We’ve been notified of the death of James Preiss, who worked with the composer all the way back to the premiere of Drumming.

While looking for interested percussionists to play his new piece, Reich called Paul Price at the Manhattan School of Music. Price referred him to James Preiss, who soon became a member of his ensemble. (Reich also took some informal marimba lessons from him.) This was about the time when he was contacted by Russell Hartenberger for guidance on Russ’s upcoming trip to Ghana. Hartenberger, in turn, introduced Reich to Bob Becker, and the four percussionists were soon practicing bongos together.

‘By the time I got to the end of the piece,’ explains Reich, ‘I noticed that those pitches were in the middle register of the marimba and thought it would be interesting to expand to a wider pitch scope because I had been limited to these four notes for 20 minutes. So I went through a similar process: getting a marimba and playing against tape. Then I began to hear women’s voices, like an aural hallucination, and I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were women singing—kind of like Ella Fitzgerald scat singing.’ That grew into ‘Drumming, Part II.’

photo: international.contilia.de

More pictures here.

Fred Bertelmann, 88. RIP.

Key fact: He discovered swing music as a POW in Alabama.

Our friend Andrew Patner reports that two musicians have been co-opted onto the small group that is searching for a successor to Deborah Rutter at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

This is a welcome and progressive development, engineered by board chairman Jay Henderson, a vice chair of accounting giant PricewaterhouseCooper LLP. It is very much a sign of the times.

Little over a decade ago, leading US orchestras appointed a music director without bothering to consult the musicians. Today, especially in the wake of the Minnesota disaster, sensible organisations have become aware that musicians must have a say in all senior appointments.

The new season announcement from the London Philharmonic Orchestra downgrades what ought to be its most important role to that of little more than passing traffic. Vladimir Jurowski will conduct just ten concerts in the season. How do they justify that? Either the rising Juro’s on his way out, or the title has become meaningless. Or both.

The power behind the LPO sits behind a desk. His name is Timothy Walker and his title is Chief Executive and Artistic Director. Maestros need not apply.

Press release below.

London Philharmonic Orchestra announces 2014/15 Royal Festival Hall season

Season at a glance:

• Rachmaninoff: Inside Out is the most extensive celebration of Rachmaninoff’s music ever undertaken in a season with 11 concerts including the complete symphonies & piano concertos (in all versions), the opera The Miserly Knight, the choral masterpiece The Bells, rare performances of the cantata Spring and orchestral songs as well as a selection of other much-loved and rare orchestral works

• Magnus Lindberg announced as new Composer in Residence with premieres of two important new works, including a specially-commissioned piece for soprano Barbara Hannigan and a second piano concerto

• Other major commissions and premieres are by out-going Composer in Residence Julian Anderson, Harrison Birtwistle(in his 80th birthday year), double-Oscar winner James Horner, BASCAwinner Colin Matthews and Emmy-nominated Benjamin Wallfisch

• Ten concerts with Vladimir Jurowski, Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, including most of the premieres as well as many programmes focussed on Rachmaninoff and his contemporaries

• Distinguished visiting conductors include Marin Alsop, Christoph Eschenbach, Andrew Manze, Juanjo Mena, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Vasily Petrenko, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Vassily Sinaisky and Osmo Vänskä

• ·         Robin Ticciati makes his LPO debut at the Royal Festival Hall consolidating the Orchestra’s relationship with new Music Director of Glyndebourne

• Strong showing for pianists includes Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Yefim Bronfman, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Piers Lane, Nikolai Lugansky, Maria João Pires, Lars Vogt and nonagenarian master Menahem Pressler

• Outstanding young talent includes pianists Behzod Abduraimov, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Pavel Kolesnikov and Igor Levit; violinists Alexandra Soumm and Ray Chen; and conductor Ilyich Rivas

• Author Michael Morpurgo and composer Colin Matthews team up for major new work for children, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, conducted by Jurowski, plus other brand new works for children by Benjamin Wallfisch on Roald Dahl’s Dirty Beasts

Timothy Walker, Chief Executive and Artistic Director, said:

“Through uncompromising live performances of Rachmaninoff’s major works for orchestra, given by the best imaginable conductors and soloists, I think audiences will not only take pleasure in the much-loved melodies, colourful orchestrations and powerful atmosphere of this great Russian composer’s music, but also really experience its sincerity, impeccable craftsmanship and brilliance.

I’m delighted that Magnus Lindberg, one of today’s most inventive and inspiring creators of orchestral music, becomes our new Composer in Residence and we continue our commitment to new music with premieres of two new works by him, alongside others by Julian Anderson, Harrison Birtwistle, Colin Matthews, James Horner and Benjamin Wallfisch. I’m also pleased to welcome back so many distinguished artists and to introduce so many young and talented performers.”

The pianist Ivo Pogorelich has been remembering Abbado, in a conversation with the Croatian journalist Branimir Pofuk. The pair recorded together Chopin’s f-minor concerto with the Chicago Symphony and Tchaikovsky b-flat minor with London Symphony Orchestra, both for DG.

UPDATE: Mr Pogorelich has asked us to remove the previous translation and replace it with his own:

Working with Claudio Abbado was a dream come true for any soloist. With Abbado, a soloist was respected as an individual and urged to give his best as an artist at the same time. His extensive work in the field of opera has enabled him to offer a solid platform to a performer he was accompanying, both in the rehearsals as well as in concert. He saw music as a realm into which artists are invited through honesty and hard work, simplicity and inspiration. His attitude was filled with seriousness, but also with joy of performing and going with him on stage, one was experiencing a celebration of the heritage of the composer, whose works were performed. In his rapport with music he seemed selfless, responsible and always aiming at the essence, which, in his case, came through as lively and elegant. 

Edward Gardner will leave ENO in 18 months time, ‘to take up his new appointment as Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra’. There may be more to this than meets the eye. Bergen is renowned for its red herrings.

Ed was a stunningly young 31 when he took up the baton at a faltering company in 2006, giving his first performances the following year. He has matured in the job and the company has greatly improved. Orchestra and chorus are in good shape and the productions, while variable, have been frequently inspired. So read the press release below and ask why he’s leaving.

First tip: to be in the frame to succeed Andris Nelsons at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, where Ed is principal guest. Second punt: to succeed Antonio Pappano at Covent Garden. Outside bet: the Met, where Ed and ENO have a close working relationship. Phone the bookies now.

ENO have moved boldly to replace Ed with another Brit, the nearly-man Mark Wigglesworth, 49, whose career has not quite fulfilled its early promise.

Press release follows:

English National Opera (ENO) has today (23 January 2014) announced that its highly-acclaimed Music Director Edward Gardner will leave his role at the end of the 2014/15 season to take up his new appointment as Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. He will be succeeded by Mark Wigglesworth, who takes up the ENO baton in September 2015.

John Berry, Artistic Director of ENO said:

“Ed Gardner has been a phenomenal Music Director, rightly winning plaudits across the board for the outstanding performances of our orchestra and chorus under his leadership. I’d like to thank him for his huge musical contribution to ENO and I look forward to working with him on a number of exciting company projects during 2014 and 2015.  I wish Ed every success with his symphonic work and I’m delighted he’ll be back with us in 2016 as a guest conductor.

“It’s tremendous that I am also able to announce Ed’s successor today. Mark is one of the most outstanding conductors of his generation and I’m thrilled to be working with him. His appointment highlights ENO’s current standing in the international opera world and our ability to attract the very best talent from across the arts and the wider creative industries. He has already had great success with us in recent seasons, conducting acclaimed performances of Katya Kabanova and Parsifal, and his brilliant technique and natural flair for the theatre make him a natural choice to lead the Company.

“I know Mark will make his presence felt and will support our mission to make ENO one of the most theatrically dynamic and musically exciting opera houses in the world.”

Equally at home in the concert hall or opera house, internationally acclaimed conductor Mark Wigglesworth has worked with orchestras across the UK, Europe and North America, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Cleveland Orchestra.

He and ENO are no strangers, with Mark having conducted Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (2001), Così fan tutte (2002 and 2003) Falstaff (2004), Katya Kabanova (2010), and Parsifal (2011, “confidently shaped…masterfully calculated”, The Telegraph) at the London Coliseum. Elsewhere, he has worked with Glyndebourne, Welsh National Opera, Netherlands Opera, La Monnaie in Brussels, Sydney Opera House, the Metropolitan Opera, New York and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where he will be conducting again shortly before taking up his post at ENO.

Speaking of his appointment to ENO from 2015, Mark Wigglesworth said:

“I have worked at ENO often enough to know that talent and experience, professionalism and passion run through the entire company: the orchestra, the chorus, the technical team, and the whole administration. To be part of this family of experts will be inspiring and fulfilling in equal measure.

“The core values of the company are those I hold most dear, music and drama delivered through collegiate brilliance, in a language the public understand; a public whose range and variety make them the most thrilling of all audiences. ENO has been close to my heart for over 30 years and to be part of its future is a privilege that I look forward to immensely.”

Edward Gardner began his tenure at ENO in May 2007 with an outstanding new production of Britten’s Death in Venice. Under his direction, ENO reaffirmed its position as the world’s leading producer of opera by Britten, with Gardner conducting award-winning new productions of Peter Grimes (2009; returns 2014) and 2012’s Olivier-nominated Billy Budd.

Gardner has led some of ENO’s most critically acclaimed productions of core repertoire (Damnation of Faust 2011; Der Rosenkavalier 2008/2012;Wozzeck 2013) and contemporary work (Punch and Judy 2008).

Gardner continues as Music Director for the remainder of the 2013/14 and the 2014/15 seasons, conducting Peter Grimes later this month, the world premiere of Julian Anderson’s Thebans in May, and reprising his creative partnership with Terry Gilliam with a new production of Benvenuto Cellini in June, plus productions throughout the 2014/15 season. And his association with ENO will continue, with an engagement as guest conductor already confirmed for ENO’s 2015/16 season.

Outside ENO, Gardner conducts regularly for the Metropolitan Opera, New York.  He is Principal Guest Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and in October 2015 he will take up his new appointment as Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.   He plans to focus more on symphonic repertoire in future and new orchestra relationships include the Royal Concertgebouw, Czech Philharmonic, Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Swedish Radio Symphony.  His London presence will continue with annual appearances at the BBC Proms, concerts with the Philharmonia and BBC Symphony orchestras and regular collaborations with the Guildhall School and Royal Academy.

Speaking of his decision to leave ENO in 2015, Edward Gardner said:

“At ENO I’ve been surrounded by brilliant people creating some of the best opera productions in the world and I will never forget nine seasons of working with such an outstanding orchestra, chorus and music team. Certainly, the next 18 months are looking as exciting and challenging as ever.

“Beyond that, I’m eager to take the opportunity to explore new musical relationships, but I look forward to returning to conduct at ENO in 2016.”

A happy mash-up from ABC News on the surprise selection of a diva to serenade the nation’s hard men.

That’s what Anne Akiko Meyers appears to do in the promo video for her new premiere release of Vivaldi’s triple concerto, RV551. Anne plays the Vieuxtemps Guarnerius, valued at $20 million. No way would she take it for a dip, she tells Slipped Disc. The other violin was a body double and she was using it to symbolise the three elements in the triple concerto:  fog, water, ice.

It is the first time the instrument can be heard on a commercial recording.

The Kurt Weill Festival in Dessau is urging musicians to participate in the writing of a symphony by tweets.

The Tweetfonie, pieced together from submitted themes of fewer than 140 characters, will be performed this summer. How many notes in Surabaya Jonny?

Full story here.

H/t Simon Morgan. 

Hilary Hahn’s In 27 Pieces was the top-selling classical album in the US this past week. It sold all of 341 copies, a new all-time low ( I feel I know half the people who bought it).

In second spot on the Nielsen Soundscan charts is Barenboim’s New Year concert from Vienna. Just 260 sales.

These are shocking stats. There is not much point in making records for so indifferent a market.

Monday has been designated Abbado commemoration day in Milan.

At 6pm, Daniel Barenboim will conduct the funeral march from Beethoven’s Eroica.

At 8pm, Myung Whun Chung will direct Beethoven’s 6th symphony and Brahms’s 4th.

Riccardo Chailly, the incoming principal conductor who was once Abbado’s assistant, will be present at both events.

Lunedì 27 gennaio la Filarmonica della Scala sarà doppiamente impegnata nel ricordo di Claudio Abbado, suo fondatore e per 18 anni Direttore Musicale del Teatro alla Scala.

Alle ore 18, nel Teatro alla Scala – con sala vuota e porte aperte – la Filarmonica eseguirà la Marcia funebre (Adagio assai) dall’Eroica di Beethoven, sul podio il M° Daniel Barenboim, Direttore Musicale della Scala. La Marcia Funebre verrà diffusa da altoparlanti nella Piazza.

Alle ore 20, sempre alla Scala, il M° Myung-Whun Chung, dopo la Prova Aperta di domenica 26 a favore di Auser, eseguirà la Sinfonia n.6 Pastorale di Beethoven e la Sinfonia n. 4 di Brahms nel quarto concerto della stagione della Filarmonica della Scala. Il M°Chung e i musicisti della Filarmonica dedicano il concerto ad Abbado, condividendo così con gli abbonati ed il pubblico il ricordo del fondatore.

Il M° Riccardo Chailly, che assumerà la carica di Direttore Principale del Teatro alla Scala dal 2015 e che era stato giovane assistente di Abbado negli anni scaligeri (fu proprio Abbado a chiedergli di debuttare venticinquenne nei Masnadieri) sarò presente a Milano sia alla commemorazione del Teatro alla Scala con il M° Barenboim e la Filarmonica alle 18 sia al concerto della Filarmonica diretta dal M°Chung alle 20.