The one and only Björling sings Beethoven. Wait for the soft falsetto.
Always good to have a second string to your bow.
He sings the Gaoler in this recording.
Happy 75th birthday, Itzhak Perlman.
For once, the festival’s closing report is really pertinent. Salzburg was the first to break the clone that shut down other summer fests.
‘In this special festival year at the festival, we all created something together, which hardly anyone could expect a few weeks ago: that with a very thoughtful, smart yet no one overloading safety concept music, theatre, concerts, opera, all these wonderful things again can be possible. The tension before August 1. was very high and the six rehearsal weeks before that were quite a challenge. Who could have imagined that in Corona times an Elektra, Così would be possible again? Who could have imagined that this gathering of people would be possible again? We have told all our artists again and again that if we manage to get this summer across the stage as we imagine, we will only make it together. The behavior of the audience, which has increasingly internalized our security measures during the festival, has also contributed to this. Thus, the signal emanating from Salzburg will be the strongest, most vital and most essential to send to the world,’ says Director Markus Hinterhäuser.
‘The fact that the Salzburg Festival could even take place in 2020 was the greatest anniversary present. We were allowed to set a sign of the power of art in powerless times and were able to revive the founding idea in the most meaningful way. The Salzburg Festival was founded in 1920 in a time of great need as a courageous project against the crisis. Max Reinhardt was convinced that only art could reconcile the people who were ravaged by war against each other, yes nations. – Art not as decoration, but as food. We are overjoyed that the festival has been able to prove itself as meaningful and employer in the world that is too deeply unsettled by Corona,’ says Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler.
From the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic:
Today we’ve been reached by the sad news that our beloved colleague and friend – former solo horn player Ib Lanzky-Otto – has passed away. Ib was a legend, admired all over the world for his great musicality and unique personality. His beautifully shaped tone, his deep musicality and dazzling technique, left a deep impression on both audience, conductors and soloists visiting the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra during Ib’s 46 year era as its member. His contributions, as an orchestra musician and as a soloist, have become a model for horn players all over the world. Ib’s warm and generous personality, combined with his lightning-fast humour, blessed us with an abundance of wonderful stories and anecdotes that we recall with the greatest warmth on a day like this. The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and all friends at Konserthuset Stockholm mourn an icon, and above all a dear and beloved friend and colleague.
Message received:
On September 6th, STAATSOPER FÜR ALLE will take place on Bebelplatz.
Due to the current security regulations we unfortunately had to limit the concert to a seating capacity of about 2,000 people this time. Therefore, access is only possible with a ticket, thanks to BMW Berlin free of charge as always, and they were sold out in minutes! With this concert, we and our Partner BMW would like to especially thank people who, through their work in system-relevant areas such as health care, retails and logistics, support our society to a great extent. We are very much looking forward to welcoming many of them to STAATSOPER FÜR ALLE – through an extra ticket contingent that was provided to them in advance.
The program, under the musical direction of Daniel Barenboim, is all about Ludwig van Beethoven – in addition to Beethoven’s Romances for Violin No. 1 and 2 with Anne-Sophie Mutter as soloist, the “Egmont” Overture and the 9th Symphony, the “Ode to Joy”, will be performed, with Julia Kleiter, Waltraud Meier, Andreas Schager, René Pape and the Staatsopernchor. Those who did not get a free ticket have the opportunity to watch the concert on livestream.
We hear that David Afkham, music director of Spain’s national orchestra, has been put in quarantine after being traced as a contact of a member of the orchestra’s artistic production staff who tested positive for Covid-19.
Afkham tested negative on both PCR and serology tests, but the medical authorities locked him down nonetheless. He’s being replaced at the Santander Festival by Jaime Martin.
Read here.
A wake-up call for the wimpish BBC:
Mirga and Gergiev top the roster of CAMI conductors who will be left without an agent when the agency is shut down tomorrow.
Neither will struggle to find suitable new representation.
It’s the less starry ones who will suffere. Here‘s the conductors’ roster, on the last day of Columbia. It had 111 names in Wilford’s heyday.
Star soloists and personalities include Alma Deutscher, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Khatia Buniatishvili, Gidon Kremer, Maurizio Pollini and Denis Matsuev. Full list here.
Singers number Jamie Barton, Kathleen Battle, Mariusz Kwiecien, J’Nai Bridges and more.
Cami played a pivotal role in the organisation of classical music in America over the past 90 years. We’ll reflect on that later.
From the composer Michael Robinson:
It was an unforgettable and forever epiphany and transformation listening to a Charlie Parker recording of How High the Moon in tenth grade, retaining the song in my head simultaneously with the variations he wove, being particularly dazzled by Bird’s rhythms and technique. His improvisational genius took flight within songs by composers and lyricists of genius together with blues forms. Coalescing synergistically with his rhythms, Parker’s melodies within harmonies, timbres, phrasing, articulation, dynamics, and expression were all immortal revelations. Today, 29 August 2020, one hundred years since his birth, music remains inconceivable without his influence. Bird and Bach are forever cornerstones.
Lee Konitz, whose friends included Leonard Bernstein and Lennie Tristano, told me Charlie Parker was easily the most intelligent person he ever met. Charlie Colin recalled for me Bird’s childlike qualities, relating about the time the alto saxophonist enthusiastically played with flashcards creating the illusion of a movie while they rode on a train together leaving NYC. David Amram was so deeply touched by Charlie Parker’s friendship and encouragement, a day rarely goes by without recalling their time together.
– Michael Robinson, August 2020, Los Angeles
