Sviatoslav Richter and Benjamin Britten, a transcendental communication.
You must hear this one, too.
The veteran maestro, 93, is working this week in Stockholm.
Asked why the Finns are so successful at producing good conductors he said:
‘Finland is less of a spoiled nation than Sweden, there are fewer temptations. They’ve lived in a dangerous place, been skilled in diplomacy and managed to handle Russia. Therefore they are more introverted and work on their own. Sweden has succeeded in its economy and could afford to hire foreign conductors.
‘Here we have the ratpoison that Finland couldn’t afford. Elias Canetti said: “Success is ratpoison for art.”‘
Blomstedt is conducting the Swedish Radio Symphony this week in Schubert’s Great C major Symphony. Last week he was in Bamberg with Bruckner 8.
Blomstedt, 93, with soloist Johan Dalene, 20
The London Symphony Orchestra has just announced the death of Dvora Lewis, its press relations manager for 37 years until her retirement and a trusted friend of many musicians. Aside from the LSO, she represented the Verbier Festival and many individual stars.
I have known her throughout that time and, for all that we were often on opposite sides, we never once raised our voices or exchanged a crossed word. She was a good lady.
Among other merits, she trained most of today’s PRs, who gathered (below) at her last LSO concert.
My condolences to Michael and her daughters, and to the LSO who cherished her.
Scherzo reports that there are public demands for the sacking of the British conductor Karel Mark Chichon, artistic director of the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra. He is accused of nepotism by engaging his wife the star mezzo-soprano Elena Garanca.
The lawyers are producing a report. Read here.
Garancaa was saying only this week how happy she is to live in Las Palmas.
The city of Nuremburg has cancelled plans for a $200 million concert hall, at least for the next few years.
Because of the Corona crisis, the city can no longer aford it said Mayor Marcus König.
Fire destroyed the Doris Duke Theatre in Massaussetts early today.
The Doris Duke theater, which seats 216, is one of two indoor theaters on the Becket campus of the Jacob’s Pillow performing arts center, home to a major dance festival.
The Chancellor held an open meeting with state leaders today to discuss the next stage of Covid restrictions, to be announced in a week.
Among them:
– People in Germany should keep their contacts to a minimum well beyond Christmas.
– Tourist trips should be avoided.
– Private parties should be completely avoided, especially New Year’s Eve.
– Risk groups should be equipped with so-called FFP2 masks by the state.
It’s looking grim until the spring.
An Austrian conductor, Johannes Vogel, has pulled together an orchestra in a Vienna studio to perform Gustav Mahler’s re-orchestration of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, an adaptation that aroused uproar in February 1900 and led to the Vienna Philharmonic replacing Mahler with a ballet maestro as their chief conductor.
All Mahler did was ‘retuschen’ – tweaks of the instrumentation to project an orchestra of the 20th century rather than the 19th, but the Viennese were looking for any excuse to hound him as a heretic.
There have been previous recordings of Mahler’s version by, among others, Vasily Petrenko, Neeme Järvi and Leonard Slatkin.
Vogel’s performance is intended as a closing event for the Beethoven year, which is also the Covid year.
Broadcast details here.
The soprano Danielle De Niese, who is married to Glyndebourne heir Gus Christie, has given birth to a baby girl, their second child.
Gus and I are absolutely delighted to announce the birth of our precious baby girl, Sheherazade Mary Christabel. She is the first baby girl at @Glyndebourne in 54 years, and came into the world on 13th November at 9:24pm weighing 7lbs 13 oz. My labour was very fast- just under 4 hours, but we are all doing well and our son, Bacchus, is beyond thrilled to have a little sister to cuddle and look out for! The whole family are over the moon and we are enjoying this special moment together at home at Glyndebourne.
She was working as a BBC presenter only last week.
The Birmingham conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla tells the Times today that she caught Covid-19 as early as February and, while doctors assured her she was not infected, brought it to her orchestra the following month.
‘Our principal cellist, Eduardo Vassallo – I guess I brought the stuff to him. And he was very ill, in hospita, and put on a ventilator.’
During the hiatus, Mirga appears to have got married. She refers several times to ‘my husband’ without naming him. The reason they are based in Salzburg, she says, is to stay close to his children by a previous marriage.
The veteran Polish conductor Marek Janowski has extended his contract with the Dresden Philharmonic to 2023.
They sweetened the offer with a Ring cycle and a Japan tour.
