The new tenured concertmaster of Neue Philharmonie Westfalen in the north Rhine area is the Korean violinist Sun Shin Keiner.

Originally from Seoul, she studied with Kyung Sun Lee, Andreas Röhn and Günter Pichler.

 

 

 

Ecstatic headlines in the Austrian press – ‘cheers for debutant’, ‘exciting music’ – have propelled the Swiss conductor Lorenzo Viotti overnight to the forefront of Viennese attention.

The Netherlands Philharmonic chief is now setting off with the Vienna Phil on tour to Germany, Switzerland and Spain.

 

Photo: Vienna Philharmonic / Raphael Mittendorfer

We are receiving conflicting reports on the state of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra.

One is that it has taken three-year residency in a small German town, Monheim am Rhein.

Another is that it has sought permanent exile.

Some of the male players are said to fear frontline conscription if they return home.

In the absence of firsthand information, all reports must be treated with extreme caution.

The Chinese pianist has quit the talent-spotting show The Pianist after two tear-jerk seasons.

‘Being a mentor on The Piano and spending time with the talented pianists has been a true joy. The level of talent I have witnessed has been phenomenal, and it has been a privilege to see the love for playing the piano across the UK,’ he said. ‘I am going to miss Mika and Claudia terribly, but am very much looking forward to being reunited with them later this year filming the Christmas special.’

There was a general impression in season 2 that Lang Lang had run out of things to say in between platitudes from Mika and gush from Claudia Winkelman.

Lang Lang will be replaced by multi-instrumentalist Jon Batiste.

The Freiburg Chamber Orchestra has replaced its founding conductor Laurent Gendre with Philipp Bach. Gendre has led the orchestra since its inception in 2009.

The general music director of Bavarian State Opera has said he’s grateful for yesterday’s two-year contract extension, but he won’t stay on in any circumstances beyond 2028.

Jurowski, 52, told BR: ‘I think seven years is actually a good number. My two predecessors, Kirill Petrenko and Kent Nagano, were GMD at the Bavarian State Opera for exactly seven years. And when I took up the job in 2021, I actually had no other number in mind than that. At the time, they wanted to sign a ten-year contract and I said: For God’s sake, let’s do four or five years and see how it goes. But I’m really convinced that seven or eight years is an ideal time so that there is no stagnation, but that you can still reap the fruits of your labor yourself. I don’t want to become a “piece of furniture” at the Bavarian State Opera. I’m still relatively young at 52 and I have other plans in life.’

Pictures have been posted of the Intonations chamber music festival staged at Kühlhaus Berlin by Elena Bashkirova, who is married to Daniel Barenboim.

Participants included Elisabeth Leonskaja, Igor Levit, Yulianna Avdeeva, Mohamed Hiber, Mihaela Martin, Frans Helmerson, Clara Jumi Kang, Denis Kozukhin, Michael Barenboim and Lawrence Foster (pictured front with Barenboim).

 

Comment of the day:

I’d suggest that anyone who can possibly go, you should attend evensong on Sunday 14th July at 3.30pm. I reckon Andy might play the final voluntary. It is the final service concluding the Southern Cathedrals Festival and, of course, will be his last act as Winchester Cathedral’s DoM. Whilst being able to listen to one of the world’s finest organ-playing exponents, it might give all those who truly appreciate this great man’s abilities and passion for everything that he has done for Winchester Cathedral over the last 22 years an opportunity to show Andy just how highly regarded he is by those who really know about Cathedral music (and how important it should be to the life of a once-great establishment). Dare I say it, a rousing send-off would speak volumes – to all…

After months of politically stirred speculation, the Bavarian government this morning awarded new contracts to Serge Dorny and Vladimir Jurowski as intendant and GMD of Bavarian State Opera.

Dorny, 62, gets five more years, Jurowski, 52, gets three.

Picture from this morning’s press conference.

UPDATE Jurowski said later: The Bavarian State Orchestra is not only one of the oldest, but undoubtedly one of the best in the world. I am delighted to be able to continue working with this unique collective in the orchestra pit and on the concert stage in the coming years. It is still important to preserve tradition, to make the present a topic of conversation and thus to set the course for an artistically vibrant future for the orchestra. But I am also delighted, as General Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera, one of the most successful opera houses in the world, to continue to work closely with the house’s other musical collectives, the choir, the soloist ensemble, the musical department, the director and all other professions. Together, as in previous years, we will bring extraordinary and remarkable productions to the stage in the National Theater and all other venues of the Bavarian State Opera.

Intermusica has appointed Nathan Morrison to be Head of Vocal & Opera in place of Julia Maynard.

Julia will also step down as Deputy Chief Executive but, it is said, will continue ‘her close involvement with artists on her roster and providing strategic career guidance’. She had headed the opera department for 18 years.

The Head of Strings at Latymer Upper School will stand trial at the City of London Magistrates Court in September, accused of stalking an instrument dealer, which she denies.

Helen Neilson is alleged to have sent ‘unwanted emails, photographs and gifts‘ to a salesman at Ingles and Hayday while negotiating the purchase of a’rare and expensive’ instrument.

Ms Neilson is known as a dedicated cello and double bass teacher and a freelance performer.

Italy’s only aircraft carrier, the Giuseppe Garibaldi, is planning to stage an opera on deck.

Singers will make their entrance by helicopter.

Read here.