Ein fünffaches Pianissimo, Kompositionen, die aus der Stille kommen und in der Stille enden, das alles ist auf dem neuen Album der Pianistin Alexandra Sostmann zu hören. Wie es heißt? Ganz klar: 'Aus der Stille'. Im Gespräch mit Beatrice Ballin erläutert sie, welche Bedeutung die leisen Stücke für sie haben.
Alexandra Sostmann
(c) Marco Borggreve
Aus der Stille: ein interessanter Titel für eine CD. Denn Musik hat zumindest akustisch eher wenig mit Stille zu tun. Aus welchem Grund haben Sie diesen CD-Titel gewählt?
(lacht) Nun… Musik kommt aus der Stille und geht in die Stille. Stille ist nicht nur Abwesenheit von Klang, sondern ein aktives Element, das die Struktur, die Ästhetik und Emotion der Musik beeinflussen kann. Stille erzeugt Spannungsmomente, die beim Publikum ein Gefühl der Erwartung erzeugen kann. Read More →
Benjamin Kruithof is one of Luxembourg’s most promising young musicians. Born in 1999, he discovered his passion for the cello early on, guided by his family of string players. His journey has taken him from studies in Luxembourg, Maastricht, Cologne, and Berlin to the renowned Kronberg Academy. Winner of prestigious competitions like the Georges Enescu Competition, Kruithof is also a 2024 ECHO Rising Star. In conversation with Lex Kauffmann from the luxembourgish ICMA jury member Radio 100,7, he reflects on his career and the classical music world today.
Benjamin Kruithof, you were born into a musical family and started playing the cello at the Conservatoire du Nord (Luxembourg) at around the age of five. How did you become interested in the cello?
It’s actually not such a spectacular story. A very good friend of the family, Raju Vidali, played tennis with my father once a week. I thought he was super cool. He plays the cello and is a professor at the Conservatoire. That was a big motivation. Furthermore, it was also very important for my parents, that I learn an instrument. Not with the goal of pursuing it professionally, but simply as part of a general education. And somehow, it has now become a profession. Read More →
Austrian pianist Mitra Kotte has released a new album on Genuin with the title 'Herstory, A Century of Inspring Female Composers', with works by Louise Farrenc, Emilie Mayer, Marie Jaell, Luise Adolpha le Beau, Cecile Chaminade, Amy Beach, Dora Pejacevic (, Nadia Boulanger (, Maria Hofer and Vitezslava Kapralova. Here is an interview with the pianist, done by Andreas Meier, Head of Programming & Dramaturgy at the Brucknerhaus Linz/Austria.
Mitra Kotte
(c) Andrzej Grilc
Dear Mitra, even apart from the thematic focus, the program of this album is literally remarkable.
Yes, I present a century of music history in which female composers and their masterful works are highlighted. With its diversity, this program opens up a new musical world for the audience. Read More →
Im Januar veröffentlichte die Violinistin Liv Migdal das Album 'The Cosmos of Paul Ben-Haim'. René Brinckmann hat sich mit ihr unterhalten.
Liv Migdal
Frau Migdal, Ihr neues Album beinhaltet eine ungewöhnliche Kombination von Musik des Komponisten Paul Ben-Haim. Da trifft das Stück Yizkor, das man schon fast als Violinkonzert bezeichnen könnte, auf Kammermusik und diese trifft auf Lieder für Mezzosopran und Klavier und dann wird das alles noch verbunden durch Lieder ohne Worte in verschiedenen Besetzungen. Wie kam es zu dieser ungewöhnlichen Gemenge-Lage?
Yizkor, was mit ‘in Gedenken’ übersetzt werden kann, aus dem Jahr 1942, ist sicherlich neben den Three Songs Without Words Ausgangspunkt dieses großen Projektes gewesen. Die Musik von Paul Ben-Haim hat mich beim ersten Hören bis ins Mark getroffen – das war 2008. Seitdem spiele ich seine Werke, wann immer es möglich ist. Read More →
Was verbindet Mozarts revolutionäres Dissonanzenquartett mit Giuseppe Verdis einzigem Streichquartett oder den Quartetten des Belcanto-Meisters Gaetano Donizetti? Sarah Weilenmann vom Pacific Quartet Vienna gibt Einblicke in ihre neue CD-Einspielung und enthüllt, wie Opernkomponisten die dramatische Kraft ihrer Bühnenwerke auf die intime Welt des Streichquartetts übertragen haben. Ein Gespräch mit Sarah Weilenmann, der Cellistin des Pacific Quartet Vienna über musikalische Rhetorik, kulturelle Vielfalt im Ensemble und das Streichquartett als Verkörperung aufklärerischer Ideale. Das Interview führte Stefan Pieper
Pacific Quartet Vienna
Wie kam es zur aktuellen CD-Produktion und dem besonderen thematischen Fokus auf Streichquartette von Opernkomponisten?
Wir wollten unbedingt Verdis Streichquartett aufnehmen. Es wird eher selten gespielt, ist aber ein ganz besonderes Werk. Parallel dazu hatten wir schon lange vor, Mozart aufzunehmen. In seiner Kammermusik erleben wir ihn wirklich als großen Opernkomponisten – in jedem Satz spürt man die szenische Darstellung. Read More →
The International Classical Music Awards (ICMA), often referred to as the 'Oscars of classical music' and among the most prestigious worldwide, announced their 2025 winners on January 14th.The award in the Symphonic Music category was claimed by conductor Cristian Măcelaru and the Orchestre National de France for the album featuring the two Romanian Rhapsodies and the first three symphonies by George Enescu, an album released by Deutsche Grammophon. Interview by ICMA Jury member Cristina Comandașu from Radio Romania Muzical.
Cristian Macelaru
(c) Sorin Popa
What does this award mean to you and how do you feel about receiving it?
I am, above all, very happy for the opportunity to produce this album with Enescu’s music. This is music I have loved all my life and I have always wanted to bring it into a brighter spotlight by recording the three symphonies and the two rhapsodies. These recordings are just the beginning, so to speak, of my broader vision for showcasing Enescu’s music. I am delighted that these efforts continue to garner such attention. For me, this award is a recognition of not just our hard work, but also the incredible quality of Enescu’s compositions, which fills me with great joy. Read More →
Polish conductor Łukasz Borowicz is among the musicians honored at this year's International Classical music Awards with the album Urlicht featuring
Samuel Hasselhorn and the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra. Jakub Puchalski from the ICMA Jury member Polskie Radio Chopin made the following interview with him.
Lukasz Borowicz
(c) Bruno Fidrych
Seeing your many CDs, one can trace an idea behind them. A discovery or rediscovery of interesting, beautiful repertoire, often once well-known but later forgotten. The same one can say about your concert programs. You must be extremely hungry for new music.
My interest in unknown music started very early. Since the childhood, once I started to collect CDs. It was at elementary school in my early years. And after getting to know the standard repertoire, I started my own research to discover new composers, new pieces, new performers. And somehow it went naturally, because when I started my conducting career, I was often assisting to many important productions at the Polish orchestras. First of all, at the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra where I was assistant to Antoni Wit, who was recording a lot of Polish music and he was promoting an unknown music, as well as the orchestra, as well the places I assisted too, at the Budapest Festival Orchestra, also at Teatr Wielki. Read More →
The jury of the International Classical Music Award (ICMA) presented a Lifetime Achievement Award three years ago, an Award for Mozart's Complete Symphonies with the Danish National Chamber in 2015 and a Special Achievement Award this year to Adam Fischer, who will also conduct the ICMA Gala Concert 2025 at Tonhalle Düsseldorf on 19 March. Máté Ur from ICMA Jury member Papageno (Hungary) also talked with him about Haydn, the essence of true-to-the-time performance, remakes and the eternal restlessness.
Adam Fischer
Nikolaj Lund
In several interviews, you have said that you are not overly concerned about the prizes, but rather look to the future. What motivates you?
I’m certainly happy to be recognized for my work, but it’s very foreign to me to give my mind a rest or to settle down. I often find myself listening to my older recordings and just getting angry with myself that I should have done certain things differently, but once I let go of them, I can’t change them. In the 80s and 90s I recorded all the Haydn symphonies, and when I listen to them I get the same feeling. Read More →
Die Jury des International Classical Music Award (ICMA) verlieh vor drei Jahren einen Lifetime Achievement Award, 2015 einen Award für Mozarts sämtliche Sinfonien mit der Danish National Chamber und in diesem Jahr einen Special Achievement Award an Adam Fischer, der auch das ICMA-Galakonzert 2025 am 19. März in der Tonhalle Düsseldorf dirigieren wird. Máté Ur vom ICMA-Jurymitglied Papageno (Ungarn) sprach mit ihm auch über Haydn, das Wesen der zeitgetreuen Aufführung, Remakes und die ewige Unruhe.
Adam Fischer
Nikolaj Lund
In mehreren Interviews haben Sie gesagt, dass Sie sich nicht allzu sehr um die Preise kümmern, sondern eher in die Zukunft blicken. Was motiviert Sie?
Ich freue mich natürlich über die Anerkennung meiner Arbeit, aber es ist mir sehr fremd, meinen Geist zur Ruhe kommen zu lassen oder zur Ruhe zu kommen. Ich ertappe mich oft dabei, dass ich mir meine älteren Aufnahmen anhöre und mich über mich selbst ärgere, dass ich bestimmte Dinge anders hätte machen sollen, aber wenn ich sie einmal losgelassen habe, kann ich sie nicht mehr ändern. In den 80er und 90er Jahren habe ich alle Haydn-Sinfonien aufgenommen, und wenn ich sie anhöre, habe ich das gleiche Gefühl. Read More →
Unsuk Chin
(c) Priska Ketterer
Firmly rooted in Western musical culture, she has always maintained a link with the musical tradition of her country of origin, also drawing inspiration from other musical latitudes and from extra-musical artistic and cultural universes.
Your writing happens on paper, giving up the possibility offered by the computer to edit your scores, which are clean but at the same time creative, works of art in themselves. Is your writing always linear, without second thoughts?
I always compose at my desk, without a computer or a keyboard. I never play the notes I write on the staff. I was brought up this way: it’s my habit and it’s the only way I can compose. Creating a piece is a job where I have to make many decisions on many different levels, including the entire context, focusing less on the sound of each individual note. This process takes a lot of time, also because I make sketches first. And, of course, it’s always possible that I’ll have relapses or second thoughts, or that I’ll throw away some material and start over again. Read More →
