BBC News

Jonas Kaufmann wins Best Male Opera Singer award

Tenor Jonas Kaufmann has won best male singer and the reader’s award at the inaugural International Opera awards.

Classic FM

The International Opera Awards 2013 – The Winners

The inaugural International Opera Awards took place at London’s Hilton Park Lane hotel.

Gramophone

The Berliner Philharmoniker announces its 2013-14 season

The Berliner Philharmoniker has announced its 2013-14 season, including 117 orchestral concerts and four opera performances of which chief conductor Sir Simon Rattle will conduct 57 concerts (27 in Berlin).

Gramophone

Elizabeth Watts releases a single for Streetwise Opera

The soprano Elizabeth Watts has just released a digital single of ‘Lascia ch’io pianga’ from Handel’s  Rinaldo to raise money for Streetwise Opera.

BBC News

Fergus Linehan appointed as new Edinburgh International Festival director

Fergus Linehan, former director of the Sydney International Festival and head of music at the Sydney Opera House, will take over from Jonathan Mills.

BBC News

Shakespeare’s Globe sets up youth company

Shakespeare’s Globe is setting up a new youth company to specialise in Jacobean period drama.

NY Times – ArtsBeat

Met Opera Announces Outdoor Performances

The Metropolitan Opera released the performers, dates and places on Monday for the free park recitals it sponsors every summer in lieu of full-scale opera performances, which were suspended after 2007 because of the cost.

The Times

Conductor Robin Ticciati remembers Sir Colin Davis

Robin Ticciati, the young British conductor, writes movingly about his mentor Sir Colin Davis, who died last week

Telegraph

There’s a reason musicians are Lefties – it’s all about class

It’s worth remembering that the superstar, highly paid musician is a recent phenomenon. Before that, a musician had a status that was more like a cook.

BBC News

(Written on April 23, 2013 )

The Independent

Placido Domingo to receive ceremonial Freedom of the City of London

Spanish opera singer Placido Domingo is in the UK today (16th April) to receive the ceremonial Freedom of the City of London.

Classic FM

Giacchino calls for John Williams to score Star Wars VII

Film composer Michael Giacchino has revealed that he wants to hear a John Williams soundtrack for the new Star Wars movie, despite speculation that he would be commissioned to compose it.

Gramophone

Great Britons with Britten

A new set of ten stamps, released today by the Royal Mail, celebrates ten Great Britons – and it’s encouraging to see a classical composer acknowledged in his centenary year, Benjamin Britten.

New York Times

Jörg Widmann – On Clarinet, The Composer

Two years ago, in the intimate Rose Studio high above West 65th Street, the German composer and clarinetist Jörg Widmann opened a Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center concert with a performance of his Fantasie for Solo Clarinet, inspired by commedia dell’arte.

The Guardian

The hidden treasures of Covent Garden: spangles, gilt and a singing green head

Relics from the Royal Opera House and Royal Ballet’s most famous productions are wheeled out of storage for preservation.

BBC Music Magazine

Sir Colin Davis: Obituary

The conductor Sir Colin Davis has died at the age of 85.

The Independent

(Written on April 16, 2013 )

The Guardian

Sir Colin Davis, LSO’s longest-serving conductor, dies aged 85

Classical world pays tribute to London Symphony Orchestra’s president and longest-serving principal conductor.

BBC News

Turkish pianist Fazil Say convicted of insulting Islam

World-renowned Turkish pianist Fazil Say has been given a suspended 10-month jail sentence for insulting Muslim values.

Classic FM

 Rieu’s 2013 masterpiece concert to hit cinemas

One of André Rieu’s hometown Maastricht concerts is to be screened in cinemas across the UK and the world in July.

BBC News

Stradivarius Trees: Searching for perfect musical wood

Switzerland is home to some of the best violin makers in the world. But how do they know which tree will make a top quality violin?

Classic FM

Heated Twitter feud inspires political opera

Spending cuts and increased public debt in the Eurozone prompted an angry online exchange last summer, now set to music in a lively new opera.

Classic FM

New York Philharmonic conductor appears on Sesame Street

The New York Philharmonic’s conductor Alan Gilbert gave a masterclass with a difference when characters from Sesame Street showed up at The Lincoln Centre to watch a rehearsal.

Classic FM

Subway Violinists cover Taylor Swift hit

A classical cover of Taylor Swift’s ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ has surfaced on the internet after two musicians made a video of themselves performing it on the subway in Boston.

The Guardian

(Written on April 15, 2013 )

It’s that time of year again and the BBC Proms are almost upon us. We want to know what/who you are excited about seeing, and give you our picks of this year’s Proms Festival. Each WildKat has been limited to three Unmissable events… not an easy feat.

Kathleen:

Prom 5: Martha Argerich performs Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Despite turning 70 in June, Argerich is still the grand dame of the piano and at the top of her game. She’s having a really busy year which includes releasing a DVD on ACCENTUS Music of the world premiere of Rodion Shchedrin’s Romantic Offering, a double concerto for Piano, ‘Cello and Orchestra, which I am also really excited about [shameless plug - sorry]!

Prom 29: I saw Dudamel recently in LA, and he is such an amazing animator and conductor. His skill and talent is still so fresh despite having been in the spotlight now for a number of years. I’ve lived with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra and Gustavo in South America, and just love their passion for music making.

Prom 46: Being a violinist myself I am a sucker for this kind of repertoire. I think the husband and wife team of Viktoria Mullova and Matthew Barley promises to be a sizzling late night Prom. Be sure to book tickets in the Gallery so you can lie down and just enjoy!

Victoria:

Well, I wanted to pick SBYO/Dudamel too, but Kat beat me to it. Mahler 2 is possibly my favourite work of ALL TIME, so I will definitely back her up on that selection.

Prom 28: I love a bit of Renaissance choral music (Kat says this makes me a geek), and Victoria is one of my favourites (not least because he has an excellent name). This late night Prom will be a great chance to hear the fantastic Tallis Scholars perform.

Prom 55: Here comes another plug for one of our artists…The WildKats are all very excited about working with Bass-Baritone Luca Pisaroni and he is performing at Glyndebourne Festival this year in the role of Argante in their new production of  Handel’s Rinaldo. I’m looking forward to seeing the company bring this production to the BBC Proms with a talk beforehand from Handel expert Ruth Smith and writer, critic and Handel biographer Jonathan Keates.

Prom 67: Sarah Connolly. Do I need to say more…? OK, I don’t, but I will. One of Britain’s foremost mezzo sopranos will perform Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the LSO and conductor Sir Colin Davis. Also make sure to check out the bass, Matthew Rose. I caught him at the Proms two years ago singing Handel’s Messiah, and he was INCREDIBLE.

Credit: Peter Warren

Vicky:

Prom 9: I really struggled to pick just three of the BBC Proms I am looking forward to this year, but this one definitely makes the cut!  With a programme of works by Sibelius, Bartok and Janacek performed by the Hallé Orchestra under Mark Elder, this promises to be an amazing concert.  Pianist András Schiff joins the orchestra in performance of Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 3.

Prom 18: In this Prom the amazing flautist Emmanuel Pahud performs two flute concerto world premieres by Elliott Carter and  Marc-André Dalbavie – a performance not to be missed!  BBC National Orchestra of Wales performs a programme of Beethoven alongside these world premieres, under the baton of Thierry Fischer.

Prom 22: I’m a bit of a Rachmaninov fan so I was pretty excited when I saw this Prom!  Gianandrea Noseda leads the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in an all-Rachmaninov programme, with his famous Vocalise and his grand choral work The Bells.  This is a musical feast of Russian choral music and song – I can’t wait!

(Written on May 26, 2011 )