It promised to be a doozy. The provocative director of the Salzburg Festival - who died at age 70 on March 8 - was staring down his Austrian enemies for one last round. Politicians and critics had been lining up against him over his 11 years heading the festival that Herbert von Karajan so conservatively built. And by the summer of 2001 when the government was winging … [Read more...] about Gerard Mortier’s Last Day in Salzburg (when Viennese Opera found its place on the lunatic fringe)

The very idea raises an immediate "uh-oh." Mozart's music feels like such a complete sphere unto itself that  so-called re-loads, mashups and crossover re-arrangements have been minimal and often embarrassing.  Just in the past year, though, surprisingly interventionist performances have been coming my way from extremely high places: When the slow movement of Mozart's … [Read more...] about Jamming with Mozart from MTT to Perm

What is it about the New York early music scene that it gravitates toward the north and south poles of Manhattan? Music Before 1800 and Miller Theater are around Columbia University's magnetic north while the increasingly important Trinity Wall Street is south of City Hall, its current Twelfth Night Festival filling the gap between Christmas and New Year's (Dec. 26-Jan. 6) … [Read more...] about Trinity Wall Street re-defines downtown

The first thing you learn about China is its vast number of rules - big and small, sensible and trivial. The second thing is that maybe 10 percent of the rules are enforced - though at any given time, you never know what 10 percent that will be. Or when. Much later comes the more important realization: The people behind the rules have none at all. Books are edited and … [Read more...] about The abruptly changing Chinese landscape from Lepage to Antonioni

Two in one day. First came the email from George Steel stating that the New York City Opera was descending into Chapter 11 - and will probably liquidate its assets. The company had sent out an emergency appeal in recent weeks for a $7 million bridge fund. At last report, it wasn't even close: $2 million. Then, Osmo Vänskä resigned from the Minnesota Orchestra after a … [Read more...] about Management to Orchestra: Drop Dead (and it probably will)