Finding Your Unique Path to Success

February 23rd, 2012

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

It has been pointed out to me that in my column last week, I inadvertently misspelled the name of the author of an article entitled “Being a Professional Chorister” which appeared on Laura Claycomb’s website. His correct name is Martin L. Poock. My apologies to Mr. Poock for this oversight on my part.

Congratulations to violinist, Mina Um, winner of the First Prize in the First Anniversary Ask Edna contest. Mina has won a free career consult with me and I look forward to meeting her soon.

Dear Edna:

How does a classical musician get to the international status of someone like Yo-Yo Ma or Itzhak Perlman? In the 21st century when classical music is no longer the “popular music”, do classical musicians need to make themselves look “hip” or “fun” to attract audiences? How did these people rise to fame and success, and would their methods work for students who are beginning their career now, in the 21st century? —Mina Um

Dear Mina:

It is interesting that you say that classical music is no longer the “popular music”, as if it was when Mr. Perlman and Mr. Ma were young. Regretfully, I don’t think that was ever the case, especially  in the United States. What is true is that the world of entertainment was very different then than it is now. With the absence of e-mails, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Netflix and text messaging, there were much fewer distractions competing for people’s leisure time. Music tended to be a more regular part of the school curriculum, thereby exposing people to the beauties of classical music and helping to build future audiences. When Itzhak Perlman appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show at the age of 13, he was an instant success. A huge mainstream audience who may not have ever before heard the music he played was captivated by him, eagerly awaiting more.  Yo-Yo Ma also appeared on American television at an even younger age in a concert conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Despite this early exposure, the careers of these artists were handled with great care and sensitivity, with Mr. Perlman cementing the early impression he had made by winning the prestigious Leventritt Competition six years later. Both artists were taken on by the legendary impresario, Sol Hurok, who had the contacts to book them in high profile tours throughout the world.

So you see, there were no real “methods” that worked for these artists which could be applied to aspiring artists today. Perhaps there was a smaller number of gifted and promising artists populating the music scene in those days but the key to success then was the same as it is now – extraordinary talent and accomplishment, and the ability to communicate with audiences in a very personal, heartfelt and memorable way. You didn’t need to listen to too many measures of music performed by Mr. Perlman or Mr. Ma to know that you were hearing something very special. These artists clearly loved to perform and were not afraid to take risks on stage. Their talent was totally natural, and there was no need to think about superimposing anything additional in order to please an audience.

It is rare today for a classical artist to become an “overnight sensation”. Mainstream television shows are rarely interested in presenting them. As always, careers with longevity are largely built by word of mouth. And what gets people talking? Artists with extraordinary ability who have something special to say and to offer their audience. The challenge for young artists, therefore, is to determine what makes them special. If they can identify what that is and let it guide them in choosing the music they want to share with their audience, they will stand the highest chance of building a devoted following. They can help to introduce themselves exactly as they would like to be known by creating an informative, appealing website and by uploading samples of their performances on YouTube. If part of their nature is a wonderful sense of humor, they shouldn’t hesitate to show that in their performances, especially if they choose to give spoken introductions to any of the works. If fashion is a passion for them and they want to reflect that passion in their performances, they can certainly do that and, in all likelihood, it will come across as genuine. It is only when artists try to be “hip” for the sake of being different that it is likely to backfire.  If you look at the genres of music that are reflected in both Mr. Perlman’s and Mr. Ma’s extensive discographies, you can conclude that they were very inventive in coming up with projects and collaborations that would engage their public. However, it is important to realize that Mr. Ma’s ventures into Appalachian music and the rich heritage of the Silk Road came out of a tremendous intellectual curiosity and awareness of a diversity of cultures. He was fascinated by this music and wanted to make it part of his concert life. Similarly, Mr. Perlman’s irresistible recordings and concerts of klezmer music were inspired by music he heard in his childhood and learned from his father. He was thrilled at the thought of sharing this music with his classical music audience. I feel confident that if young artists today bring this same kind of genuine excitement and imagination to the decisions they make regarding programming, they will stand the greatest chance of attracting a sizable and diverse audience, as well as gaining the attention of people with the stature and influence to help them advance in their careers.

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2012

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MA Bloggers Span the U.S.

February 22nd, 2012

by Sedgwick Clark

First New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert as a Musical America blogger and now Los Angeles Opera Music Director James Conlon. Welcome Maestro Conlon!

His blog, entitled “A Rich Possession,” made its debut last Thursday, February 16, and demonstrated that those who love the arts really can make a difference. All of us have seen government funding for the arts tank during the current money crunch. But when the L.A. School Board proposed cutting all arts instruction in elementary classes, Conlon writes, “The public outcry against these cuts was loud and clear—and effective.”

The elementary school years are the most impressionable time for introduction to the arts. Thank goodness for Mrs. Kirk, the music teacher at Westview Elementary in Muncie. She taught me clarinet in second grade, and every Halloween she played a recording of Saint-Saëns’s Danse macabre, which fired my imagination and a love for classical music that burns unabated.

Read Conlon’s eloquent letter to the superintendant of the L.A. Board of Education and watch for his further contributions in the list of blogs on the right side of the Web site home page.

Copland House Comes to Manhattan

For years I’ve been tempted by Music from Copland House concerts, at Aaron Copland’s National Historic Landmark home in New York’s lower Hudson Valley, but they always seemed out of reach. On Monday (2/20), however, the Mountain came to Mohammed when several of the ensemble’s artists played a tasty program of mostly lightish American music at a dual benefit concert at Christ and St. Stephens Church on West 69th Street.

Following a performance by students and teachers of UpBeat NYC, a “grassroots organization” in the South Bronx modeled after El Sistema, the Copland House portion began with a world premiere by Rob Smith of Chaw, followed by works by Pierre Jalbert, Paul Schoenfield, Derek Bermel, Copland, and Grainger. All were executed winningly, especially Copland’s Vitebsk, which was given a stunning reading by violinist Harumi Rhodes, cellist Nicholas Canellakis, and pianist Michael Boriskin.

Music from Copland House next performs in Manhattan at the Ecstatic Music Festival at Merkin Hall on March 28.

Callas in My Dotage

This being the video and audio age, it seems asinine that people would watch films on computers, in the air, or, god forbid, on a cell anything. Lincoln Center to the rescue!

LC has been offering live-performance and documentary films for many years at Walter Reade Theater. I’ve attended numerous screenings even when I own the DVDs for the same reason I go to old movies in a theater: They were made for each other. I have a lot of Bernstein videos, but I still go to the Reade when they are shown. (How about his Verdi Requiem, Jane?) I hope that one of these days a Carlos Kleiber video festival will pop up. But I especially go for the artists I never experienced live, and this year it’s Maria Callas.

I often say that I’m saving such-and-such for my dotage, when there are no performers around anymore capable of producing what I want to hear in, say, Mahler, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, et al.—and that’s happening with alarming rapidity! Most music before Haydn, Schubert, and grand opera fall into my dotage category. Of course I have Callas’s irreplaceable 1954 recording of Tosca but none of her bel canto efforts. (Tristan, Otello, Pelléas, Bluebeard’s Castle, and Lulu are my favored operatic speed.)

So I’m looking forward to the first two Callas on Film presentations at the Reade on March 17. There’s one on the 18th too, but I can’t resist another of Leon Botstein’s last-chance-in-a-lifetime concerts over at Carnegie at the same hour—this time of Franz Schmidt’s opera Notre Dame.

Looking Forward

My week’s scheduled concerts:

2/22 Alice Tully Hall. Britten Sinfonia/Thomas Adès (conductor and piano); Pekka Kuusisto (violin). Couperin: Les baricades mistérieuses. Couperin (arr. Adès): Les baricades mistérieuses. Adès: Three Studies After Couperin. Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin. Stravinsky (arr. Dushkin): Airs du rossignol et March chinoise; Suite Nos. 1 and 2. Adès: Violin Concerto, Concentric Paths.

2/24 Carnegie Hall. Berlin Philharmonic/Simon Rattle. Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 (completed performance edition by Samale-Phillips-Cohrs-Mazzuca, rev. 2011).

2/25 Carnegie Hall. Berlin Philharmonic/Simon Rattle; Camilla Tilling, soprano; Bernarda Fink, mezzo; Westminster Symphonic Choir. Wolf: “Elfenlied”; “Der Feuerreiter”; “Frühlingschor” from Manuel Venegas. Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”).

2/26 at 3 p.m. Avery Fisher Hall. Pittsburgh Symphony/Manfred Honeck; Hilary Hahn, violin. Stucky: Silent Spring. Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5.

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The Fight for Arts Education

February 16th, 2012

by James Conlon

Public school districts throughout the country are struggling to meet mandated requirements with shrinking budgets. In such times, school boards are forced to make wrenching choices. The Los Angeles School Board met on February 14 to consider the elimination of a number of programs, including all elementary school arts instruction. The public outcry against these cuts was loud and clear—and effective. The Board decided to reconsider the cuts and to explore alternatives. The outcome of all this remains far from certain, but it is clear that the Board was influenced, at least for the moment, by the many letters, emails and comments it received. It is encouraging to know that if those of us who value the arts raise our voices, they can be heard.

Below was my own contribution to the discussion. To be continued, I’m sure.

—————————–

TO: Dr John Deasy, Superintendent, and Members of the LAUSD Board of Education

I write to you today having learned of the proposed funding cuts and possible elimination of the art and music program in LAUSD Elementary Schools.

As Music Director of Los Angeles Opera since 2006, and as one who, for the last forty years has been privileged to enjoy an international conducting career, I am deeply concerned. I myself am a product of the New York City Public School System, and I can personally attest to the importance that arts education plays in children’s lives.

The arts are for everyone, not a selected few. They historically have been, and must remain, an integral part of public education. A society without music and art is a society without a soul. A society that does not educate its young people endangers that soul. Art is not a frill, but an essential part of every child’s (and adult’s) intellectual, emotional and spiritual development. It is indispensable for the character development of a generation upon whom we count to constitute an informed and responsible citizenry for the future of our country.

Public arts education has suffered massive cutbacks over the past thirty years. That trend must be reversed, not made worse by further cuts. The relatively small fiscal benefit that these cuts would represent is far outweighed by the human toll of a generation of Los Angeles’ children being deprived of the joy and enrichment that the arts provide.

I understand that difficult choices must be made in these complex times. I also recognize and appreciate that you, as the leaders of the LAUSD, have no desire to make these, or any other, painful cuts.

However, the Los Angeles community looks to the District’s leadership to do what is best for its children, not only to manage, in all good faith, shrinking resources in difficult fiscal times. The creativity, compassion and wisdom required at this moment are the essence of what the arts represent in our—or any civilized –society. Standing up for artistic expression and its enduring value is, in fact, the best evidence of a society’s best intentions.

With very best wishes,

James Conlon

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Which Matters More: What You Sing or Where You Sing It?

February 16th, 2012

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

Congratulations to soprano, Amy Oraftik, whose question below won Second Prize in The Ask Edna First Anniversary contest. Amy wins a free review of her press kit or website.

Dear Edna:

I am an opera singer who recently graduated from school. In my first year out, I had a variety of opportunities. I sang at a well-respected young artist program, sang in the chorus of a B level opera house and have been singing lead roles at very small/low budget opera companies. At every turn, I’ve had to decline one opportunity in order to pursue another. For example, to sing chorus I had to turn down outreach work with the young artist program and to do a lead role at a small house, I had to turn down a chorus opportunity that would have paid more. I know that what matters most is talent, but I’m just not sure what the best choices are to build a resume and a career. It’s exciting and fulfilling to have roles but the venues are anything but impressive; whereas the young artist programs and chorus positions I get are with opera companies that are impressive and pay more, even though I don’t get to be a featured singer. My question is this: When casting directors and agents consider engaging an artist, do they care more about what the artist has performed or where they performed it? —Amy Oraftik

Dear Amy:

It is actually a bit hard to answer your question in a vacuum without knowing more about your overall career aspirations and financial realities. If your dream is to be a “featured singer” and you have reason to think that you will achieve that some day, based on feedback from your teachers and other professionals who know your work, it probably makes sense for you to go on singing lead roles, even in smaller houses, in order to build your repertoire and gain experience in those roles. Working in a young artist program can also prove beneficial, as many such programs are watched by agents and casting directors, provided that they are at a certain level. If your financial situation is such that you need to do chorus work from time to time to make ends meet, perhaps you can fit that in whenever possible.

To answer the question in your last sentence, agents and casting directors are definitely influenced by where you have sung. If your experience has only been in small companies and there is no evidence that you are advancing to new levels or attracting the attention of their colleagues, they are unlikely to make offers to you. This could well prove frustrating to you after a while and have a significant impact on your income. If you truly enjoy chorus work and feel that you could be very satisfied with the potential income, as well as the opportunity to sing in high quality productions that you find inspiring, this might be an equally good option for you. You might even find yourself singing alongside individuals who, at some point, enjoyed active careers as soloists. These are difficult economic times and everyone needs to find stability in their lives, especially if they have a family to support.

Soprano Laura Claycomb has a very interesting and informative blog on which she offers career advice in the “Young Artist Corner”. A recent column, written by bass, Martin L. Poock, shared the rewards of being a professional chorister. It sounds to me like Mr. Poock found himself in a situation exactly like yours at one point. He writes very honestly about his past quandaries and how he resolved them. While his decisions will not necessarily dictate your own, I think you will find it beneficial to read what he has written. All the very best of luck to you!

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2012

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The Gershwins’ Electronic Porgy

February 15th, 2012

by Sedgwick Clark

Am I the only one who found Audra McDonald’s Bess jarring?

The controversial pared-down adaptation of Porgy and Bess now on Broadway—updated, rewritten, politicized, feminized, call it what you will—was initially attacked by Stephen Sondheim prior to its Cambridge tryout last summer, sight unseen, for having the audacity to change the text. But whatever problems the critics had with the adaptation by Suzan-Lori Parks and Diedre L. Murray, Diane Paulus’s directorial concept, or the other actors/singers, McDonald emerged triumphant and, as Susan Elliott wrote in her Musicalamerica.com review, will probably get a Tony.

My problem with McDonald—who may be my favorite singer in the world—is that she is playing neo-realism, complete with a nasty scar on her left cheek and a downright ugly tone of her alluring voice. Alright, I get it: Bess is a drug-addicted ho, and the rest of the cast could be right out of Gone with the Wind. Crown (Phillip Boykin) could take a lesson from Wagner’s Hunding, and David Alan Grier’s drug-dealing Sportin’ Life is no more reptilian than a garter snake. Norm Lewis portrays a noble Porgy but can’t compete vocally with the aggressive Audra, whose show this clearly is.

Today being today, the set is as deliberately depressing as possible. The choreography is crippled (was this deliberate too?). Perhaps worst of all, Gershwin’s lush orchestral writing is reduced to a hideously tinny, gratingly amplified 20-piece band, clodhopperishly conducted by Constantine Kitsopoulos. I knew we were in for a rough evening when the piano jumped out clangorously in the texture early in the overture.

No amount of bowdlerization by the current Broadway production will stop sold-out audiences from standing and cheering, however, and the run has been extended. At intermission, a woman behind me said to a friend, “I’m caught up in the music. What did they cut?” Just goes to show ya’ that even pockmarked by an unmusical rendering, Gershwin’s songs can’t be beat.

Many critics referred to Simon Rattle’s recording as an interpretive touchstone. I’ve not heard it, but I was struck when I listened again this weekend to the excellent 1977 Houston Grand Opera recording on RCA by how the music could only have been composed in the 20th century. I happily recall the Met’s fine production from the 1980s, but the most memorable production I’ve seen was at Radio City Music Hall in 1983, unerringly conducted by C. William Harwood. I recall thinking how much I looked forward to hearing him conduct again; tragically he succumbed to AIDS a year later at age 36.

The Unpredictable Jed Distler

Jed once composed a string quartet styled as a set of variations on the Mister Softee theme, in which the final variation was a triple fugue combining the Mister Softee and Mister Ed themes with Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge.

Friday (2/17) is the 30th anniversary of the great jazz composer-pianist Thelonius Monk’s death. At the Cornelia Street Café (29 Cornelia Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Manhattan) Jed will play two sets of what he calls “The Complete Works of Thelonius Monk,” at 9 and 10:30. The complete works? That seemed preposterous even for Jed, so I called him.

“Basically I’m interweaving all the pieces into one continuous fabric. Sometimes there might be seven blues themes played in quick succession over a pedal point, but in contrast Blue Monk provides a framework for more extensive, complex improvisation. In a few instances I’ll be playing the songs exactly as written.  In others the themes might suggest Shostakovich or Strauss, but of course through my own demented filters.”

My Night with Gluck  

Being a picky opera and baroque fancier, the combined Met+Juilliard alliance in a concert performance of Gluck’s Armide (1777) at the School’s Jay Sharp Theater may have been and is likely to be my sole encounter with this composer’s music, which struck me as formulaic/uninspired. The plot is set at the time of the First Crusade and deals with the sorceress Armide, princess of Damascus, who has, shall we say, issues with men and is horrified to find that she is falling in love with the one who alone has withstood her charms. Look to Tommasini’s glowing review in the Times for a more informed appreciation. But I must say that I agreed with Tony completely on the quite impressive performances by the young cast. I’ll list them in full below and bet that several of these names will be well known in the near future. Emalie Savoy in the title role and Renée Tatum as La Haine, in particular, were dramatic dynamite.

The cast: Emalie Savoy (Armide), Alexander Hajek (Hidraot), David Portillo (Renaud), Alexander Lewis (Artémidore), Luthando Qave (Ubalde), Noah Baetge (Le Chevalier Danois), Wallis Giunta (Phénice), Devon Guthrie (Sidonie), Evan Hughes (Aronte), Renée Tatum (La Haine), Soo Yeon Kim (La Naïade), Pureum Jo (2nd Coryphée), Deanna Breiwick (Une Bergère), Lilla Heinrich-Szász (Lucinde), and Raquel González (Mélisse). The British conductor Jane Glover was the workmanlike leader.

To give full due to the presenters: The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in partnership with the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at The Juilliard School.

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Telling the Truth about Injuries

February 9th, 2012

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

Congratulations to Patricia Goodson who is Third Prize winner of the Ask Edna First Anniversary contest, affording her a free review of her resume. I am grateful to all of you who submitted questions and will be answering many of them in the coming months. Please keep them coming!

Dear Edna:

How should one handle having an injury? I recall a friend being advised to keep a hand problem quiet as presenters might avoid him, thinking he might cancel. He found himself unable to commit to concert dates because he did not know when, or even if, he would be up to playing again, and he felt nervous about revealing why. As it is not uncommon for musicians to suffer from some sort of career-slowing injury at some point, should we have contingency plans ready? — Patricia Goodson

Dear Patricia:

As with so many situations in life, I think that honesty is the best policy. I have heard of artists who were unable to perform due to a hand injury but who publicly canceled their concert due to the flu.  This can become problematical if the injury doesn’t heal as quickly as anticipated. The flu no longer seems like a credible reason. And who wants to stay home for weeks on end to cover up for a hand injury? Based on my experience, most presenters are very understanding about artists suffering injuries. They take it in stride and may agree to canceling or rescheduling the concert without giving a specific reason. However, they may be pushed by the press for more information, in which case a sprained wrist, infected finger or even tendinitis or a bone spur will not be a cause for alarm. Matters get a little more complicated if an artist has a chronic hand problem and the prognosis for complete recovery is uncertain. Even then, it is best for the artist or manager to be up front with the presenter, saying that they want to help them avert any last minute problems and therefore they are putting them on notice that the concert date could be in jeopardy. In such cases, the presenter might look for a substitute artist who is available, if needed. The presenter wouldn’t be booking the artist if they didn’t admire them and value having them on their series. Consequently, they will wholeheartedly hope for their recovery. If an artist or manager is dishonest with a presenter, only revealing the truth at the last minute, it could cause resentment and erode the trust that had existed between both parties, thereby making the presenter a bit hesitant the next time the artist’s name comes up.

As for contingency plans, I don’t think that most people go through life worrying about what they would do if they could no longer enjoy their current profession. They will hopefully have disability insurance, which will help to mitigate the potential financial loss that could accompany an injury. Artists should also have disability insurance. Beyond that, many artists also teach, or could turn to teaching, if necessary, in relatively short order. They might prefer to go in a totally new direction, such as artistic administration. I think there are enough pressures on any performing artist that they don’t need to live with the constant fear of possible impending injury.  They should trust that if faced with an unexpected disability that brings an end to their performing on stage, they will have many colleagues and friends who will offer their support and help them transition to the next phase of their career.

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2012

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A Genuine Jolt at the NY Phil

February 8th, 2012

by Sedgwick Clark

Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic are on a European tour for a couple of weeks, and for a change I didn’t roll my eyes in despair when I saw the list of repertoire. His predecessors as music director, Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel, for all their superb work at building the ensemble, utilized Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony (1894) as the orchestra’s calling card. But not only has Gilbert leapt ahead half a century to show off the ensemble with another Philharmonic commission conducted by its composer at its premiere, Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements (1946), on February 17 he has included the U.K. premiere of Thomas Adès’s hot-off-the-press Polaris, which the Phil played in its New York City premiere only a month ago. Moreover, he has also programmed Composer in Residence Magnus Lindberg’s 1997 Féria three times.

The repertoire list below must come as a genuine jolt to anyone who has looked at how the orchestra presents itself to the world. Not even Zubin Mehta, who was not averse to contemporary music during his tenure, had the nerve to acknowledge the 20th century so thoroughly on tour. The only German chestnut here is the Beethoven Violin Concerto. And while Lang Lang plays the First Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto three times, he also plays Bartók’s Second Concerto thrice on a bracing program that begins with the Lindberg piece and ends with Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony.

Don’t get me wrong. These programs are hardly the adventures of the Boulez years. But when it seems that everyone’s idea of selling tickets these days is to advance to the rear, I applaud Gilbert and my home orchestra for making a statement on tour with meaty works by Bartók, Stravinsky, and Prokofiev and hors d’oeuvres by Adès and Lindberg.

EUROPE / WINTER 2012
New York Philharmonic
Alan Gilbert, conductor

Feb. 2, 8:00 pm (Cologne, Philharmonie)
Frank Peter Zimmermann, violin
Beethoven: Violin Concerto
Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements
Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2

Feb. 3, 8:00 pm (Luxembourg, Salle de Concerts)
Frank Peter Zimmermann, violin
Beethoven: Violin Concerto
Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements
Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2

Feb. 4, 8:00 pm (Luxembourg, Salle de Concerts)
Lang Lang, piano
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5

Feb. 6, 8:00 pm (Paris, Salle Pleyel)
Frank Peter Zimmermann, violin
Beethoven: Violin Concerto
Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements
Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2

Feb. 7, 8:00 pm (Paris, Salle Pleyel)
Lang Lang, piano
Lindberg: Féria
Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5

Feb. 8, 8:00 pm (Frankfurt, Alte Oper)
Lang Lang, piano
Lindberg: Féria
Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5

Feb. 9, 8:00 pm (Frankfurt, Alte Oper)
Frank Peter Zimmermann, violin
Beethoven: Violin Concerto
Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements
Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2

Feb. 11, 8:00 pm (Düsseldorf, Tonhalle)
Lang Lang, Piano
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5

Feb. 1, 8:15 pm (Amsterdam, Concertgebouw)
Frank Peter Zimmermann, violin
Beethoven: Violin Concerto
Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements
Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2

Feb. 14, 8:15 pm (Amsterdam, Concertgebouw)
Lang Lang, piano
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5

Feb. 16, 7:30 pm (London, Barbican)
Mahler: Symphony No. 9

Feb. 17, 7:30 pm (London, Barbican)
Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano
Adès: Polaris (U.K. Premiere)
Berlioz: Les nuits d’été
Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements
Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2

Feb. 18, 4:00 p.m. (London, Barbican)
Young People’s Concert: Bernstein’s New York
Leonard Bernstein’s New York
Jamie Bernstein, host
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano
Bernstein/Peress: Overture to West Side Story
Copland: “Skyline” from Music for a Great City�
Strayhorn: “Take the ‘A’ Train”
Bernstein: “Ain’t Got No Tears Left,” from On the Town
Bernstein: “The Masque,” from Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety
Bernstein: Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
                        The Great Lover
                        Lonely Town Pas de Deux
                        Times Square 1944

Feb. 18, 8:00 p.m. (London, Barbican)
Lang Lang, piano
Lindberg: Féria
Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5

Stage Door Johnny Dept.
Tuesday night while picking up tickets for Porgy and Bess, I found myself standing next to playwright Neil Simon. I try not to bother celebrities, and I succeeded for a few seconds, but I couldn’t resist telling him that on my first night after moving to New York from Muncie over 43 years ago I saw George C. Scott and Maureen Stapleton in his Plaza Suite on Broadway, and what a great introduction it was to my new home. He seemed genuinely pleased and thanked me for telling him. A nice man.

Looking Forward
My week’s scheduled concerts:

2/8 Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Gluck: Armide. Juilliard Orchestra/Jane Glover. Emalie Savoy (Armide), Alexander Hajek (Hidraot), David Portillo (Renaud), Alexander Lewis (Artémidore), Luthando Qave (Ubalde), Noah Baetge (Le Chevalier Danois), Wallis Giunta (Phénice), Devon Guthrie (Sidonie), Evan Hughes (Aronte), Renée Tatum (La Haine), Soo Yeon Kim (La Naïade), Pureum Jo (2nd Coryphée), Deanna Breiwick (Une Bergère), Lilla Heinrich-Szász (Lucinde), and Raquel González (Mélisse).

2/14 Carnegie Hall. Philadelphia Orchestra/Charles Dutoit; James Ehnes/violin. Martin: Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto. Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra.

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Twilight of the Machine

February 3rd, 2012

By James Jorden

Revelation comes in the strangest places. Like, for example, I had this eventual moment of clarity about what it was that went wrong in the Lepage Ring, and what do you think sparked it?

Of all things, last night’s performance of Ernani at the Met.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Getting a Feel for Fees

February 2nd, 2012

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

Dear Edna:

I am a pianist, seeking to obtain performance opportunities without a manager. Can you please give me some guidance with regard to negotiating a fee? How can I tell what is reasonable and within the budget of the organization in question? How much of a range should there be, depending on venue? I want to find the right balance between coming across as expensive and underselling myself. Is there a way to do any research on this? —K.G.

Dear K. G.,

Addressing your last question first, I know of no way to research fees paid by a majority of presenters. The easiest situations to research are the more informal venues, such as libraries and clubs. In the case of clubs, the artist will often receive a percentage of the amount taken in at the door. Further details can be obtained by simply calling the venue and asking for their standard arrangement. In the case of more formal concert series, you might want to see if the presenter has engaged anyone you know in recent years and, if so, you might contact that person to see if they will reveal what they were paid and what they know about the range of fees in general. Even if you succeed in getting this information, the fee that a presenter will pay an artist may vary from performer to performer, depending on the level of their career, how much exposure they have had, and how confident the presenter feels about selling tickets to their concert. If you find yourself talking to a presenter without the benefit of any advance information, here are some tips to keep in mind:

  1. Before you enter into a conversation about fees, figure out what your expenses relating to the performance will be and  how much you would ideally like to make on top of that. It is also good to check the capacity of the theatre they use and their typical ticket price for a concert such as yours. This information should be accessible on the internet. Keep in mind that in addition to your fee, the presenter will have a range of costs, including the hall and expenses related to advertising and marketing the event. During the negotiation, you might have occasion to refer to this information, if you consent to a lower fee and want to give a reason, such as sensitivity to the size of their venue.
  2. If at all possible, ask the presenter to tell you how much they have in mind, based on their budget. There is always the possibility that they will offer an amount higher than what you would have suggested.
  3. Most presenters know that any number you quote them can potentially be negotiated downward.  (They learned that from managers who always try to get the best fee for their artists!) Therefore, leave “wiggle room” in your negotiation by starting a little higher than the amount  that would have satisfied you. You can say: “Typically, my fee has been x, and I hope that will be possible for you.”
  4. If you end up with a fee that is quite a bit lower than what you had hoped for but you feel you have to accept it to save the date, you might want to ask if the presenter is in a position to provide housing or ground transportation (including  travel from and to the airport). Many organizations have volunteers who are happy to help with this. You might also ask if they have any suggestions of other presenters in the area (far enough away not to compete with them for ticket sales) who might potentially be interested in having you as well. If the conversation has gone really well and you feel that the presenter finds you very accommodating and reasonable, you might want to say that if they are happy with your performance and intend to engage you again in the future, you hope that the fee you have accepted will not set a precedent for the next negotiation.

Typically, community venues such as libraries and churches, will have a much smaller budget than established recital series. It might be somewhere between $300 and $1000. Established series might offer a young artist somewhere between $1000 and $3000. If you have little performing experience to point to, be prepared for the fee to be at the low end of that range. Orchestras might offer slightly higher fees and may present you in multiple concerts (typically two or three). Some orchestras will offer a per performance fee and others will offer a discounted fee for the repeat concerts. So if your single concert fee is $3000, they might offer $4500 for two and $5500 for three. The latter arrangement is most usual.

It is not easy for individuals to negotiate on their own behalf but if you bear in mind that you are delivering value to the presenter and their audience, and you feel confident in what you have to offer, the experience will become much more comfortable within a relatively short period of time. Your display of understanding, flexibility and sensitivity to the presenter’s needs will put you on a strong footing for reengagements in the future, as they will undoubtedly walk away from the discussion feeling that you are pleasant to work with before you have even entered their concert hall.

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2012

 

 

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Omus in Person

February 1st, 2012

by Sedgwick Clark

I first met Omus Hirshbein in Carnegie Hall’s executive offices, where he worked for a brief time in 1973 between tenures at the Hunter College Concert Bureau and the 92nd Street Y. He was walking out of a planning meeting, saying in frustration to anyone nearby, “They won’t listen to me—they should be emphasizing the sound of Carnegie Hall.” Guess what Carnegie’s subscription campaign was the next season, after Omus left for the Y? There he would create a concert series that for two decades would dominate the chamber-music field in New York (and annoy the hell out of me because it was such a nuisance to get to from my apartment near Lincoln Center).

We became friends over the years, especially after buying one of his pianos several years ago when his upper West Side apartment could no longer house two Steinways. Every time my wife and her four-hands partner, the composer and conductor Victoria Bond, get together to play, we think of Omus and his wife, Jessica.

Omus died on December 31st after a long decline due to Alzheimer’s. It seems especially tragic that one whose mind was so fertile would leave us in such a manner. I’m sorry I took so long to take note of him in this forum. Perhaps I was stymied because Brian Kellow, who worked for Omus at the Y in the 1980s, captured his personality and accomplishments so warmly and vividly in an Opera News piece, as did Allan Kozinn in his New York Times obituary (January 7, 2012). So I decided I would do something different and reprint Omus’s own typically impassioned words from a panel discussion on the programming of classical music, which appeared in the 1995 Musical America Directory. Participants with Omus in the discussion were industry V.I.P.s Deborah Borda, Eugene Carr, Mary Lou Falcone, Christopher Hunt, and Jane Moss. I highly recommend your reading it; check out the Services section on top of the Musicalamerica.com desktop. You may find, as I did when I read it again, that it could have been recorded yesterday.

Omus Hirshbein: “I think there are two reasons why people like to go to concerts these days. One is being addressed by the kind of programming that the American Symphony is doing. Back in 1986 I agreed to put together a series of eight concerts for the Museum of Modern Art exhibition called “Vienna 1900.” It had to do with the years of the Vienna Secession, which are roughly 1898-1918, and the composers were Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Zemlinsky, Schmidt. And I said to them, “But no one will come.” To my surprise, tickets were being scalped on 53rd Street. I saw virtually none of the usual New York music people at those eight concerts. Audience members were reading, they were seeing the paintings, they were seeing the workshop of Hoffman, and they were hearing a group of composers described by curator Kirk Varnedoe as part and parcel of the Secession, and they went. Okay, that’s one reason.

“The other, of course, is that music is supposed to touch the heart. And it’s supposed to touch the soul. Now, there was a period of 40 or 50 years when what was new was ugly. Sorry, it was mostly ugly. And the legatees of those Viennese geniuses—and I speak of Schoenberg as a genius—made it worse. They became academic, producing a system of writing in this country that was not for the public. Now, there are some young people writing music today who are mobbed by audiences. I’m talking about Aaron Kernis, and Bright Sheng, and there are others. And maybe it signals a reversal of that horrible trend where what was new was impossible to listen to. That’s all I can hope for, because the teaching of music has become of little importance in most of the major cities today as they cope with their social and educational problems.

“Let me just add that money is really an issue. And I’m not talking about balancing budgets. On the wall in my new office is a blowup of an advertisement from 1971, announcing a repeat concert of Victoria de los Angeles and Alicia de Larrocha doing a program of Spanish tonadillas and whatnot. I ask people to look at it because it has tremendous meaning—and finally down at the bottom, they come across what is really disturbing about it. And this is 1971, folks. The top price at the Hunter College Concert Bureau, where this took place, in a 2,200-seat house, was a dollar below Carnegie Hall and a dollar below Lincoln Center: six and a half dollars. A movie was three bucks, or three and a half. A musical event of that magnitude was twice the price of a movie. And that was prevailing.

“Now, I throw down a gauntlet to the commercial interests that have ruined our business. I assure you that Mostly Mozart once was a three- and four-dollar ticket. Commercial interests, and the interests of unions, have hurt us a great deal. This not a high-tech business, this is not the movies, this is not mass media, and we are paying the kind of monies out that would say it’s mass media, and it ain’t anything like that.

“. . . I had a staff of music lovers in my previous job. Music lovers. A couple of them were married, they were in their thirties, and you know what they do? They get together with their friends in a restaurant, and they spend an evening, and that’s all they can afford to do; they are making $23,000 and $24,000 a year, and they cannot afford to go to these concerts.

“. . . There’s another side of the coin. Once the performer becomes recognizable, there is the most extraordinary avarice to get the fees up as fast as possible. And that, for me, is what has wrecked the business. An artist could go on the road and make a decent living at fees somewhere in the $5,000 or $6,000 range and that’s about all that anybody out there in the hinterlands can afford. Now, I think maybe that’s all I have to say.”

Of course, it wasn’t all he had to say. His last professional endeavor was to found, with his former Y colleague Jacqueline Taylor, a series of free public concerts with major artists that they called “Free for All at Town Hall.” They wrote about its genesis in the 2004 edition of Musical America Directory, and we can still look forward to these concerts each spring. Martin Riskin, who is now president and artistic director of the series, tells me that the upcoming concerts will be dedicated to Omus.

Looking Forward

My week’s scheduled concerts:

2/1 Paul Hall. FOCUS! Festival. Cage: Five Songs (1938); Six Melodies for Violin and Keyboard (1950); Imaginary Landscape No. 1 (1939); Etudes Boreales, Nos. 1 & 3 (1978); Sonnekus² (1985); Satie Cabaret Songs; Child of Tree (1975); The Perilous Night (1944).

2/7 Rodgers Theatre. Gershwin: Porgy and Bess. Audra McDonald (Bess), Norm Lewis (Porgy), David Alan Grier (Sportin’ Life).

1/8 Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Gluck: Armide. Juilliard Orchestra/Jane Glover. Emalie Savoy (Armide), Alexander Hajek (Hidraot), David Portillo (Renaud), Alexander Lewis (Artémidore), Luthando Qave (Ubalde), Noah Baetge (Le Chevalier Danois), Wallis Giunta (Phénice), Devon Guthrie (Sidonie), Evan Hughes (Aronte), Renée Tatum (La Haine), Soo Yeon Kim (La Naïade), Pureum Jo (2nd Coryphée), Deanna Breiwick (Une Bergère), Lilla Heinrich-Szász (Lucinde), and Raquel González (Mélisse).

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