The Welsh composer Peter Reynolds is listed in the Guinness Book of Records for his 1993 opera The Sand of Time, which lasts all of four minutes.
Peter collapsed and died at his home in Cardiff on October 11.
Obit here.
An attempt by the Bolshoi Theatre to live-stream Yuri Grigorovich’s ballet Golden Age to music by Shostakovich was hit first by interference, then by total blackout a few minutes into the transmission.
It appears the Bolshoi was avoiding western servers such as Youtube for the streaming service and using an untested Russian technology.
Better luck next time.
A promoter of pop concerts who staged events in classical venues has been found guilty of two rapes, in 1985 and 1972. Mervyn Conn, 82, awaits sentence at Kingston Crown Court.
Conn has a previous conviction for a sexual assault on his receptionist. Police are asking for any further victims to come forward. More here.
Among the many variety acts Conn promoted were the Red Army Ensemble.
The Komische Oper has promoted Jordan de Souza to Kapellmeister, starting September 2017.
This could be a bigger job than it looks since the orchestra has just shot down the company’s choice of music director, leaving the podium up for grabs.
Sony Music Entertainment has named Rob Stringer, 54, as its next chief executive.
He’s the younger brother of Sir Howard Stringer, former Sony Corp chairman and CEO, and he will replace the industry veteran Doug Morris, 77.
They will cover your violin for £3.20 a day, they say (but see Comments).
Cambridge-based NWBIB has set up specialist cover for musicians by beginning its WeLoveMusicians brand.
The policy is aimed at all levels of musicians from novices to global artists and the broker has a special scheme providing cover for professionals and delegated authority to offer insurance to non-professionals.
Read on here.
The festival has appointed Stephen McHolm, from Canada, to replace Christian Thompson, who is leaving to work full-time for the Orchestre National de Lyon.
Press release:
October 19th 2016 / The Verbier Festival is delighted to announce that from 1 December 2016, Stephen McHolm will become Director of the Verbier Festival Academy (VFA) and Special Projects. Stephen is currently Artistic Director of the Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, where he has served as artistic and administrative leader since 2004. Through his role at Honens, he has directed the competition, a festival and concert series, music education and outreach programmes, and has devoted a great deal of time and energy into nurturing and developing the careers of emerging concert artists. He is also a passionate amateur pianist.
Stephen McHolm says “Verbier is in so many ways the ultimate music festival and its commitment to learning has an incredible worldwide reputation. Indeed, two of the three most recent Honens Prize Laureates are alumni of the Verbier Festival Academy! I am honoured to be named Academy Director and very much look forward to leading it in to the future. I see the Academy becoming an essential rite of passage for any young concert artist.”
Martin T:son Engstroem, Founder and Executive Director of the Verbier Festival, says “The moment I met Stephen I knew that he was the right person to lead the Academy. He is very experienced and very respected in the musical world. He is also someone who has devoted much of his career to nurturing young musicians, and his passion and his values correspond very closely to our own.”
Stephen replaces Christian Thompson who, over the last twelve years, has enabled the VFA to become one of the world’s most important learning places for exceptional young musicians. The VFA’s reputation has been built on a commitment to excellence and creativity, an incredible faculty and a visionary approach to how young musicians can build a career in the 21st century.
Here is the text that the great violinist read before the Japanese Royal Family on receiving the Praemium Imperiale award in Tokyo this week, the first violin player to be so distinguished. He used the occasion to resume his assault on the false priorities of the music business. Here is the original text, exclusive to Slippedisc.com:
Message of thanks
Your Imperial Highness, Prince and Princess Hitachi, Chairman of the Japan Art Association, Mr Hieda, Excellencies, International Advisers, Distinguished Members of the Selection Committee, dear Friends,
It is an honour for me to be given an opportunity to say a few words on behalf of ALL the laureates of this year’s Praemium Imperiale.
Being singled out for this distinction in the field of music means a great deal to me personally – and I am sure that each of us here would echo my sentiments. In acknowledging our life’s achievements, the Praemium Imperiale brings us close to the MANY outstanding artists who have been its FAVOURED recipients over the 28 years since the award was first established.
For me, it means being accepted into a “family of wonderful personalities”, people for whom I have always had profound respect and admiration or with whom I have even had the occasional good fortune to work.
As the first violinist in the family, I am keenly aware of the importance of today’s ceremony and am certainly not alone in wishing to express my deepest gratitude for the privilege that has been bestowed on us. Each of us enters this world and later departs from it. What we leave behind is what we manage to create in the time in between.
The arts are probably one of those facets of life that outlive us and last, if they are exceptional – “forever”. In a way, it might be said that art – unlike politics – has an “eternal” life. However, that is not a “licence” for indifference to injustice or lies.
These days, the whole arts industry is more market oriented than ever. “Value” is measured in terms of money, income and statistics. All too often we are tempted to believe that the primary goal of art is to entertain people.
How refreshing it is to see that past and present laureates of the Praemium Imperiale include those artists who have been able to resist that temptation! As I see it, a true artist is called to swim against the waves of popularity, to dive into the deep waters of human souls and to rise to the challenge of achieving the impossible.
The supporters of the great Ludwig van Beethoven wanted him to write compositions that were stylistically different from those of an artist who was very popular at that time – Gioachino Rossini. How many of today’s supporters or sponsors see artists in that way and give them that kind of encouragement?
I suspect that there are very few of them.
The potential revenue figures overshadow any real attempts at creativity.
To serve the arts and not to give in to the industry’s “sharks” by sacrificing one’s own ideals and vision is far more important than providing entertainment because the arts are able to expand our horizons, to make us visionaries.
In the past, the Praemium Imperiale has been awarded to many great personalities, whose “signatures” -their own individual identities – have thus been granted prime public recognition. They command our respect not merely because of their achievements; we realise that, like the great composer Luigi Nono, they knew that there was no path, but had to go on…. all the same.
Because they were willing to take risks, we can continue to explore the unknown.
That is why it fills me with joy and pride to be surrounded today by distinguished artists who have chosen not to follow the crowd. In one way or another, we have all fought to remain true to the values that we believe in. We are not finished yet!
Long live the arts! In many ways, they are the best support given to those of us who are seeking more and who desire to share what we find with others.
(c) Gidon Kremer
(c) Angie Kremer/Lebrecht Music&Arts
The Wieniawski competition has reached its final stage in Poznan.
Of the seven final candidates, none is a pupil of Zakhar Bron, who is one of the judges.
Previous reports that Richard Lin had studied with Bron are unfounded. Richard assures us that his teachers are Aaron Rosand (no fan of rigged competitions) and Lewis Kaplan.
The finalists are:
Richard Lin (USA)
Ryosuke Suho (Japan)
Veriko Tchumburidze (Georgia/Turkey)
Luke Hsu (USA)
Bomsori Kim (Korea)
Maria Włoszczowska (Poland)
Seji Okamoto (Japan)
Fifty years after her father’s death, the music administrator Nike Wagner has been rattling skeletons in the family closet.
Wieland, she says, could never talk about growing up as Hitler’s favourite in the family. He was everything Hitler wanted of a young Wagner. After the War, by introducing modernist productions to Bayreuth, he cleansed himself of Nazi guilt and profited from the conversion.
German text here.
Wieland (r), Wolfgang (l)
The Chinese state news agency Xinhua has reported that a Lang Lang dinner in New York raised $2,049,000 for his education foundation. Supporting acts at the dinner included Michael Feinstein and Lisa Fischer.
The achievement has not appeared in any western media.
Rub your eyes, gals and guys. Some lucky Germans will go to Vegas. Some serious Vegans will wind up in Cottbus.
Read this:
Through a generous gift by German philanthropist Dorothee Hennings-Holtmann, the Las Vegas Philharmonic and the Brandenburg State Theater Orchestra, Cottbus are pleased to announce the American German Cultural Exchange Fellowship (AGCEF). This new and unique fellowship partners the Las Vegas Philharmonic with the Cottbus State Theater Orchestra in Cottbus, Germany and will give both organizations the opportunity to exchange guest artists with their respective orchestras.
The first two recipients of the AGCEF are German violinist, Tobias Feldmann, and American violinist, Alexi Kenney. Feldmann will perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major with the Las Vegas Philharmonic on November 5, 2016 at The Smith Center and Kenney will perform Barber’s Violin Concerto November 18 – 20, 2016 with the Brandenburg State Theater Orchestra, Cottbus.
Mehr hier, as they say in Cottbus.
