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February 5, 2024
Someone tested the limits of sanity last week by successfully returning a Costco couch without a receipt after 2 years. “We just don't like the colour anymore” 🫠
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In this week’s email:
- The big idea: Piano competition raises questions about gender balance
- Conductor moves: Leonard Bernstein gets a podcast
- Opera: San Diego Opera launches first-ever wellness program
- Laugh of the week
- Around the web: The coolest goat ever, cooking flambé, and the greatest albums of all time, plus more curious internet finds.
CLASSICAL CHARTZ
Weekly selections are based on sales numbers and albums we simply love and think you NEED to hear!
For the complete top 20, tune into Classical Chartz with the New Classical FM’s Mark Wigmore every Saturday from 3-5 pm EST!
THE BIG IDEA
Piano Competition Raises Questions About Gender Balance
Fiona Sinclair, chief executive of the Leeds International Piano Competition, has spoken to the Observer about some enlightening reasons why female pianists are not competing on equal footing with men in the industry.
In her interview, Sinclair cited evidence that lends empirical weight to the anecdotal experiences of countless women whose careers are stifled not by lack of skill but by a persistent gender bias.
Female pianists represent less than a quarter (23%) of career pianists, although gender distribution in conservatoires is an equal split.
Recent top international piano competitions saw only 18% female winners.
UK data reveals just 20% of piano recitals or concertos and 19% of recordings feature women.
Out of 20 piano soloists at the last BBC Proms, only two were female.
Making a change
The Leeds International Piano Competition is addressing the issue by making changes to how they make programming decisions.
The Leeds International Piano Competition has introduced "blind" pre-selection rounds and bias training for jurors.
A new award at the Leeds competition celebrates outstanding performances of music by female composers.
The BBC Proms' latest seasons have begun to spotlight female talent with a commitment to increasing diversity.
Zoom out
The data suggest the issue is also affecting opera.
A recent study in October 2023 on 11 major U.S. opera companies highlighted significant gender disparities in creative roles from 2005 to 2021. Men dominated roles such as conducting (95%), directing (85%), and design positions, with women significantly underrepresented.
Interestingly, the Washington National Opera, under a female artistic director, demonstrated higher rates of female participation, indicating positive change when deliberate efforts are made. — MV
TOUR DE HEADLINES
Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Photo: Credit: George Etheredge)
Yannick Nézet-Séguin Landed His Fourth Career Grammy — Yannick Nézet-Séguin won his fourth career Grammy for best opera recording with “Blanchard: Champion,” a performance by the Metropolitan Opera of Terence Blanchard's opera about a closeted gay boxer. | Yahoo News
66th Grammy Awards: Joni Mitchell Marks 1st Ever Grammys Performance With ‘Both Sides Now’ — Joni Mitchell performed "Both Sides Now" at the Grammy Awards, marking her first singing appearance on the show despite a nearly 60-year history of Grammy wins. | | Variety
Legendary Canadian Virtuoso Once Played This Man’s Grand Piano — And Didn’t Like It — Jim Prosser, a music teacher from Chatham, Ontario, discovered that the legendary Canadian pianist Glenn Gould once played his Steinway piano in the 1970s and critiqued it for being sluggish and prone to going out of tune. Prosser found this revelation amusing, given his own cherished connection to the instrument. | CBC
At My Piano Recital, I Cast Aside My Practiced Piece and Banged out Beethoven — A reader shares a captivating tale of her piano recital rebellion, where, instead of performing the assigned simple tune, "Four Leaf Clover," she audaciously played her own rendition of Beethoven's "Fur Elise" to the astonishment of the audience. | Globe & Mail
Inside the Bold, Haunting Opera Inspired by Kurt Cobain — "Last Days," an opera inspired by
Kurt Cobain's final days, is set to premiere in the U.S. next week. The opera offers a unique, artistic interpretation of the Nirvana frontman's tragic end and features a silent lead and a cast that sings the operatic score. | Rollingstone
Madeleine Careau to Retire as CEO of Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal — After 24 years of leadership, Madeleine Careau, CEO of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, will step down at the end of the 2023/24 season. Her tenure included major achievements such as hiring Kent Nagano and opening the Maison symphonique, with a search for her successor now initiated. | The Violin Channel
CONDUCTOR MOVES
Leonard Bernstein (Photo: CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED/wikipedia//filtered)
Leonard Bernstein Gets a Podcast
What’s up: The New York Philharmonic has placed their Bernstein archives at the disposal of Aaron Cohen, creator of the podcast “Embrace Everything: The World of Gustav Mahler.” This week, Cohen released a special video episode of the podcast that explores performances of Gustav Mahler at the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Many of the instances explored are also featured in the Netflix movie starring Bradley Cooper, Maestro.
Digging deeper: Many music critics criticized Bradley Cooper’s film for leaving out important details regarding Bernstein’s contributions to classical music. These included his introduction of the public to the works of Gustav Mahler, as well as his Young Peoples’ Concerts. Cohen’s podcast includes interviews with Bernstein’s daughter, Jamie Bernstein, who discusses the impact of these programs, among other things.
Bottom line: While the classical music community appreciates a bit of glamour and attention from Hollywood, it’s still nice to have a nuanced podcaster or filmmaker tell the whole story. Check out the video or podcast or share the Young People’s Concerts with the kids in your life by catching up with them on Youtube. — SS
OPERA
San Diego Civic Theater, home of the San Diego Opera. (Photo: OperaSmorg/CC BY 3.0)
San Diego Opera First-Ever Wellness Program
Driving the news: The massage therapist and former jazz musician Brian Festa has been appointed Wellness Director at the San Diego Opera (SDO). His appointment comes as the SDO launches the first-ever in-house wellness program at a US opera company.
Festa will provide hypnotherapy and massage for employees at the San Diego Opera, including the staff and chorus.
What happened: Brian Festa approached the director of San Diego Opera, David Bennett, about launching a Wellness program. Bennett related that despite his interest in the program, the company lacked the budget, after which Festa sought out board members who helped to fund his project.
Staff and chorus are now able to book weekly half hour massages with Festa, which he reports has greatly increased morale, productivity and stress management
amongst employees.
Why it matters: Recent studies have cited that 40% of professional opera singers experience serious career disruptions due to anxiety or other mental health factors. Festa related that others working in the performing arts often “wear their burnout badge on their sleeve.”
Wellness programs at arts organizations have been proven to decrease burnout, sick days, stress, and majorly increase productivity, social connection and employee retention, amongst other factors. Let’s hope it’s not only in California that these programs get put into place! — SS
QUIZ
Nothing says Monday like a mini-crossword.
AROUND THE WEB
📅 On this day: Giuseppe Verdi's Otello premieres in 1887.
🎵 Cool: The website will help you listen to the greatest albums of all time.
🖥️ Game: You’ll love this mind-bender of a game. Pick the colour and not the word.
🔥Interesting: Everything you wanted to know about cooking flambé.
🐐 Awww: Coolest goat ever.
LAUGH OF THE WEEK
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Today's email was brought to you by Sara “Wellness” Schabas and Michael "Newsletter Disparity" Vincent.
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