When the Israeli Ministry of Education banned schools from teaching a novel about an affair between a Jewish woman and an Arab man, TimeOut Tel Aviv invited six couples – some of them total strangers – to meet and kiss on camera.

It went rather well.

 

arab-jew kiss

Fanatics will be furious. There’s hope for the rest of us.

(Shame this could never happen in any other place in the Middle East).

Anastasia Boudanoque has quit CAMI to go solo.

anastasia boud

 

Formerly agent for the fashion violinist Ray Chen and the Chinese conductor Long Yu, it’s not clear whether she’ll be taking artists from the crumbling CAMI megastore. Her launch artists include the pianist Dmitry Masleev, eclipsed winner of the 2015 Tchaikovsky Competition, and the well-connected violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky.

Primavera Consulting will, the press release says, focus on high-end classical entertainment events and consulting performing arts organizations globally. The company will also represent a select roster of artists, reinforcing traditional personal talent management with digital and social media, endorsement opportunities, as well as educational and charitable initiatives.

Her announcement is adorned with endorsements from Long Yu and Christoph Eschenbach.

 

 

The senior Spanish conductor Josep Pons has switched from an Italian agency to Linda Marks at HP in London.

josep_pons22650crop

The former owner of a Steinway House in Düssedorf has been served a court order to return a 108 year-old B211 model after failing to agree over eight years how much work was needed to bring it up to standard.

Read here.

steinway in water

A Wroclaw production of Elfriede Jellinek’s Death and the Maiden received a warning from the conservative Minister of Culture, Piotr Glinski that state funds would be withdrawn from shows with nudity. Threatres are being urged to celebrate ‘national heritage’.

The Polish clock is running backwards.  Watch Arte report here.

jellinek tod

BERLIN, Jan 7 (Reuters) – An American violinist who left her $2.6 million 1727 Stradivarius in the luggage rack on a regional train in western Germany was “more than relieved”, police said, when officers retrieved it one minute before it left the station.

So who was it?

The train was running from from Mannheim to Saarbrücken.

The violin is the ‘General Dupont’, played throughout his career by Arthur Grumiaux. It was last sold at auction a year ago to an anonymous collector in China, after being on loan for several years to the US soloist, Jennifer Koh.

jennifer koh violin

So who’s playing it now? All the news report says is that it’s a woman violinist in her 20s. Ms Koh is 39.

Any clues?

UPDATE: Bild reports that the forgetful fiddler was Ms Koh. The police won’t confirm.

2nd UPDATE: Wrong Strad, right player here.

Ms. Koh is Musical America’s 2016 Instrumentalist of the Year.

Here’s a revealing passage from one of his two forthright Chicago interviews with Bruce Duffie: 

PB: You cannot eat all the food of the world at once!  When you are having a walk in the woods, you don’t take every path and you don’t look at every tree.  You are trying to make your way, and to go from one point to another one and even to discover things, but you don’t explore everything.  I suppose that’s the way of a musician.  It depends also from the circumstances of his life, the points in his life, and how his mind is working at certain moments.  Sometimes you can discover vast territory with a lot of things which are just seen like that and which are just taken on the surface, and sometimes he goes much deeper in a corner which is more interesting, and he explores this corner really very deeply and to the point where it is exhausted.  Then when this is exhausted, he can go further, and maybe find that it is not completely exhausted, so he goes into another corner and back to the earlier corner.  We are like animals which have the winter in front of them, so they accumulate small things.  They know they have a fortress of their own on which they can survive during the whole winter.  When you are very young you accumulate knowledge, and progressively you have the opportunity of using this knowledge and of accumulating other things.

Read the full, newly-transcribed interviews here.

boulez complete2

Our cher collègues at resmusica.com report that Yves Riesel will leave the download and streaming service that he co-founded in 2008 as part of its rescue from bankruptcy.

qobuz

UPDATE: Here’s Yves’s farewell letter:

Dear Sir, Dear Madam,
Dear Subscriber,

The entire Qobuz team joins me in wishing you all the very best for the New Year ahead, in both music and beyond.

As you may know, the last two years have been particularly difficult for Qobuz. We failed to find the necessary sources to refinance the service, leading to a situation of ‘safeguard’ being declared in the summer of 2014, with administration then being declared in a court in November 2015. After these procedures, the Tribunal has heard a number of different offers in this time and has selected from among them that of Xandrie, who since the 29 December have taken the reigns at Qobuz.

Xandrie, a company which forms part of the Thébaud Group, presented a plan for Qobuz that is very respectful of our current approach, that is to say, very much in keeping with what our clients like about us. After many meetings with Xandrie, the anticipation and careful preparation shown by their leadership has been very encouraging for the Qobuz team, who will now look to closely adhere to the plans for the further development of our service.

We begin today a new chapter in the history of Qobuz. With the same team and indeed, the same project, but doubly fortified in nature, more ambitious than ever, with the backing of a group that has long been missing. Although the end of the story is certainly not that which Alexandre Leforestier and I had dreamed of, we believe that we can be proud of the huge progress made since 2008.

Our thanks also go to the huge numbers of you that had the patience to tolerate our shortcomings and encourage us to develop. Our gratitude also goes out to the representatives of Innovacom Investments and Sigma Management, who supported Qobuz to the end. Without them, Qobuz would not have existed: we will set out in 2016 to immediately prove they have not been wrong to support us, unlike those who did not want to follow their example.

To our users and subscribers who have continually stood behind the values upheld by Qobuz and have shown us incredible support – we hesitated to reach out to you sooner, as we wanted to focus on a positive message that would not see your confidence in us waver. In actual fact, our situation prompted an unbelievable response from you, one that helped us continually break turnover records for the past few months. We will never forget that, and dedicate our future success to your overwhelming solidarity.

What makes a service like ours so unique is the ability we have to support you daily. We are on call every day with the mission to animate the website and applications in a way that ensures you get the absolute most out of your passion for discovery, music, and of course, audio. Of course, should you so desire, our recommendations, editorial content and hand-crafted selections are always there for inspiration, but the most important of all is your ability to exercise your free will, and to be provided with the necessary tools to do so effectively. Independence is and will be always I hope the very nature of Qobuz.

As for myself, I will now take my leave from this wonderful team at Qobuz, without forgetting or losing sight of what we’ve achieved. I will be so proud to watch to the beautiful bricks of this project being laid over the next year or two, and only too happy to see those who never believed in us proven wrong.

Happy New Year!
Au Revoir!

Yves Riesel

My tribute, published today: here.

And in Spanish, here in El Pais.

 

boulez

The Vienna Symphony Orchestra has announced that its music director Philippe Jordan, 41, has cancelled all appearances in January and February for health reasons, including concerts at Wiener Konzerthaus, Musikverein Wien and a tour to France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

philippe jordan

 

He will be replaced by th young Israeli Lahav Shani (who has already stepped in at the Vienna Phil) and by the former percussionist Adrien Perruchon.

Daniel Barenboim:
Pierre Boulez and I first met in Berlin in 1964 and there have been few fellow musicians with whom I have developed such a close and important relationship in the 52 years that followed – even though we always stuck to the formal “vous” when speaking to each other, a rarity in our rather informal world, but from my side, certainly, an expression of my deepest respect and admiration.

“Creation exists only in the unforeseen made necessary”, Pierre Boulez once wrote. With this belief as his paradigm, Pierre Boulez has radically changed music itself as well as its reception in society. He always knew exactly when he had to be radical because it was a necessary requirement for music and society to develop. He was never dogmatic, however, but always retained his ability to develop himself further. His development was based on a deep knowledge of and respect for the past. A true man of the future must know the past, and for me, Pierre Boulez will always remain an exemplary man of the future.

Pierre Boulez has achieved an ideal paradox: he felt with his head and thought with his heart.

"Hommage à Pierre Boulez zum 85. Geburtstag" Pierre Boulez, in der Berliner Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin, franzoesischer, Komponist, Dirigent, Musiktheoretiker, Avantgarde, Musik,  [Das Foto ist ein Lichtbildwerk i.S.v. §2 Absatz 1 Ziff.5 UrHG,  Nur redaktionelle Nutzung, Nutzung Honorar-& MwSt. pflichtig! Weitergabe an Dritte nicht erlaubt. Wir uebernemen keine Haftung bei einer evtl. Verletzung Rechte Dritter! Es gelten unsere AGB. t.bartilla@googlemail.com,  Koepenicker Landstr. 150, 12437 B e r l i n, Bankverbindung: Thomas Bartilla, Ing-Diba, Kto. 5526039061, BLZ 50010517, Tel. + 49 178 55 60576 ]Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin, Nutzung für interne Zwecke der Staatsoper unter den Linden Berlin, kostenfrei und ohne Einschränkungen, [Das Foto ist ein Lichtbildwerk i.S.v. §2 Absatz 1 Ziff.5 UrHG,  Nur redaktionelle Nutzung, Nutzung Honorar-& MwSt. pflichtig! Weitergabe an Dritte nicht erlaubt. Wir uebernemen keine Haftung bei einer evtl. Verletzung Rechte Dritter! Es gelten unsere AGB. t.bartilla@googlemail.com,  Koepenicker Landstr. 150, 12437 B e r l i n, Bankverbindung: Thomas Bartilla, Ing-Diba, Kto. 5526039061, BLZ 50010517, Tel. + 49 178 55 60576 ]

Matthias Pintscher, composer:
Sleepless and completely overwhelmed by the loss of Pierre Boulez…all the countless memories are flooding my brain, all those beautiful moments of sharing music, thoughts and an unconditional and generous friendship and his loyal mentorship….I miss him so much.

He leaves a huge void among all of us but also imposes the duty on all of us to continue to walk on the path he has laid out for us: keeping moving forward, never standing still, keeping the mind fresh, bold and inspired, always staying curious and loving and share music because it is in between humans and take it where words end…
I would not be a musician without him
no one has inspired and encouraged me more than him
and I will always miss his smile

Franklin Cohen, principal clarinet of the Cleveland Orchestra:
The wonder of hearing the sound of an orchestra change so immediately in his hands was a marvel! I can remember countless concerts where the Cleveland Orchestra would respond to his confident and always warm gestures of flexibility, rhythm and pristine clarity.
It was my honor to be asked by Mr. Boulez to record the Premiere Rhapsody of Debussy with the Cleveland Orchestra and Deutsche Grammophon. This was to be sure one of the highlights of my musical life to date.  The disc was awarded two Grammy Awards and is only a very small glimpse into the magical sound world that was the trade mark of Maestro Boulez. 

Natalia Pschenitschnikova, composer
I was the first who played Boulez Flute Sonatina in USSR. I was student in Moscow Conservatory and was almost thrown out because of that. I loved this music from the first moment. R.i.p Pierre Boulez. Thank You for everything!

Frederic Chaslin, conductor:
Pierre Boulez told me, when I worked with him, that the Jerusalem Symphony, where I now serve as Music Director, was one of the first orchestras that he conducted and actually returned there in 1967 for 2 more concerts. We found the programs and reviews in the archives for those 2 concerts:

The concerts took place in August 10 in Caesarea Amphitheater and August 12 in Binyanei Ha’ooma in Jerusalem.
The program on both concerts was:
Schoenberg Chamber Symphony No.1 Op. 9
Schumann Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61
Stravinsky Chant du Rossignol, Symphonic Poem

Riccardo Muti:
As both an admirer and friend of the Maestro, I am deeply grateful for his contributions, as composer, conductor and educator, to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with which he had a collaboration of nearly 50 years, and served so brilliantly as its principal guest conductor and conductor emeritus.

Lennox Mackenzie, violinist and LSO chairman:
When Sir Simon Rattle announced the news of Pierre Boulez’s death at rehearsal today a palpable aura of sadness and quiet ensued. Maestro Boulez was enormously respected and loved by everyone in the LSO…. His visits were always warmly anticipated by one and all. Never one to use a baton, his minimal style of conducting brought great clarity and exhibited to the performers that it was the music that was important. The attention to detail allied to his deep, intellectual understanding of these masterpieces always brought revelations to his musicians in rehearsal. His hearing ability was legendary, able to pick out a slight intonational lapse perhaps from one musician, when a hundred were playing. Working with him was always compelling and intense.

The scintillating American musicians has been named Guest Director of the Brighton Festival in its 50th year.

laurie anderson

press release:

Brighton Festival is delighted to announce that the Guest Director for 2016 is the pioneering artist and musician Laurie Anderson. Anderson takes the helm in a milestone year for Brighton Festival as in 2016 it marks its 50th year, celebrates its unique, energetic and creative city and reflects on the nature of home.

Renowned for her inventive use of technology – from her 1981 hit O Superman to her appointment as NASA’s first artist-in-residence –Laurie Anderson is one of America’s most daring creative pioneers. Her eclectic, multidisciplinary career has spanned the worlds of art, theatre and experimental music and has seen her create works as a writer, director, visual artist and vocalist. Most recently Anderson has garnered acclaim for her first feature film in almost 30 years – Heart of a Dog – which reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother, her beloved dog, and such diverse subjects as family memories, surveillance and Buddhist teachings.

A long-time supporter of Brighton Festival, Anderson is well-known and well-loved by the city following successful appearances such asDelusion (BF2011) and All the Animals (BF2015). An inspiration to audiences and artists alike, she has been described by Brighton Festival 2015 Guest Director Ali Smith as: “the performance artist, singer, musician, artist of our lifetime I think – a great, great figure of liberty and liberation of the arts”.