Jaap Van Zweden, incoming music director of the New York Philharmonic, signed on today for an extra three years at the Hong Kong Phil, his parallel job.

With Yannick coming into the Met and Gianandrea Noseda starting in Washington, second-hand Jaap looks even less of a bargain for the NY Phil.

yu long van zweeden

press release:

[9 June 2016, Hong Kong] YS Liu, Chairman of the Board of Governors for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil), today announces that Jaap van Zweden has extended his contract with the HK Phil for three more years. The new contract will last through to the end of the 2021/22 season.

“We are thrilled that Maestro van Zweden has chosen to extend his contract with the HK Phil following his appointment as the next Music Director of the New York Philharmonic,” said YS Liu. “It is reassuring that the Maestro’s directorship of the HK Phil will remain unchanged for the next six musical seasons”.

Jaap van Zweden said, “I always think that every player of the HK Phil is a gem, and together each of these highly talented musicians makes a wonderful orchestra. I am very happy to extend my tenure as their Music Director and it is always an honour to work with them. We have many more exciting projects yet to come”.

Michael MacLeod, Chief Executive of the HK Phil said, “The HK Phil is honoured to share the same conductor with the New York Philharmonic. Jaap van Zweden will be leading two great orchestras in two great cities. In the coming season Jaap will continue to lead the HK Phil on an exciting journey of music making. This is something that the whole orchestra is looking forward to”.

 

(Retrieved from file. Originally published on Slipped Disc on March 15, 2012)

Daniil Trifonov, winner of the Arthur Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky competitions, gave his debut London recital last night. It was packed with people who had watched his competition performances and many, like me, will have steeled themselves against disappointment. A solo recital on a working night can lack the searing, competitive adrenalin of a cup final.

Daniil’s first half was the Schubert Piano Sonata in B flat D960, preceded by two Liszt transcriptions of Schubert songs. Played on a Fazioli piano with a hardened glitter in the upper registers, Trifonov’s interpretation offered more brilliance than reflective substance.

Depth may be too much to ask from a young man who turned 21 last week (we shared his birthday cake later) but Russians will be Russians and they need to show from the earliest age that they can hammer the Viennese masters and run rings around philosophy.

The second half was another planet. A trickle of Tchaikovsky sentiments preceded one of the most profound and original accounts of the Chopin opus 10 Etudes I have ever been privileged to experience. Daniil reconceived the tricky pieces as a dramatic entity, micro-timing the pauses between one etude and the next to accentuate the attention and give a sense of how Chopin built the set to an explosive climax. Where other pianists pause to wipe their brow, Daniil used silence in the manner of John Cage and the total-serialists – as an element equal to music itself. One hardly dared to draw breath through the set.

This is a major artist, phenomenally gifted and almost fully formed, with fresh ideas and a winning stage presence that is quite irresistible from the moment he bounds through the door and sits at the keyboard, unable to contain his need to share. The legend, too, is spreading like bushfire. Thousands claim to have been there the night the lights went out in Guildford and Trifonov carried on playing his concerto in total darkness. When the orchestra stopped, he played a Chopin waltz.

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Flying BA from Amsterdam to London for a Wigmore Hall concert last Saturday, the violinist Cecilia Bernardini was made to remove her 18th century Italian violin from its case and hold it on her lap throughout the flight.

cecilia bernardini violin2

The case, containing three valuable bows, was checked into the hold.

BA are generally good with musicians and this may have been an Amsterdam aberration. To avoid a recurrence, a petition has been launched to persuade BA to clarify their rules and oblige staff to treat violins with respect.

Read it and sign here.

cecilia bernardini violin

 British Airways’ reply here.

The disused inn bought by the orchestra to give a home to refugees from Syria and elsewhere has been declared open.

The first family moved in this week.

vpo refugees

Members of the orchestra welcomed them with an informal jam session.

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The Vienna Philharmonic will continue to give benefit concerts to maintain the house and support other fugitives from was and injustice.

Applause, please.

 

photos (c) VPO/Slippedisc

The Philharmonic House for Asylum Seekers in St. Aegyd holds three apartments as well as a large community meeting room where the local population is invited to seek contact with the families. The care of the families will be in the hands of the refugee service of the Diakonie.

Jane Ede, principal singer with Opera Australia, read tenor Julian Gavin’s story of his brain injury on Slipped Disc last month and set up a funding site for others to help.

Jane writes today:

Last week I transferred $10115 AUD to Julian’s sister May, to be transferred on to Julian. Although I was disappointed with the amount of fees we paid to the gofundme page (almost $800) I was absolutely thrilled with the response and generosity shown by the opera community. Thank you again for helping to spread the word, and to all your readers who contributed. May assures me this will make a real difference to Julian’s recovery. 

Such good news, for so many reasons.

julian gavin-2

The star German violinist, who is being sued for $20m by his porn star ex-girlfriend in New York, finds an unexpected source of comfort in the gentle editorial pages of Die Welt.

The defence? Violinists are there to behave badly. Paganini showed the way. The violinist is an ‘erotic phenomenon’. Nothing is hotter than the Mendelssohn concerto. Garrett belongs to a strong tradition.

They seem to be missing the point. Sexy is not the same as bizarre.

From the case notes:  Youdan says the violinist’s “behaviour began to take a dark turn for the worse” on their first Christmas together, when [Garrett] responded to a Craiglist ad for a “sex slave,” hoping he could keep this person in a cage.

An erotic phenomenon?

DAVID-GARRETT-Pressebild-2010-Quelle-Un

 

A bold claim here from Stanley Dodds, violinist and media chairman of the Berlin Philharmonic. Some, notably in London, might dispute that claim.

Dodds goes on to describe the process by which candidates are selected and what the orchestra expects from a conductor:

Ein guter Dirigent muss während eines Konzerts in der Lage sein, das Orchester zu begeistern, und für magische Momente sorgen. Wenn man von einem unvergesslichen Konzerterlebnis spricht – dann hat der Dirigent auch eine sehr wichtige Rolle dabei gespielt und dafür gesorgt, dass der Funke überspringt. Ein guter Dirigent setzt die Kräfte der Musiker frei.

More here.

bild petrenko

The Courthouse News Service has the full story here.

David Garrett is being sued for $20 million – not $12m as previously reported – and the case is being heard under his real name, David Christian Bongartz, in Manhattan Supreme Court.

The details are lurid. Think before you click.

DavidGarrett-2-VFCO-cNicolasBrodard-Website1

press release:

On Monday 27 June at St John’s Smith Square, a major memorial will be held for Sir Peter Maxwell Davies who died on 14 March 2016.

The free morning event, Max: A Celebration, will comprise a mixture of musical performances and spoken tributes and present an opportunity for everyone, from friends and colleagues to the general public, to pay their respects to the late composer.

The programme will include Maxwell Davies’ Seven Brightnesses, Lullabye for Lucy andFarewell to Stromness as well as a previously unheard work String Quartet Movement 2016 and The Golden Solstice which received its world premiere last month as part of the Battle of Jutland celebrations. Performers include Centre for Young Musicians Chamber Choir conducted by Lynda Richardson, the Behn Quartet and clarinettist Charlie Dale-Harris.

Speakers will include Royal Opera House Music Director Antonio Pappano (who will also perform Farewell to Stromness), composers Robert Saxton, Sally Beamish, Alexander Goehr, actor Andrew Branch and architect Giuseppe Rebecchini.

 

Event details
Monday 27 June 2016, 11.30am
St John’s Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HA

Max: A Celebration

Centre for Young Musicians Chamber Choir
Lynda Richardson
conductor
Behn Quartet
Charlie Dale-Harris
clarinet
Antonio Pappano piano
Maxwell Davies String Quartet Movement 2016 (world premiere); Seven Brightnesses; Lullabye for Lucy; The Golden Solstice (London premiere); Farewell to Stromness

https://www.sjss.org.uk/events/max-celebration

maxwell davies young suzie maeder

From Daniil Trifonov, Tchaikovsky Competition gold medallist:

I don’t often express myself on non-musical topics, but what has happened in London Underground has forced me to speak out.

Penguin’s latest ad campaign has unattributed quotes from classic books and includes this one by Turgenev. Taken out of context and with its original meaning changed I find this offensive and nothing short of racist – of course Russians need liberalism, progress and principles as much as any other nation. Please visit change.org here to add your name to the petition calling for the ad’s removal and official apology:

https://www.change.org/p/remove-penguin-publishing-anti-russian-posters-promoting-hatred-between-the-nations


It’s a shame that established publishing house tries to make money in such cheap and pitiful way.

trifonov penguin

From the petition:

A set of posters have been placed in London Underground by Penguin Random House, which read:

“Aristocracy, liberalism, progress, principles.. Useless words! A Russian doesn’t need them!” 

Penguin Random House took a quote from the novel “Fathers and Sons” by Ivan Turgenev and disgracefully twisted the original meaning of it. The original quote is:

“Aristocracy, liberalism, progress, principles … what a lot of foreign … and useless words. A Russian would not want them as a gift”

Penguin Random House has intentionally cited the quote to take a true meaning out of context and have intentionally chosen NOT to include the author and the name of the book on their poster.

A New York-based magnate has decided to give 25,000 Swiss francs each to four chaps who run music ventures.

Just like that.

The Vendome Prize has decided to honour four music administrators with the Vendome Awards of SFr25,000 each. The awards have been given to Raymond Trenkler (Founder and Director of the Kronberg Academy), Michael Haefliger (Artistic and Executive Director of the Lucerne Festival), John Gilhooly (Artistic Director of the Wigmore Hall, London) and Martin Engstroem (Founder and Executive Director of the Verbier Festival). 

The Prize is paid out by Alexis Gregory, Russian-American owner of The Vendome Press arthouse.

Why the prize? we asked. Because he wants to.

 

Wigmore Hall

 

It has been announced today that this summer’s Ring will be screened by Sky Arts HD in Germany, Austria, the UK, Ireland and Italy.

The transmission will be over the July 30-31 weekend in the UK and Ireland.

Stephen Fry will present.

No chance of Rupert appearing as Alberich.

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Katie Wagner says: ‘I look forward to the cooperation with Sky and really appreciate its commitment. With this, many people can enjoy the performances and I believe it’s in the spirit of Richard Wagner to reach as many arts fans as possible. This is a large and prestigious project, realised with state-of-the-art technology.’