2017 sees the 25th anniversary of Divine Art Recordings Group. In fact, each of its three main branches were founded independently at almost the same time. Divine Art itself, established in north-east England in early 1992, acquired both the Athene label (founded in late 1991) and new-music vehicle Métier, also founded in 1992. After absorbing both Dunelm Records and Heritage Media, the company expanded further by opening a branch in the USA, which is now the group headquarters. Read More →
Swiss music school ‘Un, Deux, Trois, Musiques…’ founded by Nicole Coppey is celebrating its 20th anniversary. « This pedagogical school of musical art extols the supreme dimension of music, deep and uplifting, as it plays a clear role in the global development of the personality, bringing about the growth of a structured human being, self-assured and creative. », Coppey says. 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 →
American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, 35, has won the Beverly Sills Artist Award 2017 from the Metropolitan Opera. Barton who receives $50,000 with the award made her Met debut in 2009 and is in rehearsals for the company’s new production of Dvorak’s Rusalka, which premieres tomorrow. Jamie Barton also won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition (both Main and Song Prizes) in June 2013 as well as the Richard Tucker Award. The Pizzicato review of her newest CD is available here.
At the Red House in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, where Benjamin Britten and his partner Peter Pears lived for almost 40 years, a new exhibition, Queer Talk: Homosexuality In Britten’s Britain, is inaugurated today. It will outline the life and work of Benjamin Britten during the period of social change that led to the 1967 decriminalisation of homosexuality. 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 →
Als Solist konzertiert Geiger Michael Barenboim regelmäßig an der Seite renommierter Orchester (Wiener Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, Mahler Chamber Orchestra) und Dirigenten (Pierre Boulez, Mariss Jansons, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, David Zinman). Seit 2003 fungiert er als Konzertmeister des 'West-Eastern Divan Orchestra’. Vor wenigen Tagen veröffentlichte der Sohn von Daniel Barenboim und Elena Bashkirova seine Debüt-CD 'Bach- Bartók-Boulez’ bei Accentus Music (ACC 30405). Musikpublizist und ICMA-Jury-Mitglied Martin Hoffmeister traf den Musiker in Berlin.
Michael Barenboim, Sie sind in einer bedeutenden Musikerfamilie aufgewachsen, in einem Umfeld mithin, das aufgeladen und geprägt war von Musik. Dem kann man sich nicht entziehen. Wie haben Sie Ihre Kindheit und Jugend vor diesem Hintergrund wahrgenommen?
Die Tatsache, von Kindheit an ständig von Musik, von Gesprächen über Musik umgeben zu sein, hinterlässt ohne Frage tiefe Spuren. Dazu gehört auch, dass man sich ein Leben ohne Musik einfach nicht vorstellen kann. Read More →
American soprano Roberta Peters died yesterday, 18 Janaury, at the age of 86. Born in 1930 in the Bronx, New York City, the child of a shoe salesman and a hat maker, she was encouraged by tenor Jan Peerce to study singing. She started her when she stepped in to replace Nadine Conner as Zerlina at the Met, in November 1950. She was 20, had never performed on stage, nor had she sung with a full orchestra, but her performance was received with great enthusiasm. 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 →
