Conductor Arnold Östman died in Stockholm yesterday at the age of 83. Born in Malmö, he studied art history and musicology at Lund, Paris and Stockholm. He focused on the subject of early opera, bringing to light a number of theretofore unknown or little-known baroque operas. Read More →

Italian soprano Renata Scotto has died in Savona. Born in 1934, she passed away tonight at the age of 89. After studying in Milan, Renata Scotto made her debut in 1952 on the stage of Savona’s Teatro Chiabrera in La Traviata. During her long career, she sang in theaters such as La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan in New York and the Royal Opera House in London and became an internationally renowned soprano. Read More →

Zoltan Kodaly

30 candidates will face the jury of the Kodaly Conducting Competition starting August 21 in Debrecen, Hungary. This jury, chaired by Jorma Panula and including Janos Acs, Peter Broadbent, Remy Franck, Zsolt Hamar, Oksana Madarash, Dániel Somogyi-Tóth, will evaluate the work of one female conductor and 29 male conductors. Those come from Australia, Austria, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, UK, USA. Read More →

Nachdem das Lucerne Festival die Absage von Konzerten der Pianistin Martha Argerich und des West-Eastern Divan Orchestra bekannt gegeben hatte, teilt das Orchester jetzt mit, dass alle Auftritte von Argerich im Rahmen der Sommertournee mit Daniel Barenboim abgesagt wurden. Die Pianistin hatte auf eine baldige Genesung gehofft, nachdem sie vergangene Woche bereits von ihrem Mitwirken bei den Konzerten in Köln und Luzern zurücktreten musste. An ihrer Stelle wird Igor Levit einspringen.

Chopin Monument Zelazova-Wola
Photo: Remy Franck

The Fryderyk Chopin Institute Warsaw announces the International Chopin Competition ‘The Real Chopin’, to be held at the Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw from 5 to 15 October 2023. In this competition, including finals with orchestra, candidates will have to play on period instruments which Frederic Chopin was playing himself when creating his works. They are including historical instruments from Chopin Institute Collections as well as new concert instruments built by world famous maker Paul McNulty. Read More →

Robert Neumann
(c) Marco Borggreve

Der 22-jährige deutsche Pianist Robert Neumann – er war 2017 Discovery Award-Gewinner der ICMA (International Classical Music Awards) – wurde zum stellvertretenden Künstlerischen Leiter von Cultur in Cannstatt und zum Festivalleiter des Cannstatter Klavierfrühlings berufen. Die Organisation ist in Bad Cannstatt, einem Stadtbezirk von Stuttgart beheimatet. Read More →

Swedish soprano Berit Lindholm died last Saturday, 12 August, at the age of 88. She made her debut at the Royal Swedish Opera in 1963 and started  an excellent international career as a dramatic soprano, particularly in Wagner and Strauss. She sang at numerous opera houses, among them the Royal Opera House, at the Metropolitan Opera and at the Bayreuth Festival. In 1969 she sung Cassandre in a recording of Berlioz’s Les Troyens, conducted by Colin Davis.

French violinist, pedagogue and conductor Florence Malgoire died yesterday in Marseille at the age of 63. Born in a musicians family, she began her career under the leadership of her father Jean-Claude Malgoire within La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy and of her teacher Sigiswald Kuijken with La Petite Bande. Since 1987, she held solo violin positions in baroque ensembles such as Philippe Herreweghe’s La Chapelle Royale, Christophe Rousset’s Les Talens Lyriques, and William Christie’s Les Arts florissants. Read More →

Franz Welser-Möst
Photo: Don Snyder

Franz Welser-Möst has cancelled his concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival on August 20 and 21 due to orthopedic problems. According to the festival’s news reelase, the 62-year-old Austrian conductor is on the way to recovery, but on the advice of his doctors he must take a further three-week break in order to make a full recovery. Read More →

Daniele Rustioni

The Ulster Orchestra in Belfast has announced the departure of its Chief Conductor Daniele Rustioni at the end of the 2023-24 Season. The 40-year-old Italian said “This has been a dream for me and I am grateful to the Ulster Orchestra for their efforts to make this come true. » Read More →