Malaysian billionaire Tan Sri Francis Yeoh has given Rome’s struggling opera house €1 million. The businessman is quoted by the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma as saying he hoped the gift would help the institution « distinguish itself on an international level as one of the most prestigious and excellent artistic centres in the world ».

The cello section is the most international at this year’s Tchaikovsky competition. There is one notable absence: German cellist Leonard Elschenbroich, already a regular performer in concerts around the world, has lost track. Read More →

The Finalists at the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow have been announced. Russian will dominate the last round, but, as we heard, the French Lucas Debargue (25) has serious chances to win. Read More →

The Tchaikovsky International Competition has announced the names of the six finalists in the violin section. It’s a pretty Russian-Asian panel, aged 20-33, all of the candidates being known as prize-winners of other prestigious competitions. Read More →

Sascha Goetzel
(c) Oezge Balkan

Austrian conductor Sascha Goetzel resigned with immediate effect as First Guest Conductor of the Orchestre symphonique de Bretagne, a post which he occupied since 2012. In a letter to the President of the orchestra, he says that his resignation is due to unilateral decisions by the intendant of the orchestra, Marc Feldman, concerning future programming, as well as to the fact that his name was removed from the orchestra’s website. Read More →

Zoran Mihajlovic, Sanda Vojkovic & Remy Franck at HRT Headquarters in Zagreb
© ICMA / Nicole Junio

ICMA (International Classical Music Awards) announces the Croatian Radiotelevision HRT as a new full Jury member. With headquarters in Zagreb, HRT (Croatian: Hrvatska radiotelevizija) is a public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels. The official delegate for the ICMA Jury is Mrs. Sanda Vojkovic. Read More →

Dmitri Hvorostovsky
(c) Pavel Antonov

Russian Baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky suffers from a brain tumour. On his Facebook page, the following statement was published: « It is with great regret that Dmitri must cancel all performances from now until the end of August. He has recently been suffering from serious health issues, and a brain tumour has just been diagnosed. Read More →

Es ist kaum zu glauben: Die Vereinigten Staaten, technisch immer auf der Höhe, wenn es darum geht, andere Länder auszuspionieren, haben ein Computerproblem, das das Erstellen von Visa-Dokumenten unter vielen anderen auch für Musiker, die in den USA Konzerte geben sollen, unmöglich macht. Read More →

Royal Opera House, London

According to its annual report for 2014, the Royal Opera House in London has increased its income by 12% to £125.7 million. The total audience was 1.5 million, with 774,000 on the spot and a further 747,000 in more than 400 cinemas around the world. Ticket sales grew by 19% to £44.2 million and fundraising by 10% to £26.5 million.

Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles has announced the auction of Manuscripts and Autographs from the William K Steiner collection that will take place on June 27. The sale will be available on eBay’s live auctions platform with online bidding in real-time. Read More →