Mstislav Rostropovich
Scheduled to take place from 27 March to 5 April in Moscow & St. Petersburg and dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Galina Vishnevskaya, the program of the 7th International Mstislav Rostropovich Festival has been shortened due to financial problems. At a press conference, the artistic director of the festival, Olga Rostropovich, said that the concert in which Vladimir Jurowski, should have conducted Schönberg’s Gurrelieder has been cancelled. A few more concerts will not take place.
The Artistic Director of the Mstislav Rostropovich Festival in Baku, Olga Rostropovich, announced that this year’s festival will not take place due to financial reasons. The organizer still hopes to be able to organize an event in 2017.
Johann Sebastian Bach: Partriten für Cembalo; Jean-Luc Ho, Cembalo; 3 CDs NoMadMusic NMM016; Aufnahme 12/14 & 06/15, Veröffentlichung 01/2016 - Rezension von Alain Steffen
Wenn ein Instrument von der optimalen Verwendung digitaler Technik wirklich profitiert, dann ist es das Cembalo. In diesem Sinne ist die Gesamteinspielung von Bachs Partiten bei NoMadMusic ein Musterbeispiel. Jean-Luc Ho spielt diese Stücke mit einer wunderbar natürlichen Virtuosität und Schönheit. Er bezieht das Instrument Cembalo wirklich als adäquaten Partner in seine Interpretationen mit ein. Read More →
Igor Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps, L’Oiseau de Feu (Suite,1919); hr-sinfonieorchester (Frankfurt Radio Symphony), Andrés Orozco-Estrada; 1 SACD Pentatone PTC 5186 556; Aufnahmen 2015, Veröffentlichung 02/2016 (56’31) – Rezension von Remy Franck
Mit einer fast manieriert wirkenden Klangrecherche und der sorgfältigst durchgeführten Pflege von Details verliert Andres Orozco-Estrada den Faden in seinen beiden Stravinsky-Geschichten: er opfert die Spannung auf dem Altar der Klangsezierung. Read More →
At ICMA's Gala Concert in San Sebastian, Spanish pianist Javier Perianes will represent the label he is exclusively recording for, Harmonia Mundi. Remy Franck met him for the following interview.
Javier Perianes
(c) Josep Molina
In Spain, if we don’t consider the composers who were also pianists, we have Alicia de Larrocha, Joaquín Achúcarro, José Iturbi…and you. Isn’t Spain a piano land?
Of course, the greatest Spanish pianist was Alicia de Larrocha. She played with all the major orchestras on the world. But there was also Rafael Orozco who made a recording of the four Rachmaninov Concertos with Edo De Waart in Rotterdam. Yet for me, it is a great honour that you are putting my name on that list. Read More →
Of the 318 candidates whose videos have been screened, 82 have been admitted to the first public round of the Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition 2016: 25 women, 57 men from 23 nationalities. As usual, Korea is leading with 24 candidates, followed by the USA (10), Japan (9), Russia (7), China (6) and France (5).
Han-na Chang
(c) Qatar Philharmonic
Cellist-conductor Han Na Chang takes over as chief conductor and artistic leader at the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra in 2017, succeeding Krzystof Urbanski. Chang was Music director at the Qatar Philharmonic, yet quit the job during a tour last year, citing administrative problems and artistic differences as the principal reason.
Cathy Krier
Luxembourg is becoming more and more a productive export country for classical music. The list of events in the sole month of March is impressive. Pianist Cathy Krier is at the Philharmonie in Cologne, at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, at the Palace of Arts in Budapest, at the Konserthus in Stockholm and at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Artemandoline takes part in the Beyrouth Festival Al Bustan. Read More →
According to The Stage, senior managers at the English National Opera, ENO, have to accept a pay cut of 20%. This is part of a business plan that is aimed at saving £5 million. This compensates more or less the reduction in ENO’s funding from Arts Council England. The management is not only to suffer changes in the contracts, so do also the chorus members who are not keen on accepting this and announced they would strike for the first time in 13 years.
The creation of the big Eastern region of France (Alsace, Champagne- Ardenne and Lorraine) has inspired four opera houses to cooperate and develop common projects. The operas of the cities of Nancy, Strasbourg, Reims and Metz have not yet elaborated concrete ideas, but apparently there is a potential for common productions, sharing equipment, and, mid-term, a common warehouse for the storage of costumes and sets.
