Monthly Archives: November 2009

Please do not adjust your computer’s volume

Robin Usher of Australia’s “The Age” newspaper reports that

a secret revolt by leading Melbourne Symphony musicians led to the decision by the orchestra’s management to terminate the contract of its chief conductor and artistic director, Oleg Caetani.

Unfamiliar with the work of Mr. Caetani, I did a bit of sleuthing.  OK now, seriously — does anybody else find this video unintentionally hilarious?  It exists in French, Italian, English and German… I’m going with the latter (lattest?) just because that’s the first one I found and I just like it the best.  Also, isn’t the unintentional hilarity of this video somehow amplified by its being on YouTube?  Or is it just me?

Blog Supernovae and Swedish Humor

While everyone has been mourning (ok well, at least noting) the passing of Alex Ross’s “The Rest is Noise” blog, in my own personally dorkish way, I am more upset about the end of Henry Fogel’s “on the record” blog.  I highly recommend the archives to anyone interested in orchestras or arts administration.  Mr. Fogel is a renaissance man, having been the CEO of the Chicago Symphony, the President of the American Symphony Orchestra League, and now Dean of Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts (can we say ‘major coup’?)  His insights are required reading for anybody interested in the behind-the-scenes governance of an American orchestra.

Meanwhile, amid all the hubbub of Dudamel’s new L.A. gig, did anyone realize that he renewed his contract as music director of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra of Sweden?  So, you know what would be really funny?  If citizens of Gothenburg decided to parody this video:

by making their own video of regular (and increasingly awkward) Swedes-on-the-street coming up to the camera and saying, “We are pleased to renew your contract for the next 3 years, Gustavo!” or “We’d like to keep you on our payroll for another 36 months, Gustavo!”, or “Please don’t forget that we’d be happy to have you use our orchestra as a testing ground for your future projects on an additional triennial basis, Gustavo!”

I kind of doubt that they’ll do that though… something about it strikes me as extremely un-Swedish.  I don’t really know much about Swedish Humor, but if it’s anything like a Bergman film, it’s not very funny.