were members of the International Olympic Committee, who must have been wishing they had given the 2012 Games to somewhere quieter, like Iraq.

In Scotland, so far untroubled by petrol bombs, comics at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe have been gifted with new material. Irish comedian Andrew Maxwell said: “The person I feel most sorry for is [2012 Games chief] Seb Coe. He must be lying on the floor in the fetal position, worrying they won’t know which gunshot to start the 100 meters on.”

Most of London pulled down the shutters early on Tuesday for fear of what was to come. On my stretch of road, the only shop remaining open was the local glazing store, where they must be thinking Christmas has come early.

Among casualties of the crisis was the launch of a key London 2012 Cultural Olympiad project. Ironically, it was an initiative aimed at getting young people involved in sport, culture and the arts, rather than getting hoodied up and making off down the street with as many looted TVs as they can carry.

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Stepping aside from all the mayhem, I’m looking forward to a bit of escapism with a night at the movies tomorrow, courtesy of the BBC Proms. An evening of film music has works by Ennio Morricone (who will be further celebrated with a late-night Prom by the Spaghetti Western Orchestra), William Walton, John Williams, Jonny Greenwood, Richard Rodney Bennett and John Barry, but kicks off with classic scores from Bernard Hermann, including Citizen Kane, Psycho and The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Hermann was clearly The Man Who Knew Just Enough. He broke every rule in the book, with results that still sound as fresh today as when they went on the manuscript paper.

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The Destiny of Your Master

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

By Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

Dear Edna:

I would like to add my voice to the chorus of thanks to you for writing this column, and also submit a question.

I am making the first-ever recording of the complete works of an obscure Romantic composer. Grants will cover all of the cost of recording (no fee for myself), and some of the costs of artwork, printing and manufacturing, as well as the mechanical royalties, as the music is still under copyright. The recording is a labor of love, but will also be a promotional tool for me – something to sell at concerts, give to promoters, etc. I offered it to some cd companies and one fairly large one would like to take it on. The contract, however, will require negotiation. They want sole ownership of the master recording in perpetuity and the right to exploit it in any way or media. They offer to manufacture, sell, distribute and promote the cd. In return, I get 50 copies and the right to purchase more at about two dollars a pop. They have not offered any sort of royalty for sales above a certain amount. It’s so breathtakingly one-sided that I wonder if anyone ever signs such a thing.

The main thing that draws me to the label is the prestige. Do you think a company’s expertise and/or clout in distribution and marketing would be more useful than trying to do it on my own and retaining control of the project? With delivery media changing constantly, it would seem prudent to keep the rights. I would like to be able to offer downloads from my website, or through Amazon, and offer “coupon downloads” to audiences. I’m not a young artist striving to get ahead. I am a middle-aged one doing reasonably well and would just like to know what is reasonable to ask for in such a situation.  —B.V.

Dear B.V.:

Your question is an excellent one that I suspect is on the minds of a good number of our readers. As you will have seen me say before, this is not a black and white situation. The answer might be slightly different for you than for others, depending on the particular record label involved and the role of the recording in the furtherance of an individual career.

In the days when giant record companies dominated the scene, most, if not all, of the artists who wanted to be on their rosters had to give up ownership of their masters in exchange for major publicity and promotional campaigns, as well as global distribution. There was no Facebook, CD Baby, or Amazon.com, so artists didn’t even consider the alternative of going it alone. You are right to ask whether it makes sense to give up ownership of your performance in perpetuity and agree to no financial return, in exchange for a company manufacturing, distributing, and promoting your recording, especially if you funded it yourself. The answer is no, unless you have no other alternative. It’s good that you acknowledge that the proposed contract requires negotiation. You also need to get as much information as possible about the company. You certainly want to know the scope and effectiveness of their distribution and what they are prepared to do in the area of promotion. It would also be advisable for you to ensure that if the record company goes out of business, the rights to your master will revert back to you. (You should try to achieve this even if the recording is simply deleted from their catalogue.) If you can gain access to other artists who have recorded for the label, ask them about their impression of the label’s effectiveness and their level of satisfaction with the working relationship.

While it is certainly possible to manufacture, promote, and distribute your own CD, as well as offer it for download on your website, you are limited by the size of your network of friends and fans and distribution outlets known and accessible to you. It is also a very labor-intensive undertaking. Happily, there has been a proliferation of independent classical labels over the past ten years such as Onyx and Avie, which operate on the premise that you retain ownership of your performance.  You either license it to them or work in a partnership with them on mutually agreeable terms. Either all or part of the cost of the recording is assumed by you but you also receive a portion of profit from the sales. (Note that in some countries such as the U.K., it is imperative for the record company to cover costs relating to copyright.)  Decisions regarding the packaging and design of the CD are made together with you and it should be possible to offer your recording for sale on your website through a direct link to the company’s website. These independent classical labels do indeed have much greater clout and reach than you do. They have developed strong relationships with the media and with distribution outlets, so they are likely to get maximum exposure for your recording. Not every one of them, however, will enter into a relationship with an artist for a one-off project unless it has major and broad appeal. Naxos is known to welcome recordings of composers who are new to their catalogue but I don’t believe they offer the type of partnership described above. Other companies may only want to do multiple projects with artists who have a very active touring schedule since this helps to drive sales of the recording, especially if the artist features the recorded repertoire in their program.

Since you already have an established and reputable company interested in your project and there is no guarantee that you will find another option, I would suggest that you try to negotiate with them and see if you can achieve more favorable terms. It would be advisable to secure advice from an attorney with experience in this area. You can always return to the idea of issuing the recording yourself, especially since your primary interest seems to be supplying it to promoters and selling it at concerts. If you should decide to seek another label, I suggest that you approach them in the context of potential ongoing projects with specific repertoire that you are prepared to offer in your concert programs. If you can obtain a copy of Gramophone magazine, you should be able to compile a pretty good list of independent companies that could potentially be interested. Some additional research on the web will further enlighten you as to the suitability of those companies for the projects you have in mind. Good luck!

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2011

 

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Red Detachment Redux and the Cowboy Spirit

Friday, August 5th, 2011

by Cathy Barbash

For those of you who did not get enough of the Red Detachment of Women during this winter’s run of Nixon in China at the Met, the National Ballet of China will be performing excerpts of the ballet (possibly the same excerpt reinterpreted and interpolated into the opera by Mark Morris) in its mixed program as part of the Kennedy Center’s latest China festival, “CHINA: The Art of a Nation.” (The Ministry of Culture considered their 2005 Festival of China so successful, they wanted another.) Alas, the remainder of the program features the equally unavoidable Yellow River Concerto and Swan Lake excerpts. After visual arts, China’s dance companies lead the way in innovation and international marketability of their arts. Why such conservative repertoire? Why not show the latest the company has to offer?

Interesting related updates: the Inner Mongolian Chorus also performed as part of the Kennedy Center’s 2005 Festival of China. Since then however, consistent with the continuing Reform and Opening Up of cultural industries, a small ensemble originating from this chorus has gone off on their own, with great success so far. An Da Union has toured twice through our heartland through Arts Midwest’s Worldfest program (as has Beauty and Melody). They play the Edinburgh Festival later this month, and are the subject of an upcoming documentary. Mostly younger performers, they have had the courage, savvy and entrepreneurial spirit to break away from the old fashioned “large official group” mentality that limits much international touring of large official Chinese ensembles to large-scale sit-down festivals.

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Precision Isn’t Everything

Friday, August 5th, 2011

by Sedgwick Clark

We’ve been in the thrall of “perfect” playing for so long that sometimes it takes a less than precise ensemble to remind us of genuine character. The Royal Danish Orchestra, under its music director Michael Schønwandt, had it in spades last week in its delightful program of native son Carl Nielsen’s strange little Pan and Syrinx and his irresistible Clarinet Concerto, followed after intermission by Stravinsky’s complete Pulcinella.

Nielsen’s tongue-in-cheek sense of humor informs both of these works. Nila Parly’s program notes on Pan and Syrinx tell us that “Five days prior to the premiere, Nielsen’s daughter, Anne Marie, was married to Hungarian violinist Emil Telmányi. Nielsen had been slow in granting his permission for the marriage, and the fact that his wedding gift to the young couple was the dedication of this particular symphonic poem about a lascivious musician who pursues an innocent nymph and transforms her into his instrument, speaks volumes about Nielsen’s own perceptions of his son-in-law.” Perhaps, except that Telmányi soon became his father-in-law’s closest friend and a lifetime champion, performing and recording his Violin Concerto and other works as well as conducting the first performance of the Clarinet Concerto.

The clarinet is hardly overrun with solo vehicles, yet Nielsen’s high-spirited, thoroughly engaging concerto is not often played. (Nor, mysteriously, is his more playful Flute Concerto.) He had intended to write concertos for all his friends in the Copenhagen Wind Quintet but only finished two before his death. Both pieces were impishly tailored to their soloist’s personalities. The hot-tempered clarinetist’s fiery solo line was challenged by the subversive rat-a-tat-tat of a snare drum; the fastidious flutist was pursued by a buffoonish trombone, interestingly the instrument that Nielsen himself played in military band.

The Nielsen works received superbly committed, idiomatic performances by all, notably the orchestra’s principal clarinetist, John Kruse, in the solo role.

I was sitting way down front on audience right of Alice Tully Hall. Balances would have been better in a central location, but I might not have appreciated as much the wonderful double bass players in my lap or the virtuoso bassoonist in my sideways sight line. Under no circumstances could I have overlooked the fine concertmaster, Tobias Durholm, but never before have I been so aware of his quasi solo role in Pulcinella. On the debit side, while the strings were always expressive, ensemble was untidy at times; moreover, the oboe’s quacking tone was not to my taste, and the flute couldn’t always negotiate Stravinsky’s scurrying passagework. The singers were challenged, as ever, by the composer’s unrealistic demands. This is a really difficult piece! But music was being made, and I walked out of Tully a happy concertgoer.

Woody and MoMA

Sunday afternoon at MoMA followed by Woody Allen’s latest film, Midnight in Paris, turned out to be the most enjoyable artistic couplet since the last time I saw Paris. Entranced in the flesh, so to speak, by Picasso’s Seated Bather (1930) and then seeing it onscreen hours later was a treat available only in New York.

“You’re Next! You’re Next!”

. . . shouts Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) as he stumbles frantically between cars on a California freeway, trying to warn the drivers of impending doom in the classic 1956 sci-fi film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

New York Times film critic A.O. Scott did a well-timed piece on this celluloid shocker in the paper’s Web site on Tuesday (8/2), the day of the final congressional vote on America’s debt ceiling controversy. The plot: Seed pods from outer space take root in Santa Mira, California. They reproduce themselves in identical human form, complete with the minds and memories of the local inhabitants—except that they are devoid of emotions and their only instinct is survival. Fifties’ critics saw it as a commentary on McCarthyism or Communism. Today one might imagine the pod people as Tea Partiers or the Republican Party.

I was struck by a readers’ response to Scott from Brian in Philadelphia:

“As far as I’m concerned, ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ has already occurred in my lifetime. As a middle-aged man who can easily remember a time when no one cell phoned, blackberried, or even wore a beeper, I think I perceive what a good many cannot, apparently: That the world is now cluttered with the bodies of people who simply are no longer present.

“If you happen to look up from your glowing handheld device, you too may see them wandering down the street, texting as they walk, oblivious, for all practical purposes, gone. Persons to whom one might pose a question, who stare at you blankly until they’ve removed their earbuds to blearily ask you to repeat yourself. Gamers lost in fantasy worlds, inaccessible, frozen. People who come to a sudden standstill in doorways, persons parked in the middle of public stairways, who have slipped into a cell phone coma, not so much expecting others to accommodate them but unaware that others exist at all. As everyone accepts this as normal.

“It is not my fault that I can see this. ‘Body Snatchers’ conveys what it’s like.”

In a slightly different take on Wednesday’s Op-Ed page, in a piece entitled “Washington Chain Saw Massacre,” Maureen Dowd evoked not only Body Snatchers but also Alien and The Exorcist as well as nearly every other horror film image from Dracula and Frankenstein to “cannibals, eating their own party and leaders alive.” It would be hilarious if it weren’t so true.

Looking Forward

My week’s scheduled concerts:

8/6. Walter Reade Theater. Stravinsky on Film. 2:00: Janos Darvas’s 2001 documentary, Stravinsky: Composer and the composer leading his Symphony of Psalms in Hungary. 4:00: Julie Taymor’s 1992 production of Oedipus Rex and Pina Bausch’s Rite of Spring with the Tanztheater Wuppertal and the Cleveland Orchestra.

8/8. 7:30: Alice Tully Hall. International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)/Pablo Heras-Casado; Peter Serkin, piano. All-Stravinsky: Study for Pianola; Fanfare for a New Theatre; Lied ohne Name; Epitaphium; Three Pieces for String Quartet; Ragtime; Concertino; “Dumbarton Oaks” Concerto; Eight Instrumental Miniatures; Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments.

8/8 10:30: Kaplan Penthouse. ICE/Pablo Heras-Casado. Stravinsky: Pour Pablo Picasso; Bach (arr. Stravinsky, ed. Hogwood): Four Preludes and Fugues (sel.); Stravinsky: Epitaphium; Finnissy: Untitled piece to honour Igor Stravinsky; Denisov: Canon in Memory of Stravinsky; Berio: Autre fois: Berceuse canoníque pour Igor Stravinsky; Carter: Canon for Three Equal Instruments: In memoriam Igor Stravinsky; Schnittke: Canon in Memoriam Igor Stravinsky; Stravinsky: Octet.

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Singing at the Ballet

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

by Keith Clarke

What do dancers do when they break free from the corps de ballet? Carlos Acosta was a permanent member of the Royal Ballet for five years before becoming principal guest artist, leaving him free to do his own thing. Last year tickets were selling like hot cakes for his Premieres programme. This year’s version, Premieres Plus, has more empty seats, and has not fared too well with London’s dance critics.

An evening of nine short pieces, one on film, has some fine moments, but taken as a whole is curiously uninspiring. Far be it from me to suggest why – I’m no dance critic – but one thing I did find interesting was that the programme was a tale of two dancers – Acosta and his fellow Royal Ballet dancer Zenaida Yanowsky. It took a while for this to become apparent. There seemed a lot of people on stage, but after a while you begin to wonder why they’re just strolling about, rather than dancing. And don’t some of them look, just a little, not quite the right shape for dancers?

Come the last piece, O Magnum Mysterium, all becomes clear, for the dance troupe that isn’t pulls off a coup de theatre by turning out to be the Pegasus Choir all along, advancing slowly upstage singing Morten Lauridsen’s eponymous piece. It is the only live music in the evening, and falls on the ears like water on a parched throat.

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Looking for the interesting thing can be a challenge in many performances, and hands up, I did struggle a bit at Glyndebourne’s new production of Handel’s Rinaldo (reviewed on Tuesday), despite some fabulous singing. But the interesting thing there was the experience of going to a production into its run, rather than on the first night. There is no doubt that they are two very different experiences. Why should this be so? Is it that the performers are more wound up for the first performance, that the audience has come along with higher expectations, that the auditorium is liberally scattered with hard-nosed London critics?

It would probably take a sociologist to provide any kind of answer, but every critic should probably be required to do the test from time to time. It ought to be a humbling experience to sit, inwardly groaning, as every cliché in the book is wrapped in a warm glow of audience approval. But on the whole I have to say it isn’t.

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