Pianist Klara Min has performed extensively throughout North America and Europe. On Tuesday, 23th April, 7:30pm, she will make her London debut at Wigmore Hall. The programme consists of pieces by Schumann, Sean Hickey (UK premiere) and Chopin. You can already listen to Klara’s interpretation of the Chopin Mazurkas – a few pieces she will also play at Wigmore Hall – on her recently released CD on the Delos label. In his review American Record Guide’s Stephen Estep raved:

“Min plays with the most ravishing piano tone I’ve heard in the last 50 discs I’ve listened to, at least! Her dynamic control is out of this world … anybody’s music would be served well by Min’s touch.”

Klara will be also appearing on BBC Radio 3 In Tune on Monday afternoon, 22th April.

(Written on April 19, 2013 )

Today, the conductor, pianist and Music Director of the Staatsoper Berlin, Daniel Barenboim, will celebrate his 70th birthday. Accentus Music, in association with ZDF and Arte, will honour the esteemed musician with a two-part documentary and a live broadcast on Arte of his “birthday concert” with the Staatskapelle Berlin. In addition, Accentus Music is pleased to announce the DVD release of Bruckner’s Symphonies Nos. 4-9 performed by Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin.

This evening, the Staatskapelle Berlin and Daniel Barenboim will give a concert in aid of a music kindergarten in Berlin, which will also mark the conductor’s birthday. Under the direction of Daniel Barenboim’s long-time colleague, Zubin Mehta, a new piece by Elliott Carter: “Dialogues II” will be performed. The work for piano and orchestra is dedicated to Daniel Barenboim, who will perform the piano part, as well as Beethoven’s 3^rd Piano Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s 1^st Piano Concerto. Accentus Music will record the concert in co-production with ZDF and Unitel at the Berlin Philharmonie, which will be broadcast live from 20:15CET on Arte.

The two-part documentary; “Crossing Borders: Daniel Barenboim” by Paul Smaczny accompanies the artist in a search of the social significance of music and his tireless efforts for intercultural dialogue. The first part shows Barenboim working with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and follows him at sensational premiere concerts in Cairo and Gaza City. Part two highlights Barenboim’s efforts to overcome the Wagner taboo in Israel. Arte will broadcast the co-production of Accentus Music and ZDF tonight at 22:00 CET, following the special birthday concert broadcast.

Completing Accentus Music’s monumental celebration will be the release of a major symphonic series: Anton Bruckner’s “Mature Symphonies”. In 2010 Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin performed Bruckner’s Symphonies Nos. 4 to 9 in just eight days. Accentus Music and Unitel Classica recorded the six highly acclaimed concerts at the Berlin Philharmonie. In January 2013, Accentus Music will start with the release of Bruckner’s Symphony No 4.

Paul Smaczny, producer, director and founder of Accentus Music, has collaborated for over 20 years with Daniel Barenboim. In numerous concert recordings and publications, Smaczny documents the musical work of the Buenos Aires-born conductor and pianist. For his film, “Knowledge is the Beginning – Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra”, Smaczny won the 2006 International Emmy® Award for Arts Programming.

Broadcast date: Thursday, 15th November 2012, Arte

20.15: Daniel Barenboim Birthday Concert – Live from the Berlin Philharmonic

(A production of Accentus Music in coproduction with ZDF and Unitel, in collaboration with Arte.)

22.00: Crossing Borders: Daniel Barenboim (1/2): Music and Politics

23.00: Crossing Borders: Daniel Barenboim (2/2): Musical Approaches

N.B. Above times are CET.

(A production of Accentus Music in coproduction with ZDF, in collaboration with Arte)

For more information please visit the Arte website here, or the Accentus Music website here.

(Written on November 15, 2012 )

William Berger has announced three concerts in Cape Town, South Africa this September.

On September 14th and 15th he will be performing Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus with the St George’s Singers and the Camerata Tinta Barocca at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and on September 21st he will be performing the programme from his recent recital disc, Insomnia: A Nocturnal Voyage in Song with pianist Albert Combrink.

For information about tickets, please visit William’s website.

Image credit: Paul Foster-Williams

(Written on August 31, 2012 )

Former New Generation Artists the Psophos Quartet will be making an exciting concert appearance at the Institut Français next week, where they will be exploring the French String Quartet, performing works by Debussy, Chausson and Ravel.

For more information visit the Institut Français’ website, or watch the video below:

Four Strings on Four Instruments: The Psophos Quartet at the Institut Français, March 27th, 8pm.

(Written on March 20, 2012 )

Daily Telegraph

Lang Lang at Latitude: should music festivals embrace classical?

Ivan Hewett wonders if classical music can cope with the great outdoors.

Independent

World’s first sex trafficking opera to premiere in the UK

Anya17 opens at the Liverpool Philharmonic today. The opera tackles the difficult subject of women forced in to prostitution.

Guardian

Close to you

Accompanists: The unsung heroes of music. Tom Service pays homage to the musicians condemned to sitting in the shadows.

Intermezzo

Tristan Und Isolde Und The CBSO.

This was a static Tristan und Isolde, even by concert version standards. But four enthralling hours proved that sometimes the music really is all that matters.

Jessica Duchen’s Classical Music Blog

How To Be Part Of Rox’s Love Album.

Jessica Duchen on the London premiere of Roxanna Panufnik‘s Four World Seasons.

Opera Chic

Bringing Out Brahms.

The definitive schedule for the 49th Festival Pianistico Internazionale of Brescia and Bergamo has been rolled out, titled “Brahms, the conservative progressive” in homage to the complex character of the German composer.

Arts Journal: Slipped Disc

Another Mahler Howler.

Norman Lebrecht on a Mahler Prize by the city of Klagenfurt, in southern Austria, which requires entrants to set a 1967 poem by Patti Smith.

(Written on March 7, 2012 )

LA Times 

The Sunday Conversation: Nick Glennie-Smith

The Oscars conductor talks about rehearsals and a love of music.

Placido Domingo concert of ‘Boccanegra’ canceled in New York

A concert version of the opera that was scheduled for March at New York’s Lincoln Center has been abruptly called off due to financial problems by the presenting company.

Gramophone 

The French trumpeter Maurice André has died

Born May 21, 1933; died February 25, 2012

The Guardian 

Heiner Goebbels’ A Room for London performance

The German composer and director, Heiner Goebbels, will perform a musical response to Joseph Conrad’s 1890 journal at A Room for London from 6pm–6.45pm on Sunday 26 February 2012.

Telegraph Blogs 

Why The Death of Klinghoffer deserves a better platform than it gets at ENO

The problem wasn’t with the piece but the production.

NY Times 

Tackling a Master’s Despair

The pianist Paul Lewis spoke recently in  an interview with the 92nd Street Y about the soft-spoken drama of Schubert’s music.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/arts/music/mitsuko-uchida-and-schubert-sonatas-at-carnegie-hall.html?ref=classicalmusic

(Written on February 27, 2012 )

BBC Music Magazine has nominated the ACCENTUS Music recording of Claudio Abbado and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra performing Mahler’s 9th Symphony for its prestigious award. The winner is decided online by the public – click here to vote for the ACCENTUS entry. Voting is open until the 29th February.

Having previously been described as “strongly recommended” by Gramophone Magazine, this DVD has already received widespread critical acclaim. In 2011, Andrew Clark in the Financial Times wrote “this DVD of last summer’s fabulously fluid performance with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra is an important release” and BBC Music Magazine reviewer David Nice wrote: “Finest concert DVD ever? I think so.”

The ACCENTUS release of Claudio Abbado and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra playing Mahler’s 9^th Symphony is available for purchase on DVD and Blu-ray worldwide.

(Written on January 13, 2012 )

Thomas Kemp was on In Tune on Tuesday talking about his Christmas concert, Music@Malling. This is also a first chance to hear world-premier recordings of music by Mark Anthony Turnage, from the CD recorded by Thomas Kemp and Chamber Domaine; A Constant Obsession.

You can also see Thomas Kemp featured in the January Issue of Gramophone magazine, out now.

If you missed In Tune on Tuesday, you can still listen here.

For more information on A Constant Obsession, go to the Resonus website here.

(Written on December 19, 2011 )

2011 marks the third annual Wimbledon Music Festival – a sixteen day feast of world-class music-making in SW19. We caught up with the festival’s director Anthony Wilkinson to find out why he chose Wimbledon as the location for his festival and what challenges he has faced during the first few years:

This year’s festival opens on November 12th with a performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Academy Choir and Baroque Players and soloists Nancy Argenta, Michael Chance, Allan Clayton and Roderick Williams. For full concert listings and to buy tickets, visit the Wimbledon Music Festival website or call the box office on 0844 871 7685.

(Written on October 18, 2011 )

The Guardian

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Proms disrupted by pro-Palestinian protest.

BBC takes Israeli orchestra’s performance off air after ‘sustained audience disturbance’ by pro-Palestinian campaigners

Gramophone

Israel Philharmonic triumphs despite protests

Mehta’s players have audience on their side

The Independent

Are there any requests from the floor?

Tonight’s Prom will feature music chosen by the audience on the spot. Its conductor, Ivá Fischer, tells Jessica Duchen about an invigorating leap into the unknown

The New York Times

Remembering 9/11 With Bach and Brahms

Trinity Church is commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with a week of free choral concerts.

The Times

Lang Lang/Liszt: My Piano Hero

The pianist and the composer are both superstars, but nobody benefits from a recording made over hundreds of takes

(Written on September 2, 2011 )