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14 October 2008
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NewsValery Gergiev: Russian maestroOct 14 - Russian maestro Valery Gergiev may appear to conduct with his whole body; from his sweeping arms to his quivering fingers to the way he stands on the tips of his toes and puffs out his cheeks. But the true message comes from the look on his face, most of all, through his eyes. Sponsor of world peace concert, Arcadi Gaydamak, on trial for arms tradingOct 14 - A peace concert next weekend is being funded by a billionaire politician on trial for arms dealing, The Times has learnt. The World Orchestra for Peace, founded by the conductor Sir Georg Solti and featuring some of the world’s finest classical players, is due to perform for the only time this year in Jerusalem a week tomorrow. Bach's soundtrack for the credit crunchOct 14 - When times are hard we are supposed to find solace in art that lifts the spirits, like the feelgood films of 1930s Hollywood or the shameless abandon of 1970s disco. But if you've seen your Icesave account melt away and the price of your house fall through the floor, you might want to listen to a recording of Bach's short, rarely performed Cantata 168, a setting of passages on the parable of the unjust steward from Corinthians and the Gospel of Luke. It won't bring you much solace – at least not until the closing chorus of consolation – but you will be able to feel and share the anger and the wrath, directed at bankers and accountants. The best place... to hear classical music in beautiful surroundingsOct 14 - The concert room at St George's Hall is one of the most stunning spaces in Liverpool – after a £2million refurbishment, it's a beautiful place to listen to music. Also known as the Golden Concert Room, the decor features dark red fabric and crystal chandeliers. The Rodewald Concert series tonight gives a good opportunity for a visit. Unblocking a Writer's BlockOct 14 - Musicians are susceptible to writer's block too; here are some healthy steps to help you break through. Professors sound off on classical musicOct 14 - When browsing through UNH students' musical interests via Facebook, favorites usually include rock, rap, pop and country. For most students, classical music is not the sound they crave. Christopher Hill, first-year director of the Orchestras at the University of New Hampshire, wants to try to change this by teaching students about classical music. Actor Anthony Hopkins teams up with Dallas Symphony OrchestraOct 13 - Anthony Hopkins is to have three of his film scores performed alongside a new three-movement piece, 'The Carnival of Time' by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on Friday Lorin Maazel, Fostering Artistry at HomeOct 13 - The Washington Post takes a peek at Lorin Maazel's private opera house in his house, where the 78 year-old conductor is busy fostering some of the world's most promising young talent Vanessa Mae Presents TV Classical CountdownOct 13 - Singapore-born British virtuoso violinist Vanessa Mae has joined up with digital satellite TV channel Sky Arts 2 to present a season about the U.K.'s most loved classical music. Meet the maestro Part 2: 4 questions for Rebecca MillerOct 13 - Rebecca Miller will make history on Sunday as the first woman to conduct the Reno Philharmonic in concert as she bids for the job of Music Director with the West Coast group Video: Pavarotti Remembered in PetraOct 13 - Stars from all over the world gathered on Sunday night at the Rose City in Petra, Jordan for a private charity concert to pay a special tribute to Luciano Pavarotti. How to stay classy at a classical concertOct 13 - Welcome to the confusing and often-contradictory world of classical music-concert etiquette. In this world, most rules are unwritten, much less writ in stone – like clapping between movements of a work. Some musicians and conductors welcome it; others call it a concentration killer. The journalgazette.net asks a few professional musicians for their opinion Solo stars and team playersOct 12 - IN the third of a series looking forward to highlights of the coming north west classical season, the Manchester Evening News takes a look this week at solo recitals and chamber music. The Bridgewater Hall and Royal Northern College of Music share the big names. Play On, Give Me Excess of HampsonOct 12 - Humans, in general, mellow with age. Thomas Hampson doesn’t. Au contraire, he is more intense, dramatic, overwhelming, multitasking, and brilliant than ever. Beyond the simple excellence of his other master classes, such as the one at Wigmore Hall or at the old S.F. Conservatory of Music, his six-hour master class over Thursday and Friday last week went beyond all expectations. Living in the musicOct 12 - Simone Dinnerstein on compromises, challenges and a career in classical piano New Hands Detonate ‘Doctor Atomic’Oct 12 - John Adams' new opera, “Doctor Atomic”, tracks the countdown to the explosion of the first atomic bomb near Los Alamos, N.M., home to the Manhattan Project. The libretto, by Peter Sellars, is a collage from documentary sources, history books and poetry variously connected to the characters’ inner worlds. “Everything,” Mr. Sellars has said, “comes from somewhere.” The Met’s new production, Mr. Adams’s company debut, will open Monday. New Opera? Great Idea. Good Luck!Oct 12 - I HAVE seldom been as rattled by a question as I was last month, when I visited an arts criticism class at the University of Southern California. A thoughtful student asked me why I dislike most new operas. Oz opera revolts at being ‘packed with Poms’Oct 12 - THE British director of Opera Australia, which stages the Sydney Opera House’s productions, has been accused of fostering a culture of favouritism by using too many British artists. Richard Hickox, 60, has also been accused by local opera singers of ageism, bullying, “un-Australian” activities and presiding over declining musical standards that have plunged the company’s productions into an “abyss of mediocrity”. Long live the Kings PlaceOct 12 - There was ample opportunity to assess both new spaces during the Kings Place opening festival, in which 100 concerts were held in five days, from 9.30am till midnight, each ticket a mere £2.50 if booked online. This generous gesture received a bustling response from the public, which was introduced to the centre’s novel approach to programming. Instead of individual concerts, co-ordinated, as it were, from above, Kings Place prefers to work more democratically, with strands of concerts curated by a separate group or person. Today is Luciano Pavarotti's birthdayOct 12 - Pavarotti was '... one of those rare artists who affected the lives of people across the globe in all walks of life ...' Can Escala be taken seriously?Oct 12 - They’ve escaped the dusty orchestra pit to become Simon Cowell’s next big sexed-up thing. But can Escala be taken seriously? They are not your grandmother’s idea of a string quartet. A perfect scoreOct 12 - There is no space for any kind of conflict in a life devoted totally to music, says maestro Zubin Mehta, in Mumbai currently to launch his autobiography and do what he does best, conduct symphonies. Excerpts from an interview with the conductor who believes completely in the healing power of music… Record DoctorOct 12- James Naughtie derives considerable joy from music, as his new book, The Making of Music, indicates. An illuminating study of the classical tradition, it is dedicated to the late Ronald Center, 'a slightly eccentric, extraordinary man' who for 12 years, until Naughtie went to college, was his piano tutor. Differently AbledOct 12 - Thomas Quasthoff is one of the finest singers of art songs, or lieder, in recent decades, and of oratorios and the very occasional opera as well. He is beloved by his admirers but not widely known outside Germany, or at least outside the main international centers of classical music. One of the Three Tenors he is not. Must-see classical concerts for the coming seasonOct 11 - Erica Worth selects some dates for your diary ... Classical trainingOct 11 - For centuries, classical composers have enriched the everyday with their sublime symphonies. Here, Stephen Moss lists the main movers and shakers - and the modern-day interpreters - we should be listening out for Grave concerns: Walcott and Heaney on Burial at ThebesOct 11 - Burial at Thebes, a new musical interpretation of Antigone by Sophocles, is unveiled at the Globe this weekend. Take a look at the rehearsals for the production and hear what director Derek Walcott and writer Seamus Heaney have to say about their collaboration. Top Opera: La Boheme; Bizet; The Tale of Tsar SaltanOct 11 - The Times picks for next week's opera. Copland’s House Named a National LandmarkOct 11 - Aaron Copland’s house in Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., has been declared a national historic landmark by the National Park Service, a rare honor for an American classical music composer. Classical Music for HalloweenOct 11 - Want to get away from usual ghosts, chains, creaking doors, thunder, and screams without losing the spirit of Halloween? Here are a few classical works that are sure to keep the spirit of Halloween alive without giving you a headache. Irish classical musicians blaze a trailOct 11 - Thanks to serendipitous concerts and a strong community of composers, Ireland's new-music scene is booming Obituary: Bernadette Greevy. Mezzo-sopranoOct 11 - The mezzo-soprano Bernadette Greevy was admired above all as an interpreter of Mahler's songs, especially those with orchestral accompaniment. She had a warm, vibrant, expressive voice and a handsome presence, which should have made her a very fine opera singer, but for a lack of acting ability. However, in roles where not much action was required, such as those in Handel's operas, she could be equally magnificent on stage as on the concert platform. Memorial For Pavarotti In PetraOct 11 - Sting will join some of the greatest names in opera to remember Luciano Pavarotti in the ancient city of Petra in Jordan this weekend. David Garrett's not just a pretty faceOct 10 - German-born David Garrett, 28, is having a rare day off in Slovenia, where he’s playing some Paganini with an orchestra. When he arrives at Birmingham Town Hall tomorrow night, he’ll be backed by his band and the set-list won’t be so high-brow. Who wears the trousers?Oct 10 - She has played Caesar, Octavian and Xerxes, and is suiting up for Romeo. Mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly tells Erica Jeal how it feels to take so many male roles Interview: Kazushi Ono on future plans, new music and joining the Opera de LyonOct 10 - 'I am not a conductor of opera or a conductor of symphonies, but a conductor of Mozart or of Wagner. You have to be the voice, the interpreter of the composer' Antics and Anguish: Puccini's 'La Boheme'Oct 10 - Giacomo Puccini once said that the secret to his success was putting "great sorrow in little souls" — and he did it with a formula that has fueled a spate of modern, network television hits. BBC NOW's New HomeOct 10 - In January 2009 the BBC National Orchestra of Wales moves into its exciting new home, BBC Hoddinott Hall at Cardiff’s Wales Millennium Centre. Aldeburgh On Tour at King’s PlaceOct 10 - For five nights starting on Monday 3rd November, London audiences will be able to sample highlights from recent Aldeburgh Festivals when Aldeburgh Music takes up residency at Kings Place, London’s brand new concert hall. On offer is a recital with Thomas Adès and Anthony Marwood, a concert performance of the Rape of Lucretia, evenings with vocal group EXAUDI and the Aronowitz Ensemble, and Faster Than Sound - Aldeburgh’s contribution to the meeting of classical contemporary and electronica, with interactive visual arts. Don't Be An Expert, Be A ConductorOct 10 - Only 3% of the population defines themselves as classical music lovers, for the rest we are either tolerant or just "don't get it". While some people concentrate their energies on trying to raise that 3% to a 4%, Benjamin Zander believes beyond any reason of a doubt that EVERYONE is a classical music lover, they just don't know it yet. He's young and talented . . and the future of classical musicOct 10 - HE IS a musical prodigy accustomed to wielding his conducting baton. But as Robin Ticciati prepares to lead the Scottish Chamber Orchestra as its principal conductor, his main concern is not musical scores, but golfing ones. Composer John Adams builds to A-bomb's explosion in 'Doctor Atomic'Oct 10 - Minimalist American composer John Adams will make his Metropolitan Opera debut on Monday with "Doctor Atomic," which explores the final few hours before the explosion of the first atomic bomb on July 2, 1945. To make the production accessible to as many theatergoers as possible, many orchestra seats will be sold for only $30. Judge orders hip-hop fan to listen to BeethovenOct 10 - A noise-polluting rap fan is given a dose of the old Ludwig Van, and just like Alex in A Clockwork Orange, he only lasted 15 minutes Prodigy Jennifer Pike stays composed in spite of hypeOct 9 - Jennifer Pike is one young lady whose head is definitely not for turning. In 2002 at the age of 12 the Stockport-based violinist became the youngest-ever winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, and at the beginning of this year she was honoured with the South Bank Show/ The Times Breakthrough Award. How does this gifted teenager cope with these accolades? Opera sponsors buy £250,000 worth of ticketsOct 9 - No, they didn't want to hire New York's Metropolitan Opera House just for themselves. They want to sell the £110 tickets to less wealthy fans for a mere £15 Barenboim tackles the impossibleOct 9 - Israeli conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim says he enjoys attempting the impossible, but even he balked at using a Palestinian passport to enter the United States. Photo Journal: Racy and Innovative Macbeth Makes Waves at Bavarian State OperaOct 9 - The Bavarian State Opera's 2008-2009 season started off with a bang Oct. 2, presenting Martin Kusej's provocative and now-controversial new staging of Verdi's Macbeth. This is not your parents' or high school English teacher's Macbeth. This is a Macbeth that offers full frontal nudity, gallons of fake blood, a garden of skulls, children as witches, topless playboy bunnies in pink wigs, and a sexually ambiguous orgy scene. Turning Sophocles's Burial at Thebes into an operaOct 9 - What happens when two Nobel prize winners make an opera? asks Ivan Hewett Why the Met won't show Karita Mattila naked in the HD broadcast of 'Salome'Oct 9 - Karita Mattila. Naked. Those three words have been on the mind of practically every New York opera fan for the last month as the Finnish soprano strips bare in the Metropolitan Opera's revival of "Salome" by Richard Strauss. On Saturday, the company will broadcast the opera live in HD to movie theaters around the country. While those at the Met will see Mattila go full frontal during the Dance of the Seven Veils, those of us at the movies will see something, well, much more restrained. |
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