2013 BBC Proms programme announced
It’s on again! The world’s biggest music festival, the BBC Proms, will run for nearly 2 months in 2013 from July 12th to September 7th. Paganini and the sea feature in the famed opening night programme with Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, and Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony alongside Paganini inspired compositions by Rachmaninov and Lutoslawski….
Soli deo Gloria – Sir John Eliot Gardiner writes about the Music of J S Bach
Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s interpretations of the music of JS Bach are considered by other performers to be works of reference. In 1999 he undertook a Bach pilgrimage with the Monteverdi Choir, and just last month he conducted a Bach marathon at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In this feature from The Guardian, he writes of his…
From CD to flash drive – Teldec’s Complete Bach Edition
In a landmark innovation, Teldec releases its Complete Bach Edition on a USB stick! The 32 GB USB memory stick contains recordings of cantatas, instrumental works and PDFs of notes from the original 154 disc collection made in 2000. Click here to read the feature and review in The Guardian. Click here to order on line.
Scaling the heights of creativity – Jennifer Eriksson writes about her residency at The Banff Centre
Jennifer Eriksson, viola da gamba player, founder and Artistic Director of The Marais Project recently spent a residency at The Banff Centre in Canada, curating the ensemble’s most recent concert. It was an intensely creative and enriching time. She tells of her experiences in her own words: In January and February 2013 I undertook at short…
‘Rock your socks off’ with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Violinist Christian Tetzlaff, soloist with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Yarmila Alfonsetti is a woman with a mission. That mission is to have Sydney on a par with other international cities in its menu of live classical music concerts. As producer of classical music events for Sydney Opera House Presents, a company that is based…
Listening to new music brings rewards
If you’d prefer to listen to a much-loved classic rather than try and get your mind around a new work, think again. It may well be worth the effort of listening to something new. Scientists at Rotman Research Institute, in Toronto, found that the brain’s reward centre showed increased activity when participants heard a new piece of music. Read…
The music that influenced Reich
The ‘Modern Master’ Steve Reich talks to Phil Johnson of The Independent ahead of the world premiere of his new composition, Radio Rewrite drawn from the music of Radiohead. He discusses the musicians who influenced him. For Reich, Baroque and bepop, Coltrane and Classical were simply part of a spectrum, not to be segmented by labels. It is a fascinating…
Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard wins major opera award
American mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard has been awarded a major opera prize, the Richard Tucker Award. The native New Yorker is a graduate of the Juilliard School and has won many awards including the Beverly Sills Award in 2011. She married bass-baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes in 2008. Click here for more from the New York Times….
The challenges of performing in the Concertgebouw
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra makes its much anticipated inaugural visit to Sydney later this year, performing in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House. Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the highly acclaimed orchestra directed by Maris Jansons is resident in the building of the same name in Amsterdam’s Museum Quarter. The Concertgebouw opened on April 11,…