A recent survey by Encore shows that over 1 in 4 UK musicians skip meals because of the cost of living crisis. While the top-tier operatic and classical music from the UK consistently achieves great international success, the well-being of the average and especially emerging artists always seemed quite unstable and problematic. According to the research of the Musicians’ Union (MU) {…}
Am I repeating myself? Time heals, it is often said. But I cannot imagine how much time the Ukrainian people, as well as many Russians, will need to heal the wounds inflicted by the vile, criminal actions and decisions of one regime. But time is also sobering. And after this year, it still hurts a lot, but I’m not afraid {…}
As if the war tearing Europe apart was not enough, in the last weeks, the theatres of the continent seem to show us how unfriendly and deeply political our industry is. In several areas, quite irrespectively and for various reasons (worthy or not), the state authorities interfere in the affairs of theaters. Lithuanian National Opera workers are still protesting against {…}
(Photo credits Joana Suslavičiūtė) On February 1, the Ministry of Culture announced that Laima Vilimienė, who is currently a Head of the Klaipėda State Music Theater and previously worked for many years as Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theater’s deputy general director for marketing, won the competition for the position of director of the LNOBT. The end of the contract {…}
In this crazy and cruel world, stay classy and go to the opera. We are proud opera lovers, standing for the high art, for the most sophisticated art form. We want to preserve the heritage, and keep it great. We don’t follow the modern global market trends. Or do we? Every time Google releases a new version of its Operation {…}
Just before the New Year celebration, the Lithuanian capital was seething with indignation and anger : one of the most famous Lithuanian singers in the world, Kristian Benedikt, had participated in the Christmas concert at the Bolshoi Theatre in Minsk. It was not the most understandable and logical decision on the part of the Lithuanian tenor, especially at a time {…}
There’s always a place for a bittersweet sentimentality at the end of the year when we sum up our best and worst moments to see what place this year gets in our personal tops. This year, many people cannot think about anything like this, at all. Quite obviously, they are the people of Ukraine. Those who live with only two {…}
The English National Opera, one of the largest British operatic institutions and a famous international opera stage, is going through hard times now. After several years of poor economic performance and the recent resignation of its CEO, ENO has lost its £12.6 million core annual funding from Arts Council England starting next year. Instead, the opera house was proposed to {…}
“I believe that art should always be distinguished from politics, otherwise, we shouldn’t have to read Dostoevsky,” Gennaro Sangiuliano, the Culture Minister of Italy. And for this, Italy stands. This October, La Scala confirmed “Boris Godunov” for the season opener and instantly received a letter asking the company to rethink its 2022-23 season. The letter was sent by Ukrainian citizens {…}
In 2017, soprano Hibla Gerzmava was on tour throughout the United States performing at important halls alongside Vladimir Spivakov. The soprano had garnered an international following and had been performing at the great opera houses in the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, where she had made her debut in 2010 and had already been featured in HD performances. However, when {…}
Photo: Juilian Hargreaves Since the end of February 2022, in statements made by several artist or theaters, we have kept reading something along the lines of: “Art must be separated from politics.” It is an encouraging and probably fair point, but can it be, especially, when we talk about opera? Today, when we enjoy a performance worth hundreds of thousands {…}