The Dresden Philharmonic has chosen Marek Janowski to succeed Michael Sanderling as chief conductor.

Janowski, 78, is conductor for life at the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. He was previously at the Dresden Philharmonic from 2001 to 2004.

Sanderling is 50.

This does not look like a progressive decision.

It’s supposed to be ‘the biggest box in CD history’.

All the Karajan you can eat on Decca and DG.

Scoff ye not: It will sell like tombstones.

Watch.

We’ve just heard on social media that Gordan Nikolic has played his last concert as leader (concertmaster) of the London Symphony Orchestra and is moving to the exciting German province of Saarbrücken.

Nikolic, 49, has been a strong leader of the LSO for 20 years. He was recently named artistic director of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and has a busy solo career.

photo: Ronald Knapp

The Nederlandse Muziekprijs (Dutch Music Award) for 2017 is to be given to Maria Milstein, a member of a distinguished Russian family of musicians.

Past winners include Janine Jansen, Christianne Stotijn, Pieter Wispelwey and Jard Van Nes.

 

The Utrecht International Liszt Competition has been won by Alexander Ullman, 26, a Curtis graduate from the UK. He wins 20,000 Euros and ‘a career development programme’.

Runners up were Minsoo Hong (South Korea) and Dina Ivanova (Russia).

 

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra has taken two years to fill a front-row vacancy. It’s new co-leader (or concertmaster) will be the American violinist Sharon Roffman, who shares duties with Maya Iwabuchi.

Roffman, 38, a Juilliard graduate, is also concertmaster of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

She starts work early next year, inheriting the seat vacated by James Clark, the Liverpool leader, who gave up commuting to Glasgow two years ago.

 

She hadn’t played there for 10 years until Friday’s visit.

Did they know what they were missing?

Watch here.

 

Ingvar Lidholm died on October 17 at the age of 96.

Rooted in folk music, he embraced Schoenberg-style serialism in the 1950s before finding his own particular voice with Nausikaa and Poesis in the following decade.

He was widely recorded on Swedish labels.

with Herbert Blomstedt. photo: Arne Hyckenberg/Sveriges Radio

The Berlin Staatsoper director has secured the return to Europe, after a long absence, of the former Metropolitan Opera music director, James Levine.

Levine will conduct Mahler’s 3rd symphony with Barenboim’s Staatskapelle next week, on October 31, at the Berlin Philharmonie.

Richard Woodhams has called time on his career after 40 years in the hot seat.

He’s a link in a long Philly chain, a student of his predecessor, John de Lancie who was himself a student of the previous principal, Marcel Tabuteau.

Report here.

The Croat Ivan Repušić is giving up after three years as general music director in Hanover.

Too busy in Munich, apparently. He has taken over there as chief of the Rundfunkorchester.

They might need to change the slogan now.

photo: Ariane Todes