Opera Opens With Patriotic Flair
NEW YORK (AP) - "Viva Italia!'' the opera begins - and the chorus seems to repeat it every five minutes. "La Battaglia di Legano,'' among the works being re-examined in the centennial year of Verdi's death, is the most patriotic of the composer's operas and opened the season of Eve Queler's Opera Orchestra ...
| Eschenbach to Head Phila. Orchestra
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Conductor Christoph Eschenbach has signed a contract that will make him the seventh music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Eleven months after agreeing to take over from Wolfgang Sawallisch in September 2003, Eschenbach made it official Thursday, agreeing to what amounts to ...
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Orchestra Cancels Work on Hijacking
BOSTON (AP) - The Boston Symphony, citing the Sept. 11 attacks, has canceled performances of choruses from "The Death of Klinghoffer,'' an opera about the 1984 hijacking of a cruise ship. The 1990 opera by John Adams meditates on the attack on the Achille Lauro by Palestinian terrorists, who killed ...
| James Levine named new Boston Symphony director
BOSTON (Reuters) -The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) named New York Metropolitan Opera artistic director James Levine its new music director Sunday, making him the first American to hold the post in the renowned orchestra's 120-year history. "It was the unanimous vote of the trustees. The appointment ...
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Toronto orchestra reaches wage deal with musicians
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Symphony Orchestra reached a wage-cut agreement with its musicians on Friday in a bid to avoid bankruptcy. After several days of intense negotiations, the musicians agreed to a substantial salary reduction -- 15 per cent in the first year -- and to a shorter season, but ...
| Bartoli, Hickox Win Gramophone Awards
LONDON (AP) - Cecilia Bartoli was selected artist of the year by Gramophone and conductor Richard Hickox won both the record of the year and orchestral award. The ceremonies were held Friday at Barbican Hall. The annual awards, selected by the magazine's critics, are considered among the most prestigious ...
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Pavarotti Acquitted on Tax Charges
MODENA, Italy (AP) - An Italian court on Friday acquitted opera star Luciano Pavarotti of charges of filing false tax returns. The trial in Pavarotti's hometown started in May but was immediately adjourned to September, when the singer told the court he had always acted in good faith when filing returns ...
| Composer Jay Livingston Dies at 86
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Oscar-winning composer and lyricist Jay Livingston, whose collaboration with Ray Evans led to such hits as "Silver Bells,'' "Que Sera, Sera'' and "Mona Lisa,'' died Wednesday. He was 86. Livingston, whose songwriting partnership with Evans spanned 64 years, died of pneumonia at Cedars-Sinai ...
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Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic Near End
NEW YORK (AP) - It seems as if Claudio Abbado took over the Berlin Philharmonic only yesterday. Elected as Herbert von Karajan's successor in October 1989, Abbado is starting his final season as artistic director of one of the world's finest orchestras before handing it over to Sir Simon Rattle next ...
| Billy Joel Says Classical Project Took Eight Years
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two new Billy Joel albums come out Tuesday (October 2)--a two-disc hits set called The Essential Billy Joel and, more notably, Fantasies & Delusions (Music For Solo Piano), his first set of instrumental classical music and his first album of new material since 1993's River Of Dreams. ...
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Classical Music Pays Tribute
NEW YORK (AP) - Soprano Leontyne Price sang "America The Beautiful.'' Cellist Yo-Yo Ma played a poignant and melancholy Bach suite. Pianist James Levine rippled the keys with a mournful rag. New York's classical music community paid tribute Sunday night to the more than 6,000 victims of the Sept. 11 ...
| Toronto Symphony Orchestra says it faces bankruptcy
TORONTO, CANADA (Reuters) - The Toronto Symphony Orchestra, one of North America's major orchestras, could face bankruptcy unless it secures a quick cash injection, its chairman, Robert Weiss, told ReutersWednesday. "The need for those monies is imminent," Weiss said. "The sad and blunt reality is ...
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Absent Pomp, the Met Opens
NEW YORK (AP) - After speeches about music promoting peace and lifting the human spirit, the Metropolitan Opera opened its 119th season with a Verdi gala centered on assassination, strangulation and stabbing. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was given a standing ovation Monday night when he spoke to the crowd ...
| Masur to Undergo Organ Transplant
NEW YORK (AP) - Conductor Kurt Masur is scheduled to undergo an organ transplant and will miss several performances in his final season as New York Philharmonic's music director. Masur, 74, will have the procedure at a hospital in Europe in late November, Eric Latzky, a spokesman for the orchestra, ...
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Pavarotti Holds Weekend Concert
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Luciano Pavarotti's weekend concert was something of a strain, coming so soon after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. "I am not here in the best moment of our life," Pavarotti said in an interview Saturday. "I think that life must go on even if I'm very touched ...
| Alagna, Gheorghiu Won't Be at Opera
NEW YORK (AP) - Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu have withdrawn from their appearances at the Metropolitan Opera this season, including Alagna's performance at Saturday's benefit for victims of the World Trade Center attacks. The pair did not want to travel to New York from Europe, according to Met ...
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Neb. Conductor: Music Can Help U.S.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Musicians can help the nation move forward from last week's terrorist attacks, the conductor of the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra said. That's why Edward Polochick, who also is artistic director of Concert Artists of Baltimore, endured a 35-hour bus journey from Baltimore last week ...
| Rattle Inks Berlin Orchestra Deal
BERLIN (AP) - Conductor Sir Simon Rattle signed a 10-year contract with the Berlin Philharmonic on Wednesday after the cash-strapped city reassured the British star about the funding and independence of the orchestra. The signing, postponed for a week because of the terrorist attacks in the United States, ...
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Zinman Quits As Orchestra Director
BALTIMORE (AP) - David Zinman has resigned his title of music director emeritus of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Zinman resigned in protest of its present artistic direction, specifically a decline in programming of works by contemporary American composers. Yuri Temirkanov, who succeeded Zinman ...
| Pavarotti: Innocent on Tax Evasion
MODENA, Italy (AP) - Luciano Pavarotti pleaded innocent to tax evasion charges in an Italian court on Monday. The tenor is on trial on charges of filing false tax returns from 1989-95. If convicted, he could face up to three years in prison. "I don't feel guilty and if a law says the contrary I want ...
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