The Jürgen Ponto Foundation has given its two-yearly music prize to the Berlin Vision String Quartet.

It’s worth 60,000 Euros, along with dates at the Beethovenfest Bonn, Heidelberg Spring, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Kissinger Sommer.

The quartet is made up of Jakob Encke and Daniel Stoll (violins), Sander Stuart (viola) and Leonard Disselhorst (cello).

 

The critic of Vanguard Seattle is displeased with Cosi fan tutte. Not just displeased. Outraged.

Post this on the billboards:

I know you might be thinking, “It can’t be that bad” or “I have to go see this trainwreck.”

Don’t. Just don’t. If you want to debase yourself, there are plenty of absolutely gut-wrenching depictions of rape that you can watch at home that aren’t for laughs. If you want to revel in misanthropy and questionable artistic choices involving rape, try Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. If the homophobia of the characters in that film feels too unaddressed, go get your heart turned inside out by Boys Don’t Cry.

You really earn your misanthropy with those films. At Seattle Opera’s Cosi Fan Tutte, it is simply all too easy to hate everyone and everything.

And the critic at Seattle Weekly says, stay away and don’t ever come back:

What is dismaying about the whole affair is that we’re likely never again going to see a Così not done this way. 

Tuomas Katajala, Ginger Costa-Jackson, Marina Costa-Jackson, Craig Verm, Laura Tatulescu. Photo: Philip Newton

 

The push comes just after 2:00


It is shown on Italian TV.

Is this kind of physicality still acceptable?

Two of the shortlisted 2018 candidates for Best Film contain songs by the operatic soprano.

In ‘The Shape of Water’ she sings ‘You’ll Never Know’ in Alexandre Desplat’s score, accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra.

In ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ her Decca recording of Last Rose of Summer is heard twice.

 

Compare and contrast:

Echo Star Helstrom, Bob Dylan’s high school girlfriend who is thought to be his ‘Girl From the North Country’ has died in California in her early 70s, reports say.

 

Press release:

Before the rehearsal at the Philharmonie today, the Berliner Philharmoniker welcomed Mariss Jansons as an honorary member of the orchestra to express their gratitude for a long association.

Mariss Jansons conducted the Berliner Philharmoniker for the first time in 1971 during the second International Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition. Since his official debut in 1976, he and the orchestra have presented 95 concerts with 40 programmes in Berlin and on several concert tours, including this week’s concerts with works by Robert Schumann and Anton Bruckner.

Jansons is only the fifth conductor to receive this honour. The others are Daniel Barenboim, Bernard Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Seiji Ozawa.

Photo © Stephan Rabold

A report on France 2 warns that the 450 technicians at the Opéra are working under ‘exceptional risks’ of fire, falls and crushing.

According to the documentary, there have been accidents in Werther and Magic Flute. Nine technicians were injured in one year.

No mention of singers.

Video clip here.

 

The highest paid footballer in Britain – formerly of Arsenal, now of Manchester United – was featured playing the piano in his transfer video.

 

The video has been watched 6.8 million times and professional sceptics instantly cast doubt on the Chilean forward’s finger skills.

Manchester United have now published Instagram pictures showing a full portait of Sanchez at the piano.

 

Does that settle it for you? What does he have to do, play Bartók with the Halle?

The Big Noise orchestra in Raploch, Stirling, which has been conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, seems likely to lose half of its local authority funding.

Supporters are raising the alarm.

 

Intermusica have signed the rising Mexican tenor Luis Chapa.

Previously with Lombardo Associates in New York, Chapa cut his singing teeth at the Royal Northern College in Manchester.

And Askonas Holt have snapped up the Deutsche Oper coloratura soprano, Siobhan Stagg.

Siobhan, an Australian, has been extolled by the likes of Christa Ludwig.

The South Bank Centre posted this notice shortly before concert time last night:

Customer Notice – Due to illness and with great regret, Paul Lewis has decided to cancel his concert at Southbank Centre tonight. Ticket holders will be informed of their options via email shortly. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.