A Customs spokesperson at Ekaterinburg Koltsovo says that the 1855 Vuillaume violin confiscated from the Czech Philharmonic concertmaster Josef Spacek was returned to him last night after he provided the necessary documentation.

Josef, who has spent five extra days in Russia clearing up the misunderstanding, has confirmed receipt of the violin. He is now awaiting an export permit that will allow him to leave the country together with his precious instrument.

Musicians and management of the Philadelphia Orchestra agreed on a 12-month contract last night to enable the present season to continue. But divisions remain deep.

Local sources say the deal includes a 3 percent pay rise and one extra musician to he hired.

Official statement:

The Philadelphia Orchestra Association and the musicians of The Philadelphia Orchestra have reached a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. Out of respect for the union, Local 77, American Federation of Musicians, the details will be released only after the agreement has been fully ratified by both parties. The Association expects the musicians of The Philadelphia Orchestra to perform as scheduled in the interim, anticipating ratification.

There are no frontrunners as the contest reaches round three, though local hearts are beating for three surviving Poles. Here’s the survivors list:

Mr Luigi Carroccia (Italy)
Ms Galina Chistiakova (Russia)

Mr Seong-Jin Cho (South Korea)
Mr Chi Ho Han (South Korea)
Mr Aljoša Jurinić (Croatia)
Ms Su Yeon Kim (South Korea)
Ms Dinara Klinton (Ukraine)
Ms Aimi Kobayashi (Japan)
Mr Marek Kozák (Czech Republic)
Mr Łukasz Krupiński (Poland)
Mr Krzysztof Książek (Poland)
Ms Kate Liu (United States)
Mr Eric Lu (United States)
Mr Szymon Nehring (Poland)
Mr Georgijs Osokins (Latvia)
Mr Charles Richard-Hamelin (Canada)
Mr Dmitry Shishkin (Russia)
Mr Alexei Tartakovsky (United States)
Mr Zi Xu (China)
Mr Yike (Tony) Yang (Canada)

Research at the Institut Marquès in Spain appears to show that an unborn child responds when music is played into the mother’s body.

Here’s a remarkable video titled ‘Response of the foetus to intravaginal music’ in which the baby appears to sing along with Mozart.

From the Vienna Phil:

Alfred Altenburger (1927 – 2015)

We mourn the loss of Prof. Alfred Altenburger, member of our first violin section and former chairman (from 1978 to 1987). May he rest in peace.

A painstaking, resolute man, Altenburger cultivated discreet relationships with conductors, notably Karajan and Abbado. Upon retirement he became a board member of Abbado’s Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and a mentor to young players in its first violin section.

You can listen to a 1978 radio interview with him here (in German).

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra want to know if you can do this better….

Have they nothing better to do?

The international baritone, undergoing treatment in London for brain cancer, was today awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky by the Russian president, Tass reports. The award is ‘for merits in development of national culture and art, and many years of fruitful activity’.

The German television executive who abolished the SWR Symphony Orchestra of Baden-Baden and Freiburg has been promoted to president of the French-German television channel, Arte, from January.

Peter Boudgoust, 61, was an obdurate and inflexible head of SWR, deaf to appeals from the world’s leading musicians to preserve a vibrant and historic ensemble. There is good reason to fear for Arte.

It’s my album of the week on sinfinimusic.com, and there’s a lot to beat out there:

The set faces testing competition, starting with Rattle’s 1990s Birmingham cycle for EMI-Warner and Herbert von Karajan’s 1970s Berlin cycle for DG. In one important respect, there is no comparison: for tonal beauty and playing skill, this set outshines the other two by a factor of laser to gaslight.

The current Berlin Philharmonic are a crack ensemble who deliver precision music making at high power. Birmingham sounds stressed in contrast and Karajan’s Berliners cautious. The playing here is massively impressive, almost overwhelming on the open roads of the Second Symphony. Not much can beat the sensual pleasure of listening to this kind of aural perfection.

However….

Read on here.

Eric McKinney was shot ‘multiple times’ while driving his car near the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Stay safe out there.

A Ukrainian soprano, Arina Domski, entirely out of costume, sings the tenor aria to orchestral accompaniment, studded with gentle electronic noises.

Ms Domski is described as ‘the only Ukrainian singer in the style of classical crossover’.

Unveiled yesterday in the Philharmonie.

photo (c) Erik Zainermand

Like most conductor busts, it looks like Mahler.