John Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles; Victoria Livengood (Woman with Hat), Kristinn Sigmundsson (Louis XVI), Scott Scully (Marquis), Christopher Maltman (Beaumarchais), Patricia Racette (Marie Antoinette), Lucas Meachem (Figaro), Lucy Schaufer (Susanna), Joshua Guerrero (Count Almaviva), Guanqun Yu (Rosina), Renée Rapier (Cherubino), Patti LuPone (Samira), LA Opera Orchestra & Chorus, James Conlon; 2 SACDs Pentatone 5186 538; Aufnahme Live 2015, Veröffentlichung 04/2016 (155') - Rezension von Alain Steffen

Ich hatte vor Jahren das Glück, einer Vorstellung der Uraufführungsserie von John Coriglianos Oper ‘The Ghosts of Versailles’ in der wundervollen Inszenierung von Colin Graham an der New Yorker Met beizuwohnen. Unter der Leitung von James Levine sangen damals Teresa Stratas, Marilyn Horne, eine ganz junge Renée Fleming, Gino Quilico, Hakan Hagegard und Graham Clark. Ein Mitschnitt einer späteren Aufführung ist auf DVD herausgekommen. Read More →

Opéra Bastille, Paris

The employees of the National Opera in Paris are on strike, again and again! The performance of Verdi’s Aida scheduled for today, Tuesday 28 June 2016 at 7:30 pm at the Opera Bastille is cancelled. The management apologises and propose either a ticket exchange for another performance of the same production, or a refund.

First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn Heights, New York hosted the first concert of the Refugee Orchestra Project conceived by conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya. On the dedicated website one can read: « Lidiya Yankovskaya realized in the wake of the Syrian refugee crisis that many of her own closest colleague and friends were not aware that she and many others like her had come to the U.S. as refugees to seek asylum from violence and persecution abroad. Due to the traumatic nature of their experience, refugees are often hesitant to speak openly about their history, and it is common for people to be unaware that their neighbors, coworkers, and friends have been taken in by the United States as refugees at a time of crisis. »

Nicolas Mansfield, Manager of the Dutch Touring Opera in Enschede will soon have its own Brexit. The newspaper Turantia reports that the Brit who lives in the Netherlands for 28 years, has applied on Monday morning for the Dutch nationality.

The Department Council of Val-d’Oise (Ile-de-France Region) has voted a budget of €600,000 to support various festivals, including three devoted to classical music.  Among the beneficiariesare the Baroque festival of Pontoise, the Royaumont Festival and the Festival of Auvers-sur-Oise.

Belgian musicologist Harry Halbreich died yesterday at the age of 85. Born in 1931 in Berlin, he studied with Arthur Honegger and Olivier Messiaen. From 1970 to 1976 he was Lecturer in Musical Analysis at the Royal Conservatory in Mons. He worked on numerous radio broadcasts and co-founded the Belgian music magazine Crescendo for which he has been major contributor. He wrote books on Olivier Messiaen, Claude Debussy, Arthur Honegger and Bohuslav Martinu and set up musical catalogues of the works of Honegger and Martinu.

Russell Ger

The Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra (NY) has named Australian conductor Russell Ger Music Director following a two-year search that involved more than 100 candidates. He is succeeding Woomyung Choe, who founded the orchestra in 1995 and led it for 20 years. Ger is currently the Music Director of the Park East Synagogue in New York City.

Gustavo Dudamel
Photo: Mathew Imagaing

Der venezolanische Dirigent Gustavo Dudamel hat seine Villa in Los Angeles in  den Verkauf gegeben, die er im Januar 2015 gekauft hatte. Nach der Trennung von seiner Frau ist ihm das 340 Quadratmeter große Haus zu groß geworden und er will es nun für 3,3 Millionen Dollar verkaufen.

Der aus dem tschechischen Ostrava stammende Dirigent Jaroslav Opela ist im Alter von 81 Jahren gestorben. Opela wurde 1958 Chefdirigent der Staatlichen Philharmonie in Gottwaldov. Doch 1966 flüchtete er nach Deutschland. Sein Mentor Rafael Kubelik holte ihn zum Bayerischen Rundfunk, wo er das Münchner Rundfunkorchester dirigierte. Von 1992 bis 2000 war er dessen Chefdirigent. Read More →

Sergei Lyapunov: Klavierwerke Vol. 2 (Novelette op. 18, Barcarolle op. 46, Humoreske op. 34, 3 Pièces op. 1, 7 Préludes op. 6, Chant du crépuscule op. 22, Variations & Fugue on a Russian Theme op. 49, Fêtes de Noel op. 41; Florian Noack, Klavier; 1 SACD Ars Produktion 38209; Aufnahme 12/2015, Veröffentlichung 06/2016 (79'25) – Rezension von Remy Franck

Der junge belgische Pianist Florian Noack hat eine zweite Folge von Klavierwerken des Russen Sergej Lyapunov (1859-1924) aufgenommen. Während das erste Volume Werke mit Tanzcharakter privilegierte, sind hier charakteristischere Stücke zu hören, in denen Noack mehr gestalterisches Potenzial einbringen kann. Read More →