BACKGlimmer of hope’: leading performers return to London’s Wigmore Hall
The BBC and the Wigmore Hall on Tuesday announced a concert series that will see leading musicians return to the London stage for the first time since the lockdown. It marks the first live music broadcast on Radio 3 since 16 March. Twenty hour-long concerts featuring soloists or duos will take place at 1pm each weekday throughout June and will be livestreamed on the venue’s website and broadcast on Radio 3 and BBC Sounds, part of the BBC’s Culture in Quarantine initiative. All concerts will then be available on demand for 30 days.
The musicians will perform to an empty hall, with a minimal technical set-up. The Wigmore Hall has a well established livestream programme and an existing partnership with Radio 3, which broadcasts the venue’s Monday lunchtime concerts.
Klavierkonzert im Autokino
Der Pianist Alexander Krichel hat in einem Iserlohner Autokino ein Konzert gegeben. Zum Klavierabend mit Werken von Beethoven und Liszt kamen rund 200 Besucher in 90 Fahrzeugen. Anstatt Applaus gab es von den Zuschauern Warnblinken oder Hupen. Das Konzept von Autokino-Konzerten sei in der Klassikwelt vor Krichels Konzert noch nicht umgesetzt worden, Künstler anderer Genres treten jedoch seit rund zwei Wochen auf diese Weise auf. Der Pianist selbst hofft nun, während der andauernden Corona-Pandemie und den damit verbundenen Einschränkungen noch weitere solche Konzerte spielen zu können.
Piano concert at the drive-in cinema
The pianist Alexander Krichel gave a concert in a drive-in cinema in Iserlohn. The piano recital with works by Beethoven and Liszt was attended by about 200 people in 90 vehicles. Instead of applause, there were warning flashes or horns from the spectators. The concept of drive-in cinema concerts had not yet been implemented in the classical world before Krichel’s concert, but artists from other genres have been performing in this way for about two weeks. The pianist himself now hopes to be able to play more such concerts during the ongoing Corona pandemic and the restrictions that come with it.
Pays-Bas : quatre morts du coronavirus après le concert d’un choeur
C’était l’un des derniers concerts aux Pays-Bas avant l’arrêt total de la vie musicale. Le 8 mars dernier, cinq jours avant la fermeture de toutes les salles du pays, le Amsterdam Gemengd Koor (Choeur mixte d’Amsterdam) était sur la scène du Concertgebouw pour chanter la Passion selon Saint-Jean de Bach.
Deux mois plus tard, la presse néerlandaise révèle que quatre personnes sont mortes du coronavirus après le concert. Un membre du choeur et trois proches des chanteurs. Sur les 130 choristes, 102 ont été contaminés, dont certains ont dû être hospitalisés. Paul Valk, le chef d’orchestre, a souffert de symptômes sévères. Plusieurs chanteurs solistes et des musiciens du Holland Symphony Orchestra, qui accompagnait le choeur, ont également été contaminés.
Netherlands: four deaths from coronavirus after a choir concert
It was one of the last concerts in the Netherlands before the total cessation of musical life. On March 8, five days before all the halls in the country were closed, the Amsterdam Gemengd Koor (Amsterdam Mixed Choir) was on the stage of the Concertgebouw to sing Bach’s St. John Passion.
Two months later, the Dutch press revealed that four people died of coronavirus after the concert. One member of the choir and three relatives of the singers. Of the 130 choristers, 102 were infected, some of whom had to be hospitalized. Paul Valk, the conductor, suffered severe symptoms. Several solo singers and musicians of the Holland Symphony Orchestra, which accompanied the choir, were also infected.