Classic FM

Choral version of Anne Frank’s diary gets release date

Composer James Whitbourn’s choral setting of The Diary of Anne Frank is to be released on January 22nd.

League table reveals hardest-working in classical music

New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert, Sir Simon Rattle, Arvo Pärt and Handel’s Messiah are the winners in a survey of classical music concerts in 2012.

Gramophone

Obituary: John Carol Case, bass-baritone

The English bass-baritone, singing teacher and carol composer John Carol Case, OBE, has died, aged 89.

Irish Independent (found on Musical Chairs)

Bird ‘more complex than orchestra’

Songbirds possess a musical instrument more complex than anything found in an orchestra, a study has confirmed.

Slipped Disc

David Bowie and Philip Glass talk through their two symphonies

The world awoke [yesterday] to the news that David Bowie, on his 66th birthday, has broken ten years of creative silence with a seminal new single, Where Are We Now?

British composer misses Carnegie Hall deadline

Oliver Knussen has failed to deliver a new work to the Philadelphia Orchestra in time for a Carnegie Hall premiere next month.

The Independent

Why clapping ruins concerts

Intrusive applause can spoil a classical concert, leading conductors tell Simon O’Hagan

Deceptive Cadence, NPR

Leonidas Kavakos: Letting Beethoven Shine

Violinist Leonidas Kavakos is something of a musician’s musician in the classical world.

Irish Independent

(Written on January 9, 2013 )

The Telegraph

Handel’s ‘unknown’ collaborator who was vital to his Messiah, letters show

Handel’s Messiah, one of the most recognisable pieces of classical music in the world, could have been named Jennens’ Messiah, it has been emerged, after letters from the composer himself gave credit to his “utterly unknown” collaborator.

When classical music is for adults only 

The starched suit of the concert hall is being ripped open to reveal the X-rated passions beneath, says Ivan Hewett

Classical Music Magazine

Universal bolsters classical credentials with new appointment

Universal Music Group International’s recruitment of Chaz Jenkins from LSO Live continues the company’s efforts to restore its reputation in the core classical market.

Gramophone

Polish tenor Piotr Beczala signs to Deutsche Grammophon

First release under the new agreement will be a tribute album to tenor Richard Tauber

Classic FM

Katherine Jenkins and Placido Domingo duet at Royal Variety

Mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins and tenor Placido Domingo teamed up last night for the Royal Variety Performance 2012, celebrating the show’s 100th anniversary.

Slipped Disc

Variety: London is now Hollywood’s music studio

The entertainment industry gazette has published an article on the flight of soundtrack and videogame recordings from Hollywood to Europe.

LA Times

‘Chasing Ice’ film composer J. Ralph sees climate change up close

Upon reentering his recording studio in New York’s waterlogged Lower East Side neighborhood two days after Superstorm Sandy, musician and film composer J.  Ralph was struck by how quickly the 250-gallon fish tank he keeps filled with about three dozen parrot fish had become completely fouled when the tank’s electric air pump shut off.

The New York Times – Arts Beat

Patrick Stewart to Co-Host an Evening of Very Light Opera

Patrick Stewart will bring some serious acting chops to an evening of light entertainment at the Lyric Opera of Chicago featuring the Second City sketch comedy and improv group.

The Telegraph

(Written on November 21, 2012 )

Gramophone

(Written on November 12, 2012 )

Classic FM

Opera North spring season to feature Handel, Britten and Wagner

The spring 2013 season for Opera North has been announced, with opera from Handel, Wagner and Albert Herring topping the bill.

John Suchet’s Beethoven Book Tour

Classic FM’s John Suchet is out and about around the country promoting his new Beethoven book: Beethoven – The Man Revealed.

Beethoven, Schoenberg, Bach manuscripts auctioned for huge prices

A Beethoven manuscript has sold for €252,750 in an auction at Sotheby’s, Paris, along with scores by Schoenberg and Bach.

Deceptive Cadence

(Written on October 18, 2012 )

Classic FM

Handel Flash Mob in Supermarket

Handel and hummus are not exactly a combination you’d expect to see on a shopping list but we love classical music so much, we think it makes an amazing dish!

Classic BRITs 2012 nominations revealed at London launch

Possible winners for this year’s Classic BRIT Awards were announced in a nominations ceremony in London last night.

Classic FM’s 20th Birthday

The celebrations started just after 6am this morning, twenty years to the minute that the UK’s first national commercial radio station launched on air.

Liverpool echo

Liverpool Philharmonic Hall secures key funding for refurbishment from city council

The first step to securing more than £10m to refurbish Liverpool’s historic Philharmonic Hall will be taken this week.

Gramophone

Rosenblatt Recitals announces new partnership with Sky Arts

Four recitals to be broadcast in 2013

I care if you listen

5 questions to David Toop (composer) about Star-shaped Biscuit

On Saturday, September 15, Faster than Sound (Aldeburgh Music experimental program that connects the dots between musical genres and digital art forms) will present David Toop’s Star-Shaped Biscuit, an opera inspired by the writings of the French dandy and author extraordinaire Raymond Roussel.

Classic FM’s 20th birthday, Classic FM.

(Written on September 7, 2012 )

After the successful launch of his debut recital disc on 15^th July, William Berger will be chatting with Jamie MacDougall on ‘Classics Unwrapped’ tonight on BBC Radio Scotland at 8:30pm about his upcoming Highlands tour with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Nicholas McGegan. William will also be performing in Edinburgh in August with Ludus Baroque in two concerts performing Handel’s Triumph of Time and Truth and Bach’s Mass in B Minor.

Photographer: Paul Foster Williams

(Written on July 17, 2012 )

The Guardian

José Antonio Abreu on Venezuela’s El Sistema miracle

In a rare interview, José  Antonio Abreu talks about his passion for Venezuela’s extraordinary musical programme that gives children a route out of poverty.

BBC Music Magazine

Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott set up charity

Soprano Anna Netrebko and bass-baritone Erwin Schrott have created a charitable foundation to support disabled and disadvantaged children.

LA Times

Spectrum Road to pay tribute to Lifetime at Playboy Jazz Festival

Spectrum Road will explore the music of Tony Williams’ Lifetime at the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl.

Arts Journal – Slipped Disc

The Water Music the BBC wouldn’t let you see or hear

The Academy of Ancient Music has published a video of its performance of Handel’s Water Music in the Royal Flotilla.

Wales thinks it has found the next Bryn Terfel

You’d expect the Welsh to be first to put up a candidate for next year’s Cardiff Singer of the World content and, sure enough, their man is on the starting line while other nations are still stuttering in rehearsal rooms.

NY Times

The American Symphony, at 50, Harcks Back to Stokowski

When Leopold Stokowski formed the American Symphony Orchestra 50 years ago, he wanted to create, in part, a training ground for young musicians.

The Times

London 2012 Festival: best classical and opera

Chief cultural critic Richard Morrison on the classical music and opera he is most looking forward to.

The New Yorker

A legendary Mendelssohn recording

Oliver Knussen, the great British composer and conductor, turned sixty on Tuesday.

Gramophone

Bach cantata manuscript sells for £337,250 at Christie’s in London

Rare example of Bach’s musical hand sells to private collector.

Missy Mazzoli named Composer-in-Residence of Opera Company of Philadelphia

Missy Mazzoli has been selected as the second Composer-in-Residence of the Opera Company of Philadelphia, in collaboration with Gotham Chamber Opera and the Music Theatre Group in New York.

(Written on June 15, 2012 )

It’s a long-long weekend, it’s the Jubilee Weekend – it’s a WildKat party!

The Jubilee Weekend is upon us, London is decked out in flags and all things festive and we feel compelled to share our favourite regal and patriotic music with you. That bunting would just look so out of place if it weren’t for some royal tunes to go with it.

So here are some of our favourite (some seriously superb, some simply fun) musical choices for the royal weekend! Wave those flags, get the beverages and the food out and let’s sing and sway along!

Handel – Music for the Royal Fireworks

Composer under contract of George II for the fireworks in London’s Green Park on 27 April 1749 Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks celebrated the end of the War of the Austrian Succession. When published, Handel wished to present the work as an overture but the Crown had it given the title “Music for the Royal Fireworks” as propaganda in favour of an otherwise unpopular Treaty and monarch.

Thomas Arne’s – Rule Britannia! 

Rule Britannia was  was originally composed for Alfred, a masque about Alfred the Great, and first performed at the country home of Frederick, Prince of Wales (the eldest son of George II and father of the future George III, as well as the great-grandfather of Queen Victoria), on 1 August 1740, to commemorate the accession of George II and the third birthday of the Princess Augusta.

We know several people who are huge fans of this diva-off:

Walton – Crown Imperial

Despite being composed for King George VI’s brother, Edward VIII, Crown Imperial was first performed at the coronation of King George VI in 1937.

Widor - Toccata from Symphony No 5

Probably one of Widor’s best known works, the Toccata from Symphony No. 5 for Organ has been performed at the weddings of many members of the Royal Family, including Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Prince William.

Haydn – “Kaiser” Quartet

To round off our playlist, we’re recommending Haydn’s String Quartet Op. 76 No. 3, which was composed while he was employed at the court of Prince Nicolaus Esterházy II and boasts the nickname ‘Emperor’ because Haydn quotes the melody from ‘God Save Emperor Francis’.

(Written on June 1, 2012 )

Virtuoso Baroque Violinist Johannes Pramsohler will be appearing on BBC Radio 3′s In Tune this afternoon along with his ensemble the International Baroque Players.

Johannes will be joined by IBP Director, Aliye Cornish, to talk about the groups upcoming events and recently released debut CD ‘Pisendel – Violin Concertos from Dresden’.  The CD, which features previously unrecorded works by Handel, Fasch, Heinchen and Pisendel, has received rave reviews in the UK and mainland Europe.

The group will be performing tomorrow as part of the London Handel Festival at Grosvenor Chapel, 19.00 in a concert themed The Madness of Love’ featuring Soprano Mercedes Arcuri.

Tune in from 16.30 to listen live or catch up on BBC iplayer

(Written on April 11, 2012 )

Every day the WildKat team scan the newspapers and blogs online to bring you a digested list of the day’s classical music.

The Independent

How Xbox fans could save classical music

Rebecca Armstrong tunes into orchestral renditions of video game soundtracks.

The Times

Hvorostovsky/Ilja at the Barbican

The Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky is certainly a hard act to upstage. Yet the Estonian pianist Ivari Ilja all but succeeded in doing just that at their latest Barbican recital.

The Times

LSO/Davis/Noseda at Lincoln Centre, New York

New York’s musical public is famously hard to impress. But three times in five days the audience at Avery Fisher Hall, home of the New York Philharmonic, surged to its feet to give a standing ovation to the London Symphony Orchestra

Gramophone Blogs

The Dvorák you don’t know- but should

Time for a focus on the rest of the quartets and symphonies.

The  Evening Standard

Castor and Pollux, ENO

No British opera company has done more to establish Handel in the modern repertoire than ENO.

(Written on October 25, 2011 )