Charles Dutoit
(c) Bruno Fidrych

French soprano Anne-Sophie Schmidt has outspoken on sexual abuse by the conductor Charles Dutoit. In an article of the newspaper L’Alsace, the singer tells how Dutoit harassed her sexually back in 1995. Dutoit, then Music Director of the French National Orchestra, had engaged Schmidt as Mélisande for a production of Debussy’s opera at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Read More →

Georges Bizet

While in the original version Carmen is stabbed to death by Don José, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino’s new production of Bizet’s opera is ending differently. Concerned by the daily violence against women in Italy, opera director Leo Muscato wrote a new finale for Bizet’s Carmen which will premiere on January 7. In his new version, Carmen is not murdered, but shoots Don José with a gun.

Sydney Opera House

The opera theatre at the Sydney Opera, the Joan Sutherland Theatre, reopened on Sunday with Opera Australia’s production of The Merry Widow, starring Australian-born soprano Danielle de Niese. The theatre was closed from May to December 2017 for the most significant renovation since the inauguration in 1973. The project was completed over just seven months while the rest of the Opera House remained in operation. Read More →

Christian Thielemann
(c) Deutsche Grammophon

Der deutsche Dirigent Christian Thielemann, 58, wird 2019 am Pult des Neujahrskonzerts der Wiener Philharmoniker stehen. Der Chefdirigent der Sächsischen Staatskapelle Dresden und künstlerische Leiter der Salzburger Osterfestspiele dirigiert das Konzert zum ersten Mal.

Mariss Jansons
Photo: BR

Am 14. Januar 2018 wird Mariss Jansons, seit 2003 Chefdirigent von Chor und Symphonieorchester des BR, 75 Jahre alt. Der Bayerische Rundfunk würdigt den Maestro mit vielen Sendungen im BR Fernsehen, 3sat und ARD-alpha, im Radio und im Internet: Highlights, wie bisher noch ungesendete Konzerte, ein neues Filmporträt, nterviews, ein ganzer Sendetag in BR-Klassik/Hörfunk mit dem Titel ‘Ein Tag mit Mariss Jansons’, sowie Geschichten über den großen Musiker online auf br-klassik.de. Read More →

Daniel Oren

Israeli conductor Daniel Oren(*1955) has been named Music Director of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Georgian Ministry of Culture announced. Oren began his brilliant international career in 1975, winning the first prize at the Karajan Competition Award. Oren, is Artistic Director of the Teatro Verdi in Salerno, Italy, and has conducted at venues like the Vienna Staatsoper, the Royal Opera House and New York’s Metropolitan.

Happy New Year from the Pizzicato Team! On the eve of the New Year, we take a quick look back at the last twelve months. As you have seen, we have been widely covering international music news and published well over 1.000 reviews of new audio and video releases. Our reader statistics show that during the year 2017, our readership has further increased and we counted over 1,7 million visitors at the website, with an average of 5,6 pages read by every visitor. We expect to keep up this development speed and quality level and wish you happiness and musical enrichment in 2018.

Statsoper Unter den Linden

Die Staatsoper ‘Unter den Linden’ in Berlin hat im Jahr 2017 eine positive Entwicklung gekannt. Sie steigerte zunächst noch im Ausweichquartier ‘Schiller-Theater’ und ab Dezember im wiedereröffneten Stammhaus die Auslastung von 88 Prozent (2016) auf 94 Prozent. Read More →

Nadja Michael

German soprano Nadja Michael will appear on January 4 for the first time in Seville’s Teatro de la Maestranza with the Real Orquesta Sinfonica de Sevilla (Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville), under the baton of its artistic and music director, John Axelrod, for a delightful program to celebrate the new year. « The program ‘Un Nuevo Año con Besos de Nadja Michael’ is full of fanciful waltzes, overtures and arias from Viennese operetta to American song », says John Axelrod.   Read More →

The future of the San Antonio Symphony looks dark at the end of the year 2017. The musicians’ contract will expire next Sunday, December 31, and a new one is far from being agreed upon. Moreover, there is trouble in the new organization which was set to take over he governance of the orchestra. Read More →