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Dallas Symphony Orchestra Musicians Slam Conductor Jaap van Zweden for 'Tactics of Fear,' Ken Krause Weighs In

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has had some internal beef with conductor Jaap van Zweden. While Zweden and audiences around the globe have heralded the orchestra's meteoric rise from 2008, the musicians are playing hardball with their maestro.In the seventh season of the DSO, Zweden has been criticized for his abrasive style. His seeming lack of tact and empathy, accordingly, has put him at odds with his 93-member ensemble.The Dutch conductor, who has yielded international praise for his ability to rebuild the DSO from its initial status as a third-rate company, is not the friendliest guy in the pit, certainly, but is he really all that bad?Ken Krause, president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Professional Musicians Association, claims that the rift has been ongoing for the "last several months."
By Ian Holubiak

  • Dating Rumors Swirl Around Famous Tenor Jonas Kaufmann and Pop Singer Madonna

    Rumors have been flying about a love connection between the world's most famous tenor, Jonas Kaufmann, and famous pop star Madonna. Sources claim that the musically inclined pair first met at a Christopher Makos exhibition in London and are now an item. The Queen of Pop is hoping that the two will be able to make an album together.Madonna, fresh off an extremely talked-about "Interview" magazine cover, has had a slew of lovers in the past. In the summer, she was rumored to be dating her 26-year-old dancer and choreographer Timor Steffens, but that quickly ended and has now set her sights on Kaufmann.But the recently separated Kaufmann seems to still be playing the field. Recently, he has been spotted with Christiane Lutz, an opera director who works at the Graz and Lubeck theaters.
    By Jaime Prisco

  • Step Toward Progress: Children's Theatre Updates 'Peter Pan's' Lost Boys to Girl Gang, NBC to Premiere Thursday

    In these progressive times, concerns over old productions — like the 100-year-old classic "Peter Pan" — are subject to revision. With a live production on NBC this Thursday, Dec. 4, starring Christopher Walken, Music Theatre International is considering updating the play's undertones of post-colonialism to a more politically correct version.Playwright and choreographer Larissa FastHorse felt it fit to produce a counterpoint to the famous "Lost Boys," which some feel is a crude assimilation of early Native American anxieties. Thus, she created a new gang of powerful and diverse girls, per (Minneapolis) "Star Tribune," now known as "The Pounce."Interesting, indeed.But the new idea became so immediately accepted by Music Theatre International, a licensing company that controls the performance rights to "Peter Pan," that it has been adopted as the new standard for any future staging.
    By Ian Holubiak