Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider
(c) George Lange

Neujahrskonzerte sind in. Als Modell steht natürlich immer  das bewährte Wiener Neujahrskonzert mit den Wiener Philharmonikern und der Musik von Johann Strauss & Co. Die Luxemburger Philharmonie und das ‘Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg’ versuchen seit Jahren eher erfolglos, auf diese Schiene aufzuspringen, kommentiert Alain Steffen, der die Ausgabe 2018 besucht hat. Read More →

Gustav Kuhn
Ph. T. Benz/Tirolerfestsp. Erl

Die Tiroler Festspiele Erl beendeten am gestrigen 7. Januar ihren 6. Festspielwinter und melden erneut eine Steigerung der Besucherzahlen gegenüber dem Vorjahr. Opernvorstellungen und die großen Konzerte hatten eine hundertprozentige Auslastung. An insgesamt 14 Aufführungstagen nahmen knapp 9.000 Besucher das vielseitige Programmangebot wahr. Read More →

Christoph von Dohnanyi

Ein jugendlicher Einspringer ist er nicht: Christoph von Dohnanyi, 88, übernimmt im Februar und März Opernvorstellungen und Konzerte in Berlin, die Zubin Mehta wegen einer Schulteroperation absagen musste. Dies betrifft die musikalische Leitung bei der Neuproduktion von Richard Strauss’ ‘Salome’ in der Staatsoper ‘Unter den Linden’ (Premiere am 4. März) sowie das 5. Abonnementkonzert der Staatskapelle Berlin. Read More →

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Considering that not so many people from the Detroit suburbs are keen on attending concerts at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s main venue, the orchestra goes to meet them in their neighbourhood. Music Director Leonard Slatkin will conduct the DSO from 11 January on in Southfield, Clinton Township and Beverly Hills. The conductor will give a pre-concert lecture about the program one hour prior to each performance. After each show, he will meet fans and sign copies of his new book, Leading Tones. Read More →

Pascal Dusapin

Momo, French composer Pascal Dusapin’s successful children’s opera for narrator, violin, cello, clarinet, cymbalum & mandolin / guitar has been adapted into a luxembourgish version, to be premiered at Ettelbruck’s Cape next Sunday, January 7. The original text by Leigh Sauerwein has been translated by Nico Helminger. The opera is staged by Lionel Ménard with the musicians of the Ensemble Lucilin, as well as Jules Werner and Maria Del Pilar Blanco Iglesias. Read More →

François-Xavier Roth
(c) François Sechet

Due to heavy snowfalls in the greater Boston area, with schools closed and public transportation on an emergency schedule, the Boston Symphony Orchestra has cancelled today’s performance. The concert has been postponed to Sunday, January 7 at 5 p.m., the orchestra says in a news release. François-Xavier Roth conducts Méhul, Mozart and Beethoven featuring British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor.

Sebastian Lang-Lessing

The San Antonio Symphony will play concerts this weekend and cancel the remainder of the season, the Board decided yesterday, when the negotiations over a new contract for the musicians failed. The orchestra’s financial problems rose in December, when a group of donors backed away from their plans to manage the symphony in a new structure. In a statement, the Board Chair said, that « this is not the end of the symphony. » The orchestra’s current Music Director is German conductor Sebastian Lang-Lessing.

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 →