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The 2014 ICMA Gala in Warsaw
The 2014 ICMA Ceremony and Gala took place in Warsaw, during the Easter Beethoven Festival, one of the major cultural events of Central Europe. The Polish young orchestra (Sinfonia Juventus) ...
Rossini’s Otello at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
Parisian intellectuals have the habit of booing the direction at all openings, as if it were their only reason for buying a ticket in the first place. To walk in ...
Transiberian Festival
Deep in the heart of the Siberian forests, Novosibirsk is the third most populated city of all Russia. Situated on the legendary Trans-Siberian railway, Novosibirsk, capital of Siberia, is a ...
A glossy Manon Lescaut in Baden-Baden
The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor Simon Rattle chose Puccini's Manon Lescaut to represent the lyrical side of their second passage in Baden-Baden's Easter Festival. Compared to last year's ...
Boris Godunov at home at the Bolshoi
If there is an iconic opera at the Bolshoi Theatre, which is within walking distance of the Kremlin, it is Boris Godunov. By its size and cost, an opera house ...
John Storgårds talks about his new Sibelius symphony cycle with the BBC Philharmonic
ResMusica: Although this is not a new symphony cycle of Brahms, Beethoven, or even Mahler, now we have new symphony cycle of Sibelius. Many of your Finnish colleagues have already ...Ville Matvejeff leads the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra in Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass
Orchestral concerts in Finland during the Easter season are generally dominated by performances of Bach's Passions. In this concert, the rising conducting talent Ville Matvejeff provided a refreshing alternative, leading the ...
Rising from the abyss: Leif Segerstam with the Turku Philharmonic
Three cities often come to mind when discussing the Finnish orchestral scene: Helsinki, Lahti, and Tampere. Turku is usually left out of the discussion, but the recent appointment of Leif ...
The Pasta mystery
This new hefty tome by Kenneth Stern, like Opera In America, A Cultural History, by John Dizkes, reviewed here a few weeks ago, belongs to what one might call the ...Nikolai Alexeev conducts all-Shostakovich program with the Estonian National Symphony
According to the marketing materials for this concert, this program featured the “two faces” of Shostakovich. In the suite from Korzinkina’s Adventures we find Shostakovich at his most light-hearted and ...Sakari Oramo, conductor
ResMusica: You began your career as a violinist, as concertmaster of the Finnish RSO, and now you are conducting the top orchestras of the world. Did you always envision conducting ...Michael Francis conducts the Helsinki Philharmonic in an all-British Program
Although performances of British music are not entirely rare in Helsinki, an entire evening dedicated to mid-20th century British orchestral music is quite remarkable. Michael Francis, the current chief conductor ...
Kalevi Aho continues his world-music explorations
After Osmo Vänskä became music director of the Minnesota Orchestra in 2003, it was not unexpected that he would commission a work from Aho. The composer writes that he was ...
The Sommets Musicaux Festival in Gstaad
The Sommets Musicaux festival, held in Gstaad, Switzerland, and dedicated to chamber music, was founded in 2001. It takes place during the winter season in this posh ski resort located ...
The XXth-century US at the Folle Journée de Nantes
The audience’s rejuvenation is a direct consequence of the program, which was built around four axes: the musical roots of the new continent (traditional songs and the European legacy, with ...
The Ring in Geneva : a crescendo in aesthetics
With its perfect narration of the legend, the depth of its direction, and an aesthetic sometimes deliberately distressed by a Brechtian desire to expose the seams, the beautiful Die Walküre ...
Oslo Philharmonic plays Mahler’s sixth symphony in Helsinki
Jukka-Pekka Saraste is a familiar presence in the Helsinki music scene, regularly guest conducting both the Helsinki Philharmonic and Finnish RSO. On this evening's concert, however, Saraste was not on ...Interview with Philip Glass
ResMusica : In 1976, Einstein on the Beach, and in 2013, The Lost. Mr. Glass, when composing your first opera, did you know that twenty-four others would follow? Philip Glass: (Laughs.) ...Gustavo Dudamel conducts Berlioz’s Requiem in Notre-Dame de Paris
A performance of Berlioz’s Requiem is always a special occasion, because of the number of people involved (almost four hundred), the space required for effective spatialization of the four different ...
Alexander Raskatov’s A Dog’s Heart in Lyon
In the interview he gave to ResMusica about his opera A Dog's Heart, Alexander Raskatov insisted on two things: its (pessimistic) message about our civilization's evolution, and its refusal—unusual in ...
Alexander Kniazev performs Miaskovsky’s Cello Concerto
The mid-twentieth century cello concerto is dominated by two great Russian works: the Sinfonia Concertante of Prokofiev and the first cello concerto of Shostakovich. Both works feature fiendishly difficult solo ...
Opera in America, a cultural history
Opera in America, a cultural history, by John Dizikes, can be read simultaneously as a pictorial work (simply because its numerous illustrations play a fundamental role in the text, are ...
Pehr Henrik Nordgren at 70
Pehr Henrik Nordgren (1944-2008) was a unique voice in Finnish music. Influenced by both Japanese and Finnish folk music, as well as Shostakovich, Nordgren never achieved the same international recognition ...
Sebastian Fagerlund, composer
ResMusica: What was your first encounter with classical music? Sebastian Fagerlund: I was born in a small archipelago town in the southwest of Finland called Pargas. There was not much classical ...
Accessible Magnus Lindberg, the New York edition
Magnus Lindberg raised some eyebrows when he was appointed composer-in-residence with the New York Philharmonic for the seasons 2009-11 (extended to 2012). This move was interpreted by many that the ...
A sea journey with Leif Segerstam
With a population of just over 5 million, Finland can boast of having a disproportionately large number of orchestras with international reputations. This includes the orchestras of Tampere and Lahti, ...
Chamber Music Week in Elmau
Located in Bavaria near the Austrian border, the Castle of Elmau is well- known in the world of classical music. Since the 1950s, it has become a famous concert hall, ...
