It has been decided to merge the Thüringen Philharmonie of Gotha with the Landeskapelle Eisenach.

The two orchestras will become one in August next year.

It will not escape your attention that this bureaucratic merger is taking place at the birthplace of J S Bach.

Some 50 German orchestras, mostly in the former DDR have been ‘rationalised’ since reunification, leaving Germany with around 130 subsidised orchestras.

bach in eisenach

 

Minnesota welcomes the return of two former music directors next season.

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, who was music director from 1960 to 1979, is now 92. Sir Neville Marriner, Minnesota chief from 1979 to 1986, is 91.

Can any other orchestra boast more than one nonagenarian? Does any other inspire such adhesion?

skrowacewski

Musicians picketed the admin offices yesterday after a wage negotiations meeting was called off.

The orch prez says she is seeking new dates, but the long-running dispute is flaring up again and trust is running low.

Report here.

 

fort worth Symphony protest 005

Researchers at Aalto University in Finland have reached the conclusion that traditional concert halls deliver a much greater emotional residue than modern variants, such as the much-vaunted ‘vineyard’ shape.

Professors Jukka Pätynen and Tapio Lokki focussed their study on six international halls.

Vienna came top of the table, Cologne bottom.

Id Hall Shape V (3) N G (dB) EDT (s)
VM Vienna Musikverein Rect. 15 000 1680 3.7 3.0
AC Amsterdam Concertgebouw Rect. 18 780 2040 2.7 2.5
BK Berlin Konzerthaus Rect. 15 000 1575 2.2 2.2
BP Berlin Philharmonie Vineyard 21 000 2220 1.9 1.9
HM Helsinki Music Centre Vineyard 24 000 1700 1.9 2.1
CP Cologne Philharmonie Fan 19 000a 2000 1.9 1.7

 

Professor Lokki tells Slipped Disc: ‘Rectangles render more powerful crescendos (i.e. more dynamics) and also the perceived spaciousness is a function of played dynamics. In a non-rectangular hall you are “looking at the music” and when a crescendo occurs you just here it in front of you. In contrast in great rectangles (Musikverein, Konzerthouse Berlin, Concertgebouw) during the crescendo the sound image widens and finally envelops you. I’ll bet the you have been in Musikverein and perceived this effect. And for us, this is obvious that it evokes more emotions as dynamics is one of the key issue in the interpretation of music.’

Read the full study here (in English).

china musikverein
won, again

Rep. Martha McSally (R, Airzona) has told the House Armed Services Committee in a budget debate that ‘we have hundreds of people playing the tuba and clarinet…. If we really had a manning crisis, from my perspective, we would really tell people to put down the tuba and pick up a wrench or a gun.’

The Air Force band programs engage 540 enlisted airmen and 20 officers.

Sign of the times?

usaf band

Anthea Kreston, an American violinist in the Berlin-based Artemis Quartet, continues her weekly diary for Slipped Disc.

artemis quartet2

 

Tragedy touches us in as many different ways as it occurs. To see on a screen, read in a paper, receive a call in the middle of the night, or to hold in your arms someone who is slipping away – these and more are the ways we feel and incorporate sadness into our lives.

On Tuesday, March 22, the four members of the Artemis quartet were all stepping out of their respective doors to head to the Berlin Tegel airport, for our flight to Brussels and our concert in Ghent that evening. Cell phones rang and the news that a bombing had occurred in the check-in area of the Brussels airport turned us around – back to the warmth and uncertainty of our kitchens and homes. As details emerged, it was clear that we were staying home that day – no concert, just stay put and be glad of the arms encircling us.

Our original flight plans had us landing in Brussels at 8:20, but a later flight had been booked in the end. To think of concerts seemed trivial – there was the question of continuing the concert and finding alternative travel – but we all agreed (with the full support and understanding of Sonia Simmenauer, our glorious German manager) that this was not good for many reasons.

So – many texts and calls later – we began the process of deciding what to do about the remaining concert on this tour – in Luxembourg. We talked in hushed voices, as to not upset the girls, as phone calls and emails from the States and on Facebook poured in to ask about our safety.

The Luxembourg concert would go on as planned – but our flights in and out of Brussels would not be possible, of course, and any other routes were prohibitively expensive or not possible with the timings. In typical “American” fashion, I google-mapped the driving route and reserved a rental van for us to pick up in several hours. I called everyone and said – “let’s take a road trip!”.  It became clear that this was not a typical Artemis mode of transport, but I assured them that I could easily drive the 8 hours by myself.

So – Vineta packed the sandwiches, fruit, (and, can you believe it – passengers can drink in cars here) beer and wine. I brought the girls with me and dashed to the crazy and frenetic Turkish street market that happens across the canal twice a week – a selection of cakes and fresh squeezed pomegranate juice. We all packed light and met at the rental place at 18:00.

One thing that I have changed since last week is that I will never again leave without saying goodbye. No matter the time. I have an old Russian friend who told me of a Russian custom in which the traveler, before leaving on a journey, sits silently by the door for several minutes.  I have been doing this for the past year – a moment to reflect, to prepare, to say goodbye.

With a heaviness we left our families this trip together was bound to bring us closer as a quartet – to get to know each other.

We split driving between all of us. Initially we were going to drive several hours, then sleep and drive more the next day. The roads here are very well maintained and I did very much enjoy driving with no speed limit.  Vineta also took a turn behind the wheel before we realized that we were going to just drive through – arriving around 2 in the morning. The rain and the trucks made the trip slower than expected, but we made good time and arrived safely in Luxembourg in the late night (or early morning).

We woke and rehearsed, had some interviews for our upcoming USA tour, rested and had the dress rehearsal and concert. The audience, as it has consistently been, was full and eager – the concert (Wolf, Shostakovich and Beethoven) went without hitch. We decided to start the drive that evening – to get some hours under our belts so we could get home to our families and catch the flights from Berlin.

Right now it is Friday noon – I am standing in the empty apartment that will be our new home in Charlottenberg. As the girls walked up the stairs for the first time, I was overcome with the feeling of the next thousand times I would walk behind them up these exact stairs – always a little taller each time. Sometimes they will have school books, sometimes instruments, sometimes a baguette from our new French bakery across the street. They are running and exploring the new flat – its tall ceilings, antique doors with cutout glass, and parquet floors.  I have a heaviness in my heart but the moisture in my eyes is from happiness. This is just the beginning of our journey together.

(c) Anthea Kreston/Slipped Disc

Alexandre Bloch has been named music director of Orchestre National de Lille from September.

Bloch, 30, is a past winner of the Flick/LSO conducting competition.

alexandre bloch

He replaces Jean-Claude Casadesus, the orchestra’s founder, who is stepping down at the age of 80.

 

Is this what Koussevitsky had in mind?

Boston_University_Tanglewood_Institute_Main_Grounds

press release:

Country music icon Dolly Parton makes her Tanglewood debut with a season-opening performance Friday, June 17, at 7 p.m. in the Koussevitzky Music Shed, joining the Tanglewood 2016 Popular Artist line-up.

Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Swing Orchestra will also perform in the Shed on Saturday, September 3, at 8 p.m., for “Dancing Under the Stars,” a festive, toe-tapping performance to close out the 2016 season in style. A dance floor will be set up on the lawn for this crowd-pleasing evening of memorable melodies and big band classics. This is the Boston Pops Swing Orchestra’s first-ever performance at Tanglewood….

Tickets for Dolly Parton on June 17 range from $32 to $149. Tickets for the Boston Pops Swing Orchestra on September 3 range from $22 to $124. Tickets for these performances will go on sale Monday, April 4, at 10 a.m. by phone at 888-266-1200 or online at www.tanglewood.org. Tickets for previously announced Tanglewood performances are currently on sale. The Tanglewood website also provides full details of the 2016 Tanglewood concert schedule, including performances by the Boston Symphony and Boston Popsorchestras, the Tanglewood Music Center, and guest artists from the worlds of classical, jazz, the American Songbook, Broadway, pop, rock, and film. Tanglewood—this country’s preeminent summer music festival and the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra—is located in the Berkshire Hills between Stockbridge and Lenox, Massachusetts.