Seriji Ozawa
Photo: CAMI
At the occasion of Seiji Ozawa’s 85th birthday, Boston’s Mayor Martin J. Walsh has issued a proclamation (link) declaring September 1, 2020, ‘Seiji Ozawa Day in the City of Boston’. Read More →
Italian conductor and singer Claudio Cavina died yesterday at the age of 58. He was a specialist of the baroque and Renaissance repertoire. He studied at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with Kurt Widmer and René Jacobs. He worked with several ensembles and created in 1995 La Venexiana.
Fabio Luisi
Italian conductor Fabio Luisi, 61, will continue as the DR Symphony Orchestra’s chief conductor until 2026. In addition to his position as chief conductor of the DR Symphony Orchestra since 2017, Luisi is chief conductor of the Zurich Opera, and he is also Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in the United States. Outside of music, his hobbies include perfumery and the production of his own personal line of perfumes.
NFM Wroclaw
With a reduced program of only five concerts and respecting the rules of distancing, the 55th International Festival Wratislavia Cantans will start on 11 September with an Homage to Penderecki. Director Andrzej Kosendiak says: « 2020 brought a new and unknown situation, and it affected everyone. The new world that will emerge after the pandemic will certainly be different. We hope it will be better. Read More →
Salzburg
Die Salzburger Festspiele gingen am Sonntagabend mit einem Konzert der Berliner Philharmoniker zu Ende. Insgesamt wurden in diesem Sommer für 110 Veranstaltungen 76.500 Karten an Gäste aus 39 Ländern verkauft (gegenüber 240.000 beim initial geplanten Festival). Die Einnahmen beliefen sich im Endeffekt auf 8,7 Millionen Euro. Die Platzauslastung lag bei 96 Prozent. Read More →
New York based Columbia Artists Management Inc., one of the leading agencies representing classical music performers, says it is shutting down on August 31. A statement emailed Saturday to their artists says: « It is with a heavy heart that, having endured a prolonged pandemic environment, we must announce that effective August 31, 2020, Columbia Artists Management, Inc. will close its doors. Read More →
In the Infirmary of Milano’s opera house La Scala, a large-scale testing for all the members of the orchestra, choir and corps de ballet was started last Friday. They have to undergo the test before resuming activity inside the theatre. Superintendent Dominique Meyer decided this additional security measure after serological tests showed that many people from the artistic staff have come into contact with the virus in the most acute phase of the pandemic. Read More →
Cecilia Bartoli
(c) Ulli Weber/Decca
Die italienische Mezzosopranistin Cecilia Bartoli, 54, bleibt bis 2026 Künstlerischen Leiterin der Salzburger Pfingstfestspielen. Ihr Jahr 2021 auslaufender Vertrag wurde am gestrigen Freitag um fünf weitere Jahre verlängert. Die italienische Sängerin leitet das Festival seit 2012. In diesem Jahr fand es wegen der Corona-Epidemie nicht statt.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and its musicians announced that they have reached a five-year contract after a period of stormy relations between the management and the musicians. Read More →
Dalia Stasevska
Finnish conductor Dalia Stasevska says she and her family have received abuse and even threats, after a newspaper article implied she played some role in the BBC’s decision to include only orchestral versions of two patriotic and colonialist songs. One of the political voices for Britain’s departure from the European Union, Nigel Farage, took to social media to write “so the BBC may drop Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory from The Proms because the Finnish conductor is too woke. Why not drop her instead?” Read More →
