London’s Wigmore Hall celebrates the imminent ninetieth birthday of Friedrich Cerha with a day devoted to the composer’s works.
On 10 October Friedrich Cerha Day presents a major retrospective of the composer’s chamber works performed by close colleagues and musicians steeped in his multi-faceted art. Among the performers will be the Boulanger Trio, who you can see together with the composer pictured above.
For the 48th issue of the ORF musikprotokoll at steirischer herbst, Ö1 will broadcast an interview with Johannes Maria Staud and Sabine Franz on 10 October at 10:05. Albert Hosp will be hosting the live interview at the Murinsel in Graz.
Our latest newsletter is out now:
- Wolfgang Rihm’s Duo Concerto in New York, Dresden & Singapore
- Ronnefeld’s Nachtausgabe reopens at the Semperoper Dresden
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“In a world which increasingly emphasises speed, clarity can perhaps be best achieved when time stands still.” (David Sawer)
David Sawer’s Coachman Chronos will be premièred this Saturday by Nicholas Collon and the Aurora Orchestra at the Science Museum in London.
If you want to find out more about the composer, we’ve prepared an interview with David Sawer on our MusikSalon.
“And then, by a lucky accident, I switched on my car radio while driving home. I was so struck by the beauty and opulence of what I heard that I was afraid to turn it off for fear of not learning what the piece was; its loss would have haunted me like the lost chord.”
Read James Conlon’s full text on Alexander Zemlinsky on our MusikSalon.
Currently two productions of Zemlinsky’s one-act opera Der Zwerg are running in Germany: one at the Staatstheater Mainz and one at the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern.
opernwelt’s annual survey is out:
Congratulations to Georg Nigl, who has been selected “singer of the year 2015” in Andrea Breth’s “performance of the year” of Jakob Lenz at the opera Stuttgart.
Also congratulations to Marlis Petersen who won “singer of the year” for her title role in Berg’s Lulu at the Bayerische Staatsoper.
You can watch the trailer for the production here:
A new production of Franz Schreker’s Der ferne Klang will première tomorrow at the Oper Graz. Make sure to visit their Facebook page for a variety of behind the scenes videos on the production.
In 2012, we conducted an interview with Ingo Metzmacher on Franz Schreker. You can watch the video here:
An English transcript of the interview is available on our MusikSalon.
ARTE will broadcast Adam’s Passion this Sunday, 27 September 2015. The joint piece of Arvo Pärt and Robert Wilson premièred earlier this year, on 12 May at the Noblessner Foundry in Tallinn.
Before Adam’s Passion, the The Lost Paradise will be shown, a 55-minute documentary that focuses on the preparation process of the piece. At the same time, The Lost Paradise offers a profound and intimate insight into Arvo Pärt’s world, following his life in Estonia and on business trips to Vatican and Japan over more than a year.
The broadcast starts at 23:25 CET/CEST.
“Die Hofer Symphoniker unter der Leitung von Arn Goerke geben in fordernden Dynamik dem Musikdrama angemessene Klänge, und dies im Wechsel von subtiler Kammermusik und dröhnendem Aufschrei. Insbesondere die Klangmagie der leisen Intensität macht diese Aufführung von der musikalischen Seite her so bewegend.” (Boris Gruhl, nmz, 22.09.2015)
Alban Berg’s Wozzeck premièred almost 90 years ago, on 14.12.1925 – congratulations to the Theater Hof for their successful new staging of the opera, a work that has lost nothing of its relevance.
Further performances will take place until 25 October, find out more on the website of the Theater Hof.
ICI Musique presents a captivating video of cellist Stéphane Tétreault and pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin as they perform Arvo Pärt’s Fratres – watch the video here:
You can read Frédéric Cardin’s article on Arvo Pärt’s 80th birthday on ICI Musique.
Which aesthetic-philosophical discourses exist at the moment? Is talking about music part of the compositional process?
In the eighth and final Salongespräch of impuls neue music, composers Wolfgang Rihm and Pascal Dusapin and host Uli Aumüller will address the topic of musical beauty.
The event takes place on 21 September at the Institut Francais in Berlin.
On the day before the talk, Wolfgang Rihm’s Musik für 3 Streicher will be performed at the Philharmonie in the frame of the Musikfest Berlin. The composer will be present at the concert.
Find out more on the website of impuls neue musik.
Yesterday, Arvo Pärt rehearsed chamber works with the string quartet of the Orchestre de Paris at La Philharmonie de Paris. The rehearsals continued into the night with the choeur de l'Orchestre and the Orchestre de Paris.
Paavo Järvi and the Orchestre de Paris will honour the composer on 19 and 20 September with their “week-end Arvo Pärt” at the Philharmonie 1. Find out more here:
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the death of Anton Webern, who died in a tragic moment of music history a few months after the war on 15 September 1945.
In his Penser la Musique Aujourd’hui, Pierre Boulez reflected on how young composers who came to maturity after World War II turned to Anton Webern as THE pivotal figure of the pre-war “avant-garde” (more than Schoenberg or Berg, and certainly far more than Stravinsky or Bartók): “It is obvious that Webern – who emerged very early on as the chief landmark in defining our own personalities – stands at the centre of these “explorations’”.
There’s still plenty of time to join Karlheinz Essl in his WebernUhrWerk project, find out more here.
Happy Birthday David Sawer!
Coachman Chronos – Sawer’s latest work – will be premièred on 3 October at the Science Museum London by the Aurora Orchestra.
Watch an interview in which David Sawer, conductor Nicholas Collon and others talk about “Objects at an Exhibition”, a project by the Science Museum London and the Aurora Orchestra:
Arvo Pärt turns 80 today, 11 September – Universal Edition wishes him a very Happy Birthday!
We’ve recently talked to music journalist Michael Stallknecht, record producer Manfred Eicher, director Dorian Supin, conductors Tõnu Kaljuste and Paul Hillier, and others about Arvo Pärt and his music – the interviews are to be found on our MusikSalon.
It’s been an eventful year – if you want to get an overview of the many festivities, concerts, CD presentations etc., you might want to take a look at our #ArvoPart80 blog.