Myung-Whun Chung

Myung-whun Chung, who resigned from his post as Music Director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted his last concert yesterday evening, with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Orchestra members wore a sticker of a dove on their right chest for solidarity with their outgoing conductor. Chung entered and left the stage to a standing ovation. Yet, he fall over conspiracies by the orchestra’s former CEO, Hyun-jung Park. Read More →

It’s a very special concert which the Mariinsky Theatre organizes today in St. Petersburg. The Mariinsky Orchestra will be conducted by Gergiev and Edward Ioudenitch (11), with pianist Stanislav Ioudenitch (44) and violinist Maria Ioudenitch (19). Read More →

Deutsche Oper Berlin
(c) DOB

In 2015 hat die Stiftung ‘Oper in Berlin’ im Bereich Musiktheater über 662.000 Tickets verkauft. Die ‘Deutsche Oper’ hatte nach der Renovierung eine Zuwachsrate von 21%. Die ‘Berliner Staatsoper’ erreichte 2015 in ihrem Ausweichquartier, dem ‘Schiller Theater’, eine durchschnittliche Platzauslastung von 86 Prozent (drei Prozent weniger als 2014).
Konstante Besucherzahlen verzeichnete die ‘Komische Oper’ mit einer Auslastungsquote von 87,5 Prozent.

According to Les Echos, the French independent label Naïve could soon be taken over by a major actor of the recording industry. Naïve is a label dedicated to classical music, jazz and pop, with artists like Anne Gastinel, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Accentus, Sonia Wieder-Atherton, Nikolai Lugansky, Sandrine Piau, and Fazil Say. Read More →

Das 53 Millionen teure, vom spanischen Erziehungsministerium in Torrevieja (Costa Blanca) gebaute Musikkonservatorium hat so viele Mängel, dass es quasi unbrauchbar ist, sagte der Bürgermeister der Stadt der spanischen Zeitung ‘El Mundo’. Read More →

Facing serious financial problems and bankruptcy, French Internet platform Qobuz will finally be rescued by Xandrie, a video games platform created in 2012 by Denis Thébaud. According to our colleagues from ResMusica, Xandrie would accept the losses of Qobuz for a period of three years. However, Qobuz just has lost a big distribution contract with 20 labels. So, the mess is not yet completely sorted out.

Myung-Whun Chung

Conductor Myung-whun Chung announced today, 29 December, that he will step down as Music Director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra amid accusations in continuous scandals surrounding the orchestra’s previous CEO Hyun-jung Park. So at the end, that powerful woman finally won the battle against Chung. Read More →

Karl Böhm

Der Karl-Böhm-Saal in Salzburg wird laut dem Festspielpräsidium mit einer Erläuterungstafel ausgestattet. Das berichtete der ‘Kurier’. Böhm war ein « Hitler-Günstling » und laut Analyse der Festspiele « ein Profiteur des Dritten Reichs ». Read More →

As announced (see news below) the Seoul Philharmonic’ Board met today to discuss whether to extend or not Music Director Myung-Whun Chung’s contract. In the light of new court affairs, the Board decided to postpone its decision. Chung has promised to fulfil next season’s commitments regardless of his contract status.

Myung-Whun Chung

Conductor Myung-whun Chung’s wife of has been booked on defamation charges in a court case that led to the resignation of the administrative head of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Korean media report. Chung’s wife, 67, is accused of prompting her husband’s secretary to write and distribute an anonymous letter that Hyun-jung Park, the former CEO of the Seoul Philharmonic, sexually and verbally harassed orchestra members, police said. Read More →