December 30, 2007

It’s this week in classical music, an update on what’s happening in the classical music world, I’m Randy Kinkel.

New York City Opera will be homeless in 2008.  That’s because their current home, the New York State Theater, will close for renovations.  That has the company searching for places to perform.  Current plans are to present stripped-down productions in other halls, like Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.  Other locations being considered are the beacon and Apollo theaters, and the Hammerstein Ballroom.  The renovations to the old theater will be worth the trouble, though.  GM and Artistic Director Gerard Mortier gave details of the first phase of renovation, expected to start in July, when the pit is redone. He said it would be modeled after those at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the Vienna State Opera theater. The pit will be able to rise and fall and space will be created under a wooden floor to create resonance. No musicians would be seated under the stage, keeping the orchestra completely in the open.  “Even the Met will be a little bit jealous.” He said.

American soprano Kathleen Battle and Chinese pianist Lang Lang, will perform at the international opening of The National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing's brand-new state-of-the-art performing arts center. Both artists will appear in special gala performances on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with the China National Symphony Orchestra led by  Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa, who is currently the music director of the Vienna State Opera, and featuring an appearance by Russia's leading violinist Vadim Repin.

A local orchestra, Symphony of the Southwest, (formerly the Mesa Symphony) has cancelled upcoming performances for the next two months in the face of financial difficulties and the resignation of its director, Guillaume Grenier-Marmet, who leaves to take a job with the Arizona Musicfest.  Symphony Board Member Skip Carney said the board will be meeting to decide what to do in Grenier-Marmet’s absence.  “The purpose (of the cancellations) is to give us 60 days to do some thorough analysis of staffing changes, and we need breathing time to do that,” he said.   The second executive director to resign in two years, Grenier-Marmet said he had to move on partly because of feeble community support. “With the number of people in Mesa, there seems to be no conscience for the arts and no participation for the arts,” he said. “It’s a hard community to discern what they really want.”