The Basle Sinfonietta has appointed its first principal conductor in 35 years.

The lucky guy is Baldur Brönnimann, 46, Basle born and bred, and a modern specialist.

Starting next year. Good call.

The resurgent orchestra has poached Kristen Bruya from the Tor0nto Symphony, where she has played since 2010.

The go-to cities for orchestral soundtracks these days are London, Munich and Prague. London is fairly expensive but gets the job done in record time. Munich is cheaper but time-consuming. Prague can be rough and ready.

The last place anyone would go for soundtracks is Paris, where unions stick and mutter at every production detail.

That could be about to change.

The orchestre national de l’ ile de france has put together a package that would include all services, including, composer, for a single competitive price. It has pitched the deal to Variety magazine and is open for business. Read here.

This is Andrew Haveron, concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, projected last night out of his seat and displayed on the roof of the opera house. The event was a Visions of Vienna concert, promoted by the Austrian tourist authority, and it went down well with a crowd of thousands milling around the harbour, listening to the music and watching the images change.

To spice up the Strausses, they added an occasional Klimt.

From the press release:

Tony David Cray, Head of Recording and Broadcast at the Sydney Opera House, used 14 cameras inside the Concert Hall – including five lipstick cameras inside the Orchestra – to film the performance, which was projected live on the sails by Technical Direction Company. More than 3,000 people attended a free public event hosted by the Vienna Tourist Board at Campbells Cove in the Rocks to watch the spectacle on the sails of the Sydney Opera House.

Watch:

Say what you like about Regietheater directors, but they do try to keep up with the news.

These pics are from I Masnadieri in Weimar.

photos: Matthias Horn

Now, where’s the nearest ISIS opera?

The international cellist, forced to retire last April with a neck injury, is putting his 1690s ‘Barjansky’ beauty up for sale.

On a UK tour of ‘An Evening with Julian Lloyd Webber’, he told the Birmingham Post: ‘It’s not really about the money. I don’t even have it with me at the moment, but the main thing about an instrument like that is that it needs to be played. The most criminal thing would be if it just ended up in a museum – I would just like to see it go to a good home and hear it played again.’

Th German violinist has lashed out at the minister-president of Bavaria, Horst Seehofer, for backing down on his promise of a new concert hall in her home town,  Munich. ‘Zweifellos ist Seehofer wortbrüchig geworden,’ she told the national news agency, DPA. ‘There’s no question: Seehofer has become untrustworthy.’

She went on to say that a rebuild of the Gasteig Philharmonie does not amount to a new concert hall and called the decision ‘a catastrophic mistake’. She called for an outspoken public debate on the issue.

The baritone Christian Gerhaher has also attacked the decision.

We hear that the Met conductor James Levine will return to Europe for the first time in eight years next summer to perform at the Verbier Festival.

Also on the festival agenda is a conducting debut by the retired baritone, Thomas Quasthoff.

Details later.

The conductor was approached after his Met performance last night by members of the anti-Putin vigil.

They said (by their own account): ‘Shame on you for supporting war and killings!’

Gergiev replied: ‘Who’s paying you?’

Moves are afoot to rename Helsinki-Vantaa airport after the nation’s most famous personality.

The family have given approval and the prime minister has privately endorsed it. The final decision rests with the board of  Finnish Avia, which is giving the matter urgent consideration. We don’t want to be a fly on the wall. Finnish board meetings are distinguished by the silence of Sibelius 8.

We think they should rename the national carrier, Finnair: Fly me, I’m Sibelius.