Der katalanische Dramaturg Albert Boadella und der spanische Komponist Juanjo Colomer bereiten zurzeit eine Oper vor, deren Hauptfigur der Maler Picasso sein wird. Die Oper soll im Januar 2018 im ‘Teatro del Canal’ in Madrid uraufgeführt werden, dessen künstlerischer Leiter Boadella ist.

Myung-Whun Chung

The Korean press today reports that Police has cleared conductor Myung-Whun Chung of suspicions he misused Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s accounts for personal expenses. In the follow-up of the conductor’s dispute with the former CEO, Mrs. Park, Chung was accused of embezzlement. After analyzing Chung’s travel records and receipts of tickets acquired between 2005 and 2015, the police concluded that there was no misconduct. Police said they will send the case to the prosecution Friday, recommending a non-indictment. Read More →

Mark Allen McCoy, Music Director of the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra in Leesburg, Virginia, passed away on July 31 after a year-long battle with cancer. McCoy served as music director and conductor of the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra for 18 years. He guest conducted orchestras in Europe, Russia, Japan and the United States.

Mariinsky II
Photo: Mariinsky/Valentin Baranovsky

In the 2015/16 season, the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg organized 1374 performances and concerts with an occupancy rate of more than 90%. Performances and concerts took place on seven stages: in the historic building of the Mariinsky Theatre, at the Mariinsky Concert hall, at Mariinsky-2 and at four of the chamber music halls. Read More →

24 junge Musiker des ‘Verbier Festival’ haben für einen Werbefilm der lokalen Seilbahnen oben auf dem Gipfel des Mont Fort Auszüge aus der ‘Alpensinfonie’ von Richard Strauss gespielt. Das junge Ensemble, das von Tamás János Davida dirigiert wird, besteht nur aus Blechblasinstrumenten und Schlagzeug, da andere Instrumente die frühmorgendlichen niedrigen Temperaturen von ca. 5 Grad Celsius oben auf dem Alpenberg nicht ausgehalten hätten. Read More →

According to information from The Diario.es, 87% of the musicians of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Gran Canaria have asked the manager, Juan Mendoza, to resign. The musicians say, Mendoza has provoked a « continuing situation of personal mistreatment of the orchestra’s musicians ». Apparently, the situation has worsened over the months, to the point that the musicians have announced they will go on strike in September, if there was no satisfying response to their demand.

Ludwig van Beethoven

Sechs Wochen vor Beginn des diesjährigen Festivals meldet das Beethovenfest Bonn den Verkauf von rund 60 Prozent der Karten für die 59 Konzerte. Neun Konzerte im Festivalzeitraum vom 9. September bis 9. Oktober sind schon ausverkauft.

Juraj Valcuha

Teatro San Carlo in Naples has named Zubin Mehta honorary conductor (direttore onorario musicale) and Juraj Valcuha (born 1976 in Bratislava) musical director (direttore principale musicale). Valcuha is Chief Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai, Torino since 2009.

Vladimir Kekhman, since May 2007 General Director and today also Artistic Director of the Mussorgsky State Academic Opera and Ballet – the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, has been declared personally bankrupt by a St Petersburg court. Nearly all of his income will be confiscated for the benefit of creditors, leaving just enough for Kekhman to live. Read More →

Nationaltheater München
(c) Ulrike Romeis

Gestern gingen die Münchner Opernfestspiele 2016 mit Richard Wagners ‘Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg’ zu Ende. Intendant Nikolaus Bachler beschließt die Festspiele in seiner achten Saison mit einer Auslastung von 99,92 Prozent bei den Opern- und Ballettvorstellungen im National- und Prinzregententheater. Insgesamt standen an knapp 40 Tagen fast 90 Veranstaltungen auf dem Spielplan. Read More →