Author - Robert Levine

1
How not to make audiences feel
2
Detroit inches closer to edge of cliff
3
American exceptionalism
4
It's the silly season
5
And they could sell tickets to staff meetings!
6
Tea leaves in Detroit
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When Die Walküre meets Den Schneesturm
8
Dinosaurs falling from the sky in theater-land?
9
This isn't good….
10
Cry me a river

How not to make audiences feel

I know that audiences can be annoying, and clueless, and distracting, and all the rest – but come on, folks: I just have to write a letter concerning the recent performance of the Abilene Philharmonic. Abilenians are a welcoming group who are quick to applaud, and even provide a standing ovation. Yet a beautiful performance[…]

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Detroit inches closer to edge of cliff

This is not the end, but it doesn’t inspire a lot of hope either: The musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra have rejected management’s latest contract offer, setting up a showdown that could lead to the cancellation of the rest of the 2010-11 season by the end of the week. With nearly 50% of the[…]

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American exceptionalism

I’ll admit to finding the Right’s fixation on the concept of American exceptionalism quite disturbing. But there is no other country in the world in which the article below could appear in a union publication. There’s likely no other city in the world in which it could appear either, of course – but, as the[…]

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It's the silly season

It’s nice to know that the management of the Louisville Orchestra think that something about the orchestra is valuable. Too bad it’s the name and not the musicians: In a sign of how far apart the two sides remain, an attorney for Louisville Orchestra Inc. has threatened legal action if its musicians continue to operate[…]

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And they could sell tickets to staff meetings!

Labor law bars managements from implementing the governance solution outlined by Bertold Brecht: After the uprising of the 17th June The Secretary of the Writers Union Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee Stating that the people Had forfeited the confidence of the government And could win it back only By redoubled efforts. Would it not[…]

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Tea leaves in Detroit

Two items in Detroit’s newspapers yesterday make me think that things are not going well there. The first was in the Detroit Free Press: Management of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra reiterated today that it would make a new contract offer to its striking musicians this week and would request a response by Feb. 11. Citing[…]

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When Die Walküre meets Den Schneesturm

…the blizzard wins. Here in Milwaukee we’re having the first day of rehearsals canceled for snow that I can remember. We had a run-out to Green Bay canceled due to snow a number of years ago, but given that traffic was moving at 25 mph on the freeway and Green Bay was 100 miles away,[…]

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Dinosaurs falling from the sky in theater-land?

The head of the NEA seems to think so: Count on Rocco Landesman to stir the pot. Speaking at a conference about new play development at Arena Stage in Washington on Thursday, Mr. Landesman, the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, addressed the problem of struggling theaters. “You can either increase demand or[…]

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This isn't good….

This morning’s news from Detroit is discouraging: Prospects for productive talks in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra strike seem to be taking a turn for the worse. After an executive committee board meeting Wednesday, management released new figures casting doubt on whether the organization could meet the financial burdens of its current proposal. For their part,[…]

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Cry me a river

It must be that overwhelming wave of affection that greets them when they come to work every day: The sudden death of Jean-Marc Cochereau, the French conductor, has prompted the very readable music writer Norman Lebrecht to issue a warning about the health hazards of conducting. M Cochereau collapsed and died from cardiac arrest on[…]

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