Vienna New Year
Although always sold out well in advance, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's New Year's Day concert of
works by members of the Strauss family is a must, if you're able to catch
it on TV or Radio. If a local station doesn't carry it, try one of the many
classical radio stations broadcasting streaming Real Audio on the net.
Oresteia
The first staged production in the UK of Xenakis' Oresteia will
take place at London's Royal Opera House Linbury Studio Theatre in Covent
Garden on 15 January at 7.30pm. The Spectrum Singers and Instrumental Ensemble,
with the New London Children's Choir, will be directed by Guy Prothero.
Max Opus
Sir Peter Maxwell
Davies includes his sixth symphony in a programme of his music he conducts
with the BBC Philharmonic at the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester, UK) on 19 January.
'Cosi' Cardiff
Welsh National Opera's Spring and Summer season launches on 11 February
with a new production of Cosi fan tutti at the New Theatre, Cardiff
with more performances on 16, 19 February and 2 March. Puccini's Turandot
in a revival is played on 21, 26, 29 February and 3 March. A revival of
Rossini's The Barber of Seville comes on 1 and 4 March.
The WNO's Summer Season opens with a new production of Britten's The
Turn of the Screw on 15 May.
Concert performances of the spring operas are on tour commencing Birmingham
Symphony Hall 6, 8, 11 March, then stage performances in the usual venues
at Plymouth (14, 15, 17, 18 March), Oxford (21-25 March), Liverpool (28
March - 1 April), Bristol (4-8 April), and Swansea (11-15 April).
Orchestre de Bretagne
The Orchestre
de Bretagne tours England in March with music director Stefan Sanderling
and soloists James
Dick, piano and Alison Metternich, mezzo-soprano. Hear Mendelssohn's
Italian Symphony, Berlioz' Nuits d'Été and Beethoven's
Emperor Concerto in Exeter Cathedral (1 March 2000, 7.30pm, +44 (0)1392
211 080), Guildford Civic Centre (2 March, 7.30pm, +44 (0)1483 444 555),
at the QEH on London's South
Bank (4 March, 8pm, +44 (0)171 960 4242) and Salisbury City Hall (5
March, 7.30pm, +44 (0)1722 327 676). General information about the tour
from John Woolf, Park Lane Group, +44 (0)171 255 1025.
Lucerne Music
The Swiss town of Lucerne has three music festivals which share the Lucerne Music website.
Osterfestspiele Luzern (an Easter Festival, 8-16 April 2000), Internationale
Musikfestwochen Luzern 2000 (a month-long summer international music
festival -17 August-16 September 2000) and the Lucerne Piano Festival (23-26
November 2000).
Salzburg Festival
Salzburg's Whitsun/Baroque festival takes place 9-12 June 2000, and not
much later in the year comes the main Salzburg Festival (23 July - 31 August).
Full details of both festivals are available online from the Salzburg Festival site.
and previously published news ...
In Rome for the millennium?
Francesco Carotenuto conducts the String Orchestra of the International Chamber Ensemble in six concerts from 28 December
- 9 January in the All Saints Anglican Church in Rome. Two programmes are
repeated - music by Vivaldi (the Four Seasons, the concerto alla
rustica, the concerto for two violins in A minor and the concerto for
two violins, cello and orchestra in G minor) will be played on 28, 30 December
and 2 January. A programme of music by Vivaldi (the concerto for two violins,
cello and orchestra in D minor), J S Bach (the concerto for two violins
and orchestra in D minor) and Mozart (the divertimenti for strings K136
and K138, and Eine kleine Nachtmusik) can be heard on 7,8 and 9 January.
All concerts begin at 9pm. Tickets L 30,000 (with concessions) available
at the door.
Classics and lasers
The Munich Philharmonic has chosen an existential theme - 'Man between
Earth and Cosmos' - for its New Year's Eve concerts. The programme is in
three parts: vox mundana/music of the earth, vox humana/music
of mankind and vox coelestis/music of the cosmos. Music performed
will include La Création du monde by Milhaud, Scriabin's Le
Poème de l'extase, Wotan's Farewell and the Magic Fire
Music from Wagner's Die Walküre and Also sprach Zarathustra
by Richard Strauss. Laser choreography will be provided by Laserland (who provided impressive laser-lit performances
for the handing over of Hong Kong to China, and at the Earth Summit in Rio
de Janeiro). The two events are in the Munich Philharmonia at the Gasteig,
Munich, Germany, 30 December, 7pm and 31 December, 5pm.
Kyra Vayne at the Bolshoi
Revered and recently re-discovered soprano Kyra Vayne (whose career in the UK came to an abrupt end
when her agent went out of business) has recently published her autobiography.
Excitement is mounting in Moscow as 83 year-old Vayne will be visiting her
native Russia on 31 December to sing at the Bolshoi's Millennium Eve Gala.
This visit has been organised (and will be broadcast) by BBC Television,
as part of their 'Hands around the globe' celebration.
Festival of Love
Tonhalle Düsseldorf's New Years Day concert, Romeo und Julia,
features soprano Lucia Alberti, who is at home on some of the World's most
important opera stages - the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, London's
Covent Garden, the Deutsche Oper Berlin and La Scala Milan. She will be
joined by the Georgian tenor Shalva Mukeria, winner of numerous prizes.
Son of professional musicians, Mukeria studied clarinet before the discovery
of his extraordinary voice. Conducting the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker
will be Martin Fischer-Dieskau, who has appeared with more than fifty orchestras
worldwide, including the Berlin Philharmonic, London's Royal Philharmonic
and the Moscow State Orchestra. The concert includes music by Gounod, Bernstein,
Bellini, and Prokofiev, with arias from the operas of Verdi and Puccini.
1 January 2000, 8pm. Tickets (35-70DM) from +49 (0)211 89 96 123.
Opera in Graz
The wide-ranging January 2000 schedule of Austria's Opernhaus Graz includes
a New Year concert (1 January, 7.30pm) and performances of Die lustige
Witwe (12 and 22, 7.30pm), Don Giovanni (13 at 7pm, 23 at 3pm
and 28 at 7pm), Carmen (14 and 20, 7.30pm), La Bohème
(15 and 29, 7.30pm), Kiss me, Kate (16 at 3pm and 7.30pm, 21 at 7.30pm,
26 and 27 at 7.30pm) and Simba, oder das Löwenland (17, 24 and
30 at 11am and 4pm). You can also hear ZauberGlockenFlötenspiel
in the Opera House foyer on 19 January, 5pm and 6pm.
News of the New
James Macmillan's new Magnificat for choir & orchestra will be broadcast
live from Wells Cathedral on 2 Jan. He has a large-scale Mass in preparation
for Westminster Cathedral on 22 June next. Macmillan's Easter Triptych on
record was reviewed in Music & Vision
earlier this year.
The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra has appointed Macmillan as its new Composer/Conductor
from September 2000.
Michala Petri
The outstanding recorder player, Michala Petri, plays two contrasting
concertos - Vivaldi and Gordon Jacobs - in Manchester UK's Bridgewater Hall
with the Manchester Camerata directed by Richard Howarth at 7.30pm on 9
January. There is a pre-concert talk by Phil Thomas at 6.30pm. Tickets &
info: +44 (0)161 907 9040.
Tallis Scholars
The UK-based Tallis Scholars under their founder and conductor Peter
Phillips visit the Netherlands 12-13 January (Rotterdam and Enschede). Full
info on their recordings at www.gimell.com.
Danielpour Première
The illustrious Guaneri String Quartet, which has a residency at the
University of Maryland, is to première a Concerto for string quartet
and orchestra by Richard Danielpour with the National Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Leonard Slatkin at Washington's Kennedy Center on 13, 14, and
15 January 2000 then in New York at Carnegie Hall on 25 January.
Oreste and Oresteia
The English Bach Festival Opera presents a short season in January at
the Linbury Studio Theatre of the Royal Opera in London. Oreste by
Handel, not heard in England since 1734, will be staged on January 14 and
22 at 7.30 and 16 and 23 at 4. At the reverse end of the chronological scale
Xenakis' Oresteia will be given its first performance in England
of the new complete version. Dates: Jan 15,18,19,21 at 7.30.Box office:
+44 (0)207 304 4000.
Song at St John's
The 30th Anniversary Season commencing in October at St John's Smith
Square, London, contains Song at St John's, a blossoming of solo
song with piano. There will be a Study Day led by Roderic Swanston on 16
January with the first recital on 7 February bringing Susan Bickley and
Paul Robinson for a programme drawn from Italy, Spain, Russia and the UK.
On 17 March Rosalind Plowright and the Mastersingers Company introduce a
Celebrity Song Series. Box office: +44 (0)20 7233 1618
Bamert in Tokyo
The London Mozart Players embark upon a Japanese tour 22 January - 1
February under the direction of Matthias Bamert. 22 Jan Tokyo: Akigara Kirara
Hall; 23 Jan Tokyo: Kodaira Citizen's Cultural Hall; 25 Jan Kyto: Yasu Bunka
Hall: 26 Jan Fukui: Harmony Hall; 27 Jan Aomori: Towada Shimin Bunka Center;
28 Jan Tokyo: Metropolitan Arts Space; 29 Jan Ibarahi: Iwai Shimin Hall;
30 Jan Kobe: Portopia Hall; 1 Feb Kagoshima: Venue tbc.
Arthur Pendragon
Following their huge success with Edward II, David Bintley and John McCabe
are collaborating again to produce two new ballets based on Arthurian legends.
The first of these, Arthur Part I: Arthur Pendragon, has been completed,
and will be premièred 25-29 January in the UK by the Birmingham Royal
Ballet. Further information from the websites of John McCabe or the Birmingham Royal Ballet.
Brandon Hill Cosi
On January 25-29 are to be performances of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte
(in English) by the Brandon Hill Opera at St George's Bristol UK. The rebuilt
and refurbished building provides an ideal acoustic and setting for small-scale
opera. Richard Studer has artistic direction and Andrew Shulman will conduct
the Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra. Box Office +44 (0)117 923 0359: info
cosi@finetune.co.uk
Even jazz
'Jazz on the level' is a series at St David's Hall in Cardiff, Wales,
continuing on Tuesdays at 8.30: John Etheridge's Sweet Chorus, 25 Jan; Tony
Coe Trio, 15 Feb; Marlene Verplank and her Musicians, 7 March. Box Office:
+44 (0)1222 878444.
English Fancie
Camarada has commissioned Richard Rodney Bennett for an Oboe Quartet.
This will be premièred on 29 January in the Holywell Music Room,
Oxford UK, in 'New directions' - part of an ongoing series entitled The
English Fancie - a retrospective series of 20th century chamber music
including many Camarada commissions and first performances. The programme
also includes Bennett's first Oboe Quartet from 1975, with works by Lennox
Berkeley and John McCabe, and Bennett will give a pre-concert talk at 6.30pm.
The next concert in the series will be 'towards the millennium' on 3
March (with a 6.30pm pre-concert talk by Howard Skempton).
Tickets for each concert cost GBP 7 (concessions GBP 5), from The Playhouse,
Beaumont Street, Oxford, +44 (0)1865 798600 or at the door. Info: +44 (0)1252
727240. Both concerts begin at 7.30pm.
1999/2000 season in Budapest
The Budapest Philharmonic's 1999/2000 season includes music by Mozart,
Brahms and Beethoven (31 January, with the Beaux Arts Trio); Bach, Mozart
and Bartók (28 February); Mahler's 3rd Symphony (20-21 March); Sibelius
(3-4 April); Beethoven's Symphonies 1 and 9 (15-16 May).
Budapest Opera features Britten's Peter Grimes
(staged by Balazs Kovalik - 18, 20 January), Three Sisters by Peter
Eotvos (based on Chekhov, staged by Istvan Szabo - 2, 5 April) and Bizet's
Carmen (staged by Mikos Szinetar - 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 30 May).
Other events in Budapest include the Nureyev Ballet Competition (16 March
finals, 17 March gala. Opera House).
Pelléas et Mélisande
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Italy stages Debussy's Pelléas
et Mélisande in February. The alternate casts include William
Joyner, Tracey Welborn, Lucio Gallo, Gaetan Laperrière, Nicolaj Ghiaurov,
Eldar Aliev, Brunella Bellome, Lucia Golini, Franco Boscolo, Antonio Marani,
Mary-Louise Aitken, Cassandra Riddle, Debora Beronesi and Claudia Nicole
Bandera. Vladimir Jurowski conducts the Orchestra and Choir of the Teatro
Comunale. Performances 4 at 8.30pm, 6 at 3.30pm, 8 at 8.30pm, 10 at 8.30pm,
13 at 3.30pm, 15 at 4pm, 17 at 8.30pm, 19 at 6pm and 20 at 4pm. The opening
night will be transmitted live on the Radio Nettuno Onda Libera programme
AllOpera!
The Sixteen in sixteen cathedrals
From February to November 2000, The Sixteen will perform in 16 of England's
finest cathedrals. Starting in York and ending in Canterbury, the choir
will sing some of the best renaissance music by Byrd, Taverner and Tallis
- composers connected historically with the cathedrals. Watch out for a
new page on The Sixteen
website, which (by the end of October) will give further information
and booking details.
Millennium Tales
Charles Vignoles of the Bromley Youth Music Trust in London UK has commissioned
Bob Chilcott for the Borough's Millennium celebrations. It has resulted
in Millennium Tales, a cantata for children's choir, SATB youth choir,
and instrumental ensemble which takes a look at modes of communication down
the centuries. There are performances at Croydon's Fairfield Halls on 16
and 17 February, and at the Millennium Dome on 18 May. Info from Val Withams (tel/fax +44 (0)1494 866389).
Uncommon Artistry
The Plymouth Music Series in Minneapolis has announced its 1999-2000
season, called 'Uncommon Artistry'. Witness will be partially African American
with a song cycle from John Williams and Dream N. the Hood, a rap
symphony by Gregory T.S.Walker to be programmed in Orchestra Hall on 19
Feb; The Kings Singers will present Aha! Cappella at Wooddale Church
on 7 April; Czech composer Jan Jiraseks reworking of Bach's St Luke's Passion
will be sung on 12 May at the Ted Mann Concert Hall. Info: +1 612 624 2345.
Around a curve
The founding of Christchurch and Canterbury in New Zealand in 1850 is
to be musically celebrated in 2000 with a cantata premiered on 26 February
by the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford in the Sheldonian Theatre
directed by Stephen Darlington.
Francis Grier has set a text by Sue Mayo for this celebratory cantata
entitled Around the Curve of the World. A handful of Christ Church
men in 1850 were members of the founding organisation for this special settlement,
which was to be established around a cathedral and a university college.
Christchurch has been the South Island's principal city ever since.
The prime source of this venture is the Canterbury Association 2000,
from which 50 donors have raised over 30,000 pounds towards the commissioning
fees.
New Zealander Paul Whelan takes the baritone role as the founder, John
Robert Godley, who was described by Gladstone as 'a king among men'. Even
the Sheldonian Theatre of 1669 has a link as its construction was financed
by Gilbert Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury at that time. Furthermore,
Canterbury, New Zealand is named after the Archbishopric of Canterbury.
Première at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford on 26 Feb: Priority
bookings from 22 Nov, +44 (0)870 750 0659. General booking from 6 December:
By internet at http://www.musicatoxford.igw.com
By phone from Oxford Playhouse Box Office +44 (0)1865 798600
By fax to Music at Oxford +44 (0)1865 242867
In person to Oxford Playhouse Box Office, Beaumont St, Oxford OX1 2LW, UK
By post to Music at Oxford, Elms Court, Oxford OX2 9LP, UK
What Next?
Elliot Carter's recently premièred one act comic opera What
Next? is at the Deutsche Staatsoper Unter den Linden, 25 and 31 March
2000. With text by Paul Griffiths (after Jacques Tati's film Traffic),
What Next? is conducted by Daniel Barenboim and directed by Nicolas
Brieger, with decor by Gisbert Jaekel.
... die Zeit ist ohne End' ...
OsterKlang Wien 2000 (Vienna Easter Sound 2000) takes time as its theme,
and in particular, Easter - the time of Revelation, the Passion, the Resurrection
and Redemption. Illustrating many facets of this theme will be Franz Schmidt's
Buch mit sieben Siegeln (The Book with Seven Seals), Ernst Krenek's
Lamentatio Jeremiae Prophetae, Carl Dreyer's film Jeanne d'Arc
with music by R Einhorn, the Mozart Requiem and a new setting of Thomas
Bernhard's cycle of poems In hora mortis - H J v Bose's ...die
Zeit ist ohne End'... (Time has no end).
Performers include Anonymous 4, Juliane Banse, Kathleen Battle, Brigitte
Fassbaender, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, the
London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, Thomas Quasthoff,
the RIAS Chamber Choir, and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Vienna
State Opera. There's also an invitation to encounter Vienna's architecture
as Jan Garbarek, Sainkho, Gavin Bryars, Mia Zabelka and DJ Spooky contribute
to an acoustic revival of statues in Path of Angels 2000. Events
run from 14-24 April and tickets can be booked online.(email tickets@osterklang.at,
phone +43 1 427 17, fax +43 1 4000 99 8410).
Looking further ahead, KlangBogen Wien 2000 (Vienna Music Summer 2000)
will be a compact festival of classical music lasting seven weeks (9 July
- 25 August), with the theme 'Love's power is timeless' (Jakob Lenz).
Festival music by the Med
The Aix-en-Provence Festival next summer (June-July 2000) plays host
to Pierre Boulez and William Christie directing Academie europeénne
de musique. Specialists in their chosen fields, each will demonstrate
and teach the developments in instrumental music that heralded the Baroque
period and the second half of the 20th century. Others who will share in
this survey are René Jacobs, Gustav Leonhardt, Laurence Équilbey,
Simon Rattle (with the CBSO), and Daniel Harding (with the Mahler Chamber
Orchestra).
Operas to be performed - all linked to these developments - are Janacek
The Makropoulos Affair, Rossini Cenerentola, Mozart Cosi
fan tutte and Monteverdi Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria and Le
Couronnement de Poppée.
For a prospectus refer to www.aix-en-provence.com/festartlyrique/
A variety of conductors
The Philharmonia Orchestra's Spring/Summer 2000 concerts at the Royal
Festival Hall in London bring a variety of conductors to the rostrum. Leonard
Slatkin (Principal Guest), Vladimir Ashkenazy, Junichi Hirokami, David Zinman,
Vladimir Conta, Richard Hickox; and Valery Gergiev conducting four concerts
devoted to works associated with Diaghilev (two with the Kirov Orchestra).
Mikhail Pletnev plays Tchaikovsky's complete works for piano and orchestra
in two concerts. Slatkin will present two American concerts, including a
première.
Schubert Masterclass 2000
The fourth edition of the Dutch
Schubert Foundation (Schubert Stichting)'s Schubert Masterclass will
take place from 16-18 November 2000, with a final concert by students and
teachers on 19 November 2000. Unique in the Netherlands for providing an
inspiring interpretation course for both singers and their pianists, the
Schubert Masterclass is run by bass-baritone Robert Holl and pianist Rudolf
Jansen.
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