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Philharmonie de Paris, the First Year

Friday, January 15th, 2016
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Philharmonie de Paris

News from the new concert hall in Paris, the Philharmonie.  This is the press release for Yesterday’s one year anniversary:

1,203,056 people visited the Philharmonie de Paris during its first year.

On 14th January 2016, one year to the day since its opening, the attendance figures confirm and highlight the success that the Philharmonie de Paris has seen since it opened. The new establishment has made quite an impact in the cultural landscape, thanks to the architecture of its two buildings, the acoustics of the concert halls, and the rich and varied programme, which is accessible to all. Above all, the Philharmonie de Paris has been able to not only attract but win the loyalty of a new public sensitive to its prestigious and innovative artistic offerings, as well as its many family activities, and affordable prices.

The summary below includes all of the concerts and activities that took place in the two adjoining buildings of the Philharmonie (designed by Jean Nouvel) and the Cité de la Musique (designed by Christian de Portzamparc). Some figures are compared with the combined attendance data for the Cité de la Musique and the Salle Pleyel in 2014.

1/ BREAKDOWN BY ACTIVITY • 539,722 people attended a (paid) concert: 407,109 in the large auditorium and 132,613 in the two auditoriums of the Cité de la Musique, making an increase of 28% in visitor numbers compared with the Cité de la Musique/Salle Pleyel in 2014. The average seating capacity achieved has been 95%: 97% for the large auditorium (87% for the Salle Pleyel in 2014) and 89% for the two other auditoriums (83% en 2014). • 396,177 people visited either a temporary exhibition or the permanent collection of the Museum of Music, including 196,650 people for David Bowie is, 22,852 for Pierre Boulez, and nearly 85,000 for Marc Chagall: The Triumph of Music (exhibition ends on 31st January 2016). • 153,074 people took part in an educational activity aimed primarily at families and young people: family concerts, participative concerts, shows for young people, musical awareness classes for babies (3+ months), practical music workshops, children’s orchestras, etc. • 39,083 people took part in an educational activity for adults: music culture, pre-concert talks, practical music workshops, etc. • 75,000 people attended or took part in a free-access activity (open rehearsal, meeting with a musician or performer, public workshop, etc.), of which 30,000 flocked to the open days on 17th and 18th January 2015. The total attendance at the Philharmonie de Paris (1,203,056) represents an increase of +65% on the combined attendance of the Cité de la Musique and the Salle Pleyel in 2014 (730,868).

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Cite de la Musique

2/ GEOGRAPHICAL BREAKDOWN OF CONCERT AUDIENCES If one compares the geographical breakdown of the Philharmonie de Paris with that of the Cité de la Musique/Salle Pleyel in 2014, one notes: > a clear increase in the number of visitors from outside the Paris region or from abroad: • 48% of visitors came from the City of Paris (60% for the Cité de la Musique/Salle Pleyel in 2014) • 31% of visitors came from the Paris suburbs (30% in 2014) • 21% of visitors came from outside the Paris region or from abroad (10% in 2014) > a rebalancing between visitors from the east and west of the Paris region: • 42% of Paris visitors came from the outer arrondissements in the north and east (10th, 11th, 18th, 19th, 20th) compared with 31% in 2014 at the Cité de la Musique/Salle Pleyel, • 19% of visitors came from the Seine-Saint-Denis department (93) compared with 13% in 2014 at the Cité de la Musique/Salle Pleyel.

3/ SUBSCRIPTIONS The number of subscriptions to the Philharmonie de Paris for the current season (2015/2016) is 21,380, an increase of +31% on all subscriptions to the Cité de la Musique/Salle Pleyel. Out of these, subscriptions for young people (2,289) have increased by +50%. Subscriptions account for 28% of all tickets sold.

4/ WEBSITE The Philharmonie website received 6,086,164 visits, with 60% of visitors aged under forty- five (source Google Analytics). 435,644 videos were viewed on Philharmonie Live, a web TV channel that broadcasts certain concerts from the Philharmonie (62 in 2015) free of charge – both live and recorded.

* With a view to getting to know its visitors better, the Philharmonie de Paris will be undertaking a qualitative and quantitative survey in 2016, in close collaboration with the Department of Surveys and Statistics of the Ministry of Culture and Communication.

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The 2015 Season So Far – Some Comments

Tuesday, December 29th, 2015

By: Frank Cadenhead

You are not likely to find Schoenberg at the center of a regular symphony concert in any season. The concert of December 4th of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, at the Auditorium at Radio France, with music of Brahms and Schoenberg, would be not high on my list except for one thing: the new Schoenberg opera, Moses und Aron, which just finished at the Bastille was far more engaging than I expected and the critically praised production also attracted a receptive audience. While his associate Alban Berg’s two operas, Wozzeck and Lulu, appear regularly in opera seasons around the world, Moses und Aron is still a rarity.

First, however, was the task of reaching the new Auditorium. With new security measures after the terrorist attack of November 13, the only access to the vast Radio France “Roundhouse” (a pet name for the building) was the main entrance, entirely on the other side of usual auditorium entrance. When the panting audience finally arrived, bags were checked, purses opened and passing through a scanner was part of the entry process. Security also kept the audience inside during the intermission, a surprise for those who anticipate their nicotine fix during the break.

Lise de la Salle, the soloist for the Brahms First Piano Concerto, is now a major star on the international stage and is well appreciated and familiar presence in Paris. Karl-Heinz Steffens, the guest conductor for the evening, was new to me. Steffens was Principal Clarinet of the Berlin Philharmonic until 2007, when he reinvented himself aa a conductor. and his international career has, since then, moved sharply upward. He is Music Director of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz in Ludwigshafen but has guest conducted major orchestras around Europe and Asia. In the opera pit, he has appeared with Berlin’s Staatsoper, La Scala and the Bolshoi.

First on conductor Steffens’ program was a lively view of Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No. 2 composed with forces, except woodwinds and brass, reduced. Steffens’ rapport with the orchestra was palpable. The Brahms concerto which followed found Ms de la Salle in a mystic mood and those tempo variations were a bit of a challenge. Steffens and the orchestra managed, with some effort, to stay on the same path and the performance, rich with emotion, was warmly received.

I was not the only person in the hall who had not experienced Schoenberg’s 1937 orchestration of the Quartet No. 1 of Brahms. Premiered by Otto Klemperer and the Los Angeles Philharmonic the next year, it sounded like the young composer had both young Shostakovich and Rimsky-Korsakov looking over his shoulder during the composition. Schoenberg was clearly having brilliant and serious fun here and it is certainly one of his most audience-friendly works.

The experience I will remember is the ample pleasure of the last work. A pleasure for the audience who, according to their expressive applause, found the last work surprisingly vibrant and captivating. A pleasure also for the musicians, playing at a very high level, who you could see were having a good time with the virtuoso orchestration and their conductor. A pleasure for the conductor, whose debut in France made his name suddenly very important.

A real pleasure for the orchestra management too who won credit for taking a chance with new repertory and artist and succeeding beyond their expectations. It is good to know that the “Phil” has continued its profile as a place to hear new conducting talent. With inspired music director Mikko Franck and artistic adventure as the theme, one would hope that their future is assured

 

 

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Those Incredible Shrinking Budgets!

Thursday, November 12th, 2015

By: Frank Cadenhead

Since 2008, the world economies have been flat. Governments have managed to maintain the appearance of “business as usual” but world-wide graphs of economic activity have been just plugging along without any noticeable uptick. What this means is that every town, region and country in the Western world have been struggling to balance their books at the end of the financial year in the face of increasing demands, subtile inflation and flat receipts. When roads need repair and hospitals need additional staff, the arts budget, however sacred in Europe, sometimes pays the price.

One of France’s most famous exports, besides foie gras, has been the original-instruments group Les Arts Florissants and their renowned leader, William Christie. For a couple of decades, he and “Les Arts” have had a home for part of the year in Caen, in the north of France. The Ministry of Culture made an effort to decentralize music activity from being concentrated in Paris and did this by designating a major part of their budget to regional and city governments. These entities also contributed a minor share and have played host to many musical groups. The groups are active with local conservatories and impacted the community in a variety of ways. One major bonus was, for the lucky citizens of Caen, to see the Les Arts Florissants productions before their sold-out appearances in Paris, London or New York. The end of this subvention meant little to Les Arts Florissant, already with a significant base in Paris, and some were undoubtedly happy to avoid the frequent travel north. Their budget has grown over the years and the loss of a half-million euros in receipts was not significant.

The following year it was the turn of the second most-known French baroque group, Les Musiciens du Louvre and their popular leader Marc Minkowski who had been spending a part of their year in Grenoble, at the foot of the French Alps. Like Les Arts Florissants, they too are well established in Paris and Minkowski was more and more away with his conducting career. The orchestra’s reduced activity in Grenoble was not too harmful and they still occasionally perform there and retain their local visibility.

This year, it is the turn of baroque ensemble Le Concert d’Astrée and their leader, Emmanuelle Haïm. Last month it was revealed that the city of Lille, which has hosted this group that is partnered with their opera company, cut their current budget 25% and the regional government sliced 40% off their contribution. This sent the group reeling and trying to find a way to keep their schedule which, like most other internationally honored orchestras, projects out two or three years.

What can these baroque orchestra do? Cutting the number of musicians is a body blow to these groups. Unlike symphony orchestras with some possibility to reduce the full time total number, these chamber groups are already just the right number of instrumentalists needed and their choirs are lean too. Administrative staffs are already at the minimum and reducing the number of performances reduces the ticket income.

With the decline in public support, the private sector seems an obvious source. The problem is that French arts organizations, like their German counterparts, have a long history of government support for their activities and their experience in raising private funds is, literally, non-existant. American groups have an entire department dedicated to fund-raising and this is often half or more of the total number of staff, apart from the talent. They have multi-year plans, skilled fund-raisers on the payroll and wide community outreach. French organizations usually have none of this and the French public has little experience supporting the arts.

There are some exceptions but they generally prove the rule. The Aix-en-Provence Festival, for example, has almost no support at all from any government, local or national, and their budget is made up of ticket sales and corporate sponsorship. There are individuals who write a check also at Aix, as with other arts organizations, but this is usually a very small part of any financial picture in France. Stéphane Lissner, whose fund-raising abilities kept the Aix-en-Provence Festival thriving, was a new sort of arts leader Europe needed.

His talents created a miracle when, in 2005, he was brought in to save the iconic La Scala Opera of Milan, teetering on the brink of collapse. He restored it with world-class artistry but also knew how to make the La Scala “brand” attractive for Italian companies who provided the support the government withheld. He is now in his second year as head of the Paris Opera and the challenges of restoring that company to the top level of world opera. Can he make the La Scala miracle work for the Paris Opera?

Garnier_LumieresThere was a toe in the water even before he arrived. A multi-year restoration project of the Opéra’s Palais Garnier was finished and the exterior gleams like new in the sun. A little hole in the plan was that funds were used up before the restoration of the belt of sixty major light fixtures Charles Garnier installed around the exterior of the house. The Opéra announced an “Adopt a Light Fixture” program to cover this cost and it was, surprising everyone, oversubscribed by more than 50%.

We can see a bit of the new when Lissner, last month, announced his new “Third Stage,” a place on the opera’s website for short videos by independent filmmakers on the subject of opera. The international jewelry name, “Van Clef & Arpels,” is featured prominently on the opening page.

But it is never easy at the Opéra de Paris. Just this week, it was discovered that an employee who happens to be a union representative, was using his company portable phone while he was on vacation in Spain in July and August. Frequent travelers know how the extraordinary cost of “roaming charges” can add up but this guy was apparently unaware. Using his phone constantly to speak to others in the union racked up an astonishing 52,000 euros ($57,000 dollars).

What he was undoubtedly talking about that summer was the impending strike action by the unions of the Opéra de Paris. The September 5 opening night of Madame Butterfly at the Opera Bastille and the opening night of Platée of Rameau at Palais Garnier September 7 were both canceled by strikes and tickets were either refunded or exchanged. It is reported that these two events cost the opera something like 400,000 euros in lost revenue. Negotiations are still ongoing but no strikes have been announced for the immediate future.

But, in any case, a loss like that has to have an impact on the bottom line and two items in the media in the last few days show that the public can be interested in these budget issues. The first opera cost features a ton and a half Charolais steer who makes an appearance in the new production of Schoenberg’s opera, Moses und Aron. This impressive animal, named “Easy Rider,” was seen, with his two costumed handlers, in the second act as a vague representative of the biblical “Golden Calf” in the libretto. The cost of his travel up from Sologne in the center of France, his care and feeding and his appearances on the Bastille stage were listed as some forty-thousand euros. Many lovers of opera often do not want to know the reality of what these elaborate spectacle, which run only for a few weeks, might actually cost. It has always been and will remain, an uncomfortable subject. The Minister of Culture acknowledged receiving a petition objecting to the use of live animals in opera production which has some 21,000 signatures.

As was written in our Musical America story, http://tinyurl.com/nd8dc6e, another petition is gaining signatures for an even hotter subject. The Palais Garnier, one of the two Paris houses of the Opéra and, unsurprisingly, a certified French historical monument, was the subject of some interior tampering. Major partitions were put on rails so that they could be moved so that 30 extra seats could be added and sold. The two levels of loges facing the stage have been altered and when these partitions are removed, on however a temporary basis, the “before” and “after” image is sad.

Growth for European economies would not only make more people rich, but it would increase government revenue and begin to ease the long term stress for many performing arts groups which depend on government support.

 

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Opera Rapprochement?

Sunday, October 18th, 2015

By: Frank Cadenhead

The opera companies of Marseille and Greater Avignon have opened talks to explore a rapprochement. Another word used was mutualisation. The two companies are considering being partners and sharing productions and other resources. The annual budget for Marseille is currently 21.6 million euros and, for Grand Avignon, 13.2 million. How closely they might unify has not been revealed in any detail.

Since the source of financing of cultural institutions is a combination of the French government, the regional governments and the city, the institutions are constantly justifying their efforts and, unless they have the word “National” in their name, are subject to annual budget reviews by the dispensing authorities. “National” operas normally enjoy multi-year budgeting.

The Opera National du Rhin, for example, is an example of a company that serves more than one city. Although most of the performance dates are in Strasbourg, they present the same season in Mulhouse and, to a lesser extent, in Colmar. Mulhouse is the home of the company’s ballet and Colmar hosts a training center for young singers and the productions share the orchestras of Strasbourg and Mulhouse. This association has, among other things, given the Opera National du Rhin a higher profile among French opera companies.

It is not a secret that Marseille, by some measurements the second largest city in France, would like to have a company of international reputation. Lyon, the other competitor for “second largest city,” already has an important, internationally recognized company. The Opera National de Lyon’s annual budget, around 37 million, makes them the second largest company in France after the Opera National de Paris. One cannot help noticing that combining the budgets of Marseille and Avignon would put them in the same relative financial category as Lyon.

Production sharing is often seen among French regional opera companies and the same sets and singing talent are often seen in several cities during a season. While the French national and local governments provide support to some 26 major opera companies around France, it is likely that such an extraordinarily expensive art form might be more and more difficult to justify in what is now several years of flat budgets and increased expenses. Could more rapprochement be in the future?

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J’accuse! A failure of American Musical Journalism.

Friday, September 25th, 2015

By: Frank Cadenhead

Here is the story: a young black conductor from Charleston, South Carolina just triumphed over 237 other candidates to win victory in one of the top conducting competitions in the world. This was on Sunday, September 20 at the competition in Besançon, France. He was just 23, seven to ten years younger than almost all the other candidates. This competition win usually leads to an important career and very few American conductors get to the final round. When you add race into the mix, we are talking about what would seem a major story with wide interest.

The biennual International Competition for Young Conductors at Besançon is well known. Alexander Gibson, Sergiu Comissiona, Gerd Albrecht, Seiji Ozawa, Michel Plasson, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Jiri Kout and Yutaka Sado are some laureates. The winner in 2005, Lionel Bringuier, went on to assist both Esa-Pekka Salonen and Gustavo Dudamel at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and has since been named music director of the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich. George Pehlivaia,  who won in 1991 and had a major career, was the first North American to win and the only one before Heyward. Lu Shao-Chia (1988) is now the music director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan. Marco Parisotto (1997) has been music director of the Ontario Philharmonic since 1996. Kazuki Yamada (2009) will, next year, take the helm at the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic. One of the issues this year was the withdrawal of Erina Yashima, already in the top 20, who accepted Ricardo Muti’s invitation to work with the Chicago Symphony. A substitute was found. While the list of winners has names who have not pursued a major conducting career, winning the competition is obviously a vital step toward a career.

In Europe it was a major story. “L’Américain Jonathon Heyward remporte le 54ème concours international de jeunes chefs d’orchestre” (France TV) “Concours des jeunes chefs d’orchestre de Besançon: un Américain rafle le premier prix” (France Musique Radio), “Un Américain de 23 ans remporte le prestigieux concours de chefs d’orchestre de Besançon” (Le Parisien) “Un Américain champion des chefs d’orchestre” (Le Figaro), The internet was also there: “Jonathon Heyward lauréat du Concours international de Besançon” (www.resmusica.com). “54ème Concours de jeunes chefs d’orchestre de Besançon …” www.concertclassic.com. Agence France Presse took up the story and you can find it in every newspaper in France including the one on the island of Reunion. You can see the story in Caracas “Joven de 23 años gana premio a directores de orquesta en Francia,” Germany “Jonathon Heyward gewinnt Dirigierwettbewerb in Besançon” (klassik.com). “Jonge Amerikaanse dirigent Jonathon Heyward …” (Holland – Radio 4), “Jonathon Heyward, Grand Prix de direction d’orchestre à Besançon” Crescendo Magazine, Belgium) and “American Jonathon Heyward Wins Grand Prix In Besançon” (Pizzicato Magazine, Luxembourg).

In English, the only important notice was on MusicalAmerica.com. It did publish the story but the photo accompanying the article was of conductor Dennis Russell Davies, head of the jury. Thus a key element, the young conductor’s ethnicity, was not noted. There was a notice on the Hampstead Garden Opera website in the UK where he has conducted performances. Otherwise, in English, nothing. He has been active in conducting below-the-radar ensembles in New York and Boston but even this moved no American journalist to pick up the story.

It speaks to how remarkable decimated and pathetic classical music journalism is in the United States. I write for MusicalAmerica.com (but not this story) and I continue to do so because so often I note that major news in Europe does not cross the Atlantic. But Musical America is a subscription site and articles are not available to the general public. It does have wide distribution within the musical community and is certainly seen by the major press.

This failure to report on the success of Mr. Heyward not only exposes problems with American classical music journalism, it points to a much larger issue: America’s declining interest in classical music. If the press does not report, the public is not aware. If even a clearly celebratory event such as this one does not appear in print, we are failing a dwindling public. It is also some indication of how slim the press structure is in America. Where are the effective online sites? Is there anyone looking at classical music news in our leading publications? If Heyward cannot get noticed in his own country, the next aspiring conductor will take his father’s advice and get a degree in pharmacy. Another conductor’s father, criticized for this kind of advice, wailed “How was I supposed to know he would grow up to be Leonard Bernstein.”

This must change. Classical music, with a large and devoted following all over America, is losing any sense of community and the press is tossing the fans into a dark, empty void.

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Drumroll for the Timpanist

Wednesday, September 16th, 2015

By: Frank Cadenhead

Adrien Perruchon, 32, timpanist of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, has received a scholarship awarded by the “Dudamel Fellowship Program” created by Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is one of three young leaders awarded the Dudamel Fellowship for 2015/16 and is expected to conduct a concert of the Los Angeles Philharmonic early next year.

He made a significant splash in Paris last December when he was a last minute replacement on the podium of a regular concert of the “Phil” at Radio France. The French conductor Lionel Bringuier, a former “resident conductor” of the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Dudamel and now music director of the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, was originally programmed but bowed out sick. His place was taken by Mikko Franck, then the designated music director of the OPRF for the next season. Just before the concert, however, Franck got ill and the baton was thrust in Adrien Perruchon’s hand.

This was not entirely an act of desperation, however. Since 2009, Perruchon has studied conducting with Esa-Pekka Salonen, François-Xavier Roth and Alain Altinoglu and his conducting debut was warmly applauded by the audience, critics and his fellow musicians in the orchestra. Another young conductor on an upward path, it would seem.

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The Largest Orchestra Audition in the World?

Tuesday, September 15th, 2015

By: Frank Cadenhead

You think you can play as well as any of those musicians on stage? As part of a celebration called “Viva l’Orchestre” you are invited by the Orchestre National de France to perform as part of an orchestra of grand amateurs on stage in Paris at the new Auditorium at Radio France, sitting side by side with the regulars. This activity was a success last year, the first year, and seems to be a winning formula to reach out and make contact with the larger public.

This concert, on May 29, 2016 happens to have this season a large percentage of American music, including Barber’s Adagio, Gershwin’s American in Paris plus Copland, John Williams (music from Catch Me If You Can), Bernard Hermann’s music for Psycho and even John Cage.

There are some restrictions: You must be between the ages of 7 and 97. There doesn’t seem to be any country restrictions but some smattering of French would certainly be helpful. And plan to visit Paris for rehearsals, two in March, four in April and six in May. You have to self-evaluate yourself as a debutant, medium, good or excellent. They ask for any diplomas you might have in music and the date you received that but this is not a requirement for inclusion. You will be assigned to play music during the concert which would correspond to your level and thus you should not be required to attend all rehearsals.

They will want to know a little about your experience, if any, and the form asks if you have some experience with chamber music and, if so, what did you play. Another question is why you want to participate in this project. Minors need their parent’s signature.

You have to have filed an application, accompanied by a photo, by October 31. You will be contacted about the rehearsal schedule for the works you have been assigned  in January and there is a caution that the selection process is limited to the number of places available. It your pile of frequent flyer miles is thin, you can choose to wait until your local symphony orchestra discovers the same idea. It might be soon because of its obvious engagement with the public and because it would be cheap to organize and fun to do.

If you can’t wait, more information is available at decouverteonf.fr. Bon Courage!

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Paris Concerts – Tonight through Saturday

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015

By: Frank Cadenhead

The season hasn’t really even started but here is a list of the Paris classical music concerts from tonight through Saturday, courtesy of L’Officiel des spectacles, a weekly magazine listing of movies, concerts and other events in Paris and available at your local magazine shop. It highlights, for me, the amazing number of concerts, many in churches, every night of the year by “below the radar” groups and soloists. They obviously attract audiences or the concerts wouldn’t happen. There is only one “above the radar” group on this list if you can find it. Some live off “The Four Seasons” but most seem to be serious artists.

September 2
Marieke Bouche (violon), Dahlia Adamopoulos (alto) et Lucile Perrin (violoncelle), au programme : Divertimento de Mozart et Sérénade de Beethoven. Tarifs : 15/10€. Théâtre de l’Île Saint-Louis – Paris 4e

Récital de violoncelle par Timothée Marcel, au programme : suites de J.-S. Bach. Tarifs : 23/15€. Église Saint-Éphrem – Paris 5e

Récital de piano par J.-C. Millot, au programme : « Grand festival Beethoven et Chopin » fantaisie-impromptu, valses, Sonate « pathétique », « Clair de lune », Grande Polonaise… Tarifs: 23/18/13€. Église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre – Paris 5e

Duo Spianato, au programme : « Trois morceaux en forme de poire » de Satie, Petite Suite de Debussy, « Ma mère l’Oye » de Ravel et Sonate de Poulenc.Tarifs : 15/10€. Théâtre de l’Île Saint-Louis – Paris 4e

September 3
Récital de piano par Georges Beriachvili, au programme : œuvres de Beethoven, Schumann et Chopin. Tarifs : 15/10€. Théâtre de l’Île Saint-Louis – Paris 4e

Orchestre Les Violons de France, au programme : « Les Quatre Saisons » de Vivaldi.
Tarifs : 30/20€. Sainte-Chapelle – Paris 1er

Récital de piano par Thomas Tobing, au programme : « Festival Chopin, le Best of » nocturnes, valses, études, polonaises, scherzos, mazurkas.. Tarifs : 23/18/13€. Église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre – Paris 5e

Boston Symphony Orchestra, dir. Andris Nelsons, Yo-Yo Ma (violoncelle) et Steven Ansell (alto), au programme : « Don Quichotte » de Strauss et Symphonie n°10 de Chostakovitch. Tarifs : 10 à 130€. Philharmonie 1 – Grande Salle – Paris 19e

Trio Jacob, au programme : Variations « Goldberg » de J.-S. Bach. 19h00 Tarifs : 30/20€. Sainte-Chapelle – Paris 1er

September 4
Récital de piano par Robert Millardet, au programme : Sonate « pathétique » de Beethoven, Intermezzo op.118 n°6 de Brahms et Sonate de Schubert. Tarifs : 15/10€. Théâtre de l’Île Saint-Louis – Paris 4e

Orchestre Les Violons de France et Cécile Besnard (soprano), au programme : « Une petite musique de nuit » et Alléluia de Mozart, Canon de Pachelbel, Adagio d’Alninoni, Ave Maria de Schubert et Gounod, Aria de J.-S. Bach et « La Chanson de Solveig ». Tarifs : entrée 30/20€. Sainte-Chapelle – Paris 1er

Récital de piano par Herbert du Plessis, au programme : « Grand festival Liszt et Chopin » rhapsodies hongroises, barcarolle, « Rêve d’amour », « La Campanella », nocturnes, valses, scherzos… Tarifs : 23/18/13€. Église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre – Paris 5e

Orchestre Paris Classik et Bertrand Cervera (violon), au programme : « Les Quatre Saisons » de Vivaldi, Ave Maria de Schubert et Caccini, Adagio d’Albinoni et Canon de Pachelbel. Tarifs : 16 à 40€. Église Saint-Germain-des-Prés – Paris 6e

Récital de violoncelle par Robin Defives, au programme : suites de J.-S. Bach. Tarifs : 30/20€. Sainte-Chapelle – Paris 1er

Ensemble Tirsi e Clori, au programme : œuvres de Barbara Strozzi, Francesca et Giulio Caccini… Tarifs : 12/8€. Église luthérienne des Billettes – Paris 4e

Carte blanche a Masae Gimbayashi-Barbotte (piano). Tarifs : 15/10€. Théâtre de l’Île Saint-Louis – Paris 4e

September 5
Récital de piano « aux chandelles » par Louis Lancien, au programme : œuvres de Mozart et Chopin. Tarifs : 23/15€. Église Saint-Éphrem – Paris 5e

Récital de piano par Boneui Park, au programme : Sonate de Haydn, Sonate op.27 n°2 de Beethoven, Valse op.18 de Chopin, « Danzas argentinas » op.2 de Ginastera et œuvres de Debussy. Tarifs : 15/10€. Théâtre de l’Île Saint-Louis – Paris 4e

Récital d’orgue par David Jonies, au programme : œuvres de Haendel, Saint-Saëns, Hindemith et Sowerby. Tarifs : entrée libre. Cathédrale Notre-Dame – Paris 4e

Kazuko Matsumoto-Villedary (soprano) et Yusuke Ishii (piano), au programme : œuvres de Poulenc, Fauré et mélodies japonaises. Tarifs : entrée libre (participation aux frais). Église écossaise Scots Kirk – Paris 8e

 

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More Random Thoughts on Bayreuth

Tuesday, September 1st, 2015

By: Frank Cadenhead

The Austrian newspaper, Der Kurier, let drop a great deal of information about what to expect in the future for the Bayreuth Festival. The new Ring in 2020, to the surprise of many, will not be conducted by the new Music Director of the festival, Christian Thielemann, but rather the Boston Symphony’s Andris Nelsons with American soprano Christine Goerke chalked in to sing Brunnhilde. She will be singing the complete Ring when the Robert Lepage production returns to the state at the Metropolitan Opera, it has been announced. Hints are that Dimitri Tcherniakov will be creating the new Bayreuth production.

The 2016 Parsifal will also feature Andris Nelsons and will be staged by Uwe Eric Laufenberg with Klaus Florian Vogt in the title role. The 2017 performances will star Andreas Schager. That same year, Die Meistersinger will return with a new production by Barrie Kosky with Vogt as Stolzing and Michael Volle as Sachs. The 2018 Lohengrin will be conducted by Thielemann and staged by Alvis Hermanis with Roberto Alagna in the title role and Anna Netrebko as Else. There will be a new Tannhäuser staged by Tobias Kratzer in 2019. In addition to Goerke for the Ring in 2020, Andreas Schager will be the Siegfried. With time, however, things happen and with the last minute changes in this year’s casting it is way too early to carve these names in stone.

I find the lack of surtitles in Bayreuth to be a symbol of arrogant old thinking that should change. The lack of such an amenity, now literally everywhere in the opera world, is hard to explain in rational terms. If they think all of the audience has memorized the entire dialogue of the always prolix Richard Wagner they simply have never considered the question. With new technology, seat-back additions, like at the Met, would not be expensive and the one percent who have actually memorized every word can turn them off. Frank Castorf’s very detailed Ring dramatics must have left the majority of the audience in various stage of incomprehension a good part of the time.

My impression is that formal wear is now worn by the minority toward the end of the festival run. I can’t speak about opening night but you could see jeans and sport shirts at the last Ring cycle in August. The fact that there is no air conditioning at the Festspielhaus for the August festival is an added encouragement to forget the bow tie and layers.

At the end of the Castorf ring, the larger implications for Wagner’s shrine are being examined whether the regulars like it or not. My first time there, in 1963, Bayreuth and the festival reminded me of a temple of worship and the stiff, well-aged and very formal audiences were acolytes at a ceremony. Significantly, the Wieland Wagner staging of Tannhäuser (with Grace Bumbry as the Black Venus) stirred rage among the traditionalists by abstracting the stage direction. The overt sexuality of the ballet for the Venusberg music was, for me, assuringly apt but provoked the regulars. Aside from the rather more mixed audiences – more varied ages and social levels – a half-century later the Castorf staging still had the traditionalists in a lather. But, at the end of the run, I noted little of this heat. Clearly the staging was intended to puncture some balloons. This lèse-majesté began to be understood better, as with the Chereau Ring, after some time.

The festival Ring program was quite specific about what a dangerous revolutionary Wagner was. While many are aware of his anti-Semitism and assumed he grew socially conservative, Wagner advocated radical social movements all his life. Siegfried’s “Mount Rushmore” with Marx, Lenin, Stalin and Mao was no accident and his depiction of the lust for wealth and control, here “black gold,” provided a logical background for the drama.

Something that was little discussed among this year’s festival news was a fundamental change in the structure and soul of the festival that will certainly have major long term consequences. My guess is that the change, announced a few days before the start of the festival, will have a ultimate negative impact. The appointment of Christian Thielemann as “music director” of the festival first became public when the new sign for his parking place, with his new title, was widely tweeted. Some days later a press conference gave the official declaration.

Since the beginning, the festival never has had a music director. The structure formally was to hire the conductor and director for a particular opera and wait for the results. Casting was the prerogative of the conductor. Now this is not certain and Kirill Petrenko, the new designated successor to Simon Rattle at the Berlin Philharmonic, had his tenor changed just weeks before opening night and it was likely that Thielemann had something to do with that. It resulted in an uncharacteristic public statement critical of the meddling from the notoriously media-shy conductor. I would imagine this will not be the last scandal involving Thielemann who has a long history of arch-conservative remarks and trouble with management and musicians. Clearly there would be conductors and stage directors who would not consider Bayreuth while he is “music director.” My view is that this appointment, approved by the festival’s board of directors, will likely be regretted in the future.

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Random Thoughts on the Bayreuth Festival

Tuesday, August 25th, 2015

By Frank Cadenhead

The book isn’t next to me in my hotel room at Bayreuth, but otherwise it is always within arm’s reach. Nicolas Slonimsky’s Lexicon of Musical Invective, an illuminating collection of music criticism at its worse, is a vast parade of bonehead reviews of the great classics. It is an obvious reminder that originality in art is not always what you had anticipated when you came through the door. But this very originality is the core of creativity and at the very heart of opera and other arts.

My first encounter with Frank Castorf’s universally-derided production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Das Rheingold on Friday, August 21, found me gobsmacked by the astounding virtuosity of the production and the raunchy energy took me by surprise. It was highly theatrical and the involvement of the singers were central to the dramatics onstage. It was busy and the action was layered with video close-ups on a screen which occupied about a quarter of the stage at the top. A cheap Texan Route 66 motel-gas station, with its above-ground plastic pool for the Rhine Maidens, was the new Valhalla and those chaste girls were now sex-toys for the boss.

The public was unusually aggressive in their disapproval when this production first appeared in 2013. The critics, like sheep, followed along, dismissing the staging and not even feeling the need to describe it in any detail. I read the reviews and the contempt and dismissal was solid, did not appear to need justification and assumed to be final. But this conformist reaction might give us a sense of just how much the world of opera needs to be shaken up. An art critic knows not to immediately rail at some artist who thinks he can paint a soup can and get away with it. Even a ballet critic knows better than to try to keep ballet what it was when he was young when he learned early on that Merce Cunningham was going to stick his finger in your eye the next time too. Journalism which assumes the status quo is universal truth is failing the art and the public deserves better.

The festival’s Ring Cycle program, with content now 21st Century casual, had an essay reminding readers of Wagner’s early political and artistic radicalism, important to understanding many of Castorf’s ideas. Also included were sections of a work explaining the concept of irony, a key element of the new staging but evidently a new experience for most reviewers.

Three years into this production, the Bayreuth audience cheered at the final curtain. The one or two who booed were resoundingly outvoted. And those doing the cheering are the regulars. There is not a lot of tattoos and piercing among the well-aged attendees but clearly they had a different reaction than the first-timers. Certainly the shock has worn off – as it always will, even with that painting of a soup can. While the art of opera has started shaking loose from the doldrums of the last half century with imaginative stagings and with a few new operas gaining attention, it still has a long way to go to find its original creative stride. As Wagner himself commanded, “Kinder! Macht Neues!” (Children, make the new).

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