JTA reports the passing of Leopold Kleinman-Kozłowski, pianist and composer known as ‘the last klezmer of Galicia’.
He died in Krakow on Tuesday at the age of 100.
As music director at the Jewish Theater in Warsaw he was a consultant Spielberg’s film ‘Schindler’s List’ and won himself a cameo role.
Eurowings is cracking down on cabin baggage.
To carry a violin on board you have to pay extra for a ‘smart’ seat.
Read here.
It’s a new way to screw musicians.
New York Classical Review was there when Gregory Kunde stepped up at 65 to make his first appearance in the house after a dozen years of exile.
So how was it for them?
Relief finally came in Act II. Gregory Kunde came in to replace Antonenko and gave a heroic performance in finishing the opera. At an astonishing sixty-five years old, Kunde still shows impressive body and caramel color in his voice, and boasts focus and weight at his top, even on the opera’s closing B-flat. He gave a touching reading of the Act III monologue, “Vois ma misère,” bringing a weariness into his characterization without losing any vocal power. If Antonenko is unable to resume the role, having Kunde sing the rest of the run would hardly be a disappointment.
Read on here.
Message received:
Professional musicians and people with experience of homelessness to perform Gavin Bryars’ Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet throughout the night. This is a partnership with Gavin Bryars, Streetwise Opera, Southbank Sinfonia, Tate Modern, The West London Mission and The Connection at St Martin’s.
Throughout the night of 12 April, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields brings to life a new version of Gavin Bryars’ iconic work Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet, a piece centred upon an unknown homeless man’s vocal refrain. Professional musicians – including the Academy, Gavin Bryars and his ensemble and musicians from Southbank Sinfonia – perform alongside people with experience of homelessness, throughout the night (8pm – 8am) in The Tanks at Tate Modern.
Bryars has always wanted to do longer versions of the work and this new 12-hour version is the first time it is being performed in concert by people who have experienced homelessness. With the relaxation of usual concert etiquette and free, un-ticketed entry, this performance is the most accessible concert the Academy has ever done.
Germaine Nyack a performer with Streetwise Opera said, “Having the opportunity to perform is very important, because it allows us to rebuild our self-esteem. Problems and trials in life knock you down all the time and being able to perform has allowed me to recover and to have the confidence to speak my mind.”
Composer Gavin Bryars commented, ‘it is 48 years since I first heard the fragment of religious song that is the basis of my piece and I still hear new things and continue to be touched by its beautifully musical qualities as well as the dignity, faith and humanity of the homeless old man who sang it. I have performed it several times in the recent past in different contexts – with BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with an ensemble including 25 Irish schoolgirls aged between 7 and 10 in Dundalk, with members of my family at Cafe Oto, and as part of the annual memorial service at St Martins-in-the-Fields for those who died homeless in the last year – and the music continues to have a profound effect on an audience. Previous versions have often been limited in duration by external factors – the length of the reel of tape that replays the recorded voice, the side of a vinyl LP, the playing time of a CD. Here those factors are no longer a consideration.’’
Christiane Amanpour’s interview technique has gone way downhill since her war correspondent days.
Watch.
Himari Yoshimura from Japan won 1st Grand Prize playing Paganini’s first concerto at the International Grumiaux Competition this week in Brussels, Belgium.
We could not possibly comment.
(But don’t let that stop you.)
Birmingham’s new production of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk has been drawing 5* reviews across the board.
The critics may have been unaware of a large number of Middle East and African refugees who joined the production as chorus and in other roles.
Here’s a BBC report.
When Aleksandrs Antonenko pulled out last night at the Met after the first act of Samson et Dalila, his replacement for the last two acts was the veteran Gregory Kunde, last seen on the Met stage in 2007.
Where has he been all this time?, audience members wanted to know.
Could this be the start of a glorious comeback?
Bergen National Opera in Norway is about to premiere Antony McDonald´s new production of Werther with the fabulous pairing of Edgaras Montvidas and Catriona Morison.
It submitted a version of the second picture in this post as a paid advertisement for the show.
Facebook rejected it:’This ad is may not be shown due to implicit sexual or seductive behaviour’.
The double-bassist Chi-chi Nwanoku got MP Ed Vaizey to ask a parliamentary question about the post-Brexit situation of hundreds of artists who work in Europe in respect of taxation and social security, presently covered by the A1 form.
A reply was delivered yesterday to the House:
The Withdrawal Agreement provides for the continuation of social security coordination, which will maintain the current rules on A1 certificates in the UK and EU until the end of the implementation period in December 2020.
So now you know.
