British conductor and keyboard player Richard Egarr, 54, will step down as Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) at the end of the 2020-21 season, following fifteen years in the post. Egarr took up the post of Music Director in April 2006, succeeding AAM founder Christopher Hogwood. Egarr was recently appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Residentie Orkest in The Hague from 2019. Read More →
Two publishing houses, MPI Music Production International (Chelyabinsk) and Schott Music Publishers (Mainz) announced a German-Russian cooperation agreement for the Academic Edition of the Complete Works by P.I. Tchaikovsky. The project is said to receive full moral and financial support from the Russian state. Comprising about 120 volumes, this edition will be a big project. The first volumes will be published in 2018. Read More →
Lucilin, the Luxembourg based ensemble for contemporary music has announced that in 2017 it reached 16.000 visitors through 42 performances (16 in Luxembourg, 26 abroad). 22 concerts were sold out. Read More →
The Venice Symphony (Florida) has announced the appointment of American conductor Troy Quinn, 34, as Music Director from the 2018-19 season. Quinn completed his three-year tenure as Music Director of the Juneau Symphony with his final concert on June 3, 2018. Read More →
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Benda: Violakonzerte Nr. 1-3 (F-Dur, Es-Dur, Es-Dur); Jean-Eric Soucy, Bratsche, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Bernard Labadie; 1 CD cpo 555167-2; Aufnahme 07/2016, Veröffentlichung 26/04/2018 (60'11) – Rezension von Remy Franck
Die weitverzweigte Musikerfamilie Benda kann für Konfusionen sorgen, wie diese CD zeigt. Der kanadische Bratschist Jean-Eric Soucy, Mitglied des SWR-Orchesters, hat auf der Suche nach drei Bratschenkonzerten von Georg Anton Benda schließlich herausgefunden, dass es diese wohl nicht gibt, dafür aber drei von Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Benda (1745-1814). Diese drei sind virtuos, und charakteristisch genug, um einem breiten Publikum zu gefallen. Read More →
The Brevard Philharmonic, Brevard, North Carolina, has chosen James Fellenbaum as its new Artistic Director/Conductor. Fellenbaum is currently Resident Conductor with the Knoxville Symphony, Music Director of the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra and Director of Orchestras at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Read More →
How would you describe your origins and at what point did you decide that you wanted to get involved in the classical record world a serious way?
There were plenty of cultural interests in my family when I was growing up, and music, consequently, played an important part in my education and upbringing. I studied Law and, then, for a period of fifteen years I worked as a diplomat, until 1995, when I became involved with the family business concerns in brewing, and I joined a number of management boards… Read More →
A 17-year-old African-American double bassist, Draylen Mason, has been killed in a package bomb explosion in Austin, Texas. American media say that three package bombs exploded at homes in the Texas capital over the past ten days – killing two people and injuring two others. Read More →
Facing the loss of public funding, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), in one desperate struggle for survival, has published impressive figures to show arts-killer Trump, what arts represent in terms of economic value. Read More →
You came back to La Scala after a 20 years gap (not counting the very recent concerts with the Academy Orchestra). A programme very much connected to your musical culture, but not at all to Italian tradition, marked this comeback. How did it work?
Actually quite well, because these musicians are technically very good. Moreover, for this music you need to be a musician with taste, with good technique and a feeling for rhythm. You need a lot of rubato, many stylistic elements that la Scala orchestra is able to give. Read More →
