Archive for March, 2012

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Is It Dangerous to Cross Over Too Soon?

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

Dear Edna:

I am a parent of a very serious pre-college classical instrumentalist who has professional aspirations. Recently, she was offered a possible opportunity to perform and record with a singer-songwriter friend who has just signed a contract with a major agency and whose eclectic work is garnering increasing attention. While my daughter is flattered and quite eager to engage with musicians working in a wide range of genres, she is concerned about accepting this opportunity when she is aware that she is not yet well known in the classical world. We know a number of artists who have “crossed over” into other genres but it was always after they had achieved substantial recognition. Do you think our concern is unfounded? We both agree that your perspective will be extremely valuable in making a decision. –DLP

Dear DLP:

Thank you for sending in such an interesting and thought-provoking question.  In thinking about it, I realized that my answer now is probably very different than it would have been ten years ago. We are living in a time when we are increasingly seeking ways to attract younger audiences to classical music. I believe that the younger audience is drawn in not only by the music but by the personality of the performer. Young people listen to many types of music and they may shy away from classical music if they feel they don’t understand it. If they happen to discover your daughter via a collaboration with a singer-songwriter and they like what they hear, it may be much more comfortable for them to explore what she sounds like playing a concerto with orchestra. The bottom line, as I see it, is the quality of any venture that an artist undertakes.  If your daughter’s friend is extremely talented and both writes and performs at a high level, I see no reason why she shouldn’t consider a collaboration with them.  My guess is that we are probably talking about one track on an album and a few performances, which are not likely to cause any confusion with regard to your daughter’s major musical focus.  I would also add that in my experience, there is an enormous amount that instrumentalists can gain from working with singers, and even dancers. Instrumentalists concentrate a lot on the notes that appear on a page. Singers do too, but by necessity, they also have to concentrate on breathing and phrasing.  Dancers are, of course, always in motion. I feel that if instrumentalists would take the time to sing or dance some of the passages they regularly play, the music would come alive in an even more meaningful way. There are also genres of music that involve substantial improvisation, which is a skill and an art that I find sorely missing from the curriculum of many conservatories.  I encourage your daughter to interact with musicians from other genres whenever possible, having fun along the way and learning from one another. I am sure that her primary area of concentration will continue to be the classical repertoire and developing her artistry to the highest level possible, but she will become a much more interesting artist and she might play a valuable role in attracting new audiences to the music she loves so much.

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2012

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Short Takes on a Busy Week

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

by Sedgwick Clark

Three Operas

Far be it for this occasional operagoer to butt heads with Peter G. Davis in a work I barely know. “What are you doing at an Italian opera performance?” he asked me in feigned horror on opening night of the Met’s revival of Verdi’s Macbeth (3/15). “I’m here for the conducting—why else?” I replied, and was pleased to read in his Musicalamerica.com review LINK that we agreed on Gianandrea Noseda’s “maximum of lyrical intensity and dramatic energy—Verdi conducting doesn’t come much better than this.” (Why isn’t Noseda conducting regularly at the New York Philharmonic???) On the other hand, Peter also praised Adrian Noble’s “bold and fearless” 2007 updating of Shakespeare’s Scotland to “a fantasy world that suggests a period roughly around the end of World War II.” Such concepts alienate me; I believe that an intelligent audience will have no difficulty apprehending the composer’s intention in a traditional staging. Most of the time, therefore, my eyes were glommed onto the MetTitles. Thomas Hampson conveyed the weak-willed Macbeth well, if a bit reticently. Verdi said that vocal beauty was not important for Lady M, and Nadja Michael filled the bill; but she emanates sex and temperament aplenty, and I look forward to hearing her in a more refined role—say, Salome or Wozzeck’s Marie. On CD my preference remains Leinsdorf’s 1959 Met recording on RCA with Leonard Warren, Leonie Rysanek, and Carlo Bergonzi.

No problems with the next evening at the Met (3/16)—a superbly sung L’Elisir d’Amore with Juan Diego Flórez (whose shenanigans when he drank the elixir were hilarious) and Mariusz Kwiecien in hot pursuit of Diana Damrau. Peter and I were equally charmed by the 1991 production’s pastel candied sets, but this Saturday matinee is their last hurrah. Catch it if you can!

Leon Botstein may look like a mortician when he takes his bows, but he was at his salesman best in extolling the virtues of the late-Romantic Austrian composer Franz Schmidt in a pre-concert lecture. Franz Who? “He was a fabulous composer.” The occasion was LB’s American Symphony unearthing of the composer’s Notre Dame—which, presumably for marketing reasons, was called “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” in the advertisements—at Carnegie Hall (3/18). “This is a terrific opera. . . . The music is spectacular. . . . It deserves a production.” To an audience member who asked why he was drawn to forgotten music, he said, wryly, “I like slow starters and also-rans. I hate prodigies and competition winners.” This was the personal Botstein we wish for on the podium, and darned if the opera didn’t deserve it. While I can’t agree that Notre Dame is “the equal of any opera on the stage today,” its Wagner-Bruckner-Strauss-Mahler harmonic impasto is a consistent pleasure to hear (“lovely” was the word most bandied around at intermission), and of course it has a compelling story. Let me add my vote to the reviews of Leslie Kandell in Musicalamerica.com LINK and Vivien Schweitzer in the Times that it does deserve a production and Botstein is the man to do it. His conducting and the orchestra’s playing had passion, commitment, and precision, and the singers were uniformly capable, with the leads more so: bass Burak Bilgili as Quasimodo, soprano Lori Guilbeau as Esmeralda, and baritone Stephen Powell as the Archdeacon. The Collegiate Chorale Singers were fine, although it would be nice if they could stand up in unison at curtain time.

Paganini Caprices Humanized

The prospect of hearing all 24 of Paganini’s devilishly difficult Caprices in a single evening, rat-a-tat-tat, seemed rather a chore on the face of it. But Chicago violinist Rachel Barton Pine invested the music with warmth and ease, without stinting an iota on the composer’s fabled virtuosity. Moreover, at suitable intervals she interspersed engaging, often witty comments about the works and the composer that kept the evening moving agreeably. For an encore she performed her own Introduction and Variations on “God Defend New Zealand.” The nearly full house at Rockefeller University’s acoustically attractive Caspary Auditorium (3/21), on the far easterly reaches of Manhattan, caused one to wonder why this talented artist—praised by Harris Goldsmith as a notable up and comer in the 2004 Musical America Directory—isn’t heard regularly at Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center? Listen to her new Çedille CD “Capricho Latino” and see if you agree.

Murray Perahia, an “Old Master” at His Best

Few are the artists who can lure me back from the country prematurely to hear a Sunday afternoon concert of standards. Murray Perahia is one. Where many attend concerts to hear cherished artists, I’ve always been a repertoire man. My favorites mostly reside in the 20th century. But someone has to carry on tradition, and for my money no one can touch Perahia, as exemplified on Sunday afternoon at Avery Fisher Hall (3/25) in works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, and Chopin. Moreover, I much prefer solo piano in Fisher over Carnegie’s wetter acoustic, and at this concert Perahia’s American Steinway glowed with the tonal beauty and digital dexterity of the old masters at their best.

A Master Clarinetist at 27

Remember the name: Moran Katz. She’s terrific—a young Israeli clarinetist hailed by Harris Goldsmith in the 2011 Musical America Directory. He wrote of her “magnificent color, agility, and breath control” being “magically persuasive in the early Romantics,” and also of her devotion to contemporary music—all of which she demonstrated vividly in John Adams’s clarinet concerto, Gnarly Buttons, at Zankel Hall soon after the Perahia recital. It’s one of Adams’s most attractive works, witty, virtuosic, but also verging on profundity in the final movement, which Katz rendered movingly. There’s star quality here, waiting for the right management.

The admirable Ensemble ACJW, directed on this occasion by David Robertson, also impressed in Ligeti’s Chamber Concerto for 13 Instruments.

Looking Forward

My week’s scheduled concerts:

3/28 Carnegie Hall. San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas; Emanuel Ax, piano. Ruggles: Sun-Treader. Feldman: Piano and Orchestra. Ives: A Concord Symphony (orch. Brant).

3/29 Zankel Hall. Members of the San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas; Kiera Duffy, soprano; Paul Jacobs, organ; Mason Bates, electronics; Newband; Young People’s Chorus of New York City. Partch: Daphne of the Dunes. Mason Bates: Mass Transmission. Harrison: Concerto for Organ and Percussion Orchestra. Del Tredici: Syzygy.

3/30 Zankel Hall. Members of the San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas, host; Jeffrey Milarsky, conductor; Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble; Joan La Barbara, vocalist; Jeremy Denk, piano. Monk: Realm Variations. Reich: Music for Pieces of Wood. Foss: Echoi. Subotnick: Jacob’s Room: Monodrama.

4/2 Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space. Cutting Edge Concerts/Victoria Bond, host. Danjam Orchestra, with Peter McNeely, piano; Rufus Müller, tenor; Jenny Lin, piano. Paul Barnes, piano. Daniel Jamieson: Phantasm; A Desperate Act. Jim McNeely: Tod und Feuer; Der Seiltänzer. Victoria Bond: Leopold Bloom’s Homecoming. N. Lincoln Hanks: Monstre Sacré.

4/3 Alice Tully Hall. Juilliard Orchestra/Esa-Pekka Salonen. Sibelius: Pohjola’s Daughter. Beethoven: Symphony No. 7.

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Can My Artist Perform In The US As A Visitor?

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

By Brian Taylor Goldstein

Dear Brian,

I wanted to ask your advice about the visa needs of one of my artists. The artist is going to the USA twice this year to work. The first time will be to conduct a youth orchestra in rehearsals and a concert. The contract for this engagement is between the orchestra and my agency (based in London) and my agency will be receiving the fee. Therefore, I think I’m right in saying that the Artist will definitely need an O1 visa. (Their lawyer says that the Artist does not need a visa, but I think they are wrong.) The second engagement is slightly different, in that the artist is going to a school, but simply to do a series of talks and group discussions, not to conduct any public performance of any kind. It is almost certain that he is not receiving a fee for this, but his flights will be reimbursed by them. Having said this, if the school books his flights for him, then there may be no exchange of money at all. Will he need a full-blown visa for this engagement, as well? If not, what does he need? Many thanks in advance for your help.

Thanks for giving me this chance to address a common misunderstanding: many people believe—incorrectly—that if an artist is not paid in the US or if he or she is paid through an agent or a corporation, then no visa is required. Nothing can be further from the truth. A proper work visa (usually either an O or P visa) is required anytime a foreign artist “performs” in the United States—regardless of how they are paid or how much they are paid or where they are paid or who receives payment or even if they perform for free before an appreciative audience of starving orphans and poor widows! What triggers the need for a work visa is neither payment nor an exchange of money, but, rather, “performance.” Except for a few narrowly defined exceptions—including auditions and competitions—a foreign artist can never legally perform in the United States on a visitor visa (or, if applicable, by entering under the visa waiver program). Any time a foreign artist performs in the United States, a work visa is required.

So, with regard to your Artist’s engagement with the youth orchestra, you are absolutely correct! Your artist will definitely need an O-1 visa. Please refer what I suspect is the orchestra’s well-meaning, but ill-informed, board member to www.artistsfromabroad.org. And do not succumb to the pressure of being assured that their organization has never had to obtain visas for other foreign artists, has never been caught, everyone else does this, etc. etc. Make no mistake. Its not the orchestra taking the risk here—its your artist! If your artist is caught, the worst that happens to the orchestra is a quick search for a replacement, or, at worst, a cancelled concert. For your artist, he could be subject to future travel restrictions and bans that could ruin his future opportunities in the United States.

This is not to say that payment is never relevant, merely that it is not the deciding factor. The first step in any analysis of this nature is not payment, but performance. If the artist is not performing, then the second question is whether or not any fees are being paid. Which brings me to the question of your artist’s engagement at the school. You write that he is being engaged “… simply to do a series of talks and group discussions, not to conduct any public performance of any kind.” Excellent. That means he is not “performing”, thus, unless he is receiving a fee, a work visa will not be required. See how this works? Reimbursement for actual costs or even having actual costs covered is not the same thing as receiving a fee. If he were receiving an honorarium or a “flat fee” which he could apply towards his costs, as opposed to actual reimbursement, that would be a different matter indeed, but that does not appear to be the case here. As a result, your artist will not need an O-1 for the school engagement, but could enter either on a visitor visa or, if applicable, under the visa-waiver program. Nevertheless, if the two engagements at issue are reasonably close together, I would strongly advise you to obtain a single O-1 visa with sufficient classification to cover both engagements. Not only would this alleviate any guesswork, but it would remove the risk of adverse questions from a poorly-trained border troll (ie: US immigration officer at the port of entry) and you would only need to file a single petition to cover both engagements.

____________________________________________________________________

For additional information and resources on this and other legal and business issues for the performing arts, visit ftmartslaw-pc.com.

To ask your own question, write to:
lawanddisorder@musicalamerica.org.

All questions on any topic related to legal and business issues will be welcome. However, please post only general questions or hypotheticals. FTM Arts Law reserves the right to alter, edit or, amend questions to focus on specific issues or to avoid names, circumstances, or any information that could be used to identify or embarrass a specific individual or organization. All questions will be posted anonymously.

__________________________________________________________________

THE OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER:

THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE!

The purpose of this blog is to provide general advice and guidance, not legal advice. Please consult with an attorney familiar with your specific circumstances, facts, challenges, medications, psychiatric disorders, past-lives, karmic debt, and anything else that may impact your situation before drawing any conclusions, deciding upon a course of action, sending a nasty email, filing a lawsuit, or doing anything rash!

 

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Exceeding the Limit on the Freeway

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

Dear Edna:

I have been working for the past five years as an assistant in the admissions office of an American conservatory. I would like to embark on a new direction – perhaps artist management or artistic administration at an orchestra. I know some people to whom I feel I can turn for advice but I’m not sure whether I should be offering to pay them or whether this is the sort of thing that people do for free. Can you please let me know how I should approach this and what one can expect from them? —R.S.

Dear R.S.:

Thank you for writing in with this excellent question. Happily, the world of the performing arts is a very nurturing one. Individuals who are in established positions are happy to share their expertise and insight with young people who are still building their careers. They probably benefited themselves from such input when they started out and this is one way for them to give back. They do not expect to be paid for their time, which typically will not exceed an hour. Nevertheless, one should not take this largesse for granted and there are certain guidelines that you might want to keep in mind:

1)    When you approach someone for this purpose, it is advisable to indicate as concisely as possible why you have approached them and to express your gratitude in advance for their consideration of your request, in light of their very busy schedule.

2)    It is best to avoid making an open-ended request. Be specific about the information you are seeking. For example, it is ok to ask someone if they think you are suited for a particular position but it may not be ok if you ask them to review your resume and tell you the kinds of jobs for which they think you might be qualified. It might be more suitable to address that to a paid consultant.

3)    Avoid putting time pressure on the person you are approaching. Try to make your request sufficiently in advance of the date by which you need the information. This is even more critical if you are asking for a letter of recommendation. If your need is sudden and unexpected, express your understanding that it may not be possible for them to respond in such short order.

4)    In general, if you are asking someone to share their expertise and they are not a family friend, colleague, former teacher, director of the alumni office of a school you attended, or someone with whom you have regular give and take with regard to sharing information, it is advisable to offer to pay that person for their time. Let them decide whether to offer their counsel for free.

5)    If someone has given you free advice in the past, perhaps as part of a mentoring program at a trade conference, do not assume that they will continue to advise you going forward. If they promised to follow up on some things, they will undoubtedly be true to their word, but do not expect or request any further action on their part without offering to pay them. For example, if they have agreed to let you use their name in expressing support for a project you are undertaking, that should not send a signal to you that they are happy to assist with your pitch letter or marketing materials unless they specifically indicated that in advance. Here, too, there are consultants who can provide such services.

6)    If someone agrees to give you free advice over a cup of coffee, try to grab the bill before they do. If they insist on paying, it’s OK to let them pay. A handwritten thank you note following the meeting is always welcome. If they happen to mention something that is important to them during the course of the meeting, with which you are in a position to assist, surprise them by following up on it. They may not have time to look for the perfect yoga teacher but if you know someone really good who is located near their home or office, send them the contact information. They will surely be impressed with your thoughtfulness.

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2012

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“We Didn’t Hear the Same Concert”

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

by Sedgwick Clark

That’s a traditional reader complaint. But it happens to critics too. Russian violinist Vadim Repin and Lithuanian pianist Itamar Golan have solid careers, and their program last Saturday evening (3/17) in Alice Tully Hall was an enticing selection of works by Janáček, Ravel, Grieg, and Chausson.

From mid-parquet I found Repin’s sound surprisingly coarse and aggressive, as if playing to the last row of Avery Fisher Hall, where he has often performed, rather than the medium-sized Tully. His tone, most deleteriously in Ravel’s jazzy Violin Sonata, was grainy and monochromatic, thick and unsubtle; pizzicatos made scant effect. The same composer’s Tzigane had little gypsy flavor, just headlong virtuosity, and Janáček’s Sonata sounded unaccountably ugly. Chausson’s Poème, which required mostly soft playing, elicited his best moments.

Two seats to my left, The Strad’s Dennis Rooney was filled with praise, although he did suggest that Repin’s violin had problems “in the middle” and would be in the shop next week. Maya Pritsker had been sitting several rows closer and walked back to say hello at intermission, rhapsodizing at how Repin reminded her of David Oistrakh. I reacted with horror and suggested that she stay back with me for the second half. At one particularly unattractive moment in Grieg’s Second Sonata I looked at her and she nodded in understanding; at the end of the work she said he didn’t sound so loud down front.

I was astonished to read Zachary Woolfe’s Times review, stating that “. . . Mr. Repin brought remarkable tone: sweet and focused to the highest reaches of the instrument but never syrupy or heavy. He was game for a wide range of colors—savage attacks and pale whispers—but the atmospherics were less precise and varied: in lyrical passages he tended to be square.” I could agree with only the last part of that sentence.

No movements were listed in the program, which may be why the over-enthusiastic audience applauded between movements—which can’t have helped the performers’ concentration. The stage lighting was distracting as well, throwing shadows on the performers’ faces. A shoddy presentation.

New York Phil Opens Its Archives

Tomorrow (Thursday, 3/22, 10:30 a.m. EST) the NYPhil Archives hosts an “online discussion” of its second release from its steadily burgeoning digital archives: a world-wide discussion of Philharmonic tours from 1943 to 1970. Most important, perhaps, are Leonard Bernstein’s tours with the orchestra to the former Soviet Union, Europe, Japan, and South America. Scholars and musicians from Russia, Japan, Munich, and the United States will join NYP Archivist Barbara Haws and moderator Jeff Spurgeon of New York radio station WQXR for the one-hour event, streamed live via Google Hangout. Click on this link for full info: http://archives.nyphil.org/hangout/

Gil Shaham’s Hartmann

Last week I wrote in anticipation of hearing Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s Concerto funèbre played by Gil Shaham at the Philharmonic and promised a report. It’s not an immediately ingratiating work, and I look forward to the broadcast for further acquaintance. James Keller’s notes mention references to Mahler, Bartók, Stravinsky, Berg, Webern, and Hindemith, and when I went backstage I had to admit that I missed them. Gil’s eyes brightened and he played a passage containing an instantly recognizable quote from Stravinsky’s concerto. He hopes to record the piece, and perhaps my ears will be attuned to Hartmann’s allusions by that time.

MTT’s American Mavericks at Carnegie

My most highly anticipated concerts of the season are upon us: Michael Tilson Thomas’s American Maverick’s series, in celebration of the San Francisco Symphony’s centennial season, the first of which are listed below and will continue through the week. Twentieth-century American masters Ives, Ruggles, Cowell, Varèse, Cage, Feldman, and Adams in the big hall with full orchestra during the coming week. Then on Thursday and Friday in Carnegie’s mid-size Zankel Hall, members of the SFSO will perform works by Harry Partch, Lou Harrison, David Del Tredici (his Syzygy, which Michael told me 40 years ago was a masterpiece), Steve Reich, Lukas Foss, and New York premieres of hot-off-the-press works by Musical America’s 2012 Composer of the Year Meredith Monk, Mason Bates, and Morton Subotnick.

Looking Forward

My week’s scheduled concerts:

3/21 Rockefeller University. Rachel Barton Pine, violin. Paganini: Caprices (24).

3/25 Avery Fisher Hall at 3:00. Murray Perahia, piano. Bach French Suite No. 5. Beethoven: Sonata No. 27, Op. 90. Brahms: Klavierstücke, Op. 119. Schubert: Sonata in A, D. 664. Chopin: Polonaise in C-sharp minor; Prelude in F-sharp minor; Mazurka in C-sharp minor; Scherzo in C-sharp minor.

3/25 Zankel Hall at 7:30. Ensemble ACJW/David Robertson; Moran Katz, clarinet. Wagner: Siegfried Idyll. Ligeti: Chamber Concerto for 13 Instruments. Adams: Gnarly Buttons. Haydn: Symphony No. 8 (“Le soir”).

3/26 Zankel Hall. So Percussion. Works by Cage, Cenk Ergün, Matmos, Dan Deacon, and Jason Treuting.

3/27 Carnegie Hall. San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas; St. Lawrence String Quartet; Joan La Barbara, Meredith Monk, Jessye Norman, vocalists. Cage: Selections from Song Books. Cowell: Synchrony. Adams: Absolute Jest. Varèse: Amériques.

3/28 Carnegie Hall. San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas; Emanuel Ax, piano. Ruggles: Sun-Treader. Feldman: Piano and Orchestra. Ives: A Concord Symphony (orch. Brant).

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The Truth About Industry Standards

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

By Brian Taylor Goldstein

Dear FTM Arts Law:

I was recently reviewing a contract I received from an agent. When I asked for some changes, she told me that her contract was “industry standard” and that nothing could be changed because that’s the way everyone does it. In the future, I don’t want to waste anyone’s time or appear like I don’t know what I’m doing. Are there industry standards for certain types of contracts? Where can I learn what is and is not legally required?

Do not mistake “industry standard” for “legally required.” Something which is “legally required” is mandated by statutes or regulations—such as visas, taxes, licenses, or permits. The term “industry standard”, on the other hand, usually means: “This is how I’m used to doing it and I’d rather not change.” Too often, its employed as a form of peer pressure to make you feel that you have no right to make counterproposals, counter offers, or suggest a new or different way to structure the deal or transaction. Nothing could be further from the truth! The only industry standards in this industry are that there are NO standards! This is not to suggest that there are not ways to structure some deals and transactions that are more common than others, but even a common practice or custom does not mean that it is unchangeable. More significantly, if you polled a cross section of performing arts professionals about any given topic, you will find a significant divergence of opinion as to what is and what is not “standard”. In other words, just because someone has done something a certain way for 20 years does not mean that’s the way everyone else must do it, much less you. It may be “standard” for that individual or organization, but it doesn’t make it “standard” for anyone else.

In your question, you don’t mention the specific terms that were at issue. Depending on the circumstances, what you were asking for may have been completely reasonable or completely ridiculous. But that really doesn’t matter. Perhaps more than in any other industry, the arts is based on relationships and success depends on the health and strength of those relationships. When entering into any arts-based relationship, you should always feel free to ask questions, propose new ways of doing things, and think creatively. This does not mean you will get what you want. That will depend on negotiations and the negotiating positions of the parties. If you need to licensing rights from another party or want to work with them more than they want to work with you, its to be expected that they may counter any or all of your proposals with “take it or leave it.” However, that’s not because of any predetermined “industry standard”, its just that they may be in a better position than you are to dictate the terms they want. That’s not necessarily unfair, its just reality. In response to an attorney who once presented me with a contract which he insisted was “industry standard”, I told him that, according to his “standard”, the artist gets screwed, so we need to pick a better standard. It never hurts to ask!

___________________________________________________________________________

For additional information and resources on this and other legal and business issues for the performing arts, visit ftmartslaw-pc.com.

To ask your own question, write to lawanddisorder@musicalamerica.org.

All questions on any topic related to legal and business issues will be welcome. However, please post only general questions or hypotheticals. FTM Arts Law reserves the right to alter, edit or, amend questions to focus on specific issues or to avoid names, circumstances, or any information that could be used to identify or embarrass a specific individual or organization. All questions will be posted anonymously.

____________________________________________________________________________

THE OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER:

THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE!

The purpose of this blog is to provide general advice and guidance, not legal advice. Please consult with an attorney familiar with your specific circumstances, facts, challenges, medications, psychiatric disorders, past-lives, karmic debt, and anything else that may impact your situation before drawing any conclusions, deciding upon a course of action, sending a nasty email, filing a lawsuit, or doing anything rash!

 

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Posted in Artist Management, Arts Management, Contracts, Law and Disorder: Performing Arts Division | Comments Closed

Getting Airplay for your CD

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

I would like to express my thanks to my good friend and colleague, Gail Wein, a former NPR producer and currently a communications consultant and publicist in New York City, who provided the information that is the basis for my column below.

Dear Edna:

What is the best way for an unknown artist to get airplay for a CD (say, NPR in particular)? —Patricia Goodson

Dear Patricia:

Thank you very much for your question, which I am sure will be of interest to many of our readers. Like so many aspects of career building today, success in getting airplay for a cd is largely dependent on its special appeal and the excellence of the performer(s) involved. It is unlikely that NPR would feature a recording of standard repertoire by an unknown artist unless there were an unusual story surrounding that artist or they were brought to their attention by several individuals whose opinion they highly respected. If the repertoire is unusual, the chances are greater. For example, I recently met a gifted saxophonist, Christopher Brellochs, who had access to the unpublished manuscript of Aaron Copland’s original version of music for  Quiet City, which was written for chamber ensemble. He adapted it for concert purposes, making a few small orchestration changes, and with the blessing of the Aaron Copland Estate and Copland’s publisher, Boosey and Hawkes, made the world premiere recording.  This recording, rounded out with music by other American composers, was featured by both American Public Media and National Public Radio (Performance Today and Weekend Edition), alongside interviews with Mr. Brellochs. It is not hard to see why it captured their attention.

In attempting to get airplay for a cd, you can work at both the local and national level but the objectives will be somewhat different. A local station (which may be a member station of NPR) might play your cd as a stand-alone item, perhaps with a little introductory explanation that could include information about a related performance in the area. An approach to NPR in Washington, D.C., would be made in hopes that the recording would interest them enough to produce a feature story about it or invite you to be interviewed. There is also the possibility that you could be asked to do a live, in studio performance.  In approaching a local classical station, you would begin by going on the radio station’s website and looking for the name of the Music Director. If that is not apparent, the next choice would be the Program Director. The third choice would be the individual host of a specific show. The next step would be to send the cd by mail to the particular individual with a short bio of the artist(s), a press release about the cd, if you have one, and a cover note that explains why you think that it is of particular interest. If you are based in the area or have performed there, it would be wise to point that out. It is advisable to simultaneously send an e-mail to this person with the same basic content and also alerting them that you are sending a cd to them and would be most grateful for their consideration.  It may be a bit challenging to get the e-mail address but you should call the station and if you are not successful in getting through to anyone, ask for the membership department, which almost always answers. Be aware that these stations probably get dozens of cd’s a week and, therefore, they are not likely to respond to you. However, it is fine for you to follow up with another e-mail or phone call, saying that you hope they received your cd and will consider it for airplay. You can leave your phone number in case they have any questions. It is not advisable to approach everyone whose name you come up with because they are likely to be in close communication and feel as if they have been bombarded by you. If you already know someone at the station, albeit not in one of the above three categories, feel free to send them your cd and ask if they can shepherd it along. Ms. Wein advises me that even though press kits and performances are often shared digitally, some media outlets prefer to receive cd’s. Therefore, it is probably safest to go that route, unless the station’s website advises otherwise.

If you are seeking national exposure on shows such as NPR’s All Things Considered, Morning Edition or Weekend Edition, it will be all the more crucial that your cd has a story associated with it that would justify national exposure (premiere recording of certain repertoire, unjustly neglected composer, newly formed ensemble of great interest, etc.) You can indicate your availability for a live interview or studio performance, should they be interested. You will want to go on the NPR website and follow their instructions in the section called “How do I submit materials (cd’s, books…) to NPR for possible review”. Please note that they ask you not to contact them for follow-up as they will contact you if they have any questions.

I wish you the best of luck in gaining wider exposure for your recorded performances.

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2012

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Finding the Right Gimmick

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

by Sedgwick Clark

Shaham’s 1939 Dark Horse

Gil Shaham had an epiphany. After years of recognition as one of the brightest young lights of the concert circuit, the Israeli-American violinist conjured one of the most imaginative programming concepts in years. He had been struck by how many violin concertos written in the 1930s had entered the basic repertoire: Stravinsky (1931), Berg and Prokofiev Second (1935); then, in 1939 alone, the same year that Hollywood produced perhaps its greatest year ever, the Bartók, Hindemith, Walton, Britten, and Barber concertos. Since 2009 he has performed all of these but the Hindemith and Britten, and in December, when he received Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year award for 2012, he promised that he would get to those too.

But there are many other concertos on the periphery waiting to be discovered—as Dennis D. Rooney mentioned in his tribute to Shaham in the Musical America Directory—waiting for the right performer to bring them alive to a public that loves the tried and true but welcomes a little spice too. The Szymanowski Second (1932) is one; Henryk Szeryng introduced it to me at a New York Philharmonic concert nearly 40 years ago. And after four decades of over a hundred concerts a season, countless radio broadcasts, and the collection and partial deaccession of over 20,000 LPs and 10,000 CDs, I’m about to be introduced to another ’30s violin concerto at a Philharmonic concert—this time courtesy of Gil Shaham, who gave the Walton concerto such a virtuoso turn with this orchestra last spring. The work is Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s Concerto funebre (1939). Astonishingly (to me, anyway), I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a note of Hartmann’s music. Shaham will perform this concerto with the New York Philharmonic and David Zinman on March 15, 16, 17, and 20. Who knows? As with Szymanowski it may be a new love affair. I’ll let you know.

As a warmup to hearing Gil again in concert, I listened this past weekend to two Shaham CDs on his own Canary Classics label, which he founded several years ago when his previous label, Deutsche Grammophon, didn’t want to record a disc of Fauré chamber music. An all-Prokofiev disc (ATM CD 1555) includes the two violin sonatas, Opp. 80 and 94, the Five Melodies, Op. 35, and three Heifetz transcriptions sandwiched between the larger works. It’s a great CD, with the violinist contributing subtleties of dynamic shading and phrasing that elevated these works far beyond my previous estimation; he is ideally partnered by his sister, Orli Shaham. The sound, superbly produced by Eric Wen, matches the performers in its breathtaking realism. My preferred recording of the sonatas was previously the ’70s Perlman-Ashkenazy (most recently paired on an RCA CD with Perlman’s peerless recording of the Second Concerto with Leinsdorf and Boston). Henceforth, I’ll reach for the Shahams. Another superior Shaham CD on Canary is called “Virtuoso Violin Works” by Sarasate (CC07). This time Gil shares violin duties with his wife, Adele Anthony, and the pianist is Akira Eguchi. The four tracks requiring orchestral accompaniment feature the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León conducted by Alejandro Posada.

The Rest Is Noise in London

Another brilliant programming connection will dominate London’s Southbank Centre next season. It takes the subject of American music critic Alex Ross’s award-winning book The Rest Is Noise as a stepping-off point, and I quote:

“In 2007 Alex Ross wrote the seminal book The Rest Is Noise – listening to the Twentieth Century. Throughout 2013 we bring the book alive, with nearly 100 concerts, performances, films, talks and debates. We will take you on a chronological journey through the most important music of the 20th century to dramatise the massive political and social upheavals. The London Philharmonic Orchestra, with over 30 concerts, is the backbone of the festival that reveals the stories behind the rich, exhilarating and sometimes controversial compositions that have changed the way we listen forever.”

BBC Four is also involved in the project, assuring that the Foggy City will be awash in 20th-century music next season (see link).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2012/bbc-four-southbank-partnership.html

NOW, I ask you, my good friends at Lincoln Center: Here’s a concept inspired by an internationally acclaimed book by an American author, published in America (Farrar, Straus, Giroux). With all your resources and a campus made for a project of such scope, why . . . ? But that’s a hopeless query. The Brits beat us to it, and no arts org on this coast is likely to jump off the 20th-century music cliff in today’s economic climate.

A New Carlos Kleiber Bio—in ENGLISH!

Alison Ames informs me that Corresponding with Carlos: A biography of Carlos Kleiber by Charles Barber has been published by Kindle, available through Amazon for $52.69. The reader reviews, which seem astute, are raves, and two of the reviewers find the price well worth it. Here’s the link:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Carlos+Kleiber&x=0&y=0

American readers frustrated by the existence of three bios in German may click on this link for info (they’ll still be frustrated, of course, but at least the info will be available to them):

http://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_de_DE=%C5M%C5Z%D5%D1&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Kleiber%2C+Carlos&x=0&y=0

Looking Forward

My week’s scheduled concerts:

3/15 Metropolitan Opera. Verdi: Macbeth. Gianandrea Noseda (cond.). Thomas Hampson, baritone; Nadja Michael, soprano; Dimitri Pittas, tenor ; Günther Groissböck, bass.

3/16 Avery Fisher Hall. New York Philharmonic/David Zinman; Gil Shaham, violin. Hartmann: Concerto funebre. Beethoven: Symphony Nos. 1 and 3.

3/17 Walter Reade Theater.1:30 The Callas Effect. 3:00 Callas on Film.

3/17 Alice Tully Hall. Vadim Repin, violin; Itamar Golan, piano. Janácek: Violin Sonata. Ravel: Violin Sonata. Violin Sonata No. 2. Chausson: Poème. Ravel: Tzigane.

3/18 Carnegie Hall. American Symphony Orchestra/Leon Botstein; Stephen Powell, Lori Guilbeau, Robert Chafin, Burak Bilgili, Corey Bix, soloists; Collegiate Chorale Singers. Schmidt: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (in concert).

3/21 Rockefeller University. Rachel Barton Pine, violin. Paganini: Caprices (24).

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Is Specialization Limiting or Helpful?

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

I recently made my third visit to the Bard College Conservatory of Music and spent two hours with some wonderful young singers who have been picked by Dawn Upshaw, Kayo Iwama and their vocal faculty colleagues to participate in the prestigious Graduate Vocal Arts Program. I was asked the following question which, at the time, had me a bit stumped.

Does having a specialization in a musical area or genre limit you, or does it make you more marketable as a performer?

I don’t think that 20 years ago, artists would have devoted their attention to what might make them marketable, yet I applaud the questioner for thinking this way. In this very competitive time for emerging young artists, achieving recognition in a certain area or genre of music would seem to be a plus. It increases the chances that someone will think of them when programming particular pieces. If an artist demonstrates that they have a great affinity for a specific area of repertoire and they perform it with considerable expertise, they may well enjoy a distinguished career. One example which comes to mind is soprano Emma Kirkby, who has mostly performed Renaissance and Baroque works and has achieved great recognition both for her live performances and extensive discography. The problem sets in when artists are repeatedly asked to sing in Bach masses and Haydn oratorios but they would equally love to perform Barber’s “Knoxville” or Britten’s “Les Illuminations”. If they have a manager representing them, they must arrive at a total meeting of the minds early on as to how to achieve and maintain this delicate balance. The manager must bear the responsibility of regularly reminding presenters and conductors about the breadth of the artist’s repertoire. One need look no further than the Artistic Director of the Bard program, Dawn Upshaw, to find a sterling example of someone who successfully met this challenge. She made her early mark in opera in Mozart roles, but her intellectual and musical curiosity led her to explore a huge variety of repertoire and to partner with leading composers of our time, such as John Harbison, Osvaldo Golijov, John Adams and Kaija Saariaho. Her major career breakthrough was the recording of Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3, which sold over a million copies. The commitment she has given to every corner of the repertoire along her artistic journey has been so complete that her fans have adoringly followed her, and presenters have waited with great anticipation to learn of her latest project. The answer to the above question, therefore, lies totally in the aspirations and abilities of the performer.  Fortunately, many artists are privileged to enjoy long careers which afford them the opportunity to change direction and embark on new musical adventures, once they have established a name for themselves. Demonstrating a special affinity for a particular area of repertoire can be a real advantage, but it does not in any way need to limit the options for any singer to excel in and be thought of for other works in the extensive vocal literature.

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2012

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A Raft of Orchestras

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

by Sedgwick Clark

Rattle/Berlin’s Bruckner and Mahler

People used to equate Bruckner and Mahler (their music is both long and loud, after all). And those who heard Simon Rattle lead the Berlin Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall in Bruckner’s Ninth (2/24) and Mahler’s “Resurrection” (2/25) symphonies in such close proximity should have been able to tell the differences at once. Overall, tempos were well chosen and Rattle eschewed the confounding manipulation of pace and phrase that has marred much of his work in the standard repertoire.

Indeed, the Bruckner was one of the finest performances I’ve heard of the symphony in recent years. Rattle’s firm focus on the long line and pacing of climaxes was unerring, and unlike many conductors he never shortchanged the composer’s pauses or sustained whole notes. Even if Bruckner’s innig indications—“intimate,” “heartfelt”—and traditional spirituality seemed a bit underplayed, Rattle’s interpretive mastery was mightily impressive.

The evening’s importance was further marked by the U.S. premiere of a “performance version by Samale-Phillips-Cohrs-Mazzuca, 1983-2011” of the symphony’s projected fourth movement, left unfinished at Bruckner’s death in 1896. The 1903 premiere of the Ninth claimed it to be emotionally sufficient in three movements. Wrong, maintains John Phillips in the program booklet: “Bruckner left the movement very largely complete.” Some pages were missing, he admits, “But in most all cases, Bruckner’s preliminary sketches enabled us to reconstruct an accurate picture of the musical continuity, and the fully orchestrated sections showed clearly how Bruckner intended it to sound.”

“Intended” is the key word. One can acknowledge and study the achievement but still realize that melodically the material is eminently forgettable, mediocre, not up to anything in the sublime first three movements. Quite unlike Mahler’s inspiration in his unfinished Tenth—so brilliantly revealed by Deryck Cooke’s “performing version”—this movement detracts from the first three. All serious Brucknerites will have to acquire Rattle’s recording of the four-movement Ninth when EMI releases it in May, but I’ll bet most listeners will opt out of the finale after a single hearing.

Rattle’s Mahler Second (“Resurrection”) was a disappointment from its mushy opening attacks to the inaudibility of the tam-tam and organ on the final page. Those who know his recording will not be surprised with his tempos, and except for a couple of hasty accelerandos I found them unobjectionable. I especially liked his lilting second-movement Andante moderato (Bernstein’s least successful movement). But some of his choices—the first movement’s huge climax at the end of the second development and his adherence to the score’s wrong-headed Tempo 1indication at movement’s end (and he is by no means alone in these instances)—were ponderous and unintuitive. The offstage horns in the finale were placed outside the balcony but could have sounded even farther away. My Carnegie touchstones for this effect are the Indianapolis Symphony’s “Resurrection” under John Nelson and Julius Rudel’s Buffalo Philharmonic performance of Mahler’s Das Klagende Lied—both in 1980—in which the offstage instruments in the latter sounded as if they were playing full tilt from the middle of Central Park. Stupendous! But Rattle gave full power to the gigantic crescendo in the finale, and the offstage-right brass episode was well balanced and quite exciting.

The Times’s Anthony Tommasini wrote in his review of the first of the orchestra’s three concerts that “it is fascinating how even with so many new and younger members, the character of the orchestra remains.” Sorry, sitting in Row T across from Tony in the parquet, I don’t hear it. Few of the instrumentalists appear old enough to have played under Karajan. Their sound under Rattle, to my ears, is powerful yet coarse in texture and opaque in tuttis, with little of the sensuous beauty and rich, organ-like sonority cultured by the elder maestro. And the purely technical quality of the BPO’s playing appeared at least partially dependent upon which of the three First Concertmasters was playing. In retrospect, the Bruckner’s excellent performance seemed in large part due to Daishin Kashimoto’s attentive cues, whereas the schlamperei of the ensemble in the Mahler seemed mirrored in Daniel Stabrawa’s less-heedful demeanor.

Maazel Mauls Sibelius

The young Lorin Maazel recorded a Sibelius symphony cycle with the Vienna Philharmonic for Decca between 1963 and ’68, and the septuagenarian Maazel’s Carnegie Hall concert with the VPO on March 2 might have been seen by the hopeful as a return to the best of those efforts: Nos. 3, 4, and 6. No such luck. Played at this concert were Nos. 1, 5, and 7, and the performances were bloated (7 and 5 each gaining more than five minutes over the recordings, to no end save tedium), spottily played (5 and 1), and littered with Maazelisms (most pronounced in the first movement of 1 and the exaggerated though precisely played distention of the final six chords of 5). Coming after his spectacular traversal of Strauss’s Alpine Symphony with the New York Phil last October, a distinct disappointment.

Honeck’s Tchaik 5 Sears the Ears

Two years ago, the Pittsburgh Symphony under Music Director Manfred Honeck sounded in Mahler’s First as if every instrument had its separate microphone. I vowed never to attend another concert by him, but I was in town for Rattle and Berlin and my legendary sense of fairness won out. On Sunday afternoon (2/26) in Avery Fisher Hall the Pittsburgh sonority was far more unified. The New York premiere of Steven Stucky’s17-minute celebration of Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, seemed a hit with both audience and players. While all the water clichés of the past appeared unavoidable (my ears were boating in Giverny, but Allan Kozinn in the Times heard Jackson Pollack as a “visual analogue”), Stucky’s tonal idiom and masterful orchestration were a balm to the senses. Honeck and the PSO were flypaper accompanists to Hilary Hahn’s dietetic Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1.  If heartless Tchaikovsky is your preference, Honeck’s awesomely drilled Fifth Symphony after intermission filled the bill. The whiplash tempos, wide dynamics, and slashing attacks were undeniably impressive, but one felt brutalized. Moreover, his flashy conducting style actually encouraged the audience to applaud prematurely in the dramatic pause before the finale’s coda. Not even the encore, Khachaturian’s already-virtuosic Galop from Masquerade, escaped Honeck’s teeth-grinding excess. The audience went wild.

Don’t Miss St. Louis

Alas, I can’t get to everything. I’ll be out of town on Saturday (3/10) when David Robertson leads his St. Louis Symphony in a fabulous program of Debussy’s early Printemps, Kaija Saariaho’s shimmering Quatre Instants, sung by Karita Mattila, and Stravinsky’s complete Firebird ballet. (By the way, all of these musicians were Musical America awardees: Conductor, Composer, Musician, and Musician, respectively.)

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