The Putin TV channel has been counting westerners who migrate to the Russian haven.
Two conductors among them, an Italian…
and a Greek.
A fascinating list from Wolf Trap opera…. and we won’t give the top tunes away.
Click here for the league of arias.
The Bayreuth Festival has announced that Harmut Haenchen will conduct Parsifal again in 2017. Haenchen was called in at the last minute after Andris Nelsons pulled out for reasons that are sill disputed.
Katharina Wagner was hoping that Nelsons would return next year.
No hope. He has announced a four-week commitment to Tanglewood next summer, which rules him out of Bayreuth.
UPDATE: Here’s what he told the Tanglewood audience: ‘I am … very excited to announce that I will be leading two opera programs, one of them a complete concert performance of a major work. Though we are still in the process of making final programming decisions for the 2017 Tanglewood season, we look forward to sharing the full season announcement about these and other programs this fall…
‘Tanglewood’s rich 79-year tradition — highlighted each summer by so many significant musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries — is breathtaking in its scope and impact, thanks to its founder Serge Koussevitzky.’
The Staatskapelle Weimar suffered a tragic loss yesterday with the sudden and unexpected death of first Kapellmeister, Martin Hoff.
Martin was about 51* and the cause of death is not yet known.
A student in Dresden of Hartmut Haenchen and Siegfried Kurz, he joined the Weimar ensemble in 2004 as a proficient rehearsal conductor, preparing his first Ring cycle in 2008 and conducting five complete cycles.
He also taught conducting at the Academy of Music Franz Liszt in Weimar.
This is the second tragedy to befall the orchestra in less than two months.
At the start of July, first violinist Irina Zwiener was bereaved of her husband Hendrik, a cellist in the Leipzig Gewandhaus, in a road accident.
Two days ago, Irina gave birth to their child, a baby girl.
* First information wrongly stipulated 52.
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra have recorded a new work by Tamil Rogeon that sets the 2010 AFL (Australian Football League) Grand Final to music.
Watch a clip, if you like bare-armed men (and good music).
At a launch of his arts programme in Scotland this weekend, the Labour Party leader said ‘he had a deep affection for the work of Mahler and liked other “pretty heavy classical music”.’
He added: ‘I hate the elitism [that says] only the wealthy can go to ballet, only the wealthy can go to opera, only the wealthy can go to Glyndebourne, only the wealthy can enjoy what’s termed highbrow music.’
Would Gustav Mahler love Jeremy Corbyn?
The ARD music competion, Germany’s richest and oldest, opens tomorrow in Munich.
This year’s events are double-bass, horn, harp and string quartet.
There were 285 applicants from 44 countries.
applied accepted
Germany 49 36
France 44 32
S. Korea 37 17
Japan 28 13
Spanien 22 9
Team GB 15 11
USA 15 6
China 12 7
Italy 11 8
Poland 11 4
Russia 10 5
Like many of us, violinist Anthea Kreston of the Artemis Quartet is struggling to adjust to that back-to-work routine. Here’s her weekly diary for Slipped Disc:
I am at the Berlin Tegel airport – 45 minutes before our plane leaves. I just realised after getting here that I forgot my wallet and passport on the breakfast table and I am waiting for a drive-by window drop off from Jason with sleepy girls* in PJ’s in the back seat, hopefully in time. Heading to Netherlands today, festival in Germany tomorrow.
This week’s rehearsals have been really nice – refreshing old works hardly feels like refreshing – it feels new and exciting. Comments like “I know I never mentioned this before, but I wonder, in this moment, if we could delay our transition from desperation to hope by another half bar”. How lucky am I? To be a daily part of conversations like this – to always bring my best and not have it good enough. This is wonderful.
There have even been a couple of newly minted words and markings this week (and a lot more of rehearsal time is in German). My favorite – smileando – a melting into a smiling character. Before I write my next diary in a week I will have played 10 different works (and begun work on 3 new quartets).
My older daughter started school at John F Kennedy this week – and she (and I) love it. To just have the English language, with the American accents, surround me as we walk through campus feeds my home-sickness just enough. And we now are developing a nice group of friends – her new best friend lives across the street and is the daughter of a mother from Wisconsin and a father from Munich. Just yesterday I met the dad of another first grader – he said – “wait a minute – you are married to Jason? We went to Tanglewood together!”. We ended up all meeting at a park and spending a lovely afternoon together.
Wait – there is Jason – I will run and get my passport!!!! Aaaaa just in time! I am waving frantically and jumping up and down! Can’t believe he got here in 27 minutes. *sigh*, my hero.
Ok through security and back now…..
Also – the quartet had planned a sabbatical several years ago – which is to happen summer-winter of 2017. After the death of Friedemann and the subsequent 7 months of questioning, auditioning, concertizing and processing, this sabbatical still loomed – the manager was not to book concerts for 6 months and people were to explore their own paths. The idea was to come back refreshed. But – it occurred to all of us just a month ago that it would be better to open up the sabbatical – just for the odd free days here and there – since we are all just discovering our new quartet voice. So – a light fall for quartet, but this has forced me to get out and about – meet people, develop projects.
So – the big news is that we have decided to keep the trio going – we have a new pianist (news to come soon) and plan on some touring next season. Also – a string trio concert came in from our German manager, and they offered it to Jason and I. We contacted Volker Jacobsen, original Artemis violist – all-around super guy and incredible player, and voilà! The Humboldt Streichtrio is born, with several concerts being planned.
Ok – signing off now – this week’s diary written while at airport and in security line. I am sitting in my seat, belt buckled, heading to Amsterdam. Another festive week!
*pictured, at home