Nathan Aspinall

The Nashville Symphony (Tennessee, US) announced that Nathan Aspinall (*1990) has been named Assistant Conductor, effective at the start of the 2019/20 season. Read More →

Marcus Bosch

Vom 26. Mai bis zum 28. Juli finden die Opernfestspiele Heidenheim, kurz OH genannt, statt. Obwohl es diese Festspiele schon seit 1964 gibt, konnte erst der Künstlerische Direktor und Dirigent Marcus Bosch das Festival international positionieren. Für Pizzicato besuchte unser Mitarbeiter Alain Steffen zwei Vorstellungen der OH. Read More →

Dutch cellist Anner Bylsma has passed away on Thursday 25 July. He was 85 years old. He studied with Carel van Leeuwen Boomkamp at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and won the Prix d’excellence in 1957. In 1959, he won First Prize in the Pablo Casals Competition in Mexico. From 1962 to 1968 he was principal cellist in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Read More →

Edward Gardner
Photo:B. Ealovega

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has announced that Edward Gardner, 44, will succeed Vladimir Jurowski as Principal Conductor at the beginning of the 2021/22 season. The contract is set to run for 5 years. He will be the first British in this position since John Pritchard in the 1960s. Since 2015, Gardner is chief conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. He was the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s principal guest conductor from 2011 to 2016.

Durch einen tropfenden Wasserhahn wurden vor gut einem Jahr Tausende Notenblätter im Wiener Stephansdom in Mitleidenschaft gezogen. Doch Musikwissenschaftlerin Elisabeth Hilscher von der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und ihre Studierenden von der Universität Wien konnten das historische Musikarchiv in monatelanger Arbeit retten. Nun wurden die Sicherungsmaßnahmen erfolgreich abgeschlossen, teilte das Institut heute mit. Read More →

Opéra Bastille, Paris

According to rumours circulating since several weeks  the French Ministry of Culture has chosen the German Alexander Neef as Stéphane Lissner’s successor at the National Opera in Paris. Neef will take office in August 2021. Read More →

Pietari Inkinen

Finnish conductor Pietari Inkinen, 39, Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and of the Japan Philharmonic, will make his debut at the Bayreuth Festival to conduct anew production of Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen in the summer of 2020.  The production will be directed by Valentin Schwarz. Read More →

Nachdem Jonas Kaufmann in München bereits am 15. Juli als Otello ausgefallen war, hat er nun weitere Auftritte in München abgesagt. Aufgrund einer Erkrankung könne er seine Partie in Richard Wagners Oper ‘Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg’ bei den Münchner Opernfestspielen Ende Juli nicht singen, teilte die Bayerische Staatsoper mit. Für Kaufmann übernimmt Daniel Kirch.

Aaron Pilsan
(c) Franck Juery/Naïve

Out of 93 video applications, 25 candidates were selected for the quarter-finals of the Clara Haskil Competition in Vevey, Switzerland. Among the 15 nationalities represented, there are 1 Swiss, 6 French, 1 Canadian, 1 Spanish, 3 German, 1 Cuban, 2 South Korean, 1 Hong Kong citizen, 1 Singaporean, 1 Pole, 1 Italian, 2 Japanese, 1 Romanian, 1 Austrian, 1 Chinese and 1 Russian. Among the names, some are familiar, like Orlando Bass, France, Jérémie Conus, Suisse, Krzysztof Ksiazek, Pologne or Aaron Pilsan, Austria.

Keitaro Harada

The Savannah Philharmonic has announced 34-year-old Japanese conductor Keitaro Harada as its new Music and Artistic Director. He will replace founding Artistic Director Peter Shannon, who resigned last year. Harada will conduct the opening and closing concerts of the 2019-20 season as Director Designate and take over the full title and responsibilities with the 2020-21 season. Read More →