January 2, 2015… that a week tomorrow… marks the centenary of the death of Carl Goldmark and practically nothing is being done abaout it. Goldmark was one of the most popular and powerful composers in Vienna in the times of Brahms and Mahler. His opera, The Queen of Sheba, was hugely popular in his time, performed almost every year at the Vienna Opera from 1875 to 1938.

His Rustic Wedding Symphony was a favourite of Bernstein’s. Today, his violin concerto is occasionally played – and that’s about it.

A plan to revive the Queen of Sheba in a synagogue in Berlin next February has been scrapped for lack of funds.

The small Austrian town of Deutschkreutz will mark the Jan 2 anniversary with a recital by Paul Gulda and a scattering of events through the year.

This is Kerenza Peacock, leader of the Pavao String Quartet, emerging from a Christmas dip at 10 am today in the icy briny. ‘I couldn’t feel my legs from knees down!!!’ she tells Slipped Disc.

Kerenza wasn’t trying to reach France in time for the sales.

She is raising funds for the hospice where her mother died this year. Please support her here, if you can.

To the bewilderment of the music industry, America’s top-selling classical artist this year was  not one of its mega-hyped stars but an exceptionally hardworking, close-focused mother of two. According to our sources, Anne Akiko Meyers sold more than 10,000 units of two releases, which is more than any of the Grammy nominated classical records.

Hot off the mark, our SanFran friend Elijah Ho tracked Anne down for an interview to see how she did it. He also asked a leading question, pace Kyung Wha Chung, about parents who bring little kids to grown-up concerts.

Here’s what Anne had to say:

My kids are two and four, and they have frequently attended dress rehearsals and concerts where I have been performing. Of course, they have also attended performances of friends and colleagues. We’ve learned that it’s helpful to sit in the back of the hall, so that you can quietly slip away in case of any potential emergencies. Snacks and coloring books are also helpful, but even then, I am usually breaking into a sweat worrying that my daughters will behave.

Recently, my daughter was busy drawing while I rehearsed, but afterward, was thrilled to be up on stage, waving her hands like a conductor. I consider these moments some of the great perks of my profession, and I love seeing them and other children at any classical performances.

Full interview here.

An arrangement of “Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen” for chamber ensemble, courtesy of Dr Stephen Roe, one of several new friends I made during the course of this lovely year.

Wonderful retrieval by Meloclassic – just in time for the festive wallow. And with the Maharishi in tow…

We’ve been asked to repost the great debate from the Royal Opera House. Enjoy.

This is a fascinating conversation, just posted by The Hollywood Reporter, between five Oscar contenders: Marco Beltrami (The Homesman), Danny Elfman (Big Eyes), John Powell (How To Train Your Dragon 2), Trent Reznor (Gone Girl) and Hans Zimmer (Interstellar). No holds barred.

‘What’s it like when a director first hears the music?’

There’s a small storm brewing in France over a concert review in Le Figaro, where the stand-in conductor was praised to the skies and the soloist in the Brahms concerto barely got a name-check. The double-stand-in conductor was the timpanist Adrien Perruchon, who made his debut after Lionel Bringuier and Mikko Franck called in sick. Good story (we broke it first).

But to ignore Francois-Frederic Guy, who received an ovation and an encore for the second Brahms concerto was a bit casual on the reporter’s part. The article is not exactly a review, more a celebration of the late substitute, but it left the soloist quite unhappy.

This sort of thing happens quite a lot.

Michael Fine, former head of Deutche Grammophon G and now a world-travelling independent record producer, attempts to explain a difficult role.

Kerenza Peacock, leader of the Pavao String Quartet and a regular soloist at London venues and sporting events, is stripping off tomorrow and taking the plunge at Felixstowe. It’s for charity, raising funds for the St Elizabeth Hospice in Ipswich, where here dying mother was cared for in March this year. Good for Kerenza. You can support her swim here.

The budget for the competition is 300  million rubles, but with the fluctuation in currency values the organisers have bee forced to stipulate that the award oney will be paid in US currency according to the exchange rate on the day.

The gold medal winner will collect $130,000, the biggest prize anywhere.

Valery Gergiev, the co-chair, has also clarified that Placido Domingo will not, as announced, be one of the judges of the vocal section. He will, however, attend as a guest.

The great soprano has been spared jail by a Spanish court after admitting to one year’s tax evasion. Caballé has paid back half a million Euros and a 240,000 Euro fine, and accepted a six-month sentence that she will not have to serve, under terms of a plea-bargain deal.

The singer is practically under house arrest from ill-health and mobility issues, her defence team said.