Lincoln Center Stage on Nieuw Statendam?

[KeyLimeKayak]

We just booked NS for the 3rd time, but now are hearing rumors that the Lincoln Center Stage is no longer a feature....is this true for 2024? It was half the reason we selected this cruise again, we loved the piano/string quintet in '18 and '19.

[wdw1972]

20 minutes ago, KeyLimeKayak said:

We just booked NS for the 3rd time, but now are hearing rumors that the Lincoln Center Stage is no longer a feature....is this true for 2024? It was half the reason we selected this cruise again, we loved the piano/string quintet in '18 and '19.

It's true.  The contract between Lincoln Center & HAL ended a year or so ago. On the smallest ships, doing the longer & Grand voyages there will likely be some classical music but not under the Lincoln Stage name.  HAL at one point had said LCS would become a traveling entertainment group - doing a shows a couple evenings in the World Stage, moving from ship to ship, but later clarified only on the longer voyages (not 7-12 day sailings.  After this change, HAL did bring a small musical group onto most ships to perform in the Ocean Bar, and they've been well received.  It's not classical music, but it's also not rock or blues like Rolling Stone Rock Room or BB Kings. 

 

There's been talk of them bringing back some classical music fleetwide, but it wouldn't be under the Lincoln Center name and I'm not sure that "talk" came from HAL vs musings and wishful thinking on the part of passengers 😉

 

Sue/WDW1972

[POA1]

Not a rumor. We were on the NS in mid December. No Lincoln Center Stage. None of our programs were Classical, nor Baroque, nor Romantic.

[cruisemom42]

I was on the TA on Nieuw Statendam that preceded POA1’s cruise. There was no LCS, which ended on most ships in April. Not a shred of classical music, either as a regular feature or a special performance — and this was a 14-day cruise. Very disappointing. 

[VMax1700]

There were a couple of special performances onboard this summer on either NSDM  or Rotterdam. I will need to look back at noyes to see which. They did abiut 3 performances on world stage.

[KeyLimeKayak]

Oh, no. How disappointing. We are musicians and absolutely loved LCS - we felt it elevated HAL above other similar lines. Our recent Celebrity sailing featured a very talented pianist, but it was a tech/sound/light show with a band that we didn't care for - it was too distracting to appreciate his talent.

Very sorry to hear this, but maybe if enough of us complain they will reinstate some kind of classical offering!

[3rdGenCunarder]

23 minutes ago, KeyLimeKayak said:

Oh, no. How disappointing. We are musicians and absolutely loved LCS - we felt it elevated HAL above other similar lines. Our recent Celebrity sailing featured a very talented pianist, but it was a tech/sound/light show with a band that we didn't care for - it was too distracting to appreciate his talent.

Very sorry to hear this, but maybe if enough of us complain they will reinstate some kind of classical offering!

 

LC had talented musicians and great arrangements. IMO, that was the one music category where HAL outshone Cunard.

 

Some ships have a classical duo, but I don't know if that has made it to all of the ships, or if it ever will. 

[KeyLimeKayak]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

LC had talented musicians and great arrangements. IMO, that was the one music category where HAL outshone Cunard.

 

Some ships have a classical duo, but I don't know if that has made it to all of the ships, or if it ever will. 

Hopefully NS will be an exception - I guess we will find out in March. Even a classical duo would be a nice touch.

[Btimmer]

On the 2023 Grand South America we had George & Claire, a married couple, who performed daily classical music in the Explorer's Lounge (formerly Lincoln Center Stage).  In their coffee chat they noted that this was their last contract with HAL.  Next week I'll report from the Oosterdam what the music offerings are for our Antarctica cruise.

[rj59]

Personally I hated Lincoln Center, because every program on every ship was the same, programmed into iPads. Doing Led Zeppelin, Coldplay, and Peanuts was cute the first time, but after that it got old fast. Adding to that the cacophony of the stage on the Koningsdam and newer ships, it just wasn't ideal for anyone who cared about music. The best choice would be to bring back the Idagio duos they had before, usually a couple of bored Ukrainians shuffling through piles of sheet music, having to deal with people talking loudly coming from dinner or their beepers going off. Sometimes it could be nice and inspired, though, and I talked to performers who fed their family in Ukraine for a year on a multi-month contract. I'm all for getting rid of all the corporate entertainment, and bringing back spontaneity, variety, piano players that take requests and interact with the audience, and real production shows.  HAL is still the only cruise line that is too cheap to pay for a cast of singers and dancers and production shows. 

[VMax1700]

1 hour ago, rj59 said:

 HAL is still the only cruise line that is too cheap to pay for a cast of singers and dancers and production shows.

Obviously I  like cheap, then!🤔

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, rj59 said:

Personally I hated Lincoln Center, because every program on every ship was the same, programmed into iPads. Doing Led Zeppelin, Coldplay, and Peanuts was cute the first time, but after that it got old fast. Adding to that the cacophony of the stage on the Koningsdam and newer ships, it just wasn't ideal for anyone who cared about music. The best choice would be to bring back the Idagio duos they had before, usually a couple of bored Ukrainians shuffling through piles of sheet music, having to deal with people talking loudly coming from dinner or their beepers going off. Sometimes it could be nice and inspired, though, and I talked to performers who fed their family in Ukraine for a year on a multi-month contract. I'm all for getting rid of all the corporate entertainment, and bringing back spontaneity, variety, piano players that take requests and interact with the audience, and real production shows.  HAL is still the only cruise line that is too cheap to pay for a cast of singers and dancers and production shows. 

 

When K'dam was new, noise from outside the LC area was a problem, even with a crew member stationed outside with a "Quiet, please" sign. They moved LC into the BBKing venue, which was better for sound, but LC got odd times, with BBKing getting the prime evening time.

[VMax1700]

I found my post about LCS from this summer.  It was on Nieuw Statendam in August.

I have copied the post:

 

Posted August 16, 2023

Tonight was Lincoln Center Presents........

We went to the 9.30 performance.  There were 5 musicians - :Piano, Violin, Cello, Guitar and woodwind (flute/clarinet).  

There are 35 brand new arrangements for HAL in conjunction with Lincoln Center.  Tonight's show was named 'Classical Remix' and the pieces performed were:

Mozart - Overture Marriage of Figaro,

Strauss - Blue Danube Waltz

JS Bach - Air from Suite no 3 in D maj. (Air on the g string)

Joseph Bologne (Chevalier de St Georges) - Allegro from Symphony no 5 Pastorella

Bizet - Carmen Habanera

Chopin - Nocturne E flat maj. 

Beethoven - Symphony no 3 Eroica, 1st Movement

Rossini - Barber of Seville Overture.

 

Friday night is the first performance of 'Americana'.

 

[KeyLimeKayak]

17 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

I found my post about LCS from this summer.  It was on Nieuw Statendam in August.

I have copied the post:

 

Posted August 16, 2023

Tonight was Lincoln Center Presents........

We went to the 9.30 performance.  There were 5 musicians - :Piano, Violin, Cello, Guitar and woodwind (flute/clarinet).  

There are 35 brand new arrangements for HAL in conjunction with Lincoln Center.  Tonight's show was named 'Classical Remix' and the pieces performed were:

Mozart - Overture Marriage of Figaro,

Strauss - Blue Danube Waltz

JS Bach - Air from Suite no 3 in D maj. (Air on the g string)

Joseph Bologne (Chevalier de St Georges) - Allegro from Symphony no 5 Pastorella

Bizet - Carmen Habanera

Chopin - Nocturne E flat maj. 

Beethoven - Symphony no 3 Eroica, 1st Movement

Rossini - Barber of Seville Overture.

 

Friday night is the first performance of 'Americana'.

 

This gives me hope! I think the World Stage is a more suitable venue for intricate string music, and I do hope they offer something similar in March. Great program of music, too. Thank you for sharing.

[KeyLimeKayak]

30 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Obviously I  like cheap, then!🤔

 

We thought the dancers were far more talented on HAL than the recent Vegas-like experience on Celebrity. You could tell many were classically trained, it was lovely to watch.

[Petronillus]

For rj59's sake, it's a good thing that attendance is never compulsory. His/her opinion, it seems to me, is the view of a small minority.

Choice of suitable venue was a problem in the early days, after LCS supplanted (and surpassed by a good margin) the Adagio Strings. Eventually, the space on the Pinnacle-class ships was carved out to share with BBKing's, and the architecture was fine-tuned at some expense for better acoustics.

Programming was prescribed somewhere at headquarters -- don't know whether HAL's or Lincoln Center's -- but sometimes had to give way to exigent circumstances. On one of our cruises the pianist suffered (off-stage) a slip and fall as a result of which her right hand was out of commission. The 5 (yes, at that time they numbered 5!) of them scoured the literature for piano pieces composed for only the left hand, and the results were delightful.

Perhaps because DW and I were fans, the LCS was a frequent topic of mealtime conversation. We never heard a negative viewpoint. We learned, however, that for many people the LCS was their first exposure to chamber music, and that many folks were surprised at how much they enjoyed it.

I and people like me lament the loss of LCS. Our 14-day Norway cruise on Rotterdam last summer was our first since the suppression of LCS. Oddly enough, signage referring to LCS remained on display here and there -- as painful reminders. I buttonholed the cruise director at one point and voiced my displeasure. She rattled off the company line, that LCS would come back as ad hoc entertainers in the World Stage, but without a shred of enthusiasm.

[DCDragonfly]

3 hours ago, Petronillus said:

On one of our cruises the pianist suffered (off-stage) a slip and fall as a result of which her right hand was out of commission. The 5 (yes, at that time they numbered 5!) of them scoured the literature for piano pieces composed for only the left hand, and the results were delightful.

Much of that literature owes its existence to Paul Wittgenstein, a noted pianist and brother of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein.  After he lost his right arm in WW1, he commissioned tons of pieces for left hand only.  One of his students told me Wittgenstein was perhaps the greatest man he ever knew.

 

 

[KeyLimeKayak]

7 hours ago, DCDragonfly said:

Much of that literature owes its existence to Paul Wittgenstein, a noted pianist and brother of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein.  After he lost his right arm in WW1, he commissioned tons of pieces for left hand only.  One of his students told me Wittgenstein was perhaps the greatest man he ever knew.

 

 

And I can say as a pianist, much of that repertoire is not easy, especially to learn in a short time. There are several left hand piano concertos and ironically, many works were composed as a result of injury (most famously, Scriabin's Prelude and Nocturne after he hurt himself trying to play Listz's music!)

[sambamama]

I went to Lincoln Center a great deal, and I never heard them play Peanuts or Led Zeppelin.  Every group had their own personality.  I heard wonderful classical music with charming banter in between.  The Adagio group was a big reason I fell in love with HAL, and Lincoln Center was even better.  I sorely miss Lincoln Center. I'm hoping HAL brings back some sort of steady classical music.  I sailed on Princess for the first time around a year ago, and they have great classical music there and a good choice of entertainment.  There is a classical duo who plays in their atrium, and they were excellent. 

[POA1]

1 hour ago, sambamama said:

I went to Lincoln Center a great deal, and I never heard them play Peanuts or Led Zeppelin

There was a program that had the name of Classic+Rock or something like that. That's where they did Stairway to Heaven. It was part of the programs from 2014-2018. (It may have been done before or after, but it was definitely done during that time period.)

 

The Vince Guaraldi Trio material, or the Peanuts stuff, or the Charlie Brown Christmas pieces, were performed during December.

[3rdGenCunarder]

In addition to the classical programs, I loved the movie themes. They played some of the score from Psycho, which was perfect, as it was written for strings only. I've mentioned it before, but I'll say it again--their Eleanor Rigby was outstanding!

[sciencewonk]

On 1/3/2024 at 8:48 AM, rj59 said:

Personally I hated Lincoln Center, because every program on every ship was the same, programmed into iPads. Doing Led Zeppelin, Coldplay, and Peanuts was cute the first time, but after that it got old fast. Adding to that the cacophony of the stage on the Koningsdam and newer ships, it just wasn't ideal for anyone who cared about music. The best choice would be to bring back the Idagio duos they had before, usually a couple of bored Ukrainians shuffling through piles of sheet music, having to deal with people talking loudly coming from dinner or their beepers going off. Sometimes it could be nice and inspired, though, and I talked to performers who fed their family in Ukraine for a year on a multi-month contract. I'm all for getting rid of all the corporate entertainment, and bringing back spontaneity, variety, piano players that take requests and interact with the audience, and real production shows.  HAL is still the only cruise line that is too cheap to pay for a cast of singers and dancers and production shows. 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I'm sorry you didn't like the LC.  I'd like to correct a couple of things.  The iPads display the sheet music.  There is nothing programmed into them.  I use a similar setup with my home piano.  I don't know when you heard the rock/pop sets, but I was on a Noordam cruise shortly before they discontinued the LC and the most modern thing they played was Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (an excellent arrangement by the way).

[paulvdb1]

1 hour ago, sciencewonk said:

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I'm sorry you didn't like the LC.  I'd like to correct a couple of things.  The iPads display the sheet music.  There is nothing programmed into them.  I use a similar setup with my home piano.  I don't know when you heard the rock/pop sets, but I was on a Noordam cruise shortly before they discontinued the LC and the most modern thing they played was Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (an excellent arrangement by the way).

hmm. we were probably on around the same cruise. I thought LCS was the one redeeming feature on Noordam. There was a packed crowd for EVERY single one of their performances. I had to get in at least 15min before to get a seat. It was also in a pretty good location. I had heard just afterwards that the company decided that LCS having their own dedicated location didn't earn them any money (no bar) so it was scrapped for simplistic dollar reasons. Problem is that if this was a unique selling feature for the line (which it was) then why would future cruisers pick Holland America?

 

I managed to listen to all of their performances and it seemed like a really good program - with quite a bit of very high quality music and playing. It seemed like these guys got to choose their music - unlike the rock guys who had to play the same old rubbish every night. 

[PROCRUISE]

On 1/2/2024 at 9:23 AM, KeyLimeKayak said:

Oh, no. How disappointing. We are musicians and absolutely loved LCS - we felt it elevated HAL above other similar lines. Our recent Celebrity sailing featured a very talented pianist, but it was a tech/sound/light show with a band that we didn't care for - it was too distracting to appreciate his talent.

Very sorry to hear this, but maybe if enough of us complain they will reinstate some kind of classical offering!

There was a VERY large outpouring of displeasure on CC when HAL announced no more Lincoln Center, which fell on deaf ears at the HAL administrative towers.

[KeyLimeKayak]

1 minute ago, PROCRUISE said:

There was a VERY large outpouring of displeasure on CC when HAL announced no more Lincoln Center, which fell on deaf ears at the HAL administrative towers.

If there is any known contact information for HAL management we'd love to know it and add our vote for bringing it back!