Shir-Ran Yinon has posted the following message in Hebrew and German on her father’s Facebook page:

yisrael yinon

(Slipped Disc translation:) Father died doing what he loved best in the world, the thing to which he dedicated himself in full – music. He collapsed in the Summit movement of the Alpine symphony… He died while he was at the summit, while he was happy. That is our comfort in this great sorrow, the shock and the terrible vacuum that he has left behind…

Israel Yinon (1956-2015)
אבא, ישראל ינון, הלך לעולמו אתמול בגיל 59. אני עדיין לא מעכלת שאני מקלידה את המילים האלה.
אבא מת כשעשה את הדבר שהוא הכי אהב בעולם, ושלו הקדיש את כל כולו – המוסיקה. ברגעיו האחרונים עמד על הבמה וניצח על סימפוניית האלפים של ריכארד שטראוס, ובאמצע הפרק בשם ״על הפסגה״ התמוטט. פגשנו היום את אחראיי וחברי התזמורת הצעירה שעליה ניצח בלוצרן במפגש שנערך לזכרו. הם סיפרו כמה שהקונצרט היה נפלא והמוסיקה סוחפת עד אותו רגע נורא. אבא מת כשהוא על הפסגה, וכשהוא מאושר. זאת נחמה בעצב הגדול, ההלם והחלל העצום שהשאיר אחריו. אבא היה אדם נפלא, מלא אופטימיות, עשייה, יצירתיות, אכפתיות, אנושיות ואהבה. תודה לך אבא היקר על הכל.
אני מודה לכולכם מקרב לב על ההודעות היפות והתמיכה, אענה כשאתאושש מעט. אעדכן בקרוב גם לגביי הלוויה והשבעה.
בתמונה אולם הקונצרטים היפהפיה בלוצרן שבו היה הקונצרט האחרון שלו.
Mein Vater Israel Yinon ist gestern im Alter von 59 Jahren verstorben. Ich kann es immer noch nicht fassen, dass ich diese Worte schreibe.
Papa starb während er das tat was er am meisten liebte – Musik. In seinen letzten Momenten stand er auf der Bühne und dirigierte Richard Strauß’ Alpensinfonie, als er plötzlich mitten in dem Teil mit dem Namen “Auf dem Gipfel” zusammenbrach.
Wir haben heute die Mitglieder und Leiter der Jungen Philharmonie Zentralschweiz in Luzern bei einer ihm gewidmetem Trauerfeier getroffen. Sie erzählten wie wundervoll und mitreissend die Musik war, bis zu jenem schrecklichen Moment. Papa starb auf dem Gipfel, er starb glücklich. Dies ist ein Trost in der großen Trauer, dem Schock und der Leere.
Papa war ein wundervoller Mensch, optimistisch, voller Energie und endloser Kreativität, Menschlichkeit und Liebe. Ich danke dir für alles mein geliebter Papa.
Ich bedanke mich bei euch herzlich für die vielen Nachrichten und die Unterstützung. Ich werde antworten wenn es mir etwas besser geht. Ich werde in Kürze auch über die Beerdigung und Trauertage informieren.
Im Bild ist der wunderschöne KKL Saal in Luzern, in dem sein letztes Konzert war.

The German-American violinist’s biopic has just opened – to appalling reviews.

 

david garrett paganini

Variety: Providing a performance that’s so wooden and unconvincing that his director habitually cuts away from his face during dialogue — the better to mask the awkwardness of his line deliveries — Garrett proves a washout in this formulaic period piece, whose minimal commercial prospects are unlikely to extend beyond the star’s most rabid fans.

New York Times: Even if, like me, you’re a sucker for men with tossable hair and precision eyeliner, you can’t help noticing that “The Devil’s Violinist” is hysterical — and possibly historical — hooey. More bodice-ripper than biopic, this German-Austrian coproduction about the life of the Italian violinist Niccolò Paganini is so magnificently misjudged that it almost defies description.

The Hollywood Reporter: ‘This drama about famed 19th century Italian violinist Niccolo Paganini suffers from the casting of David Garrett in the lead role. While the popular violin virtuoso certainly has the musical chops and darkly handsome looks to credibly portray the early rock star musician, his wooden acting fatally sinks the project.’

And more in the same vein…

david garrett paganini2

 

The LA Times reports a new dive into the property market by music director Gustavo Dudamel.

The residence in Los Feliz, for which he paid $2.775 million, is ‘a 1923 Four Square-style house with Mediterranean flair… the 3,600-square-foot house retains its Juliet balconies, high coved ceilings and large windows. [Plus] stylish new interiors, a state-of-the-art security system and an oversized kitchen, dining and living rooms, den, breakfast area, butler’s pantry, study, three bedrooms and four bathrooms. A swimming pool, gardens and patios complete the grounds.’

Not wildly extravagant, though. Dr Dre just sold his LA place for $32 million.

Here’s what $13 million buys in Los Feliz. Divide that by five.

 

los feliz

 

Sara Kim, 27, has been announced as the winner of the viola section of the Mendelssohn Prize.

Daejon born, Sara is solo viola of the Braunschweig state orchestra and the Berliner Ensemble.

sara kim

We have been informed that Dr Roman Torgovitsky was released from custody on Friday evening, after being arrested the night before for invading the stage of the Metropolitan Opera during curtain calls. He will not be charged with any offence.

Torgovitsky

 

Many musicians play chess to sharpen their minds and kill hours in trains and planes. Some are rather good at it.

The composer Sergei Prokofiev was good enough to steal a game off an international grandmaster. But he met his match in David Oistrakh.

Read a move-by-move account of their contest here. (The young woman looking on is Elisaveta Gilels, daughter of Emil.)

It’s the Slipped Disc long weekend read.

 

prokiev vs oistrakh

There was widespread concern last year when Harvard banned one of its doctoral graduates for life after he mounted a stage where Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi were performing.

The protestor, Dr Roman Torgovitsky, is a biomedical scientist ad martial arts practitioner. He is also a voluble anti-Putin activist.

Last night, Dr Torgovitsky mounted the stage of the Metropolitan Opera, disturbing the artists as they took curtain calls. He was duly arrested. Should he now be banned from the Met?

Harvard was criticised for trampling on academic freedoms  by imposing a life ban. However, in another field, there is generaly no objection when a football supporter who misbehaves during a match is removed and banned. Those who disrupt musical events with extraneous political protest must expect similar treatment.

If the Met were to ban Dr Torgovitsky, he would have no cause for complaint.

Torgovitsky

Our intrepid New York operagoers, Elizabeth Frayer and Shawn Milnes, went to see the protests at the Met and stayed to see the premiere.

Iolanta, says Shawn, ‘featured some of the best singing I have heard in my adult life at the Met.’ Bluebeard, says Elizabeth, was ‘truly scary’.

Read their double/double review here.

bluebeard scary

Giannella is a passionate viola player from Denver who has acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Today, she is rehearsing with the Colorado Symphony and tonight she will join its viola section in concert.

Nice.

gianella

Two resignations in a week at English National Opera – the chairman and chief executive – have brought the figure of artistic director John Berry into sharp focus.

 

 

john berry

It is no secret that the Arts Council has been been demanding his head, in exchange for a £7.5 million sweetener. They accuse Berry of financial profligacy, if not illiteracy.

It is no secret, either, that the ENO board has split down the middle on his merits. The business side of the table are alarmed by persistent losses of around a million pounds a year. Berry contests that figure.

His supporters on the board claim – rightly – that he has given the company higher status on the world stage than any boss in its history. ENO, through Berry, has become a feeder house for the Met, Munich Amsterdam and more. He is a key creative figure at the summits of the opera world, able to call in the cream of Europe’s directors and to instal Peter Sellars as a resident artist.

In a boardroom shootout, Berry’s supporters have won – for the time being.

His opponents still think they can topple him.

But Berry has ENO over a barrel. Keep him, and the turbulence will continue. Expect further departures. The company’s media chief (a former Arts Council official) has vanished into thin air. The atmosphere is not great.

Sack him, however, and the company will vanish into a vortex of nonentity. International houses and artists will withdraw ther favours.

John Berry is ENO’s ideas bank. Without him, the Coliseum is just an expensive piece of real estate. Contrary to most boardroom leaks, I expect him to survive. The Arts Council, whose conduct through the past year has been pusillanimous, will pay up regardless. They cannot be seen to be organising a putsch at a client institution.

Our money’s on John Berry for the immediate future.

 

West Australia Opera became an international laughing stock last year when its chief executive, Carolyn Chard, cancelled a Carmen production as part of a health-sponsorship deal. Both artistic director Joseph ­Colaneri and chorus master ­Joseph Nolan walked out.

Chard has now appointed Brit-based Aussie conductor Brad Cohen as her next artistic director.

He’s doing Faust. Does she know there’s drinking in it?

 

New WA Opera artistic director Brad Cohen

The Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, an outside candidate for the Berlin Philharmonic vacancy in 2017, has removed himself from contention by signing on for five more years at Philadelphia, taking him to 2022.

Yannick is also music director in Rotterdam and principal conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain in his native Montreal. He has been conducting in Berlin since 2010 and is well liked in the Philharmonie, but he has got his hands full for the next decade and more.

Press release follows:

yannick_senn_heard

 

(Philadelphia, January 30, 2015)—The Philadelphia Orchestra today announces that Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin extends his tenure with the Orchestra through the 2021-22 season, his first contract renewal since beginning his tenure as the Orchestra’s eighth music director in September 2012.

 

Of the renewal, Nézet-Séguin commented: “The warm embrace of The Philadelphia Orchestra and its audiences has been humbling and exhilarating since I made my debut in 2008. Knowing that this love affair with the Orchestra and the City of Philadelphia will continue is an immense joy. I believe what we are doing artistically is so important, and it’s having a big impact on this community. But to do this work takes time, so I am thrilled that I will continue here as music director for at least another five years. Our work together is in many ways really just beginning, and now being able to settle in and think and plan long-term is really wonderful. And it is all the more gratifying that my close collaborations with both Rich and Allison will also continue.”

 

Simultaneously, the Board of Directors of The Philadelphia Orchestra Association has renewed Chairman Richard B. Worley and President and CEO Allison Vulgamore, ensuring that the collective mission and vision established by the leadership triumvirate will continue to steward The Philadelphia Orchestra’s artistic growth and financial stability.

 

The Orchestra further announced today a remarkable gift from the Miller-Worley Foundation of $10 million. The lead gift, given by Leslie Anne Miller and Richard Worley through their foundation, will floor the Orchestra’s Comprehensive Campaign.