Renée Fleming
(c) Andrew Eccles / Decca
Under the title « The Diva Departs: Renée Fleming’s Farewell to Opera », the New York Times breaks the news today that Richard Strauss’s opera Der Rosenkavalier, which opens at the Metropolitan Opera on 13 April will be the singer’s good-bye to staged opera. Renée Fleming, 58, will sing her final performance on May 13.
The choir and the orchestra of the Opéra de Toulon are on strike today. They decided to not participate at the dress rehearsal for the new production of Die Entführung aus dem Serail which will have its premiere on Friday. The reason for the strike is, according to the unions, the obstinate refusal of the management to apply the collective bargaining agreement of artistic and cultural companies. Singers and musicians are paid 15 to 20% below conventional wages. This is accompanied by a deterioration in working conditions, the unions say.
Louis de Froment
Naxos hat den Vox-Katalog in seinem Label-Portfolio aufgenommen. Bereits 1945 von George Mendelssohn (einem Nachkommen des Komponisten Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy) gegründet, veröffentlichte Vox die ersten Schallplatten-Aufnahmen klassischer Meisterwerke, darunter Bachs Matthäuspassion und Schuberts Klaviersonaten. Read More →
Timo Handschuh
Der deutsche Dirigent Timo Handschuh (*1975) bleibt Generalmusikdirektor am Theater Ulm. Sein Vertrag wird über 2018 hinaus um drei Spielzeiten bis Sommer 2021 verlängert. Handschuh trat diesen Posten 2011 an. Seit Beginn der Konzertsaison 2013/14 ist er zudem in Nachfolge von Sebastian Tewinkel Künstlerischer Leiter und Chefdirigent des Südwestdeutschen Kammerorchesters Pforzheim.
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) has launched the ninth annual Elaine Lebenbom Memorial Award for Female Composers. « The Award is granted annually to a living woman composer, of any age or nationality, in the spirit of recognizing and supporting the creation of new orchestral works by women », the DSO says in a press release. Read More →
Jury and winners
© Gert Mothes
Ten soloists, one chamber orchestra, one choir and a big symphony orchestra, plus the presence of nearly all the musicians winning the 2017 International Classical Music Awards: In his opening speech, the president of the ICMA jury, Remy Franck enthusiastically said: « Since the first edition of our awards in 2011, we never were able to welcome so many guests at an award ceremony as here in Leipzig! » And the success was crowned after the ceremony by an almost three hour-long, sold-out Gala concert at Leipzig’s Gewandhaus. Read More →
The Berlin Philharmonic announced the death of Thomas Brandis, former First concertmaster of the Berliner Philharmoniker who died on 30 March at the age of 81. Born in Hamburg, Thomas Brandis was a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker between 1962–1983. Read More →
The Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra (Arizona. U.S.) has announced the appointment of Charles Latshaw as the new Music Director, from 1 July. Latshaw will succeed Elizabeth Schulze, who is leaving after nine years. Her final performance at the podium will be the April 21 concert at Ardrey Memorial Auditorium on the NAU campus. Read More →
Luzener Sinfonieorchester
(c) Christian Flierl
Die sechste Ausgabe von ‘Zaubersee – Tage Russischer Musik’ des Luzerner Sinfonieorchesters widmet sich vom 24. bis 28. Mai dem Thema ‘Musik und Kunst’. Ein zentrales Projekt stellt das Zusammenspiel von Marc Chagalls Kunst mit Piotr Tchaikovskys Musik dar. Read More →
Canadian-Romanian conductor Andrei Feher, 26, has been appointed music director for the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony (Ontario,Canada).
