Sergey Kortes, who has died aged 82, migrated with his Communist parents in 1955 to the workers’ paradise. They settled in Minsk, where he rose to become head of the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre and a People’s Artist of Belarus.
Kortes added a shimmy of tango to the austerities of Soviet and Belarus musical life.
The Bach birthplace at Eisenach has opened an exhibition on the aggressive anti-semitism of Martin Luther, leader of the Reformation, whose Gospel texts J S Bach set so beautifully to music.
Outraged that the Jews refused to follow him into a reformed Christianity, Luther in his speeches and writings reinforced Catholic stereotypes of Jews as parasites and deicides.
These became, in time, bedrock Nazi propaganda.
«Luther, Bach – und die Juden»: 24.06. – 06.11.2016. Bachhaus Eisenach, Frauenplan 21, 99817 Eisenach
The Cliburn competition for amateurs has been won by a periodontist from Canada, Thomas Yu.
Full results:
Three of the most esteemed living pianists played tonight in London at a celebration of the life of their friend, the publisher Lord Weidenfeld, who died in January at the age of 96.
Matthias Goerne sang two Lieder, accompanied by Christian Bezuidenhout.
It’s hard to think of any non-musician who could summon such imposing talent to a memorial.
1 
2
3 
Photo courtesy Gaia Saccomanno
He has been given a plaster-cast bust by the Russian minister of culture.
Apparently they can’t afford bronze.
A woman in Folkestone, Kent, named as Tsige-Jahna Simmons, had her violin, guitar, stereo, TV and speakers confiscated from her home after noise complaints from the neighbours.
Her violin playing was said to sound like a strangulated cat.
She will have to pay a hefty fine to get her property back.
Story here.
photo: Twitter
San Diego Opera has been notified by the family that the Italian conductor Edoardo Muller passed away yesterday at the age of 78.
Edoardo Muller (or Müller) made his San Diego Opera debut in 1980, conducting the West Coast premiere of Giovanna d’Arco. Over the years he conducted over 30 San Diego Opera productions until ill-health forced his retirement in 2011.
Trieste born, he made his way as assistant to Serafin, Gui, Votto, Böhm, Molinari-Pradelli, Abbado, Kleiber and Muti, getting his breakthrough jumping in for Georges Pretre in Rossini’s Mosè at the 1973 inauguration of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
He went on to conduct at La Scala, Paris, Munich, Barcelona, Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile, Montreal and most Italian opera houses. In the US he worked at the Met, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Seattle, Washington, Dallas, Detroit and more.
He was a frequent recital partner with Renata Tebaldi, Carreras, Obraszova, Bruson, Bergonzi and Caballé.
In San Diego he is remembered for his humour, warmth, passion, and incredible repertoire knowledge. He had been ill for some time, and was in a coma in his final days.
In a move unparalleled in recent orchestra memory, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra rehired Alex Klein on Friday as principal oboe.
Alex, a Brazilian, joined the orchestra in 1995 under Daniel Barenboim as successor to the unforgettable Ray Still.
He retired nine years later, suffering from focal dystonia in his left hand, which he described as ‘a death sentence’. Back in Brazil, he started a Sistema education project, took up conducting, and sought remedies for his malady.
Something must have worked.
On Friday he passed an audition of the principal oboe vacancy in Chicago and was immediately rehired.
We wish Alex happiness and fulfilment in his new/old job.
The consequences are becoming clearer.
1 No new concert hall
Neither the country, nor the City, nor its staff-evacuating financial institutions will stump up half a billion pounds for Simon Rattle’s vanity hall. Its chief sponsor, the unpopular Chancellor George Osborne, is struggling for survival.
2 Music colleges will lose EU students
They will be charged at full rates of up to £18,000 a year, instead of the present EU/UK rate of £9,000. Most will go elsewhere. Teaching jobs will be slashed. Two colleges will have to merge.
3 Blight on research
With the loss of EU research grants, universities will cut lecturer posts, starting with the arts. Music will suffer.
4 Less touring for orchestras
London orchs will lose their open market advantage in EU countries, starting with Spain. They will be replaced by Czech, Polish and German ensembles.
5 The upside?
There is no upside.
The night after the EU referendum result, a scratch orchestra of young musicians and singers from around Europe and the UK gathered outside St Martin-in-the-Fields in London’s Trafalgar Square to express their emotions.
No UK media have reported this event, which was flagged up on Friday afternoon on Slipped Disc.
You see it here first.
© 2016 Apple and Biscuit Recordings.
UPDATE: The conductor is Dinis Sousa, who is from Portugal.
Meet Clara Shandler. You won’t regret it.
My name is Clara, I’m a punk-rock-yogi cellist, and I take it outside. I put beats in my Bach, mix a little French impressionism with my metal, and throw a bit of a Buddhist philosophy in some jazz. I’ve been Vancouver’s Sidewalk Cellist since I was 14 and this year I’m doing free outdoor cello concerts in Canada, Cambodia, Burma, Nepal, and Europe.
