George Benjamin: A Mind of Winter + At First Light + Canon & Fugue + Palimpsests; Anna Prohaska, Sopran, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Modern Orchestra, George Benjamin; # Ensemble Modern EMCD-052; Aufnahme 03.2019 + 09.2020 + 09.2023; Veröffentlichung 27.09.2024 (51'58) – Rezension von Uwe Krusch ** (For English please scroll down)
Bereits 1993 kamen George Benjamin und das Ensemble Modern zusammen. Und seitdem treffen sie einander regelmäßig. Dabei dirigiert Benjamin sowohl fremde Werke, etwa von Messiaen bis Donatoni oder von Carter bis Knussen wie auch seine Werke mit und ohne ihn als Leiter aufgeführt werden. Zwei der hier zu hörenden Werke wurden früher schon einmal eingespielt, At First Light 1995 und Palimpsests 2003. Read More →
On October 4, 2024, a huge tsunami wave of new album releases will flood the market. Pizzicato staff have been listening to albums coming out on that day for weeks. We have selected around thirty of them and are preparing the reviews. So there will be about four reviews every day this week.
The city of Dresden is receiving a grant of €15 million from the KulturInvest funding program of the German Government for the construction of a building for the new Richard Wagner Academy of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele. Read More →
Ophélie Gaillard
French cellist Ophélie Gaillard has launched an appeal to find her 1737 Francesco Goffriller cello (on loan from the CIC bank for almost 20 years, valued at 1.3 million euros) and her two personal bows by Nicolas Maire and Jean-Marie Persoit, which were stolen from her home in Haute-Savoie on the night of Tuesday 24 to Wednesday 25 September 2024. Read More →
Weil die ARD ihre Mittel für den ARD-Musikwettbewerb ab 2025 um 50 Prozent kürzen will, fordert die Orchestervereinigung Unisono eine Debatte über den Erhalt des Wettbewerbs. Read More →
Miles Walter
American composer Miles Walter (*1994) is the Winner of an Open Application position to the Classeek Ambassador Program, Season 2024-2025. He is currently based in London where he is studying with George Benjamin. He is one of the five composers selected for this year’s edition of the Venice Biennale College Musica. He is preparing for his world-première concert at the Venice Biennale. Read More →
American composer Miles Walter (*1994) is the Winner of an Open Application position to the Classeek Ambassador Program, Season 2024-2025. He is currently based in London where he is studying with George Benjamin. He is one of the five composers selected for this year's edition of the Venice Biennale College Musica. He is preparing for his world-première concert at the Venice Biennale. He has written a work for the pianist, Bertrand Chamayou, and the concert will take place tomorrow, on 27 September. Remy Franck made the following interview with the young composer.
Miles Walter
Your music is definitely not to be considered as avant-garde, a genre that some believe is the only contemporary music. How do you see the current contemporary music scene?
This is a big question, actually, so I’m going to take some time to answer it as best I can.
It’s funny—you know, the term avant-garde, as well as a lot of the music, actually strikes me as remarkably dated. I’m not alone in this. It’s a product of a very specific moment in history, and couldn’t have existed as it did without a lot of post-war trauma and a pervading sense of political guilt. I’m not knocking the music—the music of Boulez and Ligeti, especially, I care about greatly, and what they did was fascinating and often very, very beautiful. But this is already quite old music, now. Read More →
The musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington have requested a pay increase of 25%, which the Kennedy Center and the orchestra’s management say is « not financially viable ». Now the NSO musicians have voted to strike after negotiations proceeding for months. Read More →
Grazyna Bacewicz: Sämtliche Symphonische Werke Vol. 3; Symphonie Nr. 1 + Konzert für großes Orchester (1962) + Partita für großes Orchester (1955) + In una parte für Orchester (1967); WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Lukasz Borowicz; # cpo 555661-2; Aufnahme 06.2023, Veröffentlichung 24.09.2024 (74'59) - Rezension von Remy Franck ** (For English please scroll down)
Mit diesem Album endet die Einspielung sämtlicher Orchesterwerke der polnischen Komponistin Grazyna Bacewicz mit dem WDR Sinfonieorchester unter Lukasz Borowicz, der zu den interpretierten Werken den ausführlichen und informationsreichen Booklettext selber geschrieben hat. Read More →
Paul Henley: Streichquartette 1 und 2 + Elegie + Piangendo; Jarualda String Quartet (Alex Postlethwaite, David Joyce, Violine, Jane Park, Viola, Ruth Henley, Cello); # Ulysses Arts 83780; Aufnahme 07.2022; Veröffentlichung 20.09.2024 (55'28) – Rezension von Uwe Krusch ** (For English please scroll down)
Der Engländer Paul Henley war zunächst vor allem Opernsänger, bis er sich entschloss, den Schwerpunkt auf das Komponieren zu legen. Das war in diesem Jahrhundert. Die zu hörenden Kompositionen für die Besetzung Streichquartett stellen bis auf ein früheres sehr kurzes Werk sein gesamtes Schaffen in diesem Bereich vor. Read More →
