The family of Jan Mortensen has posted that he fell down the stairs on Sunday at his home in Roskilde, near Copenhagen. He was taken to hospital and received stitches. He seemed to be doing well, but died a day later.
Jan, founding principal bass trombone with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, was 60.
In 2001, long before the expulsion of foreign players from Kuala Lumpur, he returned to play in the royal orchestra in Copenhagen, and with the Royal Danish Brass ensemble.
A prodigious teacher, he leaves students and friends all over the world.
Our sympathies to his grieving family.
The legendary Anshel Brusilow, concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell and of the Philadelphia with Eugene Ormandy, died last night at the age of 89.
After clashing with music directors, he lit out to Texas, where he became both executive director and conductor of the Dallas Symphony.
He recorded extensively as both violinist and conductor.
He was a formidable musician, and a formative one.
Just listen.
Daniel Auner has recorded some of the off-cuts from Beethoven’s masterpiece.
He writes:
During my studies in Salzburg I got a copy of the original manuscript into my hands and was shocked about what I found there. Beethoven wrote an alternative solo violin part almost throughout the whole piece and decided just before the first print which version he will use in the end. But, he did not cross out any of the second lines but selected a few bars from the blue ink and a few bars of the pencil writing, always changing…..
The US cellist who scored considerable success with the Elgar, Carter and Dvorak concertos on Decca has decided that her future lies in the Low Countries.
She has signed an exclusive, multi-album contract with Pentatone, starting later this year with both Haydn concertos and Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, with the Trondheim Soloists.
She says: ‘Pentatone’s values are in line with mine. Our conversations about repertoire have demonstrated the depth of their knowledge and, perhaps even more importantly, their eagerness in encouraging me to expand my musical horizons. Our first recording together is a testament to that ethos – that artistic integrity and curiosity should always be the first priority. I feel completely at home.’
Daniel Barkley was a young Irish composer whose life ended on January 11.
His family write: Danny was a beautiful and fragile soul whose being, company, wit and foremost music brought happiness to so many. It is in memory of him that his family ask you to support MindWise, a mental health charity, rather than send flowers or cards.
The death is reported of Deen Larsen, 74, founder of the Franz Schubert Institut in Baden.
An American who moved to Austria in 1973, he was an outstanding authority and enthusiast for romantic music.
Gabor Kali, 35 and 1st Kapellmeister in Nuremberg, was declared winner of the first Hong Kong conducting competition.
He takes away close to US$20,000 and a few dates with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta.
Mathieu Gallet, president of Radio France, was given a one-year suspended sentence today and a 20,000 Euros fine for exercising favouritism in his previous job as head of the National Audiovisual Institute.
Gallet says he will appeal.
In the meantime, there is no threat to his position at Radio France. On the contrary, he is heading for promotion to a joint radio-TV role.
It so happens that he is a good friend of President Macron.
Newly available in paperback from Joshua Tree Publishing in Chicago.
The promising Rory Macdonald, 37, has dumped his agent, Intermusica, for acquisitive IMG.
A former assistant to Ivan Fischer and Mark Elder, Macdonald has a mainly freelance career.
They must have promised him a job.
IMG has announced that it has quietly staged a touring performance of Shadowland in Riyadh last month.
They claim this as:
– The First Performance by an International Dance Company in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
– The First Performance of Any Kind with a Male and Female Cast Performing Together
– The First Performance of Any Kind with a Female Lead Character.
We have received sad news of the death yesterday of Paul Dunkel, brilliant flute player, co-founder of the American Composers Orchestra and all-round live-wire.
After a solo career on the flute, Paul Dunkel became music director of the Denver Chamber Orchestra and a busy guest conductor with a strong interest in contemporary music.
In 1978, Dunkel co-founded and picked the players for Dennis Russell Davies’s American Composers Orchestra. He acts as both manager and principal flute, later a resident conductor.
In 1983 he founded the Westchester Philharmonic, which he conducted until 2008. Since then he has been principal flute with New York City Ballet.
