After first cancellations, the Opera in Rouen has now canceled the remaining performances of Wagner’s Tannhäuser. In a press release the opera house says: « Following the discovery of an asymptomatic positive case at Covid-19, we had to observe a week of isolation to avoid the risk of creating an outbreak. The additional tests carried out today reveal a new asymptomatic positive case ». This artist being indispensable to the performance, the two forthcoming performances of Tannhäuser could only be cancelled, « and with them the immense work done by all the actors in this production. »

Russian viola player and conductor Yuri Bashmet was urgently hospitalized in Moscow with COVID-19. According to Russian media reports, Bashmet and his wife Natalia developed pneumonia. Their condition is said to be moderate.

John Axelrod

Organized at the initiative of conductor John Axelrod, the first Concert Culinaire de Chardonne in Switzerland was a resounding success, a press release says. Sold out and in high demand, the concert featured violinist Alexandra Conunova performing Vivaldi’s and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons, with Maestro Axelrod conducting the International Orchestra of Geneva. Read More →

Kirill Karabits
Photo: Sussie Ahlburg

Due to the continuing quarantine restrictions on travel into the UK, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Conductor Kirill Karabits will be unable to conduct the opening performance of the live streamed series on Wednesday 30 September. He is not only ‘devastated’, but also criticizing the UK regulations. Read More →

Minnesota Orchestra
Photo: Tim Rummelhoff

Today, the Minnesota Orchestra’s management and its musicians have approved an extension of the musicians’ collective bargaining agreement to run through August 2022. Read More →

The Belgian composer Frédéric Devreese died this morning at the age of 91. He was a versatile musician in various styles and genres. He is probably best known as a film composer. Read More →

The interior of the main hall after the fire

As Pizzicato already reported, a huge fire, whose cause is not yet known, destroyed much of the early-20th century National Philharmonic building in Chisinau, the Moldavian capital. The chief conductor and artistic director of the Symphony Orchestra at the National Philharmonic, Mihail Agafita, wrote on Facebook that the fire had consumed everything, including the musical instruments and the complete musical library with all the scores and orchestral parts. Read More →

Teodor Currentzis
(c) Philharmonie/Sébastien Grébille

Dass auch in Zeiten von COVID-19 spannende und hochklassige Konzerte möglich sind, hat das Gastkonzert des SWR-Orchesters in abgespeckter Besetzung und mit neuem Programm gezeigt. Dass Uwe Krusch für Pizzicato nicht enttäuscht war, das ursprünglich mit dem 2. Violinkonzert von Bartok und Auszügen aus Romeo und Julia von Prokofiev angesetzte Programm nicht hören zu können, lag daran, dass das neue Tableau an Werken reizvolle Kontraste bot und auch Dirigent Teodor Currentzis und Geigerin Patricia Kopatchinskaja erhalten blieben. Read More →

Das SWR Symphonieorchester unter Teodor Currentzis, Patricia Kopatchinskaja und Helmut Lachenmann setzen sich über die Reisewarnung des RKI hinweg und spielen heute Abend in der Philharmonie des angeblichen Risikolandes Luxemburg. Das verdient unsere Hochachtung, denn es zeigt, dass die Verantwortlichen dieses Orchesters die Lage nuancierter betrachten als die bornierten Herren des RKI in Berlin. Read More →

A fire a fire broke out last Thursday in the building of the National Philharmonic in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. It took four hours du get it under control. Presumably, the fire started as a result of repair work, from a spark. The concert hall burned out, the dome of the building collapsed, the Small Hall was completely destroyed. The building was designed and built at the end of the 19th century and was renovated in the early 60s of the last century.