The busy pianist is taking Joseph Horovitz’s Clarinet Sonatina on tour next month with Andreas Ottensamer, principal clarinet of the Berlin Philharmonic.

The composer, who is 93, is a friend of ours and I’ve always found this piece irresistible.

Nice to see Yuja and Andreas taking up work from the middle of the 20th century that conforms to no particular agenda other than being good music.

Just in from Covent Garden:

British mezzo-soprano Christine Rice has withdrawn from the role of Donna Elvira due to personal reasons. The role will now be sung by Greek soprano Myrtò Papatanasiu, making her Royal Opera debut.

‘Personal reasons’ is the new catch-all, replacing ‘indisposed’. It covers anything from a septic toe to a flaming row to a major issue in an artist’s private life.

Lawyers for concertmaster Holly Mulcahy and her employer, the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, will meet for the first and possibly only time next Monday to see if a settlement can be reached. If not, the case will go to trial.

Ms Mulcahy is suing for up to $25,000 over the cancellation of a concerto she was down to perform next month. She claims this amounts to breach of her contract.

We hear that Alevtina Ioffe, music director of the Natalia Stats Moscow State Opera and Ballet Theatre for Young Audiences, has been signed for world management by Ettore Volontieri, manager of Gianandrea Noseda.

She was previously with the Onlystage agency.

Three men will contest the clarinet final tonight:

Carlos Alexandre Brito Ferreira, of Portugal;

Joë Christophe (pictured), France;

and

Han Kim, South Korea.

This is the jury who chose them:
Charles Neidich (Chairman)
Philippe Berrod
Shirley Brill
Michael Collins
Eric Hoeprich
Nina Janssen-Deinzer
Kari Kriikku

The cello final is also all-male.

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales has appointed Ryan Bancroft as its next principal conductor, starting a year from now.

Ryan, 29, was a runaway winner of the last Malko competition in April 2018.

He’s from Los Angeles and he is agented by Intermusica in London.

Luke Turrell, an English violist from Sevenoaks in Kent, has just won the 1st solo viola position at the Leipzig Gewandhaus.

After leaving the Berlin Philharmonic Academy, Luke has spent the past four years as a section player in the Staatskapelle Dresden.

Underappreciated?

You could say that.

Leipzig loves to rub salt in Dresden wounds.