The second instalment of the music director’s account of his recent heart surgery:
Musicians hate, really hate, getting up early in the morning. That is why orchestra rehearsals don’t start until around 10 a.m. So I felt both lethargy and anxiety when I arrived at the University of Michigan Medical Center at 5:30 a.m. to begin preparations for the day’s events.
After the tests that were given the day before, I received clearance to move forward with the procedure. It struck me as odd that I had to pass tests to determine if I was well enough to fix a major disease. What would have happened if I had a cold, or worse? Knowing that the blockage in my arteries was above 90%, it was not impossible to envision another heart attack while waiting to recover from an unrelated illness….
The German-American violinist who has been out for half a year with a herniated disc, won’t be back any time soon.
Here’s what his people say:
Dear fans,
Unfortunately, despite David’s very good health progress, he has to cancel more concerts because of his herniated disc.
His doctors insist, that he still has to take care of himself and they don’t allow him to play. This concerns the crossover concerts in June in Bucharest and Sofia, as well as the concerts with the Munich Philharmonic and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. We deeply regret the news, but are happy to update you about the following changes.
Crossover – “Explosive Live!“-Tour
The crossover events in Bucharest and Sofia will be postponed to September.
Sofia, Arena Armeec, on 6th June will take place on 29th September.
Bucharest, Sala Palatului, on 8th June will take place on 13th September.
Bucharest, Sala Palatului, on 9th June will take place on 14th September.
Purchased tickets remain valid for the new concert dates.
Munich – Munich Philharmonic, conductor: Valery Gergiev
International star tenor Juan Diego Florez is confirmed as a soloist for the concert on 14th July.
Linz – Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, conductor: Alondra de la Para
The concert “Klassik am Dom” on 16th July will be postponed for an indefinite period.
For more information on the concerts and alternative dates, please contact the respective organizers.
We continue to ask for your understanding and patience, that David can only perform, when he is completely recovered.
We apologize for your inconvenience.
Your
David Garrett Management
Pop-Up Opera has suffered the loss of its technical equipment, as well as most of its props, when its van was burgled in Peckham, south London.
Pop-Up Opera, a non-funded company, is the third London company this year to be attacked.
Central School of Ballet had a similar incident in Farringdon and the Lord Chamberlain’s Men touring van in Lewisham.
Pop-up has raised a fundme page and is making sure the show goes on.
Its current production is a Mozart double bill: Der Schauspieldirektor & Bastien und Bastienne.
The Roman Catholic Church has caved in to pressure from choirs by signing a new deal with the all-powerful rights organisation, Gema.
Thanks to Iddo Bar-Shai, and happy birthday, Martha!
Finnegan Downie Dear, music director of Shadwell Opera, has signed with AskonasHolt.
He has been making waves this season with Korngold’s Die tote Stadt in Warsaw and Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek in Scotland.
The Hungarian-born conductor and composer Frederic Balazs has passed away in Arizona.
Concertmaster of the Budapest Symphony at the age of 17, he saw wartime service in the US Army and went on to develop two orchestras – the Wichita Falls Symphony and the Tucson Symphony – from small beginnings into full-scale ensembles.
The Royal Academy of Music has engaged Denis Bouriakov as Visiting Professor in flute.
Denis is principal of the Los Angeles Philharmonic – he will have a long commute – and one of the most expressive soloists around.
He says: ‘Very honoured to be back at the Academy. As an alumus myself, I treasure the school and it’s very dear to me. I was very fortunate to study with William Bennett OBE for 4 years at the Academy, and those were amazing years! Coming from Russia, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the RAM’s generous support.’
The state-controlled Ria-Novosti agency reports a breakthrough in ‘human-level music’:
Experts from the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI’s Institute of Cyber Intelligence Systems are currently developing brand new software, a virtual composer assistant, which will be able to analyze the emotional state of composers and follow their logic…
Virtual composer assistant is software that can create human-level music of high aesthetic quality on its own. It is a creative smart assistant that can add to a melody written by the composer its own notes, chords and combinations, employees of the MEPhI’s Institute of Cyber Intelligence Systems told RIA Novosti.
In order to achieve this goal, researchers had to analyze the theory of music (identify musical sounds, chords, their combinations), create semantic maps based on this analysis and connect them to models of humans’ emotional perception of music.
ForumOpera reports the death of the Corsican mezzo Isabelle Andréani, star of one of the great post-War Carmens.
Raymond Rouleau’s production, mounted at the Paris Opéra in 1959 – its first showing at the Palais Garnier – had 367 performances up to 1970. The show was created originally for Jane Rhodes; Andréani was one of her alternates.
She went on to marry the conductor Pierre Cruchon.
Annilese Miskimmon, who is staging Madama Butterfly at Glyndebourne, has written a piece in the Guardian, explaining why all modern women and left-thinking people should recoil from ‘the most sordid story in the operatic canon’.
She goes on:
How do we as a modern audience of the #MeToo era experience this musical masterpiece, written by a white European man about the sexual exploitation and death of an Asian woman? How do we reconcile our enjoyment of this opera while acknowledging that it is an iconic example of Orientalism by a composer who never set foot in Japan? And how do we honour a desire to be true to the realities of the story when the Japanese characters are so often performed by western singers, an issue in an industry that must now confront its notable lack of diversity?
