Slipped Disc

1 All you need to know about Michaelangelo (part one) http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/book-review-michelangelo/ 2 The making of the first a greatest recorded Ring (and don't miss the Italian teaboy) 3 A Tchaikovsky winner reflects on the Soviet Union and after http://www.peter-donohoe.com/en/blog/the-cold-war-and-the-soviet-threat 4 From Britten's War Requiem, 50 years old next week 5 The Last Samurai, … [Read more...]

The new Richard Wagner museum in Graupa, near Dresden, will open on January 12th, 2013 with a concert of music by Wagner, Liszt, Mendelssohn and possibly one of the composers exiled by the Nazis. The concert will be played by the Neue Jüdische Kammerphilharmonie of Dresden, conductor Michael Hurshell. The orchestra will make its festival debut in Dresden next week. This is a sensitive, intelligent initiative and a significantly unifying way to launch the Wagner Year. … [Read more...]

We've received a press release stating that all six performances of Europeras 1 and 2 have sold out at the Ruhr Triennale - that's three months before the festival opens. It makes you wonder why more organisations don't take a risk on John Cage. Rund drei Monate vor Eröffnung der Ruhrtriennale 2012 sind bereits 17 Vorstellungen ausverkauft, darunter alle sechs Abende der  Eröffnungsproduktion Europeras 1&2 von John Cage, inszeniert vom künstlerischen Leiter der … [Read more...]

It's being reported in the German press that Kent Nagano is the first big move of the close season. Never a comfortable fit as captain of Bavarian State Opera, he's expected to move next year to Hamburg State Opera, as successor to playmaker Simone Young. UPDATE: Nagano, in the evening papers, plays down the transfer talk. … [Read more...]

The judge who convicted the multi-million opera donor of fraud denied his attorney's motion for bail this week, on the grounds that he might be a flight risk. Vilar will appeal this decision. The actual appeals process on this case is expected to begin in mid-October. … [Read more...]

Three months ago we reported that Sir Paul was pulling all of his music off streaming services. As of today, we are now informed, he's back on Spotify with a full album release of RAM. Why? There must be a longer tail to it that we can presently see. … [Read more...]

One of the things I like best about Valentina Lisitsa is her lack of guile. When asked on Sky News whether she plays popular music, she delivered a short, sharp putdown to the pseudo-classical industry. The weather forecaster asked if she could play Chopsticks. Val, bless, had never heard of it. Here's a brief Sky report. They may add video later.   … [Read more...]

Yoel Gamzou, the young Israeli-American who wrote and conducted his own completion of Mahler's tenth symphony, has been appointed first kapellmeister in Kassel, where the young Mahler was briefly second kapellmeister. Gamzou is 25 years old. Way to go. … [Read more...]

First Anna Netrebko pulls out of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival. Then Jonas Kaufmann tells Lucerne he's not well enough to sing a recital this Sunday. Must be too much pollen in the air. Earlier this month, the tenor withdrew from Die Walküre at the Met. He then posted a statement on his website explaining that his appearance at the Champions League Final in Munich was lipsynched to a previous recording: 'To avoid any further misunderstandings: I did not sing, but rather lip-synched to … [Read more...]

John Winther, head of the Royal Opera in Copenhagen, was hired in 1971 to run the fledgling company at the almost-finished opera house in Sydney (its Danish architect Jorg Utzon was fired in1965). He stayed in the job until 1977 when he became head of the music school at the University of Newcastle. In 1980 he went on to be director, for five years, of the school of music at the Australian National University. John Winther has died in Denmark, aged 78. … [Read more...]