Last year Baritone William Berger achieved critical acclaim for his debut album Insomnia: a Nocturnal Voyage in Song, which was selected by Guardian critics as one of the best classical albums of the year.  2012 also saw William make his debut in the title role of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo with La Nuova Musica and tour Scotland with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. In 2013, William will be releasing his new album with the SCO featuring arias by Mozart, Haydn and Cimarosa. He will also be performing a number of concerts throughout Europe.

On 19^th July, William will be singing at the Paxton Music Festival in Berwickshire, Scotland. This festival was formed in 2006 to present high quality performances of chamber music at Paxton House. Since then, the Festival has grown from a weekend of concerts to a ten-day event, bringing international artists to the Scottish Borders such as Joanna MacGregor; Steven Osborne; as well as the Doric, St Petersburg, Edinburgh and Heath Quartets. William will be performing a mixed programme including Gypsy Songs by Dvorak, Dover Beach by Barber and Death and the Maiden by Schubert. Shortly after he will perform Bach’s B Minor Mass in Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh accompanied by Ludus Baroque, a baroque chamber orchestra founded in 1997 by Richard Neville-Towle.

Every September since 2006, the American Military Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands holds an open-air concert to remember and honour the Allied soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom in World War II and to celebrate the liberation of The Netherlands.  On the 8^th September William will perform Mozart’s Requiem at this concert alongside Philharmonie Zuid-Nederland, conducted by Roberto Rizzi Brignoli.

Later in the year, William will head back to England to perform Bach’s Magnificat and Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum at St John’s Smith Square, London with the City of London Choir, and “Music For a While”, conducted by Hilary Davan Wetton on 14^th November.

Along with these concerts, William will also be performing The Kingdom by Elgar at Guildford Catherdral with the Surrey Festival Choir and Orchestra on 6^th July, Dixit Dominus and Apollo e Dafne by Handel at the Haddo Arts Festival in Aberdeen on 5^th October, and Weihnachts Oratorium by Bach in Edinburgh with Ludus Baroque on 3^rd December, and Handel’s Messiah at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast on 13^th and 14^th December.  William will perform Messiah once again at Santiago de Campostela in Spain with the Real Filharmonia Galicia, conducted by Paul Daniel.

(Written on June 18, 2013 )

As multimedia becomes a more and more important role in our life, it is already used in different types of art in order to develop it further and bring new aspects in the interpretation of pieces.

Approaches of dealing with multimedia in theatre can be seen in the productions of Katie Mitchell, a British theatre director, and Leo Warner, a video designer. Their productions are characterised by the use of cameras, multimedia projections, and the sound techniques of early silent cinema on stage, with actors scurrying about filming their colleagues and swapping roles with one another. Piece “Fraulein Julie”, premiered at the Schaubühne theatre in Berlin in 2010 and now on at the Barbican in London, and “Waves”, premiered in 2005, both incorporate this idea and new method.

A way to deal with multimedia in opera can be seen in the new, groundbreaking interpretation of Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte“ at the Komische Oper Berlin. Opera and multimedia are brought together in a union never seen before. The director of the opera house, Barrie Kosky, restaged this piece with British theater group “1927“. “1927“ had already used the method in their shows, a dynamic interaction between animation and actors.

In “Die Zauberflöte“ a plain wall is used on stage to project the animations and to create a wonderful fantasy world with flying recorders and growing plants. This unique interpretation still proves an enormous success and can be watched and understood regardless of potential language barriers.

Have a look at the trailer here… but it is definitely better to see it live at the Komische Oper Berlin!!

(Written on May 8, 2013 )

Excitement certainly abounds in our office when the BBC Proms programme is announced. This year was no different, from Joyce DiDinato closing the season, Marin Alsop becoming the first female conductor to lead the Last Night of the Proms, to a number of our clients performing in this year’s lineup.

Another great asset to this year’s Proms was the inclusion of new commissions, along with more national and world premieres in the programme. Whilst it is still less than 20% of the Proms that include new commissions, it is still a fantastic effort by the BBC to bring new works to a new, and very wide, audience. We hope that this number continues to grow in future!

This year’s BBC Commissions include works by Julian Anderson, Frederic Rzewski, John McCabe and Charlotte Seither. A definite highlight of the Proms will be the BBC co-commission of Mark-Anthony Turnage, with the Royal Philharmonic Society and New York Philharmonic: Frieze in Prom 38.

One of the 8 UK premieres this year is Colin Matthews’ Turning Point in Prom 21, performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under the baton of Thomas Søndergård, in his Proms debut. Also appearing in this Prom is violinist Daniel Hope, who is playing Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2.

Daniel Harding conducts works by Mozart, Schumann and Sibelius at Prom 23 with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, while pianist Anika Vavic makes her Proms debut at Prom 64 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski, also performing Prokofiev.

Prom 19 is a performance of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde including tenor Andrew Staples with the BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus and BBC Symphony Orchestra.

We salute all of these great performers with a ‘Toi toi toi!’ and look forward to the summer and another great year of BBC Proms programming.

(Written on April 18, 2013 )

The Guardian

How composers from Mozart to Bach made their music add up

Works from The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute to Schumann’s Lyric Suite betray their creators’ fascination with numbers.

The Telegraph

Sex, jealousy and strings

A star-studded new film explores the intense inner world of the string quartet. Yet the truth, says Ivan Hewett, is even more startling.

Classic FM

John Eliot Gardiner on birthdays, Bach and bath towels

Classic FM’s David Mellor and John Eliot Gardiner discuss the various exciting projects Gardiner has in store for his 70th year, as well as what the future may hold.

Gramophone

La Nuova Musica record Vivaldi and Handel Dixit Dominus settings

Harmonia Mundi album is due for release on April 8.

Gramophone

English National Opera names new chairman

Businessman Martyn Rose takes up post on May 1.

Planet Hugill

Maclean’s Magazine

Montreal without Nagano?

From La Presse‘s Claude Gingras comes the news, that Kent Nagano, the music director of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, will leave town when his second contract expires in 2016.

The Guardian

(Written on April 5, 2013 )

Tomorrow evening at 7.30pm, renowned independent school, Millfield School, will perform its much-anticipated concert at Cadogan Hall, London.

The performance, celebrating Millfield’s impressive 2012-13 concert season, will include the school’s award-winning chamber choir, the Millfield Camerata, performing a world premiere of Jumping the Rhynes for choir and percussion ensemble. The piece was especially written for the school by ‘The Police’ drummer and Millfield School alumnus, Stewart Copeland, having been inspired by his time at the school in the 1960s. The concert will also feature Millfield’s String Consultant, leading violinist So-Ock Kim, whose career has seen her perform at some of London’s most renowned venues including Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall and the Barbican.

‘Millfield at Cadogan’ has been greatly anticipated, being featured in many popular publications including Classic FM, Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine What’s On. Tickets for the event start at £15 and the programme for the concert is as follows:

Stewart Copeland World Premiere of ‘Jumping the Rhynes’ (chorus and percussion ensemble)

Vivaldi Four Seasons

Mozart Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor

Schumann Piano Quintet

For more information about the concert or to purchase tickets, please click here.

Millfield Camerata

(Written on March 22, 2013 )

Earlier this week, the Royal Opera House announced their exciting programme for the 2013/2014 season, which can be seen here, generating a discussion in the office about how we choose which operas we would like to see.

Watch our video blog below to find out what we are looking forward to and why:

Are you looking forward to the 2013/2014 season at the Royal Opera House as much as we are? Tell us what you would like to see and why?

(Written on March 15, 2013 )

Classic FM

Nicola Benedetti and Daniel Hope to headline Bristol Proms

A new series of concerts, The Bristol Proms, have been unveiled, and will feature performers including Nicola Benedetti and Daniel Hope.

Around the World In 18 Tunes – the performance

All the performance pictures from the Armonico Consort’s ‘Around The World In 18 Tunes’ concert, featuring 1,200 school children from all over the country, and Russell Watson performing ‘You Raise Me Up’.

The Guardian

Letters and secret files reveal the tormented life of Lina Prokofiev

New book on Soviet composer’s family will show how his wife was abandoned, tortured by Stalin’s police and sent to the gulag

The Telegraph

Clemency Burton-Hill: why Justin Bieber is like Mozart

Some say he represents the very worst of manufactured teenage pop music. Others say his scraps with paparazzi photographers and late arrivals to concerts are brattish.

The Independent

Heads Up: Sunken Garden

It’s a bouquet of 3D film, opera, and electronic music

BBC News

Vienna Philharmonic’s Nazi past detailed

Almost half the musicians in the Vienna Philharmonic during World War II were members of the Nazi party, new research has revealed.

Washington Times

Polish police arrest man in philharmonic killing

A Polish official says a suspect has been arrested in the killing of a young female harpist and a security guard in the building of a philharmonic in western Poland.

Classic FM (Richard Johnson)

(Written on March 11, 2013 )

Classic FM

Mozart Effect to stop crime in New Zealand?

New Zealand shop-owners have found a novel way of deterring crime – the music of Mozart

Gramophone

The Met: Live in HD announces 2013-14 season

Ten live Metropolitan Opera transmissions, including four new productions, will take place in 64 countries

BBC (via musicalchairs.info)

Bulgaria violin ‘may be Stradivarius stolen in London’

A violin recovered following a police operation in Bulgaria could be a Stradivarius made in 1696 which was stolen from a central London station

Courier Journal (via musicalchairs.info)

Louisville Orchestra and musicians reach 3-year contract

Three-year agreement calls for freezing wages for two years

Classical Source

New York Philharmonic Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow To Join Music Academy Of The West Faculty

Violinist Glenn Dicterow, the longest-serving concertmaster in the history of the New York Philharmonic, will join the celebrated string faculty at the Music Academy of the West for the Academy’s 2014 Summer School and Festival, campus officials have announced

Classical Source

Ava June Dies Aged 81

The English (London-born) soprano Ava June (Ava June Cooper, by marriage) has died at the age of 81

Classic FM

(Written on March 6, 2013 )

Gramophone

Borletti-Buitoni Trust celebrates 10th anniversary in May 2013

Weekend of special events to feature the BBT’s most successful award winners

Classic FM

Final Fantasy Barbican concert with LSO announced

Nobuo Uematsu’s Final Fantasy music is to be played live by the London Symphony Orchestra at The Barbican on 30th May 2013, it has been announced.

André Rieu performs at Champions League football match

André Rieu performed in front of a packed stadium of football fans last week, treating the masses to a waltz.

Deceptive Cadence

Michel Van Der Aa Wins The Grawemeyer Award For Music

Up-close, a multi-disciplinary work by Dutch composer and director Michel van der Aa that combines a piercing cello concerto with an enigmatic silent film, has won the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition.

Slipped Disc

UK musicians face 12.5% tax hit if they lose this case

The Court of Appeal is to hear a test case in December asking for a reversal of a recent judgement that would add 12.5 percent to a freelance player’s National Insurance costs.

Doyen of Dutch music has died

We have been apprised of the death today of Simeon ten Holt, one of the most most prolific Dutch modernists and hypnotic post-modernists.

The Telegraph

The Opera Novice: Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro

The Marriage of Figaro is so engrossing you almost forget you’re watching an opera, says Sameer Rahim.

China Daily

Opera singing mayor surprises residents

Mayor Chen Jianhua gave residents a happy surprise when he sang Yueju, or Cantonese opera, in the Guangdong provincial capital on Monday night.

Classic FM

(Written on November 27, 2012 )

This evening, Cadogan Hall will play host to Ignatz Waghalter: The Lost Romantic. Due to the extraodinary circumstances of his life, Waghalter’s works were lost and forgotten due to his flight from persecution, and the change in musical style following the Second World War. Sixty years after the composer’s death,  his works were discovered and The Waghalter Project was established to re-establish Waghalter as one of the great late Romantic composers. Project founder and violinist, Irmina Trynkos, will be performing Waghalter’s works with the English Chamber Orchestra and conductor Alexander Walker, amongst works by Mozart, Dvořák, and Mendelssohn. Having not been performed in over 100 years, tonight will be a unique opportunity to hear Waghalter’s Violin Concerto in A major, and Rhapsodie for Violin and Orchestra.

For the chance to see the performance of Ignatz Waghalter’s works, or more more information, click here.

The Naxos recording of the violin repertoire can be purchased here.

(Written on November 14, 2012 )