Gramophone

La Scala cancels ballet season opening performance following strike action

Chorus member force cancellation of Romeo and Juliet

Arts Journal – Slipped Disc

The results: Best and Worst Orchestras of 2012

The LA Philharmonic and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich make the cut

Classical Music Magazine

Venu Dhupa steps down from Creative Scotland after year to forget

Venu Dhupa, Creative Scotland’s director of creative development, has resigned from the body within weeks of her boss, chief executive Andrew Dixon.

BBC News

Classical music’s ‘all in the mind’

A Brazilian computer scientist and composer has remixed Beethoven to try to demonstrate how individuals hear things in varying ways.

Guardian

Tristan und Isolde – Wagner’s love supreme

At five hours, Tristan und Isolde is undoubtedly long. But Wagner’s transcendent opera, full of daring harmony, will have you spellbound

(Written on December 21, 2012 )

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 )

The Telegraph

Damon Albarn interview: the magic and mystery of Dr Dee

Damon Albarn and Rufus Norris have let the subject of their opera Dr Dee – part of London 2012 Festival – become an obsession, says Shakespeare scholar Jonathan Bate.

How Ivor Novello’s songs may become old friends to his listeners

Ivor Novello gave much pleasure to millions, but why has he been forgotten?

El Sistema and Gustavo Dudamel: rescuing children with music

As Gustavo Dudamel’s Simon Bolivar Orchestra helps launch London 20120 Festival, Ivan Hewett travels to Venezuela to witness the music system of El Sistema that produced it – and helps to save children from lives of violence and crime.

El Sistema timeline: from a Caracas garage to the Albert Hall

The history of El Sistema, the Venezuelan musical education programme which has produced the Simon Bolivar Orchestra.

BBC Music Magazine

All BBC orchestras and BBC Singers to stay open

Newly published report recommends all ensembles continue but with ‘substantial savings’.

The Guardian

Dudamel’s heroic Beethoven challenge

Beethoven’s third symphony – the Eroica – is an exposing piece for any orchestra. Will the newly matured Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra make the grade?

LA Times

Gustavo Dudamel in talks to compose score for Simon Bolivar film

Conductor Gustavo Dudamel is expected to lend his musical talent to a new movie about the life of Simón Bolívar.

Gramophone

Takacs Quartet, Sir Mark Elder, Andrew Litton and Rachel Podger

The latest edition of the Gramophone Podcast is now online.

Arts Journal – Slipped Disc

US orch hires new music director after 25 years

The Illinois Philharmonic played happily for more than two decades with Carmen DeLeone, who retired last year.

Criticising the critics: Only one UK newspaper reviews Youtube’s hottest pianist

Somehow none of London’s critical pack found time to attend Valentina Lisitsa’s groundbreaking debut at the Royal Albert Hall.

Cologne fires opera chief

The saga of who runs opera in one of Germany’s biggest cities – and whether there will be any opera at all next year – took an upturn last night when the city fired the opera intendant, Uwe Eric Laufenberg.

NY Times

Late-Night Drinks With a Pianist

David Greilsammer, known for his inventive programs of piano works, will play one of the late-night concerts at the Mostly Mozart Festival.

(Written on June 22, 2012 )

The Telegraph

Russell Watson to sing at White House

British tenor Russell Watson will perform at Barack Obama’s White House for Independence Day celebrations.

We can’t all be Mozart – but we can still play

From Caracas to Sterling, the evidence that music can transform lives is utterly overwhelming.

Classical Music Magazine

Arts Council’s £30.5 million match funding for endowment schemes

The Hallé’s new orchestra centre, Opera North’s ongoing Ring cycle, the Philharmonia’s digital programme, and international work to be based at The Sage, Gateshead, are among projects to benefit from Arts Council England’s ‘Catalyst’ funding.

BBC Music Magazine

New Gareth Malone TV series

Choirmaster and television presenter Gareth Malone will return to television later this year with a new six-part series featuring choirs in the workplace.

The Times

Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna: the Liz Taylor and Richard Burton of opera

For anything is possible when it comes to opera’s golden couple. Their romance off-stage has mirrored the operas they headline around the world.

Arts Journal – Slipped Disc

Cello authority dies

Gerhard Mantel, author of ‘Cello Technique – Principles and Forms of Movement’ and professor at the Frankfurt Hochschule, has died aged 82.

Gramophone

King’s College Cambridge and King’s Singers Foundation launch ‘A Carol for Christmas’

The UK summer is now in full swing – complete with its traditional rain and tepid temperatures – but the King’s Singers Foundation is asking British composers to cast their thoughts forward to the Christmas season.

Guardian

Big Noise orchestra’s classical music proves instrumental in social change

El Sistema and Gustavo Dudamel’s Simon Bolivar Orchestra turn musicianship into citizenship in in Stirling’s Raploch estate.

Wagner’s Dream: watch clips from the new documentary

Susan Froemke’s documentary follows Robert Lepage’s five-year journey as he stages Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle for New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

La Cenerentola – a musical guide 

The prince is in disguise, there’s no fairy godmother and not even a glass slipper, but Rossini’s take on the Cinderella story offers sparkles, star turns and a great storm scene.

(Written on June 21, 2012 )

The Telegraph

Beecham’s noise is always a sheer pleasure to hear

For sheer pleasure, the great English conductor Sir Thomas Beecham often strikes Charles Spencer as unbeatable.

The Guardian

A guide to Arvo Pärt’s music

The deeply spiritual composer who found his own musical language with a love of every note at its heart.

London Philharmonic Orchestra to perform live at the Royal Academy

The first symphonic concert to take place in the Royal Academy of Arts’ courtyard will be live-streamed at the Guardian.

Arts Journal – Slipped Disc

BBC decides to keep all its orchestras and performing groups

The nervously-awaited BBC review of its orchestras and performing groups landed today and the outcome is much better than some feared.

Some eye-popping statistics from the BBC orchestras report

Try this for size: the average annual spend of a BBC orchestra is £6.1 million, compared to £9.7 million for independent orchestras funded by the Arts Council.

A Venezuelan is rising Down Under

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has just announced Diego Matheuz as its principal guest conductor, starting alongside the new music director, Andrew Davis.

Classical Music Magazine

Musicians named in Queen’s Birthday Honours

The Queen’s Birthday Honours list has been announced, with opera director David McVicar awarded a knighthood and CBEs going to composer Michael Berkeley and Harry Christophers.

LA Times

Bill Cosby bids a fond farewell to hosting Playboy Jazz Festival

Bill Cosby wraps up his final Playboy Jazz Festival as emcee, saying it’s time for someone with ‘a newer voice’. Attendees say they’ll miss him.

Gramophone

Sir Andrew Davis appointed Melbourne Symphony Orchestra chief conductor

Sir Andrew takes up the position for four years, starting in January 2013.

(Written on June 19, 2012 )

The Guardian

A guide to Helmut Lachenmann’s music

Ever wondered what a beetle on its back sounds like? Try opening your ears to the virtuosity of Lachenmann’s music.

Jessica Duchen

My first night shift

Full marks to the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment not just for magnificent playing but also for creative thinking; and for their willingness to experiment with the new, as well as resuscitating the old.

LA Times

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Diamond Jubilee royal tribute top charts

Andrew Lloyd Webber has another hit single — this time fit for a queen.

Arts Journal – Slipped Disc

Tel Aviv Wagner concert is cancelled again as hotel pulls down shutters

The ice-break Wagner concert that Tel Aviv University turned down after protests from Holocaust survivors has now been shut out by its substitute venue, the Tel Aviv Hilton Hotel.

Famous US orchestra may go part time

It was founded in 1959 as an economic alternative to the Big Beast Five and has flourished ever since as America’s only full-time chamber orchestra. But hard times have hit St Paul, Minnesota, and the orchestra needs to trim $1.5 million off next year’s budget.

Orchestra arrested at London Gatwick Airport

The opening concert of this year’s Spitalfields Festival almost had to be cancelled last night because of the over-zealous Border Agency officials at Gatwick, and possibly lax ones in Holland.

Gramophone

Jason Vieaux launches online Classical Guitar School

Guitarist Jason Vieaux launches an online Classical Guitar School on June 14, the first of its kind for the instrument.

The Times

A burst of opera takes library users by surprise

Standing on top of a carousel of large-print books, a lovestruck librarian is singing her heart out to her suitor, a gawky young fellow who for years has admired her from afar.

Musical suicide? The opera about a London bomb plot

By presenting Edward Rushton’s Babur in London the company seems determined to be not just provocative but incendiary.

(Written on June 12, 2012 )

The Telegraph

Hay Festival 2012: An interview with Bryn Terfel

This summer he will be singing lieder, playing Wotan, performing Cole Porter and raising money for charity.

Classical Music Magazine

Knussen wins Critics’ Circle Award for Outstanding Musician

The Critics’ Circle Awards 2012 have been announced, with composer and conductor Oliver Knussen winning the award for Outstanding Musician.

The Guardian

Oliver Knussen: ‘It’ never occured to me that not everybody thought music was the most important thing in life’

As the composer and conductor celebrates his 60th birthday year, he talks to Fiona Maddocks.

Arts Journal – Slipped Disc

Israel’s ice-break Wagner concert moves to new venue

Banned by Tel Aviv University, Asher Fisch’s introduction to Wagner’s music for deprived Israelis will be held at the Tel Aviv Hilton.

A second orchestra opens in the Arab gulf, with a cancellation

Not to be outdone by their Qatari neighbours, the United Arab Emirates have announced the formation of ‘a non-profit, community orchestra of excellence’.

Gramophone

Parkening International Guitar Competition winner announced

Petrit Ceku receives Gold medal and $30,000 cash prize.

(Written on June 8, 2012 )

The Independent

Independent podcast: Naxos 25th anniversary

In just a quarter of a century Naxos has created “a catalogue comprising the largest number of individual works and the widest available repertoire of any classical label since the beginning of the recording era.”

The Guardian

A guide to Harrison Birtwistle’s music

Harrison’s elemental and powerful music feels both ancient and modern.

Classical Music Magazine

BBC Young Musician: the winner

The winner of BBC Young Musician 2012, the final of which was held at the Sage, Gateshead on 13 May and broadcast on Radio 3 and BBC2, is 15-year-old cellist Laura van der Heijden.

Jessica Duchen

There can only be one BBC Young Musician of the year

For every musician whose lifelong public career is launched in the arena of BBC Young Musicians, there are maybe 100 more, at least, who vanish.

The Times

Spira mirabilis: The orchestra where everyone’s in charge

Does an orchestra where all players have an equal say mean a recipe for amity or anarchy?

The NY Times

David Robertson to Lead Sydney Symphony

David Robertson, the music director of the St. Louis Symphony, has taken on a position on the other side of the world, becoming artistic director and chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony in Australia starting in 2014.

Financial Times

To marry the heart and the head

The prolific Catalan musician Jordi Savall talks about grief, memory and building bridges.

ArtsJournal – Slipped disc

Saxon sings out to save Bach ensemble

The theatre in Eisenach, Bach’s birthplace, is under threat of closure. Hundreds gathered to stage a peaceful protest in song.

Gramophone

Miloš: new champion of the classical guitar

A classical guitarist’s debut recording remained at the top of the Specialist Classical Chart for much of the past year. That artist is Miloš Karadaglić – or Miloš as he’s known simply – who was named Gramophone’s Young Artist of the Year at our 2011 Awards.

Venezuelan Rafael Payare wins Malko Competition

32-year-old Venezuelan Rafael Payare won the Malko Competition for Young Conductors in Copenhagen on Saturday in an atmospheric final round broadcast live on Danish radio and television.

(Written on May 15, 2012 )

WildKat PR are very excited to announce a new collaboration with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. We will be working with the orchestra as they launch their latest innovative marketing campaign featuring unlikely classical music fans.

Check out the orchestra’s blog for teasers of the campaign, which will be unveiled with their new season brochure soon. You can also view the trailer for the launch of the campaign here:

Other 2012 highlights for the OAE include a European tour with Sir Simon Rattle and Pierre-Laurant Aimard in June and their series exploring women in music: ‘Queens, Heroines and Ladykillers’.

For more information, visit the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s website.

(Written on April 23, 2012 )

The Times

Death of David Kelly To Provide Inspiration For Opera

Will Self has used the death of the British scientist and biological warfare expert Dr David Kelly as inspiration for an opera.

How The Higginbottom Home Hatched Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

One wears cassocks and the other wears feathers. But Edward and Orlando Higginbottom say that all music is costume drama.

LA Times

Pasadena Symphony: Michael Stern Takes Baton For Ailing DePreist

James DePreist, artistic advisor of the Pasadena Symphony, is recovering from heart bypass surgery and won’t be able to conduct its April 28 program at the Ambassador Auditorium, the orchestra announced Thursday.

Telegraph

The Parliament Choir: Cross-Party Harmony In The House

The Parliament Choir allows people of all persuasions to put aside political differences and unite in song.

Robin Ticciati: The 28-Year-Old Who Makes Top-Rank Conducting Look So Easy

Robin Ticciati, musical director of the SCO, tells Ivan Hewett the secret of his success.

Colin Currie: It’s Not Noise, It’s Real Music

Colin Currie is leading a generation of ever more sophisticated players, says Ivan Hewett.

As Bach Demonstrates, The Great Story Is Greater Still When It’s Sung

It is an amazing feeling, knowing that people have been singing their accounts of the Passion of Christ for at least 1,200 years.

Jessica Duchen’s Classical Music Blog

Musical Miracle In The Congo

An ex-pilot in Kinshasa founded a symphony orchestra

New York Times

Let’s Talk About ‘The Ring’

Talking about the ‘Ring’ by Wagner at the Metropolitan Opera

Guardian

Export Ban Helps Britten Manuscript Stay In The UK

The British Library have acquired a fascinating manuscript of Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Tom Service tells the story.

Intermezzo

Hair Of The Choccy Dog

The crowning point of Zurich’s recent Salon du Chocolat exhibition was a fashion show where designers paired with chocolatiers to create outfits connected to the theme of opera.

http://intermezzo.typepad.com/intermezzo/2012/04/chocolate-fashion.html#more

(Written on April 10, 2012 )