Professor Andrea Vicari was clear and diplomatic in a letter to the editor published a few days ago in the Guardian. Vicari was replying to a suggestion from Guardian writer that musicians play without pay for the honor of being associated with the games.
I would have been a bit less polite…
It was Ray Edwards – at the time buyer for Tower Records’ legendary, late, lamented classical department on West 4th and Broadway – that recommended I check out the recordings of British-born, Russian-raised conductor Albert Coates (I believe we’d been talking about the ever-popular “Toscanini vs. Furtwängler” debate and my having come down decidedly on the side of Willem Mengelberg).
Continue reading Is He the Greatest Recording Era Conductor You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of?
“Corruption scandals sully the LPO and the Salzburg Festival,” reads the headline to Charlotte Higgins’ latest article for The Guardian (UK). More than a few impressarios and managers must be starting to ask questions about the ease with which musical festivals and organizations are being looted.
The London Evening Standard reports on a scandal in the LPO’s head office: its finance boss allegedly siphoned off over half a million pounds. Ouch. (Hat tip: Jessica Duchen)
UPDATE: Jessica Duchen has a few things to say about the scandal.
