Josef Spacek, concert master of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, had his precious 1855 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume instrument confiscated by Russian customs officers at Koltsovo airport near Yekaterinburg, as he tried to leave the country on Thursday after giving a festival performance.

The Customs men accused Josef of trying to smuggle out the instrument without paying duties.

As of this moment, we do not know if the violin has been returned to its owner. Tass, which reports the story, has put an inflated value on the instrument. The festival has refused to comment. We are waiting to hear more from Josef and the Czech Phil.

josef spacek

Remember: You take precious objects to Russia at your own risk.

We had a cryptic message from a Warsaw contact saying Yundi Li, the 2000 winner, had vanished from the juror. ‘Yundi is presently getting married.’ Which, for all sorts of reasons, seemed unlikely.

But Yundi’s social media have gone unusually quiet – he hasn’t tweeted in half a week – and Rudolph Tang has come up with pics of the pianist dancing at a pal’s wedding in Shanghai. This seems to be the source.

yundi groom

(Yundi’s on  the far right

 

These Shanghai weddings are not quick registry affairs. The eating and drinking goes on for days.

Will Yundi be back for the final round? We’re waiting to hear from him. The Poles are not best pleased.

 

yundi seat

A notice on the website of the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra:

Season opening concerto of the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra scheduled for today, October 10, 2015, is cancelled due to the atrocious terror attack in Ankara today.

At least 85 people were killed in two explosions at a peace rally in the city.

The opening concert, conducted by Avi Ostrowsky, was to have included a John Adams saxophone concerto.

bilkent

The winner of the 9th Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition in Hannover is Sergei Dogadin.

He leaves with 50,000 Euros and Naxos recording and a stash of concert dates. Dogadin, 27, came joint second at the 2011 Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow (the first prize was not awarded).

The awards in full:

sergey-dogadin-2011-7-2-19-11-33

 

1. Sergei Dogadin
2. Shion Minami, 26 (Japan)  €30,000
3. Prize: Richard Lin, 24 (Taiwan)  €20,000
4. Prize: Benjamin Marquise Gilmore (US/Netherlands)  €8,000
5. Prize: Ayana Tsuji (Japan)  €8,000
6. Prize: Amalia Hall (New Zealand)  €8,000

 

Judges: Salvatore Accardo, Boris Kuschnir, Rudolf Koelman, Silvia Marcovici, Lucie Robert, Kaija Saarikettu, Takashi Shimizu, Weidong Tong, Ingolf Turban.

Konstantin Stanislavsky (1863-1938) was a director who decisively influenced how theatre and opera is presented. He is remembered today outside Russia as the man who said if you see a gun in the first act it will go off in the third.

And that’s about it.

Few theatre professionals would recognise his face, let alone the sound of his voice.

In this 1981 Soviet video, we see rare film of Stanislavsky discussing his method (at 2’15” to 4’32”) and rehearsing “Tartuffe”.

Enjoy.

 

stanislavsky

 

stanislavsky

Wonderful piece by  who is walking away after 27 years as pop critic of the Spectator. Savour him one last time here.

neil young

The veteran composer-conductor, 86, is in sparkling form in conversation with Frank J. Oteri for NewMusicBox. To read the full text, click here.

Sample:

AP: My problem and my flaw, if I can pinpoint just one, is that I don’t re-write. I hate re-writing. Once I’m done, I put it away, and it’s over with for me except if I make a mistake in terms of the technical use of the instrument. I once wrote an impossible double stop for viola. I just suddenly wasn’t thinking; the player would have to cripple his hand. So then I’d re-write it—or leave it out; that’s even better! I can’t take myself that seriously. I love writing and I’m very serious about it, but when it’s over, it’s over. It’s not for the ages.

FJO: Really?

AP: Really.

FJO: Not for the ages?

AP: No.

FJO: So the reason you’re fighting against time to write all this music isn’t to ensure a legacy.

AP: Well, that’s an interesting point. When I say not for the ages, I can’t visualize anybody doing my pieces 50 years from now. I’m just glad if they do them Wednesday, which is why I can only write for someone specific. I don’t like to write into the void. I like to know who’s going to play it and where and all that. Then it helps me; it helps me a great deal. I wrote an awful lot for Anne-Sophie Mutter. I know her sound and I know what she can do best. That makes life much easier. I wrote a piece last year—a concerto for trumpet, horn, tuba, and orchestra, which was a commission from Pittsburgh because they had three big stars. That was great fun for me because I don’t play any one of those things. I couldn’t tell you the positions of the trombone and all that, but I have them in my ear, and it helps a great deal that I’ve conducted so much because the sound of instruments and the sound of the combination of instruments are not alien to me at all. I know what I’m doing at the piano, but I don’t write piano music very much.

andre previn at home

photo (c) NewMusicBox

At 83, the eminent American pianist Jerome Lowenthal, former head of piano at Juilliard and an international concert artist, has seen it all… and then some.

But he nearly opted for an academic career in romance languages after the death of William Kapell.

william kapell

Jerome talks about his life and career to Zsolt Bognar in the latest episode of Living the Classical Life, distributed exclusively by Slipped Disc.

Sample:

Mister, how do you get to Carnegie Hall? You sign a cheque… It’s a hall for hire.

Watch here:

jerome lowenthal

Negotiations are the Philadelphia Orchestra are deadlocked. The musicians don’t like the small pay increase on the table. And they especially don’t like the introduction of ex-Washington boss Michael Kaiser as an external consultant – along with the company’s refusal to show them his eventual recommendations. (UPDATE: The company has since clarified that the idea of hiring Kaiser was initiated by the musicians union.)

‘The biggest sticking point is, they don’t want to show us his report,’ one musician told the ever-reliable Peter Dobrin. ‘We were really close twice last night, and then it sort of fell apart.’

Read Peter’s full account here.

kimmel center philly

Just in from the celebrated Artemis Quartet:

Search for a New Member!

After a period of contemplation and mourning after the loss of our violist Friedemann Weigle, we would now like to look ahead and fill the missing position in the group.
Since Gregor Sigl is both a violinist and violist, we have decided to keep our options open by accepting applications for both the viola and second violin position.
In addition to a detailed resume, please send us a video with chamber music (string trio to string sextet).
Impresariat Simmenauer
Artemis Quartett
Kurfürstendamm 211
D-10719 Berlin
or
kontakt@artemisquartett.de

Artemis Quartett's photo.

Things got a bit out of hand at the Sendesaal Bremen, where Christian Tetzlaff and Lars Vogt had their pages fly off the stands. Not one of them. Both. Twice in a minute.

The saviour of the night was page-turner Anna Reszniak, normally concertmaster of the Nuremburg Symphony, who kept a cool head when two maestros were losing theirs. Just watch.

Anna richly deserved her curtain call.

anna rezsniak

h/t: Jessica Duchen’s blog.

The flautist Jessica Schmitz, whose instrument was cruelly beheaded by over-zealous security agents at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, has engaged this past week in productive talks with the TSA in an effort to ease the situation.

Jessica tells Slipped Disc:

‘Over the past few days, a manager from the TSA and I have spent several hours discussing the recent flute experience at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. He was professional, calm, and respectful, and was fully equipped with both the logic and objectivity necessary to explore the common ground between our fields. I’m thrilled that, as a result, the Office of Public Affairs at #TSA is researching an official blog.’

A small step, perhaps, for suffering humankind. We will keep you posted.

Studio portraits of Jessica Schmitz taken on April 24, 2009. Credit: ©Stephanie Berger