Of the 318 candidates whose videos have been screened, 82 have been admitted to the first public round of the Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition 2016: 25 women, 57 men from 23 nationalities. As usual, Korea is leading with 24 candidates, followed by the USA (10), Japan (9), Russia (7), China (6) and France (5).
Han-na Chang
(c) Qatar Philharmonic
Cellist-conductor Han Na Chang takes over as chief conductor and artistic leader at the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra in 2017, succeeding Krzystof Urbanski. Chang was Music director at the Qatar Philharmonic, yet quit the job during a tour last year, citing administrative problems and artistic differences as the principal reason.
Cathy Krier
Luxembourg is becoming more and more a productive export country for classical music. The list of events in the sole month of March is impressive. Pianist Cathy Krier is at the Philharmonie in Cologne, at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, at the Palace of Arts in Budapest, at the Konserthus in Stockholm and at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Artemandoline takes part in the Beyrouth Festival Al Bustan. Read More →
According to The Stage, senior managers at the English National Opera, ENO, have to accept a pay cut of 20%. This is part of a business plan that is aimed at saving £5 million. This compensates more or less the reduction in ENO’s funding from Arts Council England. The management is not only to suffer changes in the contracts, so do also the chorus members who are not keen on accepting this and announced they would strike for the first time in 13 years.
The creation of the big Eastern region of France (Alsace, Champagne- Ardenne and Lorraine) has inspired four opera houses to cooperate and develop common projects. The operas of the cities of Nancy, Strasbourg, Reims and Metz have not yet elaborated concrete ideas, but apparently there is a potential for common productions, sharing equipment, and, mid-term, a common warehouse for the storage of costumes and sets.
Im Rahmen eines Abokonzerts von KölnMusik spielte Concerto Köln ein Programm mit Musik von Johann Sebastian und Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, die mit Werken von Fred Frith, Henry Mikolaj Górecki und Steve Reichaufgemischt wurde. Ein teil des Publikums akzeptierte die Moderne nicht und als Mahan Esfahani, der Solist des Konzerts, ‘Piano Phrase’ von Steve Reich spielte, wurde , laut ‘Concerto Köln’ « die Aufführung kurz nach Beginn von einigen Besuchern nieder geklatscht und durch Zwischenrufe gestört, so dass es dem interessierten Publikum unmöglich war, dem Vortrag zu folgen. Read More →
Stephan Gehmacher
Der Intendantenposten bei den Berliner Philharmonikern ist 2017 neu zu besetzen, nachdem Martin Hoffmann angekündigt hat, seinen Vertrag nicht verlängern zu wollen. Die deutsche Tageszeitung ‘Die Welt’ handelt unterdessen schon den aktuellen Generaldirektor der Luxemburger Philharmonie als Nachfolger: Read More →
The Luxembourg based Trio Koch (Philippe, Laurence and Jean-Philippe) as well as the Luxembourgish clarinettist Max Mausen, Principal Clarinet of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, in duo with pianist Jason Anderson, will perform at the Ankara International Music Festival on the 5th of April.
The ongoing renovation work in the complex of the tower Bel-Air in Lausanne is more and more disrupting the activities of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra (OCL). The latter had to interrupt a recording session because of the noise. « We are very angry. The orchestra cannot work properly since several months, » Curchod Alexander, president of the Foundation OCL told the Swiss press. Read More →
Photo: Marco Borggreve
British conductor Robin Ticciati (33) who has already cancelled concerts with the Bavarian Radio Symphony, Santa Cecilia in Rome and DSO Berlin has withdrawn from his concerts with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra up to March 18. His next activity is Wagner’s Meistersinger in May at the Glyndebourne Opera House. According to The Herald, Ticciati suffers from a herniated disc.
