Opera Chic

Fonda-ness for Beethoven

Even before she was a cool lady, she was a cool girl. Vintage Jane Fonda (with Peter McEnery) rocks a Beethoven t-shirt. [source]

Composers Doing Normal Sh*t

Gawds on the podium, giants on earth, here are composers doing normal sh*t, like Prokofiev playing chess (above).

How do we Love Linds? Let us Count the 88 Ways

Everyone's favorite mean girl, Lindsay Lohan, slayed Letterman a week ago in a piano dress by London-based designer Ashish.

Pereira in the Eye of the La Scala Storm

Even before he's to be officially sworn-in as La Scala's new intendant on October 1, Alexander Pereira's in hot water.

Milan's mayor Pisapia and the theater's board/administration are fuming, following news that broke in the Austrian papers that Pereira bought, on Scala's tabs, seven productions (and rumors indicate that the number is even higher) from the Salzburg Festival, which he's currently heading until the end of September.

A 'stupefied' Pisapia will oversee a meeting today with Scala board members, none of whom were pre-advised of the purchases. Pisapia only heard about the affair recently through newspaper clippings and he's asked for more info and documents from Camp Pereira this weekend before todays's big Scala summit, which will try to sort out this 'pasticcione' in addition to setting down new regulations for co-productions and relationships between other theaters.

Rumors abound that angry board members are calling for Pereira's resignation based on misconduct, stemming from the fact that he made the purchases before his official contract starts on October 1 (he doesn't actually have the power to sign or make official comments on buyout packagages of shows from other theaters.)

It's rumored that he brought the Salzburg Don Carlo by Peter Stein, Die Meistersinger by Stefan Herheim, Lucio Silla by Marshall Pynovski, Falstaff by Michieletto, Il Trovatore (Alvis Hermanis), Der Rosenkavalier (Robert Carsen) and Gyorgy Kurtag's Endgame. But the board's scratching its head over repeat productions such as Falstaff -- Scala had a great success with the Robert Carsen Falstaff, which premiered earlier this season, but Pereira's bought the Salzburg/Michieletto Falstaff for future seasons (scheduled for 2017). Another issue is that costs will balloon when Salzburg sets are modified to fit La Scala's stage dimensions.

La Scala's gone through this before -- during the Lissner/Barenboim years, Scala purchased a few co-producitons from Berlin, also criticized. This time, Chailly's stading behind Pereira. Lissner is not -- the current intendant does not play well with Pereira and will be absent from the press conference in May when Scala rolls out its 2014-15 season.

Krug Champagne Taps Salonen and The Philharmonia (Virtually)

Pause the anti-elitist classical music marketing campaigns for un viaggio a Reims (or in this case, a trip to Shoreditch). Krug champagne, the Reims-based bubbly house founded in 1843, coattails culture with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra to bow its annual Grande Cuvée blend (made from 120 wines and curated by a Reims-based tasting committee).

The French champagne house will sponsor a live tasting event from April 8 to 11 at The Loading Bay in Shoreditch, London, scored to the Salonen/Philharmonia Stravinsky Rite of Spring (maybe this recording?), as a play on the 'tasting notes' that compose/comprise this year's vintage.

Admission runs between 60 - 200 sterling, which grants a 1.5 hours stroll through the pop-up Krug Grande Cuvée exhibition (photo above). The leanest package includes a half bottle of Grande Cuvée (two glasses) while the fatter package includes a full bottle. Come thirsty, leave angsty.

Great Scott! Last Chance to Win Edinburgh Interational Festival Tix via Sinfini Music

1.21 gigawhaaaat? Sinfini Music's raffling a two-night sponsorship (including festival tickets) during the Edinburgh International Festival, a three week celebration of classical music, theater, opera and dance that unfolds in the Scottish capital from August 8 to 31. Enter now -- the competition deadline is tonight, Wednesday 2 April 2014 at 23:59 GMT!

This year's performing arts festival gets a digital boost from Sinfini Music as its first digital media partner -- the London-based classical music org will roll-out online initiatives, including materials to support the festival's Young Musicians’ Passport. Sinfini's among other classical music orgs that throw muscle behind the festival such as production sponsors the BBC Music Magazine and Classic FM.

The 2014 festival program includes Bach, Britten, Bernstein, Shostakovitch and Mahler performed by orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Performers include soloists such as Ian Bostridge, Nicola Benedetti, Simon Keenlyside and Anne Sofie von Otter.