The music director of London’s Royal Opera House says he is considering an approach to succeed Kirill Petrenko at Bavarian State Opera in 2021.

Sir Antonio Pappano, 57, has been at Covent Garden since 2002. He has never conducted opera in Munich and admits there are considerable differences from Covent Garden.

Asked by Georg Rudiger in Der Merkur if he was thinking about Munich, Pappano said simply, ‘Yes.’

Kenneth Gloag, whose death was announced today by the University of Cardiff, was a leading authority on the music of Nicholas Maw, as well as other UK composers.

Professor Gloag wrote the Cambridge monograph on Tippett’s A Child of our Time and contributed to other volumes on Tippett, Maw, Birtwistle and Maxwell Davies.

His last published work was Postmodernism in Music (Cambridge University Press, 2012).

Michael L. Mael, executive director of Washington National Opera (WNO) for the past six years, announced today that he will leave the organisation in July.

 

Mael, who joined WNO as Chief Financial and Chief Operating Officer in 2008, is credited with returning the company to financial stability after the 2008 crash and more than a decade of losses.

He was previously v-p of the Baltimore Symphony.

Where next?

 

Even in the shady world of violin competitions, this result looks a bit odd.

Winner of the Young Paganini international violin competition in Poland is Sara Dragan.

Her mother, Alicja Dragan, is the competition’s founder and president.

Sara is a student of the controversial Zakhar Bron.

And Bron’s assistant, Stefan Tarara, was on the competition jury.

It’s all starting to make sense.

 

The Konzerthaus in Vienna is putting on an exhibition of Marion Kalter’s photographs of Boulez to accompany a major retrospective of his music this month.

photo (c) Marion Kalter/Lebrecht Music&Arts

He’s having a crafty read in rehearsal. It looks like a tabloid newspaper and he’s well into the sports section.

The elite Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University has filled its vacant Chair of Orchestral Conducting.

Bloomington’s new professor is  Thomas Wilkins, music director of the Omaha Symphony.

Announcement here.

press release:

Players of the bassoon and the oboe from all over the country gather in London on June 3 for a fun day marking the 50th anniversary of the Sergeant Pepper album by playing music from The Vibrant Sixties. The event takes place in the Crypt of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, right in the heart of London. Starting at 10.00am, it will conclude at 5.30pm with a performance on the bandstand at St James’s Park, a few minutes’ walk away.

The occasion is organised by the British Double Reed Society (BDRS). Featuring a type of music not usually associated with bassoons and oboes, the light-hearted programme has been devised as the latest step in the organisation’s ongoing campaign to encourage interest and enthusiasm in these two instruments. Both the oboe and bassoon (both ‘double reed’ instruments) are often referred to as ‘endangered species’, as they currently have a low take-up among young musicians.


Glyndebourne has announced a  2018 singing competition with a top prize of £15,000.

The judges will be intendants of leading opera houses: Barrie Kosky (Komische Oper Berlin), Sophie de Lint (Dutch National Opera), David Devan (Opera Philadelphia), Joan Matabosch (Teatro Real de Madrid), Pål Christian Moe (casting consultant for Bayerische Staatsoper and Glyndebourne) and Fortunato Ortombina (Teatro La Fenice).

Normally these worthies would identify talent in auditions at their own houses. This competition now concentrates the process in a single venue.

Good for directors. Not so good for singers?

We have been notified of the death, aged 81, of Peter Komlós.

Peter founded the Komlós Quartet in 1957, changing its name six years later to the Bartók Quartet. The other members were violinist Sándor Devich, violist Géza Németh, and cellist Károly Botvay, later replaced by László Mező.

The quartet toured widely and won numerous international awards. Peter Komlós played a 1731 state-owned Stradivarius. From 1960 to 1989 he was concertmaster of the Budapest Opera. He led the quartet up to his death.

Sandor Devich died in January 2016.

The three surviving members of the Bartók Quartet are Géza Hargitai (2nd violin), Géza Németh and László Mező.

Photo: Czimbal Gyula/MTI

 

Congratulations to Erika Grimaldi, who starts rehearsals today in Munich for William Tell with her baby daughter, Esther.

Erike was outstanding at the start of the season in the LSO’s Verdi Requiem.

photo: Facebook

AP report:

ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) — Cornell University officials say the college’s oldest all-male a capella group has been permanently dismissed from campus for hazing that included requiring new members to put Icy Hot muscle cream on their genitals.

According to the Ivy League school’s website on hazing, Cayuga’s Waiters initially were suspended two weeks into the 2016 fall semester for hazing that also included requiring members to sit naked in ice baths and making them run up and down a street and then consume food.

The hazing website says during an investigation group members admitted the hazing had been going on for at least 10 years….

Read on here.

Listen to them here.

The London-based American pianist, who won the competition in 1972, has agreed to become its president.

Release below.

press release:

The Leeds International Piano Competition is delighted to announce that Murray Perahia KBE has accepted an invitation to become its new Patron, succeeding Dame Janet Baker, who stepped down after the 2015 Competition.

His tenure begins on 1 June 2017, when the application process for the 2018 Competition opens.

Murray Perahia is one of the greatest and most revered pianists in the world and has enjoyed a high-profile career spanning more than 45 years. He first shot to fame as winner of the fourth Leeds International Piano Competition in 1972, since when he has been at the forefront of the international music world, performing with the greatest soloists, conductors and orchestras in all the major music centres.

As Patron of the Leeds International Piano Competition he will provide special encouragement and support to the applicants and winners of the Competition.

Murray Perahia said:

“I am delighted to become the next Patron of the Leeds International Piano Competition. The Leeds has a special place in my heart as it gave me undreamt of opportunities that I am forever grateful for; not only important concerts but also the chance to meet leading musicians and people I very much admired. I wish the same for the competitors today. Music is a difficult vocation and at a certain point, pianists need a platform from which they can perform and a chance to meet other musicians. The Leeds is constantly developing in different ways to meet the needs of young artists and I am very happy to be part of that.”

Paul Lewis, co-Artistic Director, Leeds International Piano Competition said:

“I am absolutely thrilled that Murray Perahia has accepted our invitation to become the new Patron of the Leeds International Piano Competition. From the moment he won The Leeds in 1972 it was obvious that he was a true musician among pianists, and he has only continued to cement and enhance that reputation over a career spanning more than 40 years. We are honoured to welcome him to the Leeds family.”

Dame Fanny Waterman, Life President and Founder Director Emeritus, said:

Seeing Murray’s career flourish and mature over the years to the stature of one of the world’s greatest pianists has given me immense satisfaction and pleasure. I know that he will give the talented team running the Competition now the same inestimable support, encouragement and gift of friendship as I received from his predecessor as Patron, Dame Janet Baker”.