English
Leonard Slatkin, from Detroit to Lyon
"I'm not into maintenance. I'm into forward thinking." Leonard Slatkin is currently Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre National de Lyon, having previously held positions with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In this interview, Slatkin reflects on his beginnings in music, his accomplishments, recovering from a protracted musician's strike in Detroit, and making music in Detroit and Lyon. ResMusica: ...
New Festival In Katowice: Kultura Natura
ICMA’s partner for the 2018 Award Ceremony, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra presents a new festival, Katowice Kultura Natura which will run from the 15th until the 24th of May 2015. Under the artistic direction of the NOSPR’s Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Alexander Liebreich, this music festival will showcase renowned soloists, ensembles and orchestras from Poland and abroad, in varied and ambitious programmes. The Festival was established by the ...
Okko Kamu completes his Sibelius symphony cycle
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Kamu’s performance was his ability to make this arguably perfect work sound even more perfect. It should come as no surprise that lovers of Sibelius will find an embarrassment of riches in Finland this year, the 150th anniversary of the great composer’s birth. The Sinfonia Lahti has arguably done more for Sibelius’ recorded legacy than any other orchestra, and it seems only appropriate that this ...
Inspired by Italy: John Storgårds conducts Mendelssohn and Sibelius
A sense of refinement permeated Storgårds interpretation of the opening movement. Italy has long been a source of inspiration for diverse composers both from the past and present. In this evening's program, conductor John Storgårds continued his season-long survey of the Sibelius symphonies, coupled with Mendelssohn's symphonic reflections on Italy. Mendelssohn's music is considered by many to be largely free of angst and conflict; his Symphony No. 4 (also known as his ...
Alan Gilbert, maestro for the 21st century
Alan Gilbert, music director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, will be on tour in Europe in late April. As usual, he will conduct unconventional programs, from Ravel to a world premiere of Péter Eötvös. ResMusica meets one of the most versatile conductors of our time. "Today musicians and musical organizations as a whole need a paradigm of the orchestra-conductor relationship that is different from what was the norm even twenty ...
Liechtenstein Music Academy is ICMA’s partner for the new Discovery Award
The International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) create their Discovery Award, aimed at distinguishing young musicians from 12 to 18 years. This new award category is created in close collaboration with the Foundation International Music Academy in the Principality of Liechtenstein. „Today, the competition between young talented musicians is particularly strong, and we believe that the best ones should benefit from the best possible support”, said ICMA President Remy Franck. „We therefore ...
Join ResMusica’s team of critics
Take your chance, apply to join ResMusica’s international team of music and dance critics ! You are passionate about opera, classical music and dance and you want to share your passion through a high quality editorial online magazine? Join ResMusica.com, a leading international music reviews website established in Paris (France) since 1999. We are looking for contributors around the world for our international English speaking audience. Join our team of 40 music ...
A violent attack against El Sistema
A violent attack against “The System” in the form of a wet firecracker. This new rag, because that’s what it truly is, created a unique situation when it disappeared from the shelves of London booksellers in two weeks, probably because, from a prejudiced viewpoint, it aggressively and even violently denounces a “System” conceived and carried out with passion and love by José Antonio Abreu, maestro and militant, as well as by ...
Francois-Xavier Roth conducts the Finnish RSO in all-Hungarian Program
Roth managed to find the elusive balance between rustic coarseness and refinement. Francois-Xavier Roth is a not a stranger to the Finnish RSO, having previously directed these forces in a varied and satisfying program of Mantovani, Eötvös, and Strauss. On this evening's concert, Roth returned with an all-Hungarian program featuring the music of Bartók and Kurtág. Based on the results, it is clear that his rapport with the orchestra has remained ...
Big Success For ICMA Ceremony And Gala In Ankara
The International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) organized their Award Ceremony and Gala Concert, 28 March at the Bilkent Concert Hall in Warsaw, hosted by the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra conducted by Isin Metin. The Award Ceremony was presented by ICMA’s President Remy Franck, and awards were given to such artists as Dmitrij Kitajenko, Christian Tetzlaff, YuryRevich, Jodie Devos, Evgeny Koroliov, Xiao-Mei Zhu, Adam Fischer, Wu Wei, John Holloway, the Seoul Philharmonic, ...
Celebrating Sibelius in his city of birth
Okko Kamu paired the composer’s darkest and most introspective symphony with his most valedictory. The Sinfonia Lahti has probably done more for Sibelius’ recorded legacy than any other orchestra in the world. The orchestra also hosts the annual Lahti Sibelius Festival, which is one of the main highlights of the Finnish summer concert season. It seems only appropriate that during Sibelius’ 150th anniversary year the orchestra presents a complete symphony cycle ...
Osmo Vänskä on Sibelius
"The most important guy on stage is the composer, never the conductor." ResMusica: Let’s start with a general question: Why Jean Sibelius? Why does he speak to you? Why do you think he continues to speak to audiences today? Osmo Vänskä: For me, personally, I think it was just because I was born in Finland. My parents took my two older brothers and I to concerts. My dad was a fiddler, and ...
Dmitrij Kitajenko, Lifetime achievement award ICMA 2015
"It is my very personal opinion that today, an orchestra does not need to have a Music director, unless it expects him to deal with sponsors or politicians." ICMA : Maestro, have you been born into a musical family? Dmitrij Kitajenko : Not at all! My mother was a teacher and my father an engineer. However our house was next to the choir school of the Moscow Boys Choir. Since my mother had noticed ...
Finnish premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s Second Piano Concerto
Nicolas Hodges brought a degree of refinement and grace to Lindberg's often percussive writing. Magnus Lindberg's tenure as composer-in-residence with the New York Philharmonic resulted in several new works, including his second piano concerto. Dedicated to Yefim Bronfman, the concerto was clearly conceived with Bronfman's imposing virtuosity in mind. Similar to the other works from Lindberg's New York tenure, the second piano concerto radiates with both exuberance and joy. One of the ...Radio Orpheus Named Media Partner Of The Tchaikovsky Competition
Russian Radio Orpheus – a member of the ICMA Jury – has been chosen as official media partner for the 15th International Tchaikovsky Competition which will be held in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg, Russia, from June 15 to July 3, 2015. This year the competition is dedicated to the 175th anniversary of Piotr I. Tchaikovsky. Radio Orpheus is realizing its own media project, including a cycle of special programs about the competition’s ...
Isin Metin To Conduct 2015 Gala Concert With The Bilkent Symphony
The ICMA Gala Concert on March 28 in the magnificent Bilkent Hall in Ankara, Turkey, will be conducted by Isin Metin. He is conducting all the pieces with soloists. Three guest conductors, Dmitrij Kitajenko, Adam Fischer and Alexander Liebreich will also be part of the program.The Bilkent Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1993 as a unique artistic project of Bilkent University. Developed and managed by the Faculty of Music and ...
ICMA Jury Member Radio Orpheus Engages In The Revival Of Musical Heritage
At a press conference in Moscow, Irina Gerasimova, General Manager and Artistic Director of the Russian State TV and Radio Music Centre, Orpheus, presented the multimedia project Revival Of The Musical Heritage Of Russia operated in collaboration with the company E.ON Russia. The first two realizations are the restoration of the only lithographic copy of Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov’s Textbook on Harmony and the recording on CD of Anton Arensky’s rare opera ...
Osmo Vänskä returns to the Helsinki Phil in an all-Prokofiev program
Over a decade has passed since Osmo Vänskä last appearance with the Helsinki Philharmonic. On this evening's concert, Vänskä conducted the Helsinki Philharmonic in a program of Prokofiev favorites. Osmo Vänskä began his career as an orchestral clarinetist, and served for several seasons as principal clarinet in the Helsinki Philharmonic. Since then, Vänskä has achieved fame as a conductor, particularly for his interpretations of Sibelius. Although Vänskä has returned to Helsinki ...
Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé in Vaughan William’s Pastoral Symphony
It looks like Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé orchestra might bring us the Vaughan Williams symphony cycle par excellence of the 21st century. Recommended without hesitation. The British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was arguably one of the great symphonic composers of the last century. While his nine symphonies have been well served on disc, these works are performed relatively infrequently, especially outside of the composer's home country. Having previously recorded ...
Yury Revich: It’s all about sharing music and arts
ICMA : Yury, what does being ICMA’s ‘Young Artist of the Year’ mean to you? Yury Revich : It’s a great honor of course, I’m very happy that my dedication to music and arts is recognized with this fantastic award, and I’m sure it will bring me many new and wonderful opportunities! ICMA : You began very early to play the violin. Do you come from a musical family? YR : Yes, I started ...
Preparing for takeoff: The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
"Let’s not do a celebration, but let’s do the celebration of Sibelius and Nielsen - the largest in the world" ResMusica: How did your relationship with the RSPO begin, and how did it evolve to you becoming the music director of this ensemble? Sakari Oramo: It’s been around twenty years since I conducted the orchestra for the first time, so we have quite a long history together. For about three seasons during the mid-1990s I conducted the ...
John Storgårds and the Helsinki Philharmonic open the Sibelius anniversary year
As an appropriate conclusion to his tenure as Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic, John Storgårds will perform a complete cycle of the symphonies throughout 2015. This evening's program featured Sibelius' Symphony No. 1, along with works from Stravinsky and Martinsson. The Finnish musical world will be celebrating Sibelius in many ways in 2015, and performances of his symphonies will feature prominently in the schedules of most of the major Finnish orchestras. Although ...
Barnabás Kelemen plays Bartók with the Helsinki Philharmonic
One of the most notable qualities of Bartók's work as a composer is his successful integration of traditional folk musics into a conventional Western classical music aesthetic. In this evening's performance, Bartók specialist Barnabás Keleman eloquently demonstrated these two sides in a selection of his countryman's music for violin and orchestra. Shostakovich's enigmatic Symphony No. 6 rounded out the program. The first half of the program featured two of Bartók's works for violin ...
Susanna Mälkki conducts Saariaho with the Finnish RSO
Susanna Mälkki is currently the Chief Conductor designate of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, taking over from John Storgårds in autumn 2016. Based on the two sold-out performances of this program, music lovers in Helsinki might just be feeling a sense of eager anticipation around Mälkki these days. Mälkki's talents as a conductor were immediately apparent in the opening work, Debussy's Gigues. Rather than presenting Debussy's music as an impressionistic "wash" of sound, Mälkki's ...
ICMA 2015 – The winners
The Jury of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) announced today the Awards for 2015. Conductor Dmitrij Kitajenko, 74, is honored with our Lifetime Achievement Award. Violinist Christian Tetzlaff is Artist of the Year, young violinist Yury Revich and Belgian soprano Jodie Devos are ICMA’s Young Artists of the Year. Leipzig based Accentus Music is Label of the Year. In total eight Special Awards are listed. In the Audio and Video ...
Anssi Karttunen, artistic director of the Helsinki Musica Nova Festival
ResMusica: Tell us a little bit about the history of the Musica nova festival in Helsinki (runs 6-14 February 2015). Anssi Karttunen: Musica nova Helsinki became the new name of the Helsinki Biennale in 1997. The Helsinki Biennale was created in 1981 at a moment when many things were opening up in Finnish music life. The music life became much more international than before, and both musicians and audiences became interested ...
Saraste conducts the Helsinki Philharmonic in Dutilleux
Jukka-Pekka Saraste's continued advocacy for Henri Dutilleux has ensured that the French master's orchestral works receive regular performances by both the main Helsinki orchestras. This evening's concert featured Dutilleux's Métaboles, one of the composer's more frequently performed pieces, followed by works from Saint-Saëns and Bartók. This evening's performance of Métaboles benefited from Saraste's typical attention to detail and balance. While Saraste's conducting seemed particularly deliberate, the music never came across as pedantic ...
