At the Gstaad Festival in Switzerland, American conductor Andrew Joon Choi has won this year’s Neeme Järvi Prize. The prize was given after a concert of Gstaad Festival Orchestra which was conducted by the participants of the Gstaad Conducting Academy, directed by Jaap van Zweden. Andrew Joon Choi (*1986) is currently a student at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste.

The 2018 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition, which was launched on August 10, has announced the 12 semi-finalists (7 women / 5 men from 7 countries) who will participate in the Semi-Final round, which begins next Saturday with the String Quartet session. Read More →

Cecilia Bartoli
(c) Salzburger Festspiele

Cecilia Bartoli has today unveiled a series of new projects with Decca Classics. She has announced her first ever catalogue box set of Rossini recordings, a brand new Vivaldi album, and a new label Mentored by Bartoli to nurture outstanding artists – starting with the debut recording of Mexican tenor Javier Camarena. Read More →

Die Festspiele Erl kommen nicht zur Ruhe. Nach dem Wirbel um den mittlerweile zurückgetretenen Künstlerischen Leiter Gustav Kuhn wegen sexueller Belästigung, läuft nach einer Anzeige durch die Finanzpolizei ein Verfahren seitens der Bezirkshauptmannschaft Kufstein. Es geht um den Verdacht der illegalen Beschäftigung von Ausländern. Read More →

Moscow’s new concert hall Zaryadye will receive 14 grand pianos and eight upright pianos with a total value of more than 2 million Euros. The supplier is Steinway & Sons.

Royal Albert Hall, London
© Remy Franck

The Royal Albert Hall’s artistic director, Lucy Noble, has warned classical instruments risk becoming extinct, according to the Sunday Telegraph. Noble, who said that the ‘YouTube generation’ needs more exposure to live music, is particularly concerned by the decline of certain instruments. Read More →

The 2018 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition was launched yesterday, August 10, and will take place until September 1. Pizzicato’s Remy Franck will cover the final round from Shanghai. So, stay tuned and don’t miss any important information about this competition. Read More →

Concertgebouw Amsterdam
(c) Remy Franck

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra has announced that the conductors Bernard Haitink, Kerem Hasan, Manfred Honeck and Thomas Hengelbrock have agreed to take over the concerts in the first four weeks of the 2018/2019 season which were originally scheduled with Daniele Gatti. The orchestra ended its collaboration with chief conductor Gatti on 2 August.

Asmik Grigorian

Im Rahmen seines Festspielsommers zeigt ‘3sat’ am Samstag, 11. August, um 20.15 Uhr die Oper ‘Salome’ von Richard Strauss in einer Übertragung aus der Felsenreitschule in Salzburg. Read More →

Das grosse Festspielhaus in Salzburg

Während des Klavierabends von Grigory Sokolov bei den Salzburger Festspielen drang wegen Starkregens Wasser in den Zuschauerraum des Großen Festspielhauses ein. Es tropfte aus der Decke. Im benachbarten ‘Haus für Mozart’ kam es während der Vorstellung von ‘L’italiana in Algeri’ zu einem Wassereinbruch auf der Seitenbühne und einem kurzen Stromausfall. Read More →