The Italiann luthier Luigi Lanaro died last week at a formidable age.
Winner of the Cremona international exhibition in 1949, he worked in Buenos Aires and Mexico City before opening his own studio in Padua, together with his son, Roberto.
He has some challenging answers in this conversation with Harvey Sachs on the Toscanini anniversary.
Anthony Roth Costanzo talks to Living the Classical Life about his cancer diagnosis at the age of 26, about spending time naked on stage and being gay in the opera profession.
An exuberantly self-revealing interview.
Watch.
Photo: Richard Hubert Smith/English National Opera
The slogan is Avec la musique, dès l’âge de trois mois, tous égaux !
Read more here.
It appears the Miami donors are not coughing up.
Report here.
This is the official Cleveland release:
Cleveland, OH – The Cleveland Orchestra has announced details of the Orchestra’s 12th year in Miami. Concerts will take place in January and February led by Music Director Franz Welser-Möst featuring symphonies by Beethoven and Mahler at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County’s John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall. The Adrienne Arsht Center has been the presenting partner of the Orchestra’s Miamiconcerts since the annual residency began in 2007. Praise of The Cleveland Orchestra under the artistic leadership of Welser-Möst includes The New York Times calling the ensemble “… American’s most brilliant orchestra,” and The Wall Street Journal stating that the Orchestra is “… magnificent.”
“I’m looking forward to great performances in Miami with the enthusiastic and devoted audience who join us each year on a musical journey,” said Franz Welser-Möst, Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra. “In our increasingly complex modern world, music continues to act as an incredible tool for good — to inspire creativity, engage the imagination, and foster learning and understanding.”
On January 26 and 27 Franz Welser-Möst conducts Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, the composer’s breathtaking, last completed symphony, which is considered to be a meditation on the beauty of life.
On February 2 and 3 the Orchestra’s all-Beethoven program explores the composer’s iconic Symphony No. 5, his joyful Symphony No. 8, and the tragic and dramatic Overture to Coriolan.
“The coming year is an exciting time for The Cleveland Orchestra, as the ensemble marks its 100th season,” said André Gremillet, Cleveland Orchestra Executive Director. “We are excited to bring extraordinary and emotionally-charged musical experiences to our wonderful Miami audience in 2018. As The Cleveland Orchestra begins its Second Century, we look forward to continuing our annual residency in Miami in the years ahead.”
In June 2015, a burglar broke into a house in the 19th arrondissement, making off with clothes, jewellery and a valuable violin, built for the owner by the Italian luthier, Filippo Fasser.
Some weeks later, Filippo Fasser received an email from Serbia asking for a valuation of the violin, with pictures attached.
The luthier contacted a French colleague, who alerted police in both countries.
The violin was recovered in the small town of Prijepolje and returned to the French embassy this week in a ceremony in Belgrade.
A ‘last-minute travel logistics issue … beyond his control,’ regrets the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
The Tchaikovsky-winning pianist couldn’t find his passport, reports Mike Vincent at Musical Toronto.
Report here.
We have been informed of the death of Louis Frémaux, an estimable conductor who was principal conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 1978, and chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, 1979-1982.
Louis died at home on Monday. His death was reported the following day by a presenter on France Musique.
His decade in Birmingham, where he raised the orchestra’s profile with highly praised EMI recordings, ended unhappily with the departure of the general manager, Arthur Baker, and a players’ rebellion.
The double vacancy led to the appointment of Ed Smith as manager, aged 27, joined smartly by Simon Rattle, 25.
The rest is… well, you know.
We have fond memories of M. Frémaux.
Tarisio is dishing out $25,000 among five string-based projects, selected by Kim Kashkashian, Martin Engstroem and Quatuor Ébène.
Get your app/lication in by May 10 here.
The Georgia Symphony Orchestra, music director Timothy Verville, is addressing the great unplayed minority composers in its coming season. Our mole in the orchestra says: ‘As an orchestra based in a city with a rather famous historical lynching, the decision to purse this program has not been one taken lightly.’
“America, Vol. 4” will step outside of the realm of traditional, classical artists and into the minds of some of the world’s most famous African-American composers.
The production will also include a world premiere of “Moonlight Waltz,” written by the GSO’s N.E. Wheeler, and Georgia premieres of William Grant Still’s “And They Lynched Him on a Tree” and Daniel Bernard Roumain’s “Human Songs and Stories.”
“We’ve done work in the African-American community before but I started consulting with local black arts leaders and discussing with them how important it would be for the African-American community for our organization to take up something which, unfortunately, is still an important topic today: race relations. You would hope we could be beyond these types of things, but we’re not. They were extremely encouraged,” Verville said.
We introduced you a while back to the overture of Klaus Tennstedt’s inimitable January 1984 performance of Beethoven’s Fidelio at the Metropolitan Opera.
Now, an alert reader, Jürgen Irps, has come up with the complete radio broadcast of the opera.
Listen here.
Save it, treasure it, share it.
UPDATE: Hypnotised by the performance, we forgot to include the link. Apologies. It’s here.
Message from the Wigmore Hall, London:
Extra performance: Tuesday 13 June 10.00pm
Igor Levit piano
Beethoven
Igor Levit is scheduled to conclude his marathon journey through Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas on Tuesday 13 June 7.30pm. Due to great demand, we are delighted to announce that Igor will repeat his final concert on the same night at 10.00pm.
Watch Now: A message from Igor Levit