In 2024, the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra’s recording with Cyrille Dubois was awarded a prize at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA). Máté Ur from ICMA jury member Papageno spoke with György Vashegyi, the artistic director of the two ensembles, about their award-winning recording and the Haydneum – Hungarian Centre for Early Music, which he founded.
György Vashegyi
(c) Csibi Szilvia
As a conductor, researcher, and leader of major Hungarian cultural institutions, you have a wide range of responsibilities. Which one is closest to you?
At about the age of 15, I decided that music would be my vocation, the most important thing in my life, after my family. I founded the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra in the early 1990s, when I was still a university student, and I also began my teaching career at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, and although I have conducted several symphony orchestras over the years and have been asked to conduct several times at the Hungarian State Opera, these ensembles are still of fundamental importance to me. Read More →
Guitarist Cassie Martin is the winner of the ICMA Classeek Award 2024. Charlotte Saulneron from the French Jury member ResMusica made the following interview with her.
Cassie Martin
Since 2018 Cassie Martin has traveled the world, won several awards, and participated in numerous festivals. Her repertoire combines early, contemporary and world music. As a Eurostrings artist in 2020, she took part in Gautier Capuçon’s Un été en France 2022 tour and then represented France in Sergio Assad’s The Woman and the Guitar project.
Your repertoire ranges from Bach to traditional world music: Brazilian, Austrian, Italian and French. Where do you want to go with your next project, be it on stage or on record?
I have a lot of plans. Of course, I’d like to continue introducing the public to the vast, little-known repertoire of the guitar, from the Baroque to the contemporary. One of my current concert programs is entitled La guitare à travers les siècles, in which I take the listener on a journey through time, showing all the facets of this beautiful instrument. Read More →
ICMA Artist of the Year Renaud Capuçon “My life is music. I constantly want to learn, to progress and to discover new things”
Renaud Capuçon is Artist of the Year 2024 of the International Classical Music Awards. One look at his touring calendar or discography is enough to understand the extraordinarily broad range of musical activity the French violinist is engaged in. Capuçon's activities go beyond soloist and chamber music work - he is a mentor, an artistic director of festivals, a conductor and artist committed to social and civic causes. The French musician remarkably managed to find time for a short conversation with Ariadna Ene-Iliescu, a collaborator of ICMA Jury member Radio România Muzical.
Renaud Capuçon
(c) Marc Ribes
You have been named Artist of the Year of the International Classical Music Awards. What does this award mean to you?
It’s a great honour for me, of course, as a musician, as a violonist. I’ve known this association and this prize for a long time and I was absolutely surprised, because I didn’t know that I would be nominated. So when I got it, I was very happy! It’s an honour and it’s also a responsibility for a musician in these times when classical music has to be really defended. Read More →
What in 2009 might have seemed like a utopian undertaking is now an established reality in the field of musicological research and musical production: Palazzetto Bru Zane. Stefano Pagliantini from the Italian ICMA Jury member Musica talked with Alexandre Dratwicki, scientific director of the French Romantic Music Centre Palazzetto Bru Zane whose recording label is Label of The Year at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA).
Palazzetto
(c) Michele Crosera
2024 marks an important milestone for Palazzetto Bru Zane: 15 years of activity at the highest levels, label of the year at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA), winner of the “Premiere recordings” section with the recording, in the usual and luxurious format of the book — CD, of Ariane by Jules Massenet. Read More →
Italian Orazio Sciortino (*Syracuse, 1984) has been chosen by the jury of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) for their annual Composer Award. He is a musician with a wide-ranging catalog and an intense dedication to the interpretation of the classical repertoire as a pianist. Ismael G. Cabral from the Spanish ICMA Jury member Scherzo made the following interview.
Orazio Sciortino
©Marco Perulli
At what point in your career does this ICMA award come to you?
It’s not easy to have a perception of yourself, of the road you have traveled. I think I might be able to answer that question in 20 years, or maybe more. I will be 40 years old, and that is a round and relevant number at which it might make sense to take stock. Read More →
Turkish pianists Güher and Süher Pekinel have been awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award of ICMA. This award is highly justified for the almost fifty years that Pekinels have graced the international stage, starting from the 1980’s when only a handful of Turkish musicians could find their way into the classical music scene. Their unique musicality, stage presence and deep artistic knowledge have paved the way to this very important award.The Pekinels have devoted most of their time, in recent years, to educational projects and preparing talented young musicians from all over Turkey to the concert stage and are therefore one of the most hard-working musical ambassadors present. They have been interviewed by Feyzi Ercin, from the Turkish Jury member Andante.
The Pekinels
(c) Tanja Niemann
You are a duo with countless achievements and numerous awards. What does an award signify to an artist, and what does this one specifically mean to you?
The ICMA Award has once again proven to be a significant source of motivation for us. Foremost among its merits is the recognition of our endeavors by fellow musicians, serving as an indicator of our resonance within the artistic realm. Read More →
Romanian soprano Aida Pascu was named Young Artist of the Year 2024 of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA). The 24-year-old singer answers the questions of Irina Vasilescu, a Senior Producer of ICMA Jury member Radio Romania Muzical.
Aida Pascu
(c) Radio Romania Muzical
Aida Pascu was born and raised in a musical family, both her parents being opera singers. She was part of the Children’s Choir of the National Bucharest Opera and she studied classical singing at the Bucharest Music University with tenor Ionel Voineag. The soprano also participated in masterclasses given by renowned artists, such as Nelly Miricioiu and Raina Kabaivanska. Aida Pascu has a special relationship with the famous Bulgarian soprano, who has become her mentor. Read More →
Am heutigen Tag feiert Klaus Mertens seinen 75. Geburtstag und die Musikwelt – vor allem die Freunde der Alten Musik – feiert gerne mit, ist doch der Träger der Bach-Medaille und des Telemann-Preises aus der Szene kaum wegzudenken. Jan-Geert Wolff gratuliert.
Klaus Mertens
Im Frühling feiert die Musikwelt die Geburtstage großer Barockmusiker: Georg Friedrich Händels Wiegenfest am 5., Georg Philipp Telemanns am 14. und Johann Sebastian Bachs am 21. Doch was wären die Heroen ohne ihre Interpreten, die ihre Musik ins Heute ziehen und sie damit pflegen wie bewahren? Einer dieser Künstler ist der am 25. März 1949 in Kleve geborene Sänger Klaus Mertens, der heute seinen 75. Geburtstag feiert. Read More →
Peter Eötvös (1944-2024) und bereits mit 14 Jahren von Zoltán Kodály an der Budapester Musikakademie aufgenommen. 1966 führte ihn ein Stipendium zum Dirigierstudium an die Musikhochschule in Köln. Zwischen 1968 und 1976 spielte er regelmäßig mit dem Stockhausen Ensemble und arbeitete am Elektronischen Studio des WDR Köln (1971-1979). Auf Einladung von Pierre Boulez leitete er 1978 in Paris das Konzert zur Eröffnung der IRCAM. Daraufhin wurde ihm die musikalische Leitung des 'Ensemble Intercontemporain' übertragen, das ihm bis 1991 unterstand. Peter Eötvös hat mit seinen Kompositionen große internationale Erfolge erzielt. Remy Franck hat sich mit dem Komponisten unterhalten. Das Interview stammt aus dem Jahre 2007 und legt den Schwerpunkt auf das Unterrichten.
Peter Eötvös
(c) Istvan Huszti
Sie engagieren sich ja sehr mit Unterrichten, mit Meisterkursen und mit Ihrer eigenen Akademie. Was beflügelt Sie, das zu tun?
Es ist eine Familientradition! Mein Großvater war Lehrer, meine Mutter war Lehrerin, und als ich noch Kind war, hat mir meine Mutter schon das Unterrichten beigebracht. Ich war immer dabei, wenn sie unterrichtete. Einmal sagte sie: « Mach du mal weiter! », und dann arbeitete ich mit den Schülern oder Studenten – meistens waren sie älter als ich – und leitete die Stunde. Und irgendwie wusste ich, instinktiv und aus einem inneren Bedürfnis heraus, was gut ist und nicht, So konnte sich das weiter entwickeln und es kam mir eigentlich schon damals völlig selbstverständlich vor. Read More →
Conductor Markus Poschner is the mastermind behind a project to record the complete Bruckner symphonies with the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and the ORF Vienna Symphony Radio Orchestra. The Capriccio label is releasing all versions of the symphonies on 18 albums. This edition has won a Special Achievement Awards at this year's ICMA. Pierre-Jean-Tribot from Jury member Crescendo made the following interview with the conductor.
Markus Poschner (c) Foto Kerschi
What does Bruckner mean to you? What is his place in the history of music?
Bruckner is undoubtedly one of the most important geniuses of the 19th century, if not of all time. He pushed all musical parameters to their limits and far beyond, especially the function of time in music. Throughout his life, he searched for the perfect symphony, the archetype and musical image of a universal world order. Bruckner created symphonies to express the unimaginable. He was the ideal mediator between tradition and the avant-garde, and he was far ahead of his time. Read More →
