The opening night of Orfeo and Euridice at Opera Theatre of St. Louis was called off just before the second act when a member of the audience suffered a heart attack as patrons returned from the interval.
The victim received medical attention from a doctor in the audience and a team of paramedics. He died later in hospital.
The CBSO has an unrivalled record in training conductors for the future,
Recent assistant conductors of local origin include Alpesh Chauhan and Jonathan Bloxham, both now well launched.
The next one, announced today, is … Jaume Santonja Espinós.
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Russian soprano Aida Garifullina will duet with international pop superstar Robbie Williams at the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on Thursday 14th June in front of a global audience of millions. She will take to the stage to perform two songs with Robbie at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, just half an hour before the start of the first match between Russia and Saudi Arabia (scheduled for 6pm local time).
Aida says, “The FIFA World Cup 2018 is the one of the most anticipated sporting events this year and I am so excited to be performing alongside Robbie, whose songs I have loved since I first started singing as young girl. It’s such an honour and I hope I can do my country proud and give the competition the amazing kick-start it deserves.”
Aida is also taking part in the Red Square Gala Concert in Moscow the day before, joining a host of famous names from the world of opera – including Anna Netrebko, Plácido Domingo and Juan Diego Flórez – for a celebratory performance which will be broadcast on Wednesday 13th June. Aida will perform the signature track from her award-winning debut album ‘Je veux vivre’ as well as a duet with Juan Diego Flórez from Verdi’s Rigoletto.
Dr Joseph Sonnabend was among the first to identify the Aids syndrome in New York in the early 1980s and one of the foremost campaigners for the needs of his patients. He founded several of the major Aids organisations.
Now his lesser known side is being brought to the fore. In the heat of the Aids battle, Dr Sonnabend was a prolific composer.
On his 85th birthday, his music will be performed in London on July 7 for the first time.
Details here.
Turkey still denies responsiblity for its mass murder of Armenians. The world would know little about it but for Franz Werfel’s vital – and largely forgotten – novel, The Forty Days of Musa Dagh.
Michael Haas has been rereading this important work. He notes: ‘Hitler famously justified his murder of Jews by stating that nobody remembered the genocide of Armenians.’
Read on here.
Lovely picture of HM with the New York-based composer Thea Musgrave, who receives the Queen’s Medal for Music for her 90th birthday this year.
Thea says: ‘Although much of my career has been on an international stage, this Medal represents my British heritage. ‘It also recognises the impact my Scottish roots has had on my music – which continue to this day to inform and nourish my work and to anchor my role in the world.’
photo: John Stillwell/PA Wire
