Naxos has closed its streaming service ClassicsOnline « since our technology partner ceased operating the platform used for », the website announces. Yet, there is also a financial reason, since Naxos’s CEO Klaus Heymann says: « ‘I don’t feel that terrible about it because nobody offering streaming is making money. » Read More →
In a press release, Fort Worth Opera is profusely thanking their General Director « for his 16 years of dedicated service » and at the same time the board fires him over different views for the future. As Schiller would say: The Moor has done his duty, the Moor can go. Darren K. Woods will be replaced by a new General Director the search of which has already started.
Enjott Schneider: Fatal Harmonies: Werke für Violoncello und Orchester (Dugud, Sulamith, Fatal Harmonie of Black Sweetness, Abaddon – Angel of Abyss, Lilith); Lásló Fenyö, Cello, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ariel Zuckermann; 1 CD Wergo WER 5116 2; Aufnahme 3/2016, Veröffentlichung 01/2017 (82‘17) – Rezension von Uwe Krusch
Eine weitere CD mit Werken des produktiven Enjott Schneider legt mit vier Werken für Solocello und Orchester sowie einem reinen Orchesterwerk den Schwerpunkt auf das ‘singende’ Instrument schlechthin. Das Cellokonzert ‘Dugud’ sowie ‘Sulamith. Dances sacrées’ und ‘Abaddon, Engel des Abgrunds’ werden hier vom Widmungsträger vorgetragen, ebenso wie ‘Fatal Harmonies of Black Sweetnes’. Read More →
ICMA Lifetime Achievement Award winner Matti Salminen has been among the most famous basses of opera stages already over 40 years. He is especially famous in Wagner-roles, but his repertoire is large, reaching even to Finnish tangos. His steady, resonant bass is flexible enough also for subtle nuances, and he emphasizes opera always as a comprehensive theatre. Read our article by Harri Kuusisaari, ICMA Jury member for the Finnish magazine Rondo Classic.
There is nothing diva-like in Matti Salminen’s behaviour. He has one natural, unpretentious charisma on stage, and his long experience on top of the opera world becomes evident when he speaks about his life. But still you can feel his background as a son of a working class family in Turku, who earned cash for his voice lessons by singing Finnish tangos in nightclubs. Read More →
Conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi has written an article to warn from the new politics, the United States are engaging in, the website Democratic Underground reports. The conductor writes about his family members murdered in Nazi concentration camps and worries about new tendencies of religious intolerance: Read More →
Italian violinist Elisa Citterio has been named Music Director of the Toronto based ensemble Tafelmusik. Citterio was the unanimous choice of the orchestra and search committee. She succeeds Jeanne Lamon, who retired after a 33-year tenure. Read More →
The Swedish label BIS is Label of the Year of the International Classical Music Awards. Known for the quality of sound and music, for a substantial catalogue of more than 2.300 titles and some exciting projects, the label is a strong player on the international market. Remy Franck made the following interview with the label's CEO Robert von Bahr.
Robert, what was the starting point for your business?
When my first wife, the flutist Gunilla von Bahr, wanted to release a recording, I wrote to a couple of labels, and at first we got only refusals. So I decided to make the recording and to try again. I wrote another round of letters and got again either no answer or a refusal. Read More →
The Jury of the International Classical Music Awards – ICMA today announced the winners for 2017. « The ICMA Jury comprises 16 leading media from 14 countries, having the most up to date knowledge of the classical music market. Our Jury is totally independent and international, and therefore provides reliable guidance to the global audience. This year, the jury selected 17 audio and video productions from a total of 321 nominations. The jury was most excited about the list of finalists obtained after two rounds. They reflected the variety and the extremely high level of this short list out of which the winners were selected. No other awards for classical musical present such a carefully filtered list of winners,” said Remy Franck, President of the Jury. Read More →
The UN have now approved the resolution granting a land right in favour of the new Cité de la Musique in Geneva. In a press release Fondation pour la Cité de la Musique de Genève (FCMG) said that they obtained a right to use three plots of land next to the Place des Nations for 90 years. Read More →
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphonie Nr. 2, Ouvertüren Die Ruinen von Athen, Zur Namensfeier, Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus, Coriolan und Egmont; Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Stefan Blunier; 1 CD MDG 937 1977-6, Aufnahmen 01/2015 und 05/2016, Veröffentlichung 11/2016 (66'29) – Rezension von Uwe Krusch
In der Reihe der Beethovenaufnahmen des gleichnamigen Beethovenorchesters Bonn mit seinem 2016 ausgeschiedenen Chefdirigenten Stefan Blunier erscheint die zweite Symphonie gekoppelt mit den Ouvertüren zu Schauspielmusiken und der ‘Zur Namensfeier’. Read More →
