The increase is eye-watering, more than the entire budget of some EU nations.
Much of it, however, will go on infrastructure, such as Berlin’s Museum Island. And another chunk on generous pensions.
The budget is for two years and the Bundestag is in the process of finalising the figures. More here.
The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra has hired Sivan Magen as principal harp.
Magen is presently a faculty member of the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music.
He will have to learn Finnish which, like Hebrew, is an acquired taste.
The caption reads: Evgeny Kissin performing his very own ‘Toccata’ at the 2017 Verbier Festival, enjoy!
In his recent Memoir and Reflections, Kissin talks of taking time out to compose.
As a further dimension to our ongoing discussion, here is rare cheerful footage of the Romanian conductor coaching the Danish Wind Quintet in 1973 with a passion for pinpoint tempi.
Out of almost contestants, three have been selected for the shootout. They are:
Kristine Balanas (Latvia)
Sarah Christian (Germany)
and Curtis student Andrea Obiso (Italy).
A reminder that people go to concerts to enjoys themselves. And that includes the soloist.
Further extract below.
KS Astrid Schoerke in Hannover has been hit by the defection of its managing partner, Baris Toker, to join Opus 3, taking along several artists.
Barıs Toker will work as an artist manager out of Opus 3’s Berlin office, bringing as dowry the careers of Julian Steckel (pictured), Tobias Feldman and the Calefax Reed Ensemble.
Schorke will survive the loss. Its main earners are Christian Zacharias, Thomas Zehetmair, Radu Lupu, Till Fellner, Isabelle Van Keulen and Francesco Piemontesi.
That she can do it at all at 18 is amazing, never mind how.
Solène Le Van alternates singing arias and playing the violin, classical and jazz.
The Russian baritone who is receiving treatment for brain cancer has pulled out of the Georges Enesco Festival, ‘due to medical problems’, it was announced today in Bucharest.
Hvorostovsk’s recital will be taken over by Kristine Opolais, who is trying to learn a work by Enesco in the next two weeks.
Xaver Meyer conducted more than 2,000 concerts in his long life, many of them on radio and TV.
Born in Vienna on August 28, 1933, he founded the Wiener Madrigalchor in 1955 and led it for the rest of the century.
In 1956 he was appointed chorus master of the Vienna Boys Choir, from 1964 to 1984 he was chorus director at the Theater an der Wien and from 1976 to 1987 he headed the Wiener Männergesang-Verein.
His book “Chorleitung” (Choral Conducting) has appeared in several editions.
James Truscott, a graduate of music at the University of Kent, has been found dead in a house in Canterbury where two other musicians were previously found dead.
The two others have been named as Maximum Martin and Joshua Lambert-Price.
All three were in their 20s.
The police say there are no suspicious circumstances.
Most opera houses make do with one or two languages.
But the Vienna State Opera, obliged to replace an ageing seatback system, is offering a choice of English, German, Italian, French, Russian and Japanese from tomorrow. No other house comes close.
Press release follows.
