us superorch

This is the cello section of the Gerard Schwarz All-Star orchestra recording for PBS television at Suny College New York.

It features principals of the Met, Cincinnati, Richmond, associate of San Francisco, two members from the Philadelphia Orchestra, one from the New York Philharmonic, one from the National Symphony and Gerard Schwarz.

Over four sessions in two days they recorded: Sibelius no.2, Elgar Enigma Variations, Goosens Jubilee Variations, Mussorgsky’s Bald Mountain, Britten Variations, Hovaness Mysterious Mountain, Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet.

They should get together more often.

News just in from Geneva: the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande has a new manager.

She is Magali Rousseau, formerly of the philharmonic orchestra of Radio France.

Does she know what she’s walking into?

press release:

Chère Madame, cher Monsieur,
La Fondation de l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande est très heureuse de vous informer de la nomination de
Madame Magali ROUSSEAU
en qualité d’Administratrice générale de l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
Madame Rousseau prendra ses fonctions à Genève le 1er novembre 2016.
Magali Rousseau occupe actuellement le poste d’Administratrice déléguée de l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France à Paris. Née à Clermont-Ferrand en 1976, Madame Rousseau effectue ses études à Paris, à l’Université Paris IV Sorbonne, où elle obtient successivement une Licence de Lettres et Arts, une Maîtrise de Musicologie et un Diplôme de Gestion et d’Administration culturelle. Elle est également diplômée des conservatoires de Clermont-Ferrand et de Rueil-Malmaison en piano et percussions. Parallèlement à ses études, elle travaille à l’IRCAM.
En 1999, elle est nommée chargée de production à l’Orchestre de Bretagne et en devient sa Déléguée artistique en 2005.
De 2008 à 2011, elle est nommée Responsable de production de l’Ensemble Intercontemporain. En 2011, elle rejoint l’équipe de l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France en tant qu’Administratrice déléguée auprès de Myung-Whun Chung puis de Mikko Franck.
Plus de 18 ans d’expérience dans la musique symphonique avec une spécialisation complémentaire en management, gestion de personnel et droit.
Nous vous remercions de votre attention et vous prions de croire, chère Madame, cher Monsieur, en l’assurance de nos sentiments les meilleurs.
Florence Notter
Présidente de la Fondation de l’OSR

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND - JULY 20: Comedian Simon Brodkin (not pictured) throws dollar bills at FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter during a press conference at the Extraordinary FIFA Executive Committee Meeting at the FIFA headquarters on July 20, 2015 in Zurich, Switzerland. (Photo by Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images)

 

Placido Domingo will sing at the opening of Dubai Opera.

dubai opening

Also taking part: Ana Maria Martínez with an orchestra from Trieste, conducted by Eugene Kohn.

placido dubai

Scottish Opera have announced an abridged performance of Marriage of Figaro, designed for people with dementia.

We’re teaming up with Festival and King’s Theatres, Edinburgh to present the UK’s first Dementia Friendly opera performance at the Festival Theatre on Saturday 12 November.

Noble idea. Will it work?

dementia marriage of figaro

The death has been announced of Edmund Niemann, a pianist who premiered works by John Cage, Meredith Monk and Steve Reich. He formed a piano duo called Double Edge with Nurit Tilles and played in Reich’s ensemble.

He did his teaching at Princeton, the New School and Scarsdale.

edmund niemann

Joyce DiDonato will play White Rabbit Red Rabbit by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour at New York’s Westside Theatre on October 3.

The play has no director or set. It is performed each night by a different artist.

Details here.

joyce didonato Great-Scott-Dallas-2015-Joyce-Rosa

Our friend Martin Anderson runs Toccata Classics for anything but profit. He publishes the works of unknown composers and artists, often bringing them into the mainstream. Toccata is a truly essential label.

Martin has never been a lean and hungry record man, as you can see.

martin anderson1

 

Now, he’s going on a sponsored slim to keep the label alive. Let’s back him, pound for pound.

Last night, he had his last drink of the year until Christmas. Here’s the appeal:

 

Greetings

My mum has been nagging me for years about losing weight, and I promised my partner Yodit, just before she died last year, that I would indeed do so. Making Yodit happy was incentive enough while she was alive, but now, sadly, I need another one, and so, trying to turn the occasion to some advantage, I am going to try to convert my large belly into music.

That is, I am going on a sponsored slim for the last four months of 2016 and the money I raise will go to help my label Toccata Classics with its programme of recordings of rare music. You can imagine that releasing albums of rare repertoire is not a path to wealth, and Toccata Classics needs all the help it can get. So I am hoping that you, my friends and colleagues, will sponsor me by however much or little as you like for each pound of weight I lose between 1 September and 31 December. Since I never do anything in half-measures, you might like to know that I went on sponsored slims in 1980 and 1982, over the two-month duration of those years’ Proms concerts and lost 32 and 30 lbs respectively, raising money for the Havergal Brian and Robert Simpson Societies. And now I have far more to lose – and far more composers who need help. So please click on this link to be taken to the page of the Toccata website where you can make a pledge. You’ll be e-mailed at the beginning of next year with the result – and I’ll send out occasional messages in the meantime to let you know how I am getting on or, rather, how much I am getting off.

Many thanks for your support,

 

martin anderson

Baritone Benjamin Appl and mezzo Jenny Carlstedt will be run by Stefania Almansi from the London office.

Appl is being pumped as the next big thing in Lieder. Carlstedt, who is Finnish-Swedish, recently sang Melisande with Esa-Pekka Salonen.

 

jenny carlstedt

The cover story in Das Orchester this month is about new musical realities in the world’s largest market for classical music. Or as the sub-head puts it: More musicians, fewer jobs, what to do?

Germany has seen an influx of musicians from other EU countries, notably Romania and Poland. German musicians and audiences are concerned that the character of their culture is being changed by the EU’s hallowed principle of free movement of labour.

Free market, or grey market? That’s the big question.

Get your copy now.

grau1

 

The Exterminating Angel was extolled by most UK critics and equivocated over by Austro-German media.

But box-office business was red-hot, according to official figures released last night. ‘This is an enormous uptake for a contemporary opera’, said a festival spokesperson.

Overall, the Salzburg Festival sold 96 percent of its tickets this summer.

the-exterminating-angel-41-65533950

The International Federation of Musicians has published a new ranking of airlines according to how they treat musicians and their instruments.

Of the dozens of airlines surveyed, only eight are classed green for ‘good’. They include Air Canada and El Al. The green mark signifies that they comply with the current US FAA regulation, accepting musical instruments in the cabin, provided they fit in the overhead compartments or under a seat.

Check before you book, and again before you fly.

Click here for the full list.

Of all the child ‘opera’ singers thrown up by America’s Got Talent, the Romanian-born teen showed in last night’s semi-final that she has all the high notes and possibly what it takes to make a lasting success.

She will, however, need lots more training and technique to keep the voice in shape.

laura_bretan_semifinals-1472615391-8226