Gustav Mahler’s grave in Vienna today, 100 years after his death. Floral tributes were made by the New York Philharmonic, the City of Vienna and Universal Edition, among others.
In advance of the 100th anniversary of Mahler's death tomorrow, here are a few pointers to activities, concerts and reports to be found across the internet.
The German Theatre Museum is showing the exhibition Gustav Mahler - Composer, Opera Director, Conductor until 18 September. The exhibition features the video interviews made by Universal Edition (you can watch them all on our Mahler Blog).
The Leipzig Mahler Festival starts today at the Gewandhaus with Riccardo Chailly conducting the 2nd Symphony. All concerts will be broadcast live on the internet by ARTE and the MDR.
Alex Ross has a round up of Mahler performances available on the internet, including Christoph Eschenbach's series of the Mahler symphonies with the Orchestre de Paris.
Gavin Plumley has been charting the last days of Mahler's life on his Entartete Musik Blog. Watch his film In Search of Mahler on YouTube.
Rehearsals are underway
here at the Jerwood Space in London for Luke Bedford’s new opera Seven Angels.
The Opera Group is conducted by Nicholas Collon, John Fulljames is directing.
Seven Angels premières in Birmingham with the BCMG on 17 June, followed by a tour of Cardiff, Glasgow, Brighton, Oxford and London as well as a special appearance at the Latitude Festival in July.
Greetings
from London, where Arvo Pärt has just won the Classic Brit Award in the
category Composer of the Year.
“I’m greatly moved and I’d like to thank the Classic BRIT Awards and my country,” Pärt said in a ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall yesterday.
The full ceremony will be broadcast in the UK on ITV1 at 10pm on Sunday 29 May.
Shooting
Star Martin Grubinger performs Friedrich Cerha’s Concerto for Percussion
tonight and tomorrow in Leipzig. Riccardo Chailly conducts the
Gewandhausorchester.
Reviewing the world première for the Neue Musikzeitung, Gerhard Rohde wrote:
“The richness of rhythmic finesse and complexity is astounding, giving the work an overwhelming physical liveliness. The sophisticated sound that Cerha invents for both the orchestral part and for the formidable percussion ensemble is also fascinating.”
Cologne’s ‘new’ new music
festival Acht Brücken (Eight Bridges) starts this weekend, and is dedicated to
the music of Pierre Boulez.
Boulez himself conducts the opening concert, with works by Ravel, Schönberg and Stravinsky.
Further highlights of the festival include performances of Le Marteau sans maître and sur Incises with Ensemble intercontemporain; Répons, performed by the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble with Reinbert de Leeuw; and the grand finale concert with MusikFabrik conducted by Pascal Rophé, where Pli selon pli will be heard.
This
Saturday, Luke Bedford’s new piece for the Wigmore Hall (where he is composer-in-residence)
will be given its world première.
Igor, The Bird Who Couldn’t Sing – for clarinet, piano and narrator – is based on the children’s book by Satoshi Kitamura. Clarinettist Michael Collins and friends are the performers.
See also Luke’s Willy and Hugh, a previous commission for the Wigmore Hall, and based on Anthony Browne’s bestseller children’s book of the same name.
The new Opera North production of Janacek’s From The House of the Dead opens in Leeds tonight. Watch director John Fulljames and tenor Jeffrey Lloyd Roberts discuss the work during rehearsals.
Johannes Maria Staud is in
Dresden ahead of the world première of his new work for orchestra, Tondo.
Christoph Eschenbach conducts the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden tomorrow
morning.
This Saturday afternoon, the Staatskapelle's artistic programmer Tobias Niederschlag and Staud talked about his music in a public podium discussion (and relaxed in the sun afterwards).
UE
congratulated Francis Burt on his 85th birthday today, and UE editor Josef
Durek presented him with the printed score of his new ensemble piece, hot off the
presses.
Mohn und Gedächtnis (für Paul Celan) is a commission by Klangforum Wien and will be given its world première by them this November in Vienna.
I had
lunch today with the wonderful Steven Isserlis, who’s in Vienna performing the Elgar Cello
Concerto with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
Amongst so many other things, we talked about his gorgeous works for children audiences: Little Red Violin and Goldipegs and the three cellos, which he wrote together with Anne Dudley. I can exclusively reveal that there's another one on the way.
Steven also reminded me of the three piano pieces by his grandfather, Julius Isserlis, who lived in Vienna in the 1920s. Another gem in the UE catalogue waiting to be discovered.
We've just published our new catalogue of works by Vykintas Baltakas.
Download a PDF file of the catalogue here
We've just published our new catalogue of works by Wolfgang Rihm.
Download a PDF file of the catalogue here
On the
radio tonight, a recording from the recent Klavierfestival Ruhr, with tenor Taylan
Memioglu and Dan Deutsch at the piano.
Hear Wolfgang Rihm’s song cycle, Das Rot, to poems by Karoline von Günderrode, in a concert also including Henze and Schumann. 20:03 (Paris time) on WDR3.
Read more at the WDR website.
The Traiettorie
Festival for new music in Parma has just won the Franco Abbiati Prize of
the Italian Music Critics Association for the best musical initiative in 2010.
Congratulations to all at the Fondazione Prometeo and thank you for all your hard work for new music.