The French soprano Mady Mesplé died yesterday at the age of 89 in Toulouse, where she was also born in 1931. She studied in Paris  with French soprano Janine Micheau and made her professional debut in Liège in January 1953, as Lakmé, one of the major roles in her career. She was a leading high coloratura soprano specialized in the French opera repertoire. Read More →

Paavo Järvi
(c) Julia Bayer

This year’s Pärnu Music Festival will be going ahead as planned from 16 – 23 July with a re-imagined programme, a focus on both young and established Estonian talent, a celebration of Estonian composer Lepo Sumera and the world premiere of a new work by Tonu Korvits. Read More →

After two-and-a-half months of quarantine spent at the Music Academy Rheinsberg in Brandenburg, the 25 musicians of the Bolivian Orquesta Experimental de Instrumentos Nativos (OEIN) can finally set out on their flight home to Bolivia, thanks to the efforts of the organisation team of the soloists’ ensemble PHØNIX16, the Goethe-Institut, the Federal Foreign Office as well as the Bolivian Embassy. Read More →

Statt des ursprünglich geplanten Programms will das Mosel Musikfestival mit veränderten Formaten in diesem Sommer an den Start gehen. Das neue Konzept wird das Festivalteam im Juni präsentieren. Für die konkrete Ausgestaltung werden derzeit noch konzeptionelle und wirtschaftliche Details mit Künstlern, Förderern und Sponsoren abgesprochen. Read More →

Igor Levit
(c) Felix Broede

On Saturday, May 30th at 2 pm (CET), Igor Levit will perform at the b-sharp-studio in Berlin one of music history’s longest compositions: Eric Satie’s Vexations, which lasts approx. 20 hours. Read More →

The 69th edition of the Granada Festival will take place from 25 June to 26 July 2020 and will be opened in the Cathedral of Granada with Mozart’s Requiem by the Orquesta y Coro Ciudad de Granada as a tribute to the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 69th Festival of Granada in 2020 will present a total of 70 events over 32 days – one of the longest editions in its history. https://granadafestival.org/programa/

Das Kammermusikfest in Lockenhaus findet  trotz der Coronavirus-Krise statt. Das Festival wird mit Abstand unter dem Motto „…inniger…“ von 2. bis 11. Juli über die Bühne gehen, teilte Geschäftsführer Geza Rhomberg am Donnerstag in einer Aussendung mit. Die Umsetzung der Maßnahmen zur Sicherung der Gesundheit des Publikums habe dabei „oberste Priorität“. Read More →

François-Xavier Roth
(c) François Sechet

Am 30. Mai gibt das Gürzenich-Orchester unter der  Leitung von Francois-Xavier Roth zwei Konzerte in der Kölner Philharmonie. Die Konzerte finden unter besonderen Hygienebedingungen statt,  mit maximal 100 Zuhörern. Es sind die ersten Konzerte seit dem 9. März. Das Konzert von 20 Uhr mit Béla Bartóks Divertimento für Streichorchester und Wolfgang Amadeus Mozarts Konzert für Flöte und Orchester Nr. 1 KV 313 G-Dur  wird als Livestream unter www.guerzenich-orchester.de/livestream  übertragen.

Emmanuel Krivine
(c) Christian Aschman

French conductor Emmanuel Krivine, 73, has surprisingly announced his resignation as Music Director of the French National Orchestra (ONF). He was in this position since 2016 and due to step down at the end of the 2020-2021 season. Read More →

The Foundation of the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition and Dominique Meyer, its artistic director, announced that the competition which was to take place in November will be postponed to a later date which will be set shortly. The 2020 edition was reserved for singers.