16 pianists tackle the opus 53. Fascinating.

Especially Gilels and Paderewski. And some of the wrong ‘uns.

 

rubinstein

Die Zwölftonmethode – totgeschwiegen und totgeredet, geliebt und verehrt, verhasst und verdammt – ist eine jener Mysterien der Musikgeschichte, die unser Leben wie kein anderes in den Bann ungeahnter tönender Dimensionen zu ziehen vermag. Lassen wir uns erklären, wie unser Alltag durch Anhörung der herausragenden atonalen und dodekaphonen Werke von Arnold Schönberg, Alban Berg und Anton Webern eine höhere Dimension erlangt. Die Metaphysik der Töne – in ein einziges Album gebannt. Nie war diese Musik zwingender als jetzt. Suchtgefahr!

Made in 1977 by Robert Conrad, the founder of WCLV classical radio in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The script was written by conductor Kenneth Jean and Mathias Bamert is said to have had a role in the production.

Video: ascvideo (Arnold Schönberg Center, Wien)

 

zwolfton

 

 

No details yet, just these tweets from happy owner, Satoko Fukuda:

 

satoko fukuda

 

I was contacted reg a violin so I went with my heart in my throat. It’s mine, my tiger is back, Violin Found!!!! Still in utter shock!

Thank you kind Londoners for helping me to find my Violin!! Pls celebrate with me on Sunday.

Amazing!!! I am ready to collapse with relief!! So grateful to everyone, Londoners are incredible, best city in the world!

Violin Found!!! I can do my concert! Words cannot express my thanks for your support!!!

Amy Antonelli, president of the Oratorio Society of Washington for 18 years and accompanist to many visiting and resident maestros, has died of liver cancer, aged 72.

She won a Grammy for the Oratorio Society’s 1995 performance of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, conducted by Robert Shafer. Amy was also assistant dean for undergraduate studies at the Catholic University.

Leonard Slatkin writes: ‘The role of pianist for a chorus is somewhat thankless.  Amy brought great musicianship, grace and humor to everything she touched.’

amy antonelli

The Milwaukee Symphony has raised the $5 million it needs to pay off a looming $2m shortfall and plan a balanced future.

In all, the orch found 1,408 new donors. The music director is Edo de Waart, once of Minnesota.

 

milwaukee symphony

Rebecca Allen is head of Decca Records. She has a diary that bulges at the seams and a young family that demands what’s left of her time. So why is she running the London Marathon (on Sunday, April 14)? Cancer, that’s why.

We asked Becky (r.) how the training’s going.

rebecca allen

 

 

– why are you doing it, Becky?

I turned 40 last year and found myself facing a mid-life crisis. As a mum of 2 young daughters and the General Manager for Decca Records my life is pretty full on. What could I do to combat my mid-life crisis? An affair was never on the cards, I’m too cowardly for a tattoo and I hate motorbikes, but I needed to do something to mark this milestone and face the fear I had of turning 40.

Over lunch with one of my artists Katherine Jenkins, she talked about how she had run the London Marathon back in 2012. Her journey leading up to the marathon sounded incredible and I immediately felt inspired by her. Katherine’s father died of cancer when she was very young, it was a devastating thing to happen to a young family but MacMillan Cancer Support helped them through this difficult time. Katherine raised a staggering £25,000 for the charity and I immediately knew that I had to do something positive with my mid-life crisis. Within my own family we had also very sadly lost loved ones to this terrible disease – the work MacMillan do to support people is powerful and I felt it was a cause that I wanted to support.

Katherine very kindly called the charity and asked if I could represent them at this years London Marathon, which they agreed – then the enormity of what I had agreed to do dawned on me!

katherine1001-2990008

– what’s the hardest thing about it?

I was a total beginner when I first signed up. I could manage to run 3 miles at a push but to run 26 miles – wow I had no idea how huge this was going to be. The training takes over your life, the constant need to keep building up your miles, week in week out, whilst holding down a full time job and being a mum became very stressful. All I could think of was when my next run would happen, fitting it into my busy life and could I push it to keep building up the miles. As a novice, the injuries I sustained in the first few months were disheartening and I felt I was never going to make it. Now I am 3 weeks away from The London Marathon – this weekend I ran in a 16 mile race and it felt fantastic. I now believe I can make it, if I can run 16, I can make 18. If I can run 18 then I am almost there. It has been an incredible journey to get to this point and I am praying that I don’t get injured within the next 3 weeks. There are days when I think a tattoo would have been easier and less painful but I have raised almost £2000 for this fantastic charity and this keeps me focused.

– what music gets you through?

Listening to music has really kept me going on the longer runs. I could never run without it, I don’t know how people do! I plan my music compilations very carefully because it really helps my mood when the going gets tough. Rousing orchestral film scores by composers such as John Williams, Ennio Morricone or Hans Zimmer lift my mood and I escape into the worlds they create. I also love listening to the soulful voice of Jon Newman, who always makes me smile and in the darkest moments when I need something with a bit more pace, I turn to Leftfield’s seminal album Leftism. I also love the discovery of music on a run – shuffle is one of my favourite things. There are moments on a run when the sun comes out and a track comes on your iPod that you had forgotten about and bingo!!! Any suggestions always gratefully received!

Becky’s fund-raising page is right here. Please click and give generously. 

medea in corinto

Keith Cooper, you got there first…

Fascinating exhibition coming up at the Horticultural Society of New York on the great mycologist and musical time-bomb. Announcement below.

john cage mushrooms

By leaves or play of sunlight

John Cage: Artist and Naturalist

April 2 – May 16, 2014

Opening Reception:

Wednesday, April 2nd, 6:00pm to 8:00pm

Curated by Chris Murtha

Presented with the John Cage Trust and the

New York Mycological Society

Nature was central to the visual art practice of pioneering composer John Cage (1912-1992). His materials included river rocks, smoke, and medicinal plants, and he found particular inspiration in the study of mushrooms and the writings of Henry David Thoreau. The centerpiece of this exhibition, which showcases Cage’s plant-inspired artworks, is Mushroom Book (1972), a portfolio of lithographs created with mycologist Alexander H. Smith and artist Lois Long. The show will also include prints that incorporate Thoreau’s journal sketches and selections from Edible Drawings(1990), a series of handmade papers made with ingredients from the artist’s macrobiotic diet.

Download the press release (PDF), which is written as a mesostic poem, a form that Cage used throughout his career, including in Mushroom Book.

 

Ching-Lien Wu is the new artistic leader of the Chorus of Dutch National Opera, starting September. She has been in the same post at the Grand Théâtre de Genève since 2001. This is a serious career upgrade, albeit on meagre Dutch pay.

ching-lien wu

 

no sex pleaseThe sign on their t-shirts reads: ‘Don’t do it with a Russian’.

not with russian

Thanks. We won’t.

 

The Finn has been telling friends in Minneapolis that he’s negotiating a return as music director, now the orch president Michael Henson, is on his way out.

‘We started negotiations last Saturday, and I think that the purpose of those negotiations is to try to find out if there is a way for me to come back,’ he told local NPR.

We, and others closer to the scene, have raised a quizzical eyebrow as to whether this return to the status quo ante is in the best interests of either party. But maybe what is needed is a short-term deal, two seasons at most, for the org and its maestro to get over the trauma and get a chance to test some new sticks for the future.

osmo vanska

The chair of San Diego Opera, which has shut down abruptly, has issued a strong statement denying that the closure was designed to protect the pension pots of its chief executive Ian Campbell and his ex-wife Ann. The Campbell couple earned $800,000 a year from the company, equal to five percent of its budget.

‘They will not get retirement funds,’ said Karen Cohn, and that includes medical coverage and severance. ‘There is no golden parachute. They are both devastated, their reputations are tarnished, there is talk of misappropriation of funds (entirely untrue)’. Ann Campbell, she specified, stops getting paid in April. Ian will be paid until the company is dissolved.

The reason the show had to stop, she added, is because the money San Diego received from Joan Kroc ran out. San Diego had been eating Big Macs all these years. If another restaurant widow turned up, Ms Cohn would be happy to restart.

san diego opera2