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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, ...
Lintu conducts Sibelius’ Symphonies 6 and 7
For the major Finnish orchestras, all the seven symphonies of Sibelius appear to be held in equal regard, as opposed to say nos. 2 and 5 which may be preferred ...
Kari Kriikku plays Saariaho’s clarinet concerto
For such a small country, Finland can easily boast having at least four living composers with major international careers: Saariaho, Magnus Lindberg, Salonen, and Aho. Of these, Saariaho is arguably ...
ICMA 2014 : The winners
The Jury of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) announced the Awards for 2014. Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit, 78, is honored with our Lifetime Achievement Award. One of the most eminent ...
Splendid Stigmatized by James Conlon
These “Stigmatized” (Die Gezeichneten) by Franz Schreker, Jew-lovers and degenerates (entartete musik) for Hitler’s Reich, disappear quickly from the repertoire in 1930. The opera debuted in Frankfurt on April 25, 1918, ...
Alexander Raskatov about his opera A Dog’s Heart
“The world is so pitiless, we became all tough to each other” ResMusica: Your opera A Dog’s Heart and The Nose by Dimitri Shostakovich are both satirical works which met a ...
Grisey’s Les Espaces Acoustiques at the Cité de la Musique
A concert presenting the full cycle of Gérard Grisey’s Les Espaces Acoustiques is a rare event. The project had not been performed by the Ensemble Intercontemporain for a decade. The ...
Jukka-Pekka Saraste’s debut in Lyon
The Orchestre National de Lyon likes Finnish conductors: after Hannu Lintu and before Osmo Vänskä and Susanna Mälkki, Jukka-Pekka Saraste was the one in charge that night. Saraste is well-known in ...
Dialogues of the Carmelites in Paris, The ladies’ Delight
This is the fourth important production of Dialogues of the Carmelites premiered this season in France, after the ones in Toulon, Bordeaux/Nantes and Lyon. This work, commissioned exactly sixty years ...
Gita Kadambi, General Manager of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
"We are not restricting our “search” for our future conductor to Finland only" ResMusica: You have just recently been appointed general manager of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Please tell us a ...
BIS records at 40 years: a brief conversation with Robert von Bahr
"The obvious ones: The Sibelius Edition. The Bach Cantatas. Schnittke, Aho, Christian Lindberg, Sharon Bezaly, Martin Fröst, Ronald Brautigam and Yevgeny Sudbin". ResMusica: Robert, congratulations! BIS has turned 40 years old. ...
Anna-Maria Helsing conducts Webern, Mahler, Berg, and Hartmann
Classical music as we know it today would be quite different if it were not for early twentieth century Vienna. Mahler was taking the late-romantic symphony to almost every extreme ...
Allan Pettersson’s 9th by Lindberg : enlightening
When accused of composing out of self-pity, the Swedish composer Allan Pettersson (1911-80) angrily responded by saying that his music conveyed not self-pity but “pure information.” The circumstances of Pettersson’s life ...
Warsaw celebrates Krzysztof Penderecki’s 80th birthday
Poland has been celebrating the 80th birthday of its most famous composer, Krzysztof Penderecki. It is not often that contemporary composers are extolled with such splendor: the National Bank of ...
The Cleveland Orchestra in Paris : an event in itself
The Cleveland Orchestra has a prominent place, both among the greatest American orchestras and in music-lovers’ hearts. It is indeed legitimately considered one of the famous “Big Five,” with some ...
Stockhausen night at the Festival d’Automne
For this concert of the Festival d’Automne, a banner was hung up at the entrance of the Cité de la Musique building. It warned the incoming audience that the Southwest ...Facebook and Twitter for our English-speaking readers
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Brahms, Leipzig Gewandhaus and Riccardo Chailly in Paris : delightful classicism
For this series of concerts by the legendary Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Pleyel concert hall was unusually crowded. Riccardo Chailly has been the orchestra’s conductor since 2005, and his contract ...
Clefs d’Or ResMusica « Gold Keys » : The Winners 2013
Each month ResMusica awards five Clefs ResMusica to recognize outstanding publications of albums, videos and books. Since 2009, selected recipients of these Clefs ResMusica have been awarded the Clefs d’Or ResMusica ...
The Magic Flute in London: drama, music and magic
In the program at the opening of The Magic Flute in London, director Simon McBurney recounts a rehearsal, explaining at the same time the ideas driving his direction of the ...
Mikhail Baryshnikov’s new life as an actor
Robert Wilson’s new show involves extraordinary acting parts for both Mikhail Baryshnikov and Willem Dafoe, in a stage version of a Russian novel by Daniil Kharms. The Old Woman becomes ...
