The organizers of the 17th Chopin International Piano Competition have announced that the final list of candidates includes eighty pianists from twenty countries. Poland, with 15 pianists, is followed by China (14), Japan (12) and South Korea (9). Russia, the United States, Italy, Canada and Great Britain are next on the list. The participants in the competition have been selected among 160 applicants who took part in the qualifying round held in Warsaw in the spring. Read More →

Beethovenhalle Bonn

Nachdem die Pläne für den Bau eines Beethoven-Festspielhauses geplatzt sind, muss die Stadt Bonn an eine notwendige Sanierung der Beethovenhalle denken. Diese soll ab Oktober 2016 geschlossen und spätestens vor dem Beethovenfest 2018 wieder eröffnet werden. Read More →

Der Stadtrat der schweizerischen Stadt Biel hat beschlossen, die finanzielle Unterstützung für das Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn (TOBS) ab 2018 um jährlich 360.000 Franken (ca. 330.000 Euro) zu kürzen. Ursprünglich war die Einsparung des ganzen Symphonieorchesters vorgesehen. Nun wird es dem Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn überlassen, wo es sparen will. Read More →

Grigory Sokolov

Pianist Grigory Sokolov refuses the Music Award of the city of Cremona (Italy). In a letter to the organizer, he says that he does not want to appear on a prize-winners list comprising the name of the music journalist Norman Lebrecht who was a prize-winner in 2014 (category communication). Lebrecht is one of today’s most controversial music journalists.

Ansicht der neuen 20 Euro Silbermünze

Rund 403 Millionen 1-Euro-Münzen mit Mozarts Porträt hat die Münze Österreich AG bisher in Umlauf gebracht. Jetzt setzt die Münzprägestätte mit der 3-teiligen Münzserie ‘Wolfgang – Amadé –Mozart’ in Silber nach. Heute werden die edlen Geldstücke in Mozarts Wohnhaus in Salzburg präsentiert. Read More →

NY Philharmonic's David Geffen Hall
(c) Remy Franck

After of the $100 million gift that David Geffen made this year toward the renovation of what was New York’s Avery Fisher Hall and is now David Geffen Hall, the New York Philharmonic announced that it was getting the largest individual donation in its history: a $25 million gift from Oscar S. Schafer, the chairman of its board, and his wife, Didi. Read More →

Mariinsky Theatre
Photo: Valentin Baranovsky

More than thousand performances are scheduled for Mariinsky Theatre’s new season, said artistic director Valery Gergiev at a press conference in St. Petersburg. This number includes the performances of both the opera and ballet companies as well as of the symphony orchestra on the three Mariinsky stages, in many cities in Russia and abroad.

Toshio Hosokawa
(c) Schott - Christopher Peters

Luxembourg’s foremost ensemble for contemporary music, Lucilin, will be in Japan from October 1 to 4 on the occasion of the CD release of Toshio Hosokawa’s The Raven on Naxos. The Raven was commissioned by Lucilin to the Japanese composer. Based on the eponymous poem by Edgar Allan Poe, this monodrama for mezzo-soprano (Charlotte Hellekant) and ensemble (12 musicians) has been performed for the first time in a concert version in Brussels during the Ars Musica festival 2012.

Vladimir Ashkenazy and Violetta Egorova, President & Founder of the Sergei Rachmaninov International Award

Vladimir Ashkenazy has been awarded the Sergei Rachmaninov International Award 2014. The ceremony took place in Lugano, Switzerland, on September 21. The Sergei Rachmaninov International Award, which was created in 2013, is awarded to musicians who have made special contributions to Rachmaninov’s compositions. Read More →

Gustavo Gimeno
(c) Marco Borggreve

Als einen Akt kollektiver Apathie wertet Remy Franck das Einstandskonzert von Gustavo Gimeno an der Spitze der Luxemburger Philharmoniker. Dem ehemaligen Paukisten und 2014 zum Dirigent mutierten Musiker fehle es noch an Metier, heißt es in der Pizzicato-Rezension. Read More →