Dmitri Hvorostovsky
(c) Pavel Antonov

Russian police is investigating a case in which fake concerts by baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky were used by the General Director of the Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic for embezzlement, the Russian magazine M Celebrity reports. The suspect apparently had concluded fake contracts with fake companies for the lease of premises and equipment, allegedly for concerts  by Hvorostovsky. But the performances never took place, and the money allocated to them, has mysteriously disappeared.

Giancarlo Guerrero

Giancarlo Guerrero, 48, who has led the Nashville Symphony as its Music Director for nearly a decade, has picked up an additional post in Europe. The Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon has appointed him Principal Guest Conductor. He will conduct up to four weeks with that orchestra, beginning in August 2018. Read More →

Three works have been selected for this year’s Composition Prize of the Geneva International Music Competition. The composers had to submit a concerto for clarinet and orchestra. From 67 scores, the Jury chose three finalists, Nocturne III by 22-year-old Korean Jaehyuck Choi, Bocca Chiusaby the 31 year-old Yair Klartag (Israel) and Prank by Hankyeol Yoon (23, Korea). Read More →

John Axelrod

In honor of Spanish mezzo soprano Teresa Berganza, the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla organizes a royal culinary gala with celebrity chef Kamilla Seidler and Spain’s best sommelier Nuria Espaaaon November 25 at the ballroom of the legendary Hotel Alfonso XIII in seville, followed by a concert at the UNESCO heritage site of the Real Alcázar de Sevilla, featuring baritone Thomas Hampson with musicians of the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, conducted by its Artistic and Musical Director, John Axelrod. All proceeds from this gala will benefit the orchestra’s artistic, administrative and educational needs.

Cecilia Bartoli
(c) Ulli Weber/Decca

Tomorrow, Friday 17, Italian mezzo Cecilia Bartoli will sing ‘Beata Viscere’ by the medieval French composer Perotin with the choir of the Sistine Chapel. Bartoli is the first woman to sing at the Sistine Chapel. She has canceled several appointments to realize her dream and she expects that the Pope himself will attend the performance.

The ICMA nomination list for 2018 is available. To get the list, just click on our Nominations button which will lead you to lists sorted by labels or categories. For the 2018 awards the Jury of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) has nominated 357 audio and video productions (321 in 2017, 364 in 2016) from 120 labels (119 in 2017, 115 in 2016). Read More →

Philharmonie de Paris

The French Ministry of culture plans the merger of the Orchestra de Paris and the Cité de la musique – Philharmonie de Paris, France Musique has revealed. Apparently the proposal comes from the General Manager of the Philharmonie, Laurent Bayle, who as a counsellor of Luxembourg’s government, initiated the merger of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonie despite the fact that the same man in 2004 advised the previous Minister of Culture to not consider a merger. Read More →

Bogdan Roscic, the designated new General manager of the Vienna State Opera (from 2020) was accused of plagiarism in his doctoral thesis. A thorough examination by the University shows that some passages in the introduction are indeed kind of plagiarism, yet irrelevant, so the commission. Bogdan Roscic is allowed to keep his title and the Opera keeps its boss.

The City of Bologna has fired the superintendent of its opera house, Nicola Sani, Italian agency ANSA has announced. At the same time, the current assigned the position of superintendent to the current Director General of the Theatre, Fulvio Macciardi. Sani had the job since the beginning of 2015.

(c) Andrea Kremper

Die Baden-Badener ‘La Bohème’, eine Koproduktion mit dem Akademischen Opern- und Ballett-Theater Perm Russland) hat Pizzicato-Mitarbeizer Alain Steffen als eine in sich geschlossene und durchgehend überzeugende Aufführung empfunden. Read More →