Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin was performing her duties on television at the Molières 2015 when a disgruntled author, Sébastien Thierry, decided to deliver a diatribe about low creative wages. To do so, he got down to basics.
Madame La Ministre acted like she had seen it all before.
Avert your eyes, ye of nervous disposition. There is more on the link below.
The contestants were whittled down from 24 to 12 today and none of the five Americans made the cut. A Hong Kong/UK candidate and a Canadian are all that remain from the English-speaking world.
The last 12 are:
Andrey Rubtsov (Russia)
Anna Rakitina (Russia)
David Niemann (Germany)
Earl Lee (Canada)
Elim Chan (HK/UK, winner of the 2014 Donatella Flick)
Giedre Slekyte (Lithuania)
Jesko Sirvend (Germany)
Jesus Eduardo Uzcategui (Venezuela)
Risto Joost (Estonia)
Seokwon Hong (S. Korea)
Stilian Kirov (Bulgaria, ex-asst. Seattle Symphony)
Tung-Chieh Chuang (Taiwan)
You can watch the jury announcement here.
CAMI have announced the sudden death of Rolf Smedvig, member of Empire Brass and soloist with many symphony orchestras.
Rolf started out as the youngest member of the Boston Symphony, aged 19,. He was married for a while to its PR, Caroline, before setting out on a solo career as trumpeter, conductor and composer.
He died reportedly of a heart attack. He is survived by four children.
There will be no teaching at Peabody today, or tonight.
See here.
Supporters of an ivory ban in the state of Vermont are claiming that al-Shabab in Somalia are profiting from the wholesale slaughter of African elephants. If pianists only stopped demanding ivory keys, they argue, terrorism could be choked off at source. Read here.
Ashley McAvey, an activist from Shelburne who is heading efforts to get a ban passed in Vermont and asked lawmakers to bring the ban bill, said she would like to see legislation similar to the law in New Jersey. She told the Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources Committee that permitting any sales of the materials will encourage an international market that is funding terrorist groups and leading to the likely extinction of African elephants.
“Ivory is ivory is ivory is ivory is ivory,” she said.
Still, Rep. David Deen, the committee chairman, was less certain of the nexus. “People are having trouble connecting their grandmother’s piano with terrorism,” he said.
Alfie Boe sings ‘Love Reign O’er Me’ from Pete Townshend’s “Classic Quadrophenia”, released by the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft on June 8, 2015.
Please tell me it ain’t so.
The Maestro wants to pass on what he has learned over the past half-century. So he has designed a course this summer for young conductors, opera coaches and singers. It will focus on Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff at the Teatro Alighieri in Muti’s home town of Ravenna in July 2015.
Application details here.
Norman Lebrecht will be speaking at two sessions of the LOA’s annual convention in Cleveland, next month.
More details coming soon for registered participants.
If you’re at the LOA, come by and say hi.
Laura van der Heijden, BBC Young Musician of 2012, turned 18 this month.
Today, the cellist was named artist in residence with the London Mozart Players, starting in June, as soon as she finishes her A-Levels.
Go, Laura.
The orch announced its new season this morning. Rattle will conduct a Beethoven cycle six times over as part of his heavy schedule of 64 concerts and 10 opera performances.
Three new conductors will make debuts – François-Xavier Roth, Juanjo Mena, Matthias Pintscher – and the American director/provocateur takes a stellar role.
Press summary below.
Information on the 2015/2016 Season
The Berliner Philharmoniker will present a total of 123 symphony concerts and 10 opera performances during the 2015/2016 season:
83 concerts in the Philharmonie with
32 different programmes
6 concert/semi-staged opera performances (2 programmes)
1 concert in the Waldbühne
35 concerts on tour
4 concerts at the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden
4 opera performances at the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden
Sir Simon Rattle will conduct 64 concerts and 10 opera performances with the Berliner
Philharmoniker, including 30 concerts and 6 opera performances in Berlin, plus 31 concerts on tour
as well as 4 opera performances and 4 concerts at the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden.
Programming Highlights Beethoven and France
The focus of the season will be the cycle of the complete symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven, which
the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle will present twice in Berlin in October before taking
it on tour. The complete cycle will be performed in Vienna, Paris, New York and Tokyo, with single
concerts in Frankfurt am Main and Taipei.
Another emphasis, which will extend over the entire season, is French music from Lully to Boulez.
Along with Sir Simon Rattle, many of the guest conductors will also present French repertoire.
Conducting Debuts
François-Xavier Roth (29/30 November, 1 December 2015), Juanjo Mena (26/27/28 May 2016) and
Matthias Pintscher (12/13 September 2015) will make their debuts conducting the Berliner
Philharmoniker during the 2015/2016 season.
Guest Orchestras
The Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation has again invited guest orchestras for the 2015/2016 season:
The Junge Deutsche Philharmonie (Young German Philharmonic Orchestra), conducted by Jonathan
Nott (5 October 2015) and the Bundesjugendorchester (National Youth Orchestra of Germany) under
Sebastian Weigle (5 April 2016) will appear.
Kammermusiksaal
45 concerts will be presented in the Kammermusiksaal featuring soloists and ensembles, including
scholars from the Orchestra Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker as well as guest artists and
ensembles. 14 chamber concerts will also be given in the Philharmonie, including 3 Late Night
concerts (16 January 2016, 20 February 2016, 4 June 2016), 5 organ concerts and piano recitals by
Krystian Zimerman (6 November 2015) and Maurizio Pollini (30 May 2016).
42 Lunch Concerts will be given in the Foyer of the Philharmonie on Tuesdays at 1:00 pm.
Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic
The series Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic continues in its fourth season with 4 concerts.
Artist in Residence
Theatre director Peter Sellars has been invited by the Berliner Philharmoniker to serve as Artist in
Residence during the 2015/2016 season. The director has maintained a close association with the
orchestra since 2010; in particular, their intense collaborations on the St Matthew and St John Passions
still evoke vivid memories. Peter Sellars will direct 3 productions of the Berliner Philharmoniker
Foundation during the coming season. Please see the attachment for a detailed biography and further
information on the concerts.
Daniel Hope is the new music director of Zurich Chamber Orchestra, succeeding Sir Roger Norrington next year.
Daniel, 41, has been artist in residence through this season.
photo (c) Harald Hoffmann
It’s a good orch, but a mountain to climb. Zurich is a bankers town that struggles for cultural attention.
The 2015 Nobel Prize Concert will be conducted by Franz Welser-Möst with soloist Daniil Trifonov, it was announced this morning.
The December 8 programme with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic consists of Rach 3 and Richard Strauss Ein Heldenleben. Tickets on sale from 19 May at Konserthuset.se.
