Archive for May 15th, 2014

(Relatively) Short Takes

Thursday, May 15th, 2014

By Sedgwick Clark

New York Philharmonic/Christoph von Dohnányi; Paul Lewis, piano, April 10—If you like your Brahms Germanic, the British pianist Paul Lewis is not your cup of schlag. He has been praised for his Schubert and Beethoven performances in small venues hereabouts and on Harmonia Mundi recordings, but this was his first appearance with the Philharmonic in the 2700-seat Avery Fisher Hall. Moments after his first entry in Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1, PK wrote a demanding note of frustration to me: “Why am I here??? This is precious and stultifying—his playing is twee.”

I know what she was talking about, but I found Lewis’s shaping of notes perceptive and musical (her favorite descriptive word when she likes an artist), and he really tried for a massive sound in all the big moments, even if his tone lacked the weight PK desired. The Philharmonic’s playing was surprisingly scrappy. An impeccably played, comfortably paced, unfussy Schumann Second Symphony after intermission left no doubt where Dohnányi spent his rehearsal time.

Richard Goode, piano, May 1—This was the esteemed American pianist’s first Carnegie Hall recital since retiring last summer from his 14-year co-artistic direction with Mitsuko Uchida of the Marlboro Music School and Festival. The centerpiece of the recital was as satisfying a Schumann Davidsbündlertänze as one could imagine, never allowing the music to seem overstressed and repetitive. Moreover, the composer’s trademark compositional moods of the introverted Eusebius and impetuous Florestan appeared natural rather than contrived.

Goode’s attractive Carnegie Hall program began with four selections from the ten pieces of Janáček’s On the Overgrown Path, Book I. I’ve listened over and over to this inimitable composer’s piano music, hoping to be as entranced as I am with his orchestral and operatic works. I’ll keep trying.

Many years ago, Goode played a duo concert of French music with soprano Dawn Upshaw. I recall his accompaniments and solo performances as being magical. On this occasion, however, his playing of Debussy’s Préludes, Book I, after intermission, was disconcertingly brisk and monochromatic, devoid of mist or mystery. Perhaps he was hewing to the metronome marks, I don’t know, but this wasn’t the Debussy I love.

The Philadelphia Orchestra/Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Lisa Batiashvili, violin, May 2—If ever an orchestra and a piece of music were made for each other, it is the Philadelphians and Barber’s Adagio for Strings. Nézet-Séguin’s tempo was perfect and the players’ incomparable legato breathtaking. I want never to hear this piece by anyone else again.

Bartók’s early two-movement Violin Concerto (1907-08) is as rarely played as Barber’s Adagio is ubiquitous. The Straussian first movement is the most nakedly beautiful music the Hungarian ever composed, a love letter to a young violinist, Stefi Geyer, with whom he was smitten. The relationship was short-lived, writes Paul Griffiths in his insightful program note: “[B]y September 1907, they were already at loggerheads over the question of Bartók’s atheism. In 1911, he salvaged the first movement of the concerto for a new work, Two Portraits, with a different finale, after which the original score remained with Geyer.” It only came to light after her death in 1956, and “was at last heard on May 30, 1958, with Paul Sacher conducting and Hansheinz Schneeberger as soloist, breaking its silence of more than half a century.” Isaac Stern and the Philadelphia under Eugene Ormandy introduced the work in America and made its first recording—an excellent one—in 1961. Ormandy also made a fine recording of the Two Portraits in 1964 with the orchestra’s concertmaster, Anshel Brusilow, as soloist. Lisa Batiashvili’s rapturous performance with this new generation of Philadelphians—half a century later—may be the best of all.

Nézet-Séguin is clearly a Bruckner conductor to watch. His admirably cohesive yet always expressive interpretation of the Austrian composer’s Ninth Symphony never lost sight of the final bars in his broadly paced (64 minutes) performance. I was troubled once again, however, by an occasional coarsening of the strings and uncomfortably glaring brass in loud passages (cf., my February 2 blog regarding the Dvořák Sixth). The sumptuous Philadelphia, of all orchestras that play in Carnegie, has no difficulty filling the hall with glorious sound, as it demonstrated in a downright plush Beethoven “Eroica” three weeks after that unfortunate Dvořák performance. Last month I heard the orchestra on its home ground, Verizon Hall, and it was clear that the string balance has not been solved in all locations, by all conductors. I’m no acoustician, but my guess is that N-S is asking for more sound from the strings, which subliminally causes the brass to blow louder. This may produce good results in Verizon, but not in Carnegie.

Alec Baldwin Hissed at New York Philharmonic Concert

New York’s perennial bad boy Alec Baldwin was hissed last night, May 15, at a New York Philharmonic concert just before Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink walked onstage to conduct Mahler’s Third Symphony. The mild reaction began as soon as he mentioned his name during his usual pre-recorded, pre-concert announcement (“Good evening, this is Alec Baldwin . . .”) requesting Philharmonic audience members to please turn off their cell phones. The award-winning actor, classical-music lover, ardent supporter of the arts, New York Philharmonic board member, and announcer of the orchestra’s radio broadcasts has been in the news this week for riding his bicycle the wrong way on Fifth Avenue and then arguing with a police officer and being arrested.

The concert was excellent.

Looking Forward

My week’s scheduled concerts (8:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted):

5/15 Avery Fisher Hall at 7:30. New York Philharmonic/Bernard Haitink; Bernarda Fink, mezzo; Women of the New York Choral Artists; Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Mahler: Symphony No. 3.

5/16 Carnegie Hall. Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Mariss Jansons. John Adams: Slonimsky’s Earbox. R. Strauss: Don Juan. Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique.

5/17 Carnegie Hall. Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Mariss Jansons; Mitsuko Uchida, piano. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5.

5/18 Carnegie Hall at 2:00. Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Mariss Jansons; Gil Shaham, violin. Ligeti: Atmosphères. Berg: Violin Concerto. Brahms: Symphony No. 2.

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The Hogwarts School of Contracting and Wizardry

Thursday, May 15th, 2014

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.   

Dear Law and Disorder

I had a signed agreement with a promoter to present my artist. The contract provided for two deposits and a final payment on the day of the performance. I worked for over a year with this promoter to put this deal together. Not only did he not pay either of the deposits, but one month before the performance, he called to say he hadn’t sold enough tickets and that it was no longer economically feasible. And he is refusing to pay the money he owes. What am I supposed to do? Sue him? Why should I have to spend the time and money to sue him when we have a signed contract? What’s the point of having a contract in the first place if its not going to protect me?

For many years now I have been climbing the stairs to my secret laboratory trying to create the self-enforcing contract. Upon anyone breaching the terms of such a contract, a magical enforcement beast will materialize, forcing the breaching party into compliance. Sadly, my efforts thus far have proven unsuccessful, resulting only in a few sparks, a bit of ectoplasm still dripping from the ceiling, and a hapless paralegal I may have inadvertently turned into a newt. Until I perfect my spells and enchantments, you’ll have to settle for the fact that contracts are only as valuable as the time, effort, and common sense that goes into them. They do not exist in a vacuum. They do not self-enforce.

The point of a contract is not to get signatures on some form or template littered with extraneous terms that everyone believes are “industry standard”, but no one really reads or understands, in the hopes that it will somehow, in and of itself, stalwartly protect you from the other party cancelling your engagement, refusing to pay, or performing any other courser of unpleasantness. Rather, the point of a contract is the opportunity it creates for you to enter into deals, negotiations, collaborations, engagements, and other relationships knowingly and intelligently. Among other things, it allows you to make sure everyone is on the same page (ie: Do you define net profits the same way I define net profits? Can I cancel if I don’t sell enough tickets?). It allows you to create benchmarks by which you can judge performance and good will (ie: Did the other party pay the deposit on time? Did the check clear?). It allows you to “test the waters” before jumping into a new relationship by first seeing if you and the other party can work together to resolve differences and challenges in the creation of the relationship in the first place.

Sometimes, having a contract can also provide you with leverage. If you can point out that the other party clearly did or didn’t do something which they clearly agreed to do or not do, that pressure alone can often be enough to force compliance. However, if the leverage doesn’t work, you are ultimately left with the sobering fact that the only way to enforce a breached contract is though a lawsuit (or arbitration, if your contract provided for that.) Even then, if you win a lawsuit, you still have to collect the money. A judgment does not automatically guarantee payment. (I’m working on a self-paying judgment, too, as soon as figure out how to change lead into gold.)

The key is not to let the situation get to the enforcement stage in the first place. While some contractual breaches are unavoidable, most are the result of one the parties ignoring warning signs or not taking advantage of the contractual process. For example, a recent client of mine negotiated the terms of an engagement which included the standard items such as dates, time, repertoire, and fees. Everyone agreed. However, when she sent the contract to the presenter, the presenter discovered that the artist expected additional costs to be paid for transportation. My client, on the other hand, discovered that the presenter wanted the artist to obtain insurance to cover all the members of his orchestra. Neither of these topics had been discovered during the initial discussions. Fortunately, both my client and the presenter took the time to read the contract. Even more fortunately, both parties scheduled a time to talk about their respective concerns, worked out compromises, re-drafted the contract, and everything worked out great. Similarly, I was recently negotiation a recording contract on behalf of an artist. When I tried to discuss certain contractual discrepancies and concerns with the other party, rather than engage in solutions, they merely insisted I should trust them and enter into the deal based on “good faith.” That made me trust them even less. My artist really wanted this deal, but I convinced them not to take the risk. In the end, we wound up finding a better deal.

In your case, if your contract provided for two deposits, and the promoter didn’t pay either one, at what point did you not realize that this train was going to jump the tracks? That’s like sending off a contract, not getting a response back from the presenter or manager, having the other party  ignore your phone calls and emails, and the pretending to be shocked to find out the deal is being cancelled…you can’t cancel what was never a deal in the first place. At the time the deadline for the first deposit came and went, that was your time to stop and evaluate whether or not to proceed. If, your professional judgment, it was worth waiting until the second deposit was due, great. However, by the time the second deposit deadline came, that should have been the time to bail. If you decided to rely solely on the contract to protect you, then you were also accepting the fact that if the presenter didn’t pay or cancelled at the last minute, you would have to enforce payment by filing a lawsuit. There are many times that rolling the dice makes legitimate business sense, but you have to accept that for what it is—gambling. Unless you want to incur legal fees and court costs, not to mention lost time, if you gamble and lose, move on.

This is inherently a risky business. Contracts allow you evaluate and, in some instances, minimalize risk, but never eliminate it. Only you can protect you. You and a little pixie dust.

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For additional information and resources on this and otherGG_logo_for-facebook legal and business issues for the performing arts, visit ggartslaw.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. GG 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 and/or posthumously.

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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 Agents, Artist Management, Arts Management, Contracts, Law and Disorder: Performing Arts Division, Presenters | Comments Closed

Everything in its Right Place

Thursday, May 15th, 2014

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

When I visit with students at conservatories and music schools around the United States, the question I am most frequently asked concerns the right time for approaching management. I tell students, as well as young artists who are already actively concertizing, that developing artistic recognition, positive word of mouth and distinct marketability can take considerable time. We then discuss the various aspects of this process over which they have control and a strategy for embarking on the journey.

Sybarite5 has been on my radar screen since March of 2012. In October of that year, I featured them in my blog post titled A Flair for Marketing. The instrumentation of the group (two violins, viola, cello, double bass) and their varied and untraditional repertoire did not make them an obvious target for management, but I sensed that their gift for marketing themselves in a very warm and appealing way could be a strong plus for attracting attention in the management world. It was also of utmost importance that they play at a very high level and this was borne out in several of their performances which I was able to hear. Despite all this, I was very surprised (albeit delighted) to read, about two weeks ago, that Frank Salomon Associates had added Sybarite5 to its roster, the first new artist to join this prestigious management’s list in seven years. I wondered about the process that had led to such a momentous announcement and decided to call the Salomon office, as well as Steven Shaiman, Senior Vice President and Director, Artist Management, at Concert Artists Guild, which has managed the group since they won their 2011 Victor Elmaleh Competition.

I asked Steve if he remembered Sybarite5’s 2011 audition and what made them stand out. He told me that they were like a breath of fresh air. “They weren’t trying to be innovative. They had already hit on something very engaging and were able to get your attention and keep it.” He also said that they had very good presentation skills and a polished program which showed the variety of what they did. That program had already served them well when they performed a showcase at the Chamber Music America conference, an opportunity that had already opened some doors for them. The group had also showcased at other booking conferences (Western Alliance and Arts Midwest) prior to the Concert Artists Guild competition. They came across to Steve as extremely confident and had already released a five-track disc Disturb the Silence, which gave CAG an immediate marketing tool as they further introduced this unusual group in the marketplace. CAG released Sybarite5’s second disc Everything in its Right Place (ten arrangements of music by Radiohead) in 2012 on its own CAG Records label. The title of this album would seem to be a most apt description of how the ensemble has developed over the years.

How did Frank Salomon Associates (FSA) turn out to be the right place for Sybarite5? They seem like an unlikely choice for an agency that has been very discerning but also traditional in its roster choices over the years. In a call to its director, Barrie Steinberg and associate, Chris Williams (manager of Sybarite5), I was reminded that TASHI had been a long-time client of the firm and that they had performed in untraditional concert dress, announced programs from the stage, and offered both classical and crossover repertoire. Chris first heard Sybarite5 at a Midwest conference showcase and found them to be artistically compelling and “super cool”. Several of the FSA staff subsequently heard the group at a Young Performers Career Advancement (YPCA) showcase in January of 2013 and Chris heard them again three months later at one of their self-produced concerts at the cell in New York. He was impressed by the diverse crowd and found the concert experience to be very different and a great deal of fun. A classically trained violist with undergraduate and graduate degrees in Viola Performance, Chris had also developed a strong interest in pop music during his college years. He advocated for Sybarite5 at the Frank Salomon office, reinforcing the positive impression that Barrie had of the group, having heard them when they first started out, followed them through their newsletters, and spoken to presenters about them from time to time.  FSA had also been regularly updated by Concert Artists Guild with regard to the group’s development. Both Barrie and Chris confirmed to me that several additional factors contributed to their having been signed by the agency:

1)      Sybarite5’s  varied repertoire and style of presentation bring in a younger audience.

2)      The group is always finding ways to be visible, and they work hard at it. They never look solely to management to make things happen for them. Their newsletters are unfailingly gracious and informal, but also very informative. As I wrote this column, Sybarite5 were in Sarasota, Florida for their inaugural Forward Festival (described as the world’s first portable chamber music festival). It was launched, in part, with the help of a Kickstarter campaign that exceeded its goal of $50,000. The group’s choice of Sarasota reflects their innate business sense in undertaking a new enterprise in the home town of one of their members (bassist Louis Levitt). They also undoubtedly created a good deal of excitement and community engagement by including top-notch local musicians in their five programs, presented in five different venues, and offering outreach activities along the way. The programming, which featured repertoire ranging from Debussy and Bach to Bjork and Radiohead, also included the world premiere of Andy Akiho’s RESOLVE, commissioned with an award from Chamber Music America. It should come as no surprise that the festival attracted no less than six media sponsors.

3)      Sybarite5 have an ongoing commissioning program that contributes to their vitality and their ability to continue to offer presenters new programs. In spring 2015, they will premiere the world’s first concerto for string quintet and orchestra by American composer Dan Visconti. Their residencies sometimes include an innovative New Music IDOL project, which invites collegiate level composition students to write short pieces that are performed and critiqued in a casual concert setting, complete with a panel of judges. A winner is chosen via a live text-to-vote system. The group hopes  that one or more of these pieces may someday become part of their  repertoire.

4)      The group is very well-structured (they are a 501c3) with an effective division of labor. They have a policy of answering everyone within 48 hours – a manager’s dream! They have worked tirelessly to create themselves as a brand, making it easier to approach presenters about them.

My own favorite manifestation of Sybarite5’s ingenuity and creativity is their online merchandise store. Featured alongside the expected T-shirts, sweatshirts and tote bags are bibs, an organic baby bodysuit, a license plate frame, pet bowls, and a T-shirt for your dog – all complete with the group’s logo.

I commend Frank Salomon Associates for signing this exciting, boundary-defying group and wish them fortitude in keeping up with them as they achieve new heights!

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

©Edna Landau 2014

 

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