The family of Nikolaus Lehnhoff has announced his death, after a long illness, at the age of 76.

Many productions come to mind, but none more vivid than his Janacek cycle at Glyndebourne.

His last production, in May this year, was Turandot at La Scala. He stood aside from the fashionable forms of German Regietheater.

Singers and audiences will miss him greatly.

Remember that touching message from Jonas, asking you to buy his new Sony album rather than the recycled one from his former label, Decca?

Well, Decca’s Age of Puccini is topping the German charts this week, leaving Sony’s release puffing some way behind at number 2.

Decca are cock-a-hoop. Sony, on the other hand, say their album is not out yet in Germany. It has achieved second place in the charts on pre-orders alone.

In the first of our late-summer series of interviews from Bruce Duffie’s bottomless archive, here’s the late Italian conductor reflecting on the differences between audiences:

In Italy, for instance, they know opera by instinct — not because they’re well prepared and not because of the education.  Education is very low.  There’s not a good education in Italy, but they know opera by instinct.  They are so musical, and they know by the operatic form by tradition, so they follow very well.  For education in England, they are fantastic because they are very well educated musically.  Here in this country (the USA) there’s some good education — studying education — but they don’t provide the audience that goes to the performance with the little conference or pre-audition.

Read the full interview here.

Musicians in the Staatskapelle Berlin were told last night that they won’t be going to Teheran any time soon. The orchestra, with its conductor Daniel Barenboim, had been on standby to travel with Chancellor Angela Merkel at a date yet to be announced. But the Iranians have now told the orchestra that the planning time is too short and thy are not welcome in Iran for the time being.

Quote from the letter:

Letzten Freitag erhielten wir nun vom Auswärtigen Amt die Nachricht, dass die Iraner auf Grund der knappen Zeit für die Organisation des Konzerts entschieden haben, den geplanten Konzerttermin (am 7.9.2015) zu verschieben.

Last Friday, we heard from the Foreign Office that the Iranians have decided, as a result of the tight organization time to move the concert date (07.09.2015) to a date (that has not yet been decided).

In my monthly essay for Standpoint magazine, I assess the bleak future for the Proms and two of the BBC orchestras as new management and financial assaults dismantle the old defences.

Proms controllers for the past quarter-century — John Drummond, Nick Kenyon, Roger Wright — fought to protect the festival’s unique character from interference by the rest of the BBC. When Wright signed off on the first night of the 2014 Proms, the resistance ended. It will not be revived. The incoming Proms chief, David Pickard, is a former yes man to the Glyndebourne set. His boss, the Radio 3 controller, Alan Davey, is a career civil servant. Both are Musilian men without qualities, ill-equipped to withstand the coming storm.

The next phase is commercialisation.

I have some new figures and some distressing facts. It’s looking seriously bleak.

You can read the full essay here.

Christoph Groszer, wake-up intendant of the Zurich Opera from 1986-1991, has died aged 89.

Hamburg born, he ran the opera houses in  Tübingen, St. Gallen, Braunschweig and Wiesbaden before leaving a legacy in the underpowered Swiss city. Before retirement, he groomed Alexander Pereira as his successor.

Groszer rehearsing Barber of Seville. Photo: Göbel

A keyboardist at the Dutch Bach Society is making an edition of the old master’s scores. This from Siebe Henstra:

BACH/LEONHARDT TRANSCRIPTIONS: EDITION IN PREPARATION
The Dutch harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt (1928-2012) transcribed/arranged the works for solo violin and solo cello for harpsichord in the years 1975-1978. His recordings and recitals were very impressive and successful. I am currently preparing an edition of them from his manuscripts.

The works are:
– violin solo: BWV 1001, 1002, 1004, 1005 (first movement Altnickol or WF Bach?), 1006,
– cello: BWV 1010, 1011, 1012
– Allemande (flute) BWV 1013, Sarabande (lute) 997.

This will result in some 150 pages of “new Bach harpsichord music”! Many of these pieces are among the most attractive Bach ever wrote (Ciaconna, Sarabandes etc).

In order to support me convincing an editor that believes in it and also that it will sell in printed form, you can help me by liking and sharing this message among your friends and colleagues! If you think you it is likely you will buy this book (perhaps 2 volumes) it would help me if you send your name and address to MusicaAntiqua@me.com (without formal obligation of having to buy). I will do my best to keep the publication not too expensive.

Everything is typeset now, and I am in the course of a second correction round. 

The great Baltic choirs have discovered British punk. Watch here.