Guitarist Cassie Martin is the winner of the ICMA Classeek Award 2024. Charlotte Saulneron from the French Jury member ResMusica made the following interview with her.
Since 2018 Cassie Martin has traveled the world, won several awards, and participated in numerous festivals. Her repertoire combines early, contemporary and world music. As a Eurostrings artist in 2020, she took part in Gautier Capuçon’s Un Ă©tĂ© en France 2022 tour and then represented France in Sergio Assad’s The Woman and the Guitar project.
Your repertoire ranges from Bach to traditional world music: Brazilian, Austrian, Italian and French. Where do you want to go with your next project, be it on stage or on record?
I have a lot of plans. Of course, I’d like to continue introducing the public to the vast, little-known repertoire of the guitar, from the Baroque to the contemporary. One of my current concert programs is entitled La guitare Ă travers les siĂšcles, in which I take the listener on a journey through time, showing all the facets of this beautiful instrument. Read More →
John Adams: City Noir (2009) + Fearful Symmetries (1988) + Girls of the Golden West â Lola Montez Does the Spider Dance (2016, rev. 2020); ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Marin Alsop; # Naxos 8.559935; Aufnahmen 05, 06 & 12.2022, Veröffentlichung 05.04.2024 (69'09) - Rezension von Remy Franck
Dieses monographische Adams-Programm beginnt mit City Noir, dem Komponisten nach « eine Sinfonie, die von dem besonderen Ambiente und der ganz eigenen Stimmung der sogenannten ‘Noir’ Filme aus Los Angeles inspiriert wurde. (âŠ) Meine Musik ist eine Hommage nicht in erster Linie an die Filmmusik dieser Zeit, sondern eher an die grundsĂ€tzlichere Ăsthetik dieser Ăra. » Read More →
Dmitri Shostakovich: Streichquartette Nr. 1-15 + Quartettsatz Es-Dur + Zwei StĂŒcke fĂŒr Streichquartett op. 22 & op. 29; Quatuor Danel (Marc Danel, Gilles Millet, Violine, Vlad Bogdanas, Viola, Yovan Markovitch, Cello); # Accentus Music ACC80585; Liveaufnahmen 02.2022, Veröffentlichung 05.04.2024 (67, 69, 59, 68, 46, 49') - Rezension von Remy Franck
Eine Gesamtaufnahme aller Streichquartette von Dmitri Shostakovich ist ein groĂer Brocken, doch wenn man mit dem ersten Quartett in der neuen Einspielung des Quatuor Danel startet, besteht kein Zweifel, dass man sich wĂ€hrend der rund sechs Stunden nicht langweilen wird. Read More →
ICMA Artist of the Year Renaud Capuçon âMy life is music. I constantly want to learn, to progress and to discover new thingsâ
Renaud Capuçon is Artist of the Year 2024 of the International Classical Music Awards. One look at his touring calendar or discography is enough to understand the extraordinarily broad range of musical activity the French violinist is engaged in. Capuçon's activities go beyond soloist and chamber music work - he is a mentor, an artistic director of festivals, a conductor and artist committed to social and civic causes. The French musician remarkably managed to find time for a short conversation with Ariadna Ene-Iliescu, a collaborator of ICMA Jury member Radio Romùnia Muzical.
You have been named Artist of the Year of the International Classical Music Awards. What does this award mean to you?
It’s a great honour for me, of course, as a musician, as a violonist. I’ve known this association and this prize for a long time and I was absolutely surprised, because I didn’t know that I would be nominated. So when I got it, I was very happy! It’s an honour and it’s also a responsibility for a musician in these times when classical music has to be really defended. Read More →
Franz Schmidt: Fredigundis, Oper in drei Akten; Martin Egel (Chilperich), Reid Bunger (Herzog Drakolen), Dunja Vejzovic (Fredigundis), Werner Hollweg (Landerich, Praetextatus), Olga Sandu (Rulla), ORF Chor, RSO Wien, Ernst MÀrzendorfer; # Orfeo C380012; Liveaufnahme 09.1979, Veröffentlichung 05.04.2024 (145') - Rezension von Remy Franck
Franz Schmidts dreiaktige Oper Fredigundis stammt aus dem Jahre 1922 und spielt in Neustrien (Neustrie, Königreich des merowingischen Frankreichs im heutigen Nordmittelfrankreich) in der zweiten HĂ€lfte des 6. Jahrhunderts. Der Stoff war zuvor schon von Ernest Guiraud in seiner von Camille Saint-SaĂ«ns vollendeten Oper FrĂ©dĂ©gonde sowie von Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739) mit seiner Oper Fredegunda (bei Naxos erhĂ€ltlich) benutzt worden. Read More →
What in 2009 might have seemed like a utopian undertaking is now an established reality in the field of musicological research and musical production: Palazzetto Bru Zane. Stefano Pagliantini from the Italian ICMA Jury member Musica talked with Alexandre Dratwicki, scientific director of the French Romantic Music Centre Palazzetto Bru Zane whose recording label is Label of The Year at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA).
2024 marks an important milestone for Palazzetto Bru Zane: 15 years of activity at the highest levels, label of the year at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA), winner of the âPremiere recordingsâ section with the recording, in the usual and luxurious format of the book — CD, of Ariane by Jules Massenet. Read More →
Richard Strauss: Die Schweigsame Frau (Szenen); Hans Hotter (Sir Morosus), Lilian Benningsen (HaushÀlterin), Hermann Prey (Barbier), Fritz Wunderlich (Henry Morosus), Ingeborg Hallstein (Aminta), Eva Maria Rogner (Isotta), Marianna Radev (Carlotta), Josef Knapp (Morbio), Ba, Karl Christian Kohn (Vanuzzi), Karl Hoppe (Farfallo), Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Heinz Wallberg; # BR Klassik 900219; Aufnahme 11.1960, Veröffentlichung 05.04 2024 (48'59) - Rezension von Remy Franck
FrĂŒher war es bei den Schallplattenfirmen gang und gĂ€be, aus Opern sogenannte Querschnitte zu veröffentlichen. Heute ist das unĂŒblich, und wenn Opern veröffentlicht werden, dann sind es ĂŒberhaupt nur noch selten Studioproduktionen, sondern meistens Livemitschnitte. Mit diesem Album knöpft BR Klassik an die alte Tradition an. Read More →
Italian Orazio Sciortino (*Syracuse, 1984) has been chosen by the jury of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) for their annual Composer Award. He is a musician with a wide-ranging catalog and an intense dedication to the interpretation of the classical repertoire as a pianist. Ismael G. Cabral from the Spanish ICMA Jury member Scherzo made the following interview.
At what point in your career does this ICMA award come to you?
It’s not easy to have a perception of yourself, of the road you have traveled. I think I might be able to answer that question in 20 years, or maybe more. I will be 40 years old, and that is a round and relevant number at which it might make sense to take stock. Read More →
Today, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association (CSOA) Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve the recommendation of the CSOA Music Director Search Committee to appoint Finnish conductor Klaus MĂ€kelĂ€ as the next Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO): the eleventh in the ensembleâs 133-year history. Read More →
Turkish pianists GĂŒher and SĂŒher Pekinel have been awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award of ICMA. This award is highly justified for the almost fifty years that Pekinels have graced the international stage, starting from the 1980âs when only a handful of Turkish musicians could find their way into the classical music scene. Their unique musicality, stage presence and deep artistic knowledge have paved the way to this very important award.The Pekinels have devoted most of their time, in recent years, to educational projects and preparing talented young musicians from all over Turkey to the concert stage and are therefore one of the most hard-working musical ambassadors present. They have been interviewed by Feyzi Ercin, from the Turkish Jury member Andante.
You are a duo with countless achievements and numerous awards. What does an award signify to an artist, and what does this one specifically mean to you?
The ICMA Award has once again proven to be a significant source of motivation for us. Foremost among its merits is the recognition of our endeavors by fellow musicians, serving as an indicator of our resonance within the artistic realm. Read More →
