Our weekly diary from violinist Anthea Kreston:

It’s one A.M. and I have just gotten back to my room in the River Countess, a sumptuous river boat which is transporting the Performance Today (American Public Media with host Fred Child) Italy tour, for which I am the guest soloist. I can hear the water of the Guidecca canal lapping below my windows. My room has gold-lined fabric wallpaper, slippers and bathrobe, a seating area with a cafe table and vintage chairs, a desk, and a gorgeous bathroom. There are three levels of cabins, housekeeping service every time I leave my room, four-course dinners, a library, chandeliers, waitstaff in white gloves, a sun-deck with a huge chess set, a variety of cafes, bars, exercise rooms and a full service spa. And, it is full to the brim with classical music fans. Heaven on earth. 

I first met Fred Child, the witty and inclusively knowledgeable host of Performance Today, in 2013, when my piano trio (Amelia) was invited to be Young Artists in Residence at their headquarters in Washington, D.C. What followed was a series of live performances interwoven with interviews. It was simultaneously frightening and comfortable – Fred remains the best interviewer I have ever had. 

Fred and I had a plan to wake early today and go to San Michele, the cemetery island, to find Stravinsky’s grave.  We picked up some fresh flowers, and got on the vaporetto heading to Murano, the glass island.  It was crowded – surprising for so early in the morning – and we noticed several widows in all black, clutching bouquets and walking sticks. Stravinsky is buried next to his wife, Vera, along a tall brick wall which offers shade. Their stones are not flashy – simple slabs – but the lettering of their names is Picasso-like -hand-laid in vibrant blue stone. We came back to Venice, had a gondola experience, and were back on the boat for lunch. 

Tonight I had the pleasure of performing the Four Seasons with the Interpreti Veneziani in the Chiesa San Vidal in Venice, which dates back to the 16th century.  The Interpreti is a baroque orchestra which tours internationally, and because of complex scheduling, we had only one hour to put the Seasons together before the concert. When I arrived (of course after getting lost), I was struck by the sight of an orchestra made up entirely of men. I was unsure of how the group dynamic would play out – not only do I play about as un-baroque as a person can, but I was going to be conducting as well as playing. 

I could feel a bit of resistance when we started to rehearse, but by the end all was well and we were all game for a spontaneous, if lightly rehearsed, energetic and colorful evening. Fred Child was going to read the sonnets before each season, and we were ready to go. 

The back stage area was one room – and I was surprised, but very happy, when the whole orchestra began to change. They were treating me as one of their own – I stared intently at my phone, trying to avert my eyes to an entire orchestra of Italian men in their underpants.  Kind-of fun, truth be told.

Next up on the docket is an unaccompanied recital (Bach Chaconne, Ysaye Second Sonata and Biber Passacaglia) in Vicenza (tomorrow), two more recitals, interviews, lots of social activities, and I even get to go to La Fenice and see the Barber of Seville!

This time next week I will be back in Quartet swing, as we have several concerts and a new piece to learn. So far, it has been quite an eventful quartet  “Sabbatical”.  Ciao!

The German pianist Alice Sara Ott has announced a signature line of travel bags with the German accessories label, JOST.

Next Thursday at the Royal Festival Hall, Samantha Cameron will play the Rachmaninov D minor concerto.

Georg Stump, long-serving  bass clarinet of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, was knocked off his bike at a junction in Mönchengladbach on Tuesday and died later in hospital.

Stump, 59, had been a member of the orchestra for 34 years.

His shocked colleagues have dedicated their next concert to his memory.

photo: Susanne Diesner

The veteran Christoph von Dohnanyi has pulled out of next week’s concert with the Philharmonia.

His replacement is Enrique Mazzola. No announcement has been made.

Dohnanyi, 87, has been unwell since the start of 2017.

We wish him better.

Robert Höldrich, elected president of the Hochschule für Musik und Performing Arts (HfMDK) in Frankfurt-am-Main six months ago, will not be taking the job after all.

Apparently, he says the state won’t give him a working budget.

They say the college is adequately funded.

So the leadership vacuum continues.

We reported exclusively that Anna Netrebko has skipped her last Eugene Onegin in Paris to attend the inauguration of Valery Gergiev’s private concert hall on the outskirts of St Petersburg.

A Russian website, dp.ru, has a picture of Netrebko toasting her mentor at the opening.

Among other celebrities in attendance were the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, the former russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin (he’s chair of the Mariinsky board) and the conductor Mariss Jansons.

The great American mezzo has been awarded the Austrian Theatre Prize.

To mark the occasion, the porcelain maker Augarten has made her a personalised tea-set.

Much classier than Netrebko’s, right?

Lawrence Loh, 47, has been named music director of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, starting now.

He succeeds the long-serving Grant Cooper.

And Illinios Symphony has chosen Ken Lam as its next music director, starting September.

Ken (r.) is music director of the Charleston Symphony and a teacher at Peabody.

Opus3 Artists have let it be known that one of their v-ps, Jeffrey Vanderveen, is in hospital after suffering a stroke last weekend.

Vanderveen, a former manager of Anna Netrebko, had a swings-and-roundabouts career at CAMI and Universal Music before entering the calmer waters of Opus3 where his ambition is undimmed.

We wish him a speedy recovery.

Anna Netrebko pulled out of Eugene Onegin at the Paris Opéra on May 31 ‘for personal reasons’.

We now know one of those reasons.

Netrebko was in St Petersburg, summoned by Valery Gergiev to the opening of the vanity concert hall he has built in the garden of his house in Repino. The hall has 100 seats and is intended for private use. The house, a former trade union rest home, is a gift to Gergiev from the Governor of St Petersburg.

Netrebko did not sing in the opening performance but she was seen in the audience by musicians, who have notified Slipped Disc. We are trying to obtain a photograph. UPDATE: Here’s the photo.

Here’s a report of the concert.

There were boos and catcalls in Paris when Netrebko’s withdrawal was announced. Her capable replacement was Elena Stikhina.

Canada’s premier orchestra has asked the British conductor Sir Andrew Davis to serve as interim music director for two years while it extends the search for a permanent replacement for Peter Oundjian.

Davis, 73, was TSO music director for 13 years, from 1975 to 1988.

Some will see the move as a prudent interlude, buying more time to find an ideal music director. Others will have doubts about the orchestra going backwards to a past master who is already over-extended in his jobs with Chicago’s Lyric Opera, the Melbourne Symphony and a heavy guest conducting schedule.

photo: Chris Christodoulou/LebrechtMusic&Arts

The Van Cliburn competition has chosen its semi-finalists and Martin James Bartlett is not among them.

These are the 12 survivors: