Jonas Kaufmann
Photo: Mathias Bothor

After his concert with Mahler’s Lied von der Erde at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, German tenor Jonas Kaufmann has criticized both the reactions from parts of the audience as well as the acoustics of the hall. Indeed, several people left the concert, shouting that he could not hear the singer. Though such reactions are inadmissible, the tenor pointed out in an interview with the Hamburger Abendblatt that the acoustics of the Elbphilharmonie are obviously good for large orchestras but unfavourable for soloists. Read More →

31 junge Musiker sind zum 10. Internationalen Violinwettbewerb Leopold Mozart  (31. Mai bis 8. Juni 2019) eingeladen. Die dreiköpfige Vorjury, bestehend aus den Geigern David Frühwirth, Ulf Hoelscher und Marco Rizzi hatte in der vergangenen Woche das Vorspiel-Material der annähernd 100 Kandidaten zu bewerten. Read More →

Der 49-jährige deutsche Kulturmanager Johannes Neubert wechselt von den Wiener Symphonikern zu Krivines ‘Orchestre National de France’. Neubert war seit 2011 Intendant der Wiener Symphonikern. Er wird sein neues Amt am 1. September 2019 antreten.

Edo de Waart

The San Diego Symphony announced that Dutch conductor Edo de Waart, 77, has been appointed the orchestra’s principal guest conductor. The news comes as Venezuelan-born Rafael Payare prepares to take over as Music Director, with his first concerts this weekend. De Waart’s contract will start with the 2019-20 season and is to run through the 2021-22 season. He will be conducting the orchestra for three to four weeks a year. Read More →

Karajans Hans Sachs ist tot. Der deutsche Bassbariton Theo Adam ist gestern im Alter von 92 Jahren gestorben. Der Sachs war seine Glanzrolle unter über 100 Partien. Theo Adam war Mitglied des Dresdner Kreuzchores. 1949 erhielt er ein Engagement an der Staatsoper Dresden. Bereits 1952 sang er bei den Bayreuther Festspielen, wo er bis 1980 gastierte. Read More →

Clermont-Ferrand based Orchestre d’Auvergne is the first French orchestra to launch its own 100% digital label, accessible on various paid-subscription streaming platforms. Read More →

Philippe Jordan
(c) JF Leclercq

3sat zeigt den Film ‘Oper – L’Opéra de Paris’, der mit dem Schweizer Filmpreis 2018 in der Kategorie ‘Bester Dokumentarfilm’ ausgezeichnet wurde, am Samstag, 12. Januar um 22.00 Uhr in Erstausstrahlung. Regisseur Jean-Stéphane Bron reist gemeinsam mit dem Schweizer Chefdirigenten Philippe Jordan in den Mikrokosmos des prestigeträchtigen Pariser Musiktempels – in die Pariser Oper. Read More →

Thomas Heuser

The San Juan Symphony has announced a contract extension with Music Director Thomas Heuser to serve as for the next five seasons through 2024. The American conductor Heuser has also been music director of the Idaho Falls Symphony since 2011, a position he plans to keep along with the San Juan Symphony.

Mariinsky Theatre
Photo: Valentin Baranovsky

Doctor Zhivago, an opera by Russian composer David Krivitsky (1937-2010), will be premiered on January 24 in a concert performance at the Marinsky Theatre Concert hall in St. Petersburg. Krivitsky’s work has been composed after the eponymous novel by Boris Pasternak. Soloists of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera Singers and the Mariinsky Orchestra will be conducted by Nikolai Khondzinsky. Read More →

Leonardo Garcia Alarcon
Photo Jacques Verrees

Argentinian conductor Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, 42, has extended his contract as Music Director of the Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Belgium, until December 2022. Alarcon and the choir are working together since 2009.