Superconductor Presents: The Sausage Awards

The Very Wurst of 2017
by Paul J. Pelkonen

How sausage is made: it isn't pretty. Animated still by Gerald Scarfe
from the film Pink Floyd: The Wall © 1982 MGM/UA.

Hi everybody, it's time for the first of a series of year-end wrap-up posts as we close the books on 2017. This will forever be remembered as the year that the government of the United States decided to start undoing the hard work and social programs of the 20th century, and as the year when long-buried sex scandals in the entertainment industry finally began to come out in the light.

Here are five things that Superconductor (that is I,) did not like about 2017.

Editorial: Falling Off Their Podiums

The changing role of the conductor in the 21st century.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Photoshop by the author.

 When you think about it conductors are held in a ridiculously high esteem. Now granted it is important for orchestras to cue in together and stay in time, and know when to start and when to stop playing. However, the idea of the conductor as celebrity, as some sort of mystic grand master of musical performance is one that is endemic to the classical music and opera business.

Metropolitan Opera Conductor Suspended

James Levine is under investigation for statutory rape.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Screen grab from the New York Post today, taken by the author.
The Post article ran Saturday December 2. Content of this image © The New York Post.

According to a story in The New York Times, three accusers have now come forward, accusing Metropolitan Opera music director emeritus James Levine of inappropriate sexual contact. Mr. Levine was suspended by the Met pending further investigation and his conducting schedule has been cancelled for the foreseeable future.

The story first appeared in an article in the Saturday New York Post, written by Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein, details a 2016 police report filed in Lake Forest, Illinois. In it, an unnamed Illinois victim accused the conductor of multiple sexual assaults dating from a time when Mr. Levine was 41 and his accuser was just 15.

Opera Review: Sex Crime

Opera Philadelphia mounts Powder Her Face.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Patricia Schuman as Margaret Campbell, the "dirty Duchess."
Photo by Kelly & Massa, © 2013 Opera Philadelphia.

For better or worse, the excessive lifestyle, erotic exploits and 1963 divorce proceedings of the late Margaret Campbell, the former Duchess of Argyll established the British tabloid as a journalistic institution. Thirty years later, Mrs. Campbell's tawdry affairs inspired a young British composer, Thomas Adés, to make the so-called "dirty Duchess" the subject of his first opera, Powder Her Face.

Opera Preview: Powder Her Face

She slept with 88 men...and had the Polaroids to prove it.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Three views of Margaret Campbell, the "Dirty Duchess."
Photo montage by the author, who no longer owns a Polaroid.

The New York City Opera is back, once again operating a short split season with performances at BAM and City Center.  On Friday night, the company kicks off its 2013 season with Thomas Adés' Powder Her Face, a saucy English opera from 1995 that takes on the scandalous subject of Margaret Campbell, the Duchess of Argyll.

Known in the British tabloids as the "dirty Duchess", Mrs. Campbell hit the headlines when her 1963 divorce erupted in the courts as her husband brought forth accusations of infidelities with eighty-eight other lovers and a set of naked Polaroids including one of the Duchess engaged in oral congress with a "headless" man who might have been a son-in-law of Winston Churchill. To be fair, the Polaroids featured Mrs. Campbell still wearing her signature triple strand of pearls.

A Dare Gone (Horribly) Wrong

Orchestra chief resigns...after nine days on the job.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Yes this is a photo of British sci-fi hero Dan Dare, not disgraced exec Richard Dare.
But it's a lot more fun than a headshot of a guy in a blue tie.
Image © Dan Dare Corporation.

Richard Dare, the President of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has resigned his position with the orchestra after just nine days. According to a story in today's New York Times, Mr. Dare's sudden decision followed the revelation that in 1996 he was charged with an "attempted lewd act" on a 15-year old girl.

The Times story, by investigative reporter Daniel J. Wakin, cites a story in the Riverside Press-Enterprise. The Riverside piece recounts how Mr. Dare was caught "naked" with the future Mrs. Dare at the latter's home. An indictment was brought. Mr. Dare pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 60 days in jail and three years probation. He was also registered as a sex offender in California. The case was dismissed in 1999.

The girl married Mr. Dare when she turned 18.

At a Friday press conference, Mr. Dare announced his resignation from his position with the  NJSO. In a prepared statement, he said "media attention to my family’s personal life will harm the organization and musicians I cherish, as well as needlessly embarrass my wife."

He did not take any questions.