Or so the ad campaign suggests.

The Concertgebouw Orchestra has told its musicians that only those who are vaccinated or who have a recent Covid recovery certificate will be allowed to join the tour to Iceland.

This advice will apply for all trips for the remainder of the season.

It is estimated that at least a dozen of the 116 musicians have failed so far to be vaccinated.

The popular and accomplished Miah Im – Music Director at Houston Grand Opera Studio, Professor of Opera and at Rice University and former Head of Music Staff at Los Angeles Opera – has died of cancer at the age of 47.

Canadian born, she won the Marilyn Horne award for vocal accompanying and went on to become one of the most empathetic trainers and judges of operatic voices. She moved to Houston 18 months ago and was diagnosed only in the past year.

LA Opera writes: ‘Our hearts are extremely heavy today as we mourn the loss of Miah Im. As our former Head of Music Staff and long term member of our artistic team, her light shined brightly beyond the music department, charming every one of us with her warmth, knowledge, and enthusiasm for and encouragement of her fellow artists.
An incredible musician and leader within the company, she will be remembered not only for her contributions to our collective artistry, but for her enthralling humanity – her friendly greetings, bright smile and the delicious baked goods she’d share just because.
Miah will be dearly missed.

Alissa Albertson writes: ‘My heart is broken into a million pieces. Miah Im profoundly impacted my life, not just as a musician but as a friend. She was a champion, a muse, an artist of the highest caliber, a defender, a fighter, a style icon, an inspiration, a generous soul, a liver of life, a teacher, a giver, a quiet grace, and a beautiful wild storm.
‘She always knew when you walked into her studio whether you really needed to sing or if you needed a hug and a friend. She inspired you to make the bold choice of believing in yourself.
‘The legacy you leave behind will continue to thrive in all of us who loved you and were lucky to have been loved by you. I promise we will keep your energy alive through inspired music making and bold love. You will always be a force and an inspiration. I love you forever, my wonderful giggly friend.’ 

Sarah Vautour: ‘To say that Miah Im was my rock during my time in LA would be an understatement. As everyone that knew her knows, she had an incredible gift for seeing the light and love in everyone. She was my friend, mentor, confidante, and role model. She believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself, and encouraged me to continue the work when I wanted to quit. I will always remember our time together whether in the opera house or in her backyard drinking wine in the kiddie pool.’

Caitlin Aloia: ‘A profound sadness looms over our musical family today. There is no way to describe the impact that Miah Im had on everyone she met, especially those she collaborated with and coached. Her knowledge, intuition, and determination knew no bounds. She invited (and pushed) me to explore the bounds of my instrument, and inspired me to sing new rep, no matter how hesitant I was about the high notes. I would bring her pieces that I never thought I would sing in public, and she coached them into my package. She also sang them better than me… she had an unreal range. There is much to process yet, but I am comforted by all the memories I have of us together. She is a hero, and that was evident until her last day. Loved and respected by so many, fly high Miah.’

Grant Gershon: ‘Miah—you are so loved. You will always be a part of us’

The publishers Boosey & Hawkes have announced the death of Carlisle Floyd, composer of the all-American opera Susannah, a biblical legend reset in Tennessee. Floyd was born in 1926 and turned 95 this summer.

Susannah was a critical and box-office hit in 1956 at New York City Opera with Phyllis Curtin and Norman Treigle, Erich Leinsdorf conducting. Two years later, Wuthering Heights was staged at Santa Fe Opera, with Curtin as the heroine. After several more operas, Of Mice and Men was seen at Seatle in 1970, again with Curtin in a leading role.

His final opera, Prince of Players, was premiered at Houston Grand Opera in 2016.

He married Kay Reader in 1957; she died after a long period of Alzheimers in 2010.

A couple of hours after the Cleveland Orchestra received a record $50 million donation, guess what happens at the Phoenix Symphony.

Its music director Tito Munoz reports:

Last week, my CEO Suzanne Wilson and Board Chair Molly DeFilippis were asked to come to the offices of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust for what they thought was a routine meeting. The Piper Trust has been an incredibly generous steadfast supporter of The Phoenix Symphony over the years, and my position bears the name “Virginia G. Piper Music Director” in recognition of that.
Little did Molly and Suzanne know that they were about to be given the largest one-time gift ever made to our orchestra… $7.5 million… which was a part of one of the most unprecedented charitable giving events in Arizona history. On that day, the Piper Trust gave surprise gifts totaling $123 million to 71 organizations. Of them, ours was the largest.
To say we are grateful is insufficient. This is a transformational gift, and it shows the confidence our community has in the monumental work our team has done over the last incredibly difficult 18 months. I’m proud of our organization. I’m so excited for the coming season, and I look forward to our first service back together, less than two weeks from now, where we will be able to once again make the best music together.
This season will mark The Phoenix Symphony’s 75th anniversary. What a way to ring it in. 

Here’s the press release.

For the last dozen years, Christopher Nupen has been persona non grata at BBC Television.

Every attempt to propose a music documentary, or an anniversary revival, met with rejection from the head of classical music Jan Younghusband, who turned her back resolutely on Nupen and his entire award-winning generation of documentarists.

But the tide has now turned.

Younghusband is out. She is leaving the BBC in December.

As one of her last decisions she has agreed, after much deliberation, to a whole evening of Nupen films on BBC4 this Sunday, October 3.

We’ve had to make a last-minute change to our Opera of the Week from OperaVision.

Pelléas et Mélisande

The Opera de Lille production of the five act opera by Claude Debussy  was adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck’s symbolist play is brought to you courtesy of Slippedisc and OperaVision.

A single opera was all it took for Debussy to transform the history of music forever. Opéra de Lille presents us with a Mélisande full of vitality and determination, far from the familiar ethereal figure. In the pit, François-Xavier Roth and his internationally renowned ensemble Les Siècles, playing on period instruments, lend new colours to a score which we thought we knew. In the title roles Julien Behr as Pelléas and Vannina Santoni as Mélisande.

Plot:  in a kingdom where day is night and noon chills the blood, a prince suspects his mysterious wife to be in love with his half-brother. But where does Mélisande come from? And what do we really know about the two heroes’ silent love?

Sung in French. Subtitles available in English, French and German with the option of auto-translation into over 100 other languages.

Click below.   Available until 09 October 2021  

REMINDER

Subscriber exclusive: Chopin winner revisits his winning recital

Slippedisc.com members can look forward tomorrow  to a recital by Seong-Jin Cho, winner of the 2015 Chopin Competition in Warsaw, with works that enabled him to become the event’s first Korean winner.

To access the recital, become a member of to www.slippedisc.com, the world’s leading classical new website.

Click here.

This is what you will experience:

Seong-Jin Cho plays Chopin & Szymanowski

Stream available from Friday 01 October 20:00 (CEST) until the 8/10/2021 20:00 (CEST)

This recital captures Seong-Jin Cho returning to the works of the composer that won him the world-renowned Chopin International Competition in 2015. Complete with two of Chopin’s most beloved pieces, Cho also performs Szymanowski’s three-piece Masques, filled with complex harmony and frequent tempo changes. But it’s not just the country of origin that connects the two composers in this performance. More so, it is Cho’s connection to them and his recognition of the lifelong journey that they have set him on. Meaningful, dramatic, contrasting and well written, the works of these two Polish composers offer him renewed musical discovery with every performance. To celebrate the release of Seong-Jin Cho’s new Chopin album on Deutsche Grammophon, we’re offering Slipped Disc Subscribers this exclusive recital on DG Stage for free.

Programme:

Karol Szymanowski

Masques, Op. 34

1. Schéhérazade
2. Tantris le bouffon
3. Sérénade de Don Juan

Frédéric Chopin

Scherzo No. 4 in E Major, Op. 54

Waltz No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 18 “Grande valse brillante”

Seong-Jin Cho, piano

Filmed at Tanzsaal an der Panke, Berlin

The orchestra in one of America’s most rundown rustbelt towns has just received a staggering gift of $50 million from a family of supporters, the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation. It is possibly the largest single grant ever received by a US orchestra.

By way of gratitude, the orchestra has renamed its hallowed hall. Formerly known as Severance Hall after the founding benefactor John Long Severance, it will now become the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Concert Hall.

The building name will transition from Severance Hall to Severance Music Center.

Dr. Jehuda Reinharz, President and CEO of the Mandel Foundation, and Stephen H. Hoffman, Chairman, said, “The Mandel Foundation has made this grant because of the Mandel brothers’ deep commitment to the vitality of Cleveland and a belief in the value of the humanities to shape an enriched spirit of life. The world-class level of music of The Cleveland Orchestra is the embodiment of both, and with this gift we hope to help ensure that it will be available for generations to come.”

Franz Welser-Möst, Music Director, said, “As the Orchestra prepares to embark on its 104th season, we are moved and inspired by this remarkable recognition of our work. The musicians and audiences will feel the benefits of the Mandel Foundation’s gift almost immediately, starting with the upgrades to the building which will allow us to continue capturing video for our digital offerings.” 

The Guardian reports that the late singer’s brother has issued proceedings against two doctors and a London private hospital for allegedly leaving her paralysed in 2015 after surgery for a painful back problem.

James Howard Norman Sr alleges that medical negligence by anaesthetist and pain specialist Dr Adnan Al-Kaisy, consultant spinal surgeon Khai Lam and the London Bridge hospital left his sister unable to move her body below the waist.

The doctors and hospital deny the claim.

Report here.

Ms Norman died two years ago today, allegedly without recovering full use of her lower body. She was 74.

The orchestra tells us that ‘due to Covid-19 related travel restrictions in China,’ the Chinese composer and conductor Tan Dun ‘will unfortunately be unable to travel to Amsterdam to conduct the Royal Concertgebouworkest’ in November.

His new work, Three Muses in Video Game, a trombone concerto, will receive its world premiere under a South Korean, Shiyeon Sung.

A second scheduled Tan Dun premiere has been postponed to an undetermined date.

The German baritone has placed his worldwide management in the hands of Tanja Dorn, who previously managed him just in America.

Goerne has recently been unhappy with some European bookings.