We’ve been informed of the death last Friday of Michael Flaksman, American cellist, professor at the University of Heidelberg/ Mannheim.

He was 73.

A soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra at age 17, he won a major competition in Bologna and concertised extansively before settling for a distinguished teaching career.

He founded the Ascoli Piceno Festival in Italy. His son, Jonathan, is assistant principal cello with the Santa Barbara Symphony.

From Mihaela Martin:

Dear violinists and violists , at Eurowings/Germanwings they changed the regulations , now they don’t accept instruments as hand luggage on board unless they fit within the measurements of cabin baggage.
So, avoid it !!!!!
They let me take the violin onboard today after I paid 30€ ( no extra seat, though).

Here we go again….

The latest review in our CBSO100 series:

by Norman Stinchcombe
CBSO at Symphony Hall ★★★★

The CBSO’s Benevolent Fund Concert, with a “Sold Out” sign on the orchestra’s website, was a vibrant performance of popular classics with conductor Andrew Litton and soloist Thomas Trotter, both giving their services for free.

Trotter, Birmingham City Organist since 1983, was cheered to the gods for the concluding Toccata from Widor’s Organ Symphony No. 5. The orchestra stayed in their seats and craned their necks to watch Trotter as he juggled an ostinato figure, an implacably marching bass line and some snazzy decorations all in his (seemingly) effortless style.

On disc Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 often has a church organ dubbed, sometimes crudely, on to a studio recording. Here was how it should sound, organ and orchestra blending perfectly and, with the doors to the hall’s reverberation chambers fully open, a gloriously full and rich sound. Litton is a fine conductor of such lush, romantic pieces coaxing some gorgeous string playing from the orchestra while eschewing self indulgence by observing the poco direction in the swooningly sumptuous adagio. And, even when one knows it’s coming, Trotter’s great C Major entry in the finale was thrilling. The concert opened with a stirring performance of Sibelius’s Karelia Suite, with delightful cor anglais (Rachael Pankhurst) in the Ballade and an irresistible swagger to the concluding march. Ravel’s gentle Pavane pour une infante défunte was followed by Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, vividly played (bravo bassoons and contra bassoon!) and brilliantly paced by Litton.

Norman Stinchcombe has reviewed concerts and recordings for the Birmingham Mail, Birmingham Post and Midland Music Reviews website.

We are saddened to learn of the death today in a Houston hospital of Vagram Saradjian, an outstanding cellist and teacher. He had been suffering from leukaemia.

A Tchaikovsky Competition winner in 1970, he enjoyed an extensive international solo career.

He taught in the US at Oberlin Conservatory, Connecticut College, Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College (CUNY, NY) and elsewhere. Latterly he was Professor of Violoncello at the University of Houston.

 

The Times reports today that conductor Muhai Tang suffered an embarrassing loss of trousers while leading the La Scala orchestra at the Teatro Dal Verme in a concert for the People’s Republic of China’s 70th anniversary.

Happily, he was wearing rock-solid boxer shorts.

You can watch video of the incident here.

 

Press release:

The Philadelphia Orchestra Association is pleased to announce the election of three newly appointed members to its Board of Directors: Bennett Keiser, senior executive vice president of Tioga Pipe, Inc.; Tod MacKenzie, former senior vice president of communications of Aramark; and Bin Zhang, chief executive officer of Chinaepay Financial Service Technology Co., Ltd.

Bin Zhang is chief executive officer of Chinaepay Financial Service Technology Co., Ltd., an e-payment network company based in Beijing since 1999. Previously, he was co-founder of JiTong Telecommunication Tech Co. Ltd. in the telecommunication industry. He has been spearheading business in the telecommunication and financial services industries for the past 28 years, servicing numerous banks with call centers and CRM platforms. Zhang graduated from the National University of Defense Technology with a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 1988. He currently resides in Beijing with his wife, Liqun Qian, and their two daughters. His younger daughter, Tina, studies harp with Elizabeth Hainen, principal harp of The Philadelphia Orchestra. The Zhang family have attended Philadelphia Orchestra concerts in Beijing, New York, and Shanghai, as well as Chinese orchestra performances in Philadelphia.

 

André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra were on tour in Chile, due to perform four concerts with 40,000 tickets sold.

They performed Thursday and Friday but cancelled the weekend events under a Government curfew.

Rieu was travelling with over 100 people including orchestra, choir and crew. As regular flights in and out of Santiago were cancelled, Rieu organized a charter flight for the group to Buenos Aires yesterday to evacuate them.

Here’s a message he posted to Chilean fans.

We have received notice of the death today of Raymond Leppard, a leading figure in British music, prolifici recording artist and long-serving music director of the Indiannapolis Symphony.

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra announces the loss of a long-time artistic leader and friend, as Raymond Leppard died earlier today in the presence of his closest friends and husband, Dr. John Bloom. Maestro Leppard, Conductor Laureate and Music Director from 1987 to 2001, was 92 years old.

A harpsichordist in 1950s London, he became involved with the period awakenings of Thurston Dart, Neville Marriner and George Malcolm. In 1963 he presented a breakthrough Monteverdi production at Glyndebourne. In the 1970s he was principal conductor of what is now the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester.

A friend of Benjamin Britten’s, he conducted his operas at the Met, Covent Garden and elsewhere.

But this is what he did best.

This is Sergey Nakariakov rehearsing Weinberg’s trumpet concerto in Stavanger.

Fabulous mini-doc by Das Erste, worth five minutes of your time.

Shows rare footage of Mirga as a child singer.

Watch here.