By ANDREW POWELL Published: January 31, 2017 MUNICH — The New York-based League of American Orchestras yesterday issued this statement in response to Executive Order 13769, Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States: “The music that orchestras play and the communities they serve are global and include people and cultures from […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: December 6, 2016 MUNICH — London-born conductor Anthony Bramall, 59, has been appointed Chefdirigent of the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz here, effective next season. He succeeds Marco Comin. Bramall studied singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and conducting with Vilém Tauský. He has already led several productions with the […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: September 9, 2016 SALZBURG — Today’s iconic Verdian has completed the casting for his delayed return to the iconic Verdi opera, sources say. Due next summer here, Riccardo Muti’s opening-night roster for Aida reportedly will be: Aida — Anna Netrebko Amneris — Anita Rachvelishvili* Radamès — Francesco Meli Amonasro — Luca […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: July 18, 2016 MUNICH — Late to an unprofitable game, the Munich Philharmonic on Friday announced a new recording label of its own, “MPhil,” in partnership with Warner Classics. Its purpose? To broaden the audience. Content will be sourced live, mainly from concerts at the orchestra’s Gasteig home. But archive releases […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: July 17, 2016 MUNICH — Bayerischer Rundfunk confirmed on Thursday it will video-stream the premiere of Uwe Eric Laufenberg’s new staging of Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival. — when: 9:57 a.m. EDT on July 25, 2016 — where: www.br-klassik.de/concert Laufenberg is reportedly intent on exploring the religious aspect of Wagner’s 1881 […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: May 27, 2016 NUREMBERG — Tired of paying for digitized concert-hall privileges? Here is a sumptuously sung, gloriously gratis (for the moment*) St John Passion from this city’s Lutheran Lorenzkirche, filmed in June 2015 as part of a drawn-out Bavarian Broadcasting project to mark “500 Years of the Reformation”: — Windows— […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: April 23, 2016 MUNICH — Before there was Food Babe, there was Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria (reign 1508–1550), a man who valued good music and liked his beer free of nettles, sawdust, roots, and other 16th-century “adjuncts,” as unwelcome food ingredients are now termed. Wilhelm made musical history in 1523 […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: April 22, 2016 MUNICH — Vasily Petrenko’s debut at Bavarian State Opera this weekend prompts a glance at two Russian-born, modestly profiled conductors who have built distinct careers in Western Europe while sharing a last name. The guest from Liverpool will lead Boris Godunov, last revived two years ago by company […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: March 13, 2016 MUNICH — Some contracts come with strings attached, others with husbands. In a remarkable set of coincident artistic priorities for company boss Nikolaus Bachler — or a broad capitulation — Bavarian State Opera’s 2016–17 season, announced today, features no fewer than six divas in performance with their husbands. […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: January 7, 2016 MUNICH — Bavarian State Opera will defy the heirs of Francis Poulenc and proceed with revival performances of its literally explosive staging of Dialogues des Carmélites later this month, the company said today. The 2010 production by Dmitri Tcherniakov departs from the scheme of the composer and the […]
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