Interchanging Idioms

Miguel Harth-Bedoya has been conducting the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra for nine seasons. According to Scott Cantrell of the Dallas Morning News , "Miguel Harth-Bedoya has turned the FWSO into an ensemble worthy of comparison with its Dallas counterpart." In Scott's review of the latest Beethoven concert he offered high praise for the young conductor through the performances of Eroica Symphony , "Inner voices were nicely brought out, without making a fuss over them. The Funeral March was riveting, the scherzo exhilarating. Miguel Harth-Bedoya is a conductor to watch. He is contucting Bolero with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on September 1st and 3rd at the Hollywood Bowl, and in Denver with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra October 2nd, 3rd and 4th at Boettcher Concert Hall to conduct Jimmy López fantastic new piece Fiesta! . He then travels out to the Netherlands with the Hague Philharmonic later in October. If you get the chance, catch him in action!

Murray Perahia is releasing a new album of Bach partitas for the piano, Bach Partitas1, 5, and 6 . This is a follow up album to his universally acclaimed first album, Bach Partitas 2, 3, 4 . Well, he has done it again. His lyrical mastery of the piano brings these lovely little suites to life. Even the most florid moments are played so delicately as to simply pour like liquid gold from the piano without seeming garish or flamboyant – quite the opposite, it is impossible to imagine them any different. Each individual phrase is shines in its place, allowing the intricate polyphonic interweaving of Bach’s melodies to play out in perfect synchronicity. Many of the movements are based on dances. In Bach’s Partita No. 1 the Gigue is a delightful play with a running series of mini arpeggios underneath a rather staccato melody which dances all around the arpeggios. Mr Perahia’s ability to crest and fall without causing the piece to rush or drag is simply amazing. Bach’s Partita N...

Jordi Savall’s Acclaimed Recording of Opera, Farnace Rinaldo Alessandrini Conducting Two “Glorias” Oboe Concerti from Alfred Bernardini and Zefiro In 2000, when the Paris-based record company näive announced its launch of a 15-year project to record the more than 450 works of Antonio Vivaldi held in the National Library in Torino, Italy, many people were sceptical. Nearly 100 CDs by one composer? Now nearly at the halfway point, the Vivaldi Edition is recognized as a groundbreaking project with far-reaching repercussions, from raising the performance level of this composer’s virtuosic music to changing our understanding of the history of Western music. Antonio Vivaldi is practically a household name today thanks to his ubiquitous piece, The Four Seasons , which is as much a hit today as it was when it was first published in 1725. We are now learning that there are numerous works of equal quality penned by the Venetian priest, including operas on a par with those of Georg Friedr...

This eagerly awaited follow-up to his University Acclaimed First Partita Album is available September 1st Album Release Launches A Seven-City U.S. Tour This Fall “No one does it better than Murray Perahia” — San Francisco Chronicle, review of Bach Partitas 2, 3, 4 Pianist Murray Perahia has captivated listeners for more than 30 years with playing of unrestrained elegance and generous insight. The two-time Grammy® Award-winner has become one of the most sought-after and cherished pianists of our time. Sony Classical’s new release of Perahia’s Bach: Partitas 1, 5, and 6 is the follow-up to his universally acclaimed recording of Partitas 2, 3, and 4, which consolidated Perahia’s reputation as one of today’s foremost interpreters of Bach’s keyboard music. The recording is available on September 1, 2009. The partitas were the first works ever published by Bach, and so he bestowed upon them the considerable honor of naming them his “Opus 1.” Bach originally designed the partitas as ke...

Stunning Interpretations Of Schumann, Balakirev, Chopin, Liszt Recordings Taken From The Horowitz Papers At Yale University Perhaps the mightiest and most influential of all pianists of the twentieth century, Vladimir Horowitz left the world a matchless catalog of recordings—a Masterworks legacy that is renewed with this second release of private recordings from the archives of Yale University. The Private Collection: Schumann, Chopin, Liszt & Balakirev captures Horowitz in his golden prime, playing his signature repertoire live in concert at Carnegie Hall, where he celebrated the milestones in his storied career. This collection is the latest release in Sony Masterworks’ Carnegie Hall Presents series and is available on September 1, 2009. This release features performances of Schumann’s Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17; Balakirev’s Islamey: An Oriental Fantasy ; Chopin’s Barcarolle in F-sharp Major, Op. 60; and Liszt’s Légende, No. 2, “St. François de Paule merchant sur les flots....

Vagn Gylding Holmboe (1909-1996) began formal music training at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen at the age of 17. Three years later he moved to Berlin where he studied with Ernst Toch. Eventually he moved back to Copenhagen to teach at the Conservatoire in Copenhagen. He composed over 200 works including over 20 concertos (his Trombone Concerto Op. 52 is particularly cool!), 13 symphonies, 21 string quartets and numerous other pieces including a pair of sonatas for guitar. So he was very versatile. He may not be as "undiscovered" as some other composers as he has his own LastFM channel, where you can hear a number of his pieces. His Piano Concerto No. 1, Op 17 composed in 1939 has elements of Prokofiev and early Lutosławski. While there are elements of angular lines, for the most part Vagn Holmboe is firmly in the tonal world. He definitely is a mid-20th century composer based on the pieces I heard. Even his Symphony No. 13, written in 1994, has mor...

1 & 4 October 2009, 7.30pm, Barbican Centre MOZART Symphony No 34 MOZART Piano Concerto No 20 NIELSEN Symphony No 5 Sir Colin Davis conductor Radu Lupu piano 4 October supported by LSO Friends October 2009, 7.30pm, Barbican Centre BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto SIBELIUS Symphony No 5 Sir Colin Davis conductor Arabella Steinbacher violin Guildhall Artists at the Barbican, 6pm, Barbican Hall Guildhall students perform Beethoven Septet. Free admission. 13 October 2009, 7.30pm, Barbican Centre SCHUBERT Symphony No 8 (‘Unfinished’) MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde Bernard Haitink conductor Christianne Stotijn mezzo-soprano Robert Gambill tenor 13 October Takeda Global Concert Guildhall Artists at the Barbican, 6pm, 11 October, Barbican Hall Guildhall students perform Schubert songs. Free admission. October 2009, 7.30pm, Barbican Centre SCHUBERT Symphony No 5 MAHLER ...

The Grammy® Award-winning mezzo-soprano Susan Graham will sing at the funeral mass for Senator Edward Moore Kennedy. The service will be held on Saturday, August 29, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston, Massachusetts . President Barack Obama will deliver the eulogy. Susan Graham is one of today’s foremost stars of opera and recital. She can be heard in the great opera houses and with the most prestigious orchestras in the world. Her extensive discography includes a Grammy® Award-winning recording of the songs of American composer Charles Ives on the Warner Classics label. An expert in French music, Graham holds the honorary title of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, bestowed by the French government. Born in New Mexico and raised in Texas , Susan Graham studied at Texas Tech University and the Manhattan School of Music, which awarded her an honorary doctorate in 2008. She won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Schwabacher Award from San Fr...

“An intimate staging of Puccini’s tragic love story, which nevertheless retains the feel of a live performance and shows why Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón are currently considered two of opera’s biggest stars.” – Independent ( London ) Anna Netrebko , who has graced silver screens for the past three years in The Met: Live In HD broadcasts, returns to movie theaters across America this September, when Emerging Pictures releases a feature film version of Puccini’s La Bohème , starring the Russian soprano alongside Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón. London ’s Times calls the film “starry and sumptuous,” while according to Classic FM magazine, “The lavish sets and special effects give rise to an extraordinary theatrical opera film.” The movie, which was filmed in 2008 in Vienna and is directed by Oscar- and Emmy-nominated director Robert Dornhelm, will be shown in theaters in select cities starting September 23. London’s Times , in reviewing Netrebko’s full-length recording of L...

At the age of 31, Pablo Heras-Casado already has a remarkably versatile international career. In the past few months the Spanish conductor has led concerts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers in London in music exploring Mendelssohn's royal connections; two world premieres with Klangforum Vienna in Granada and Seville; film scores with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; concerts in Aldeburgh and London's Tate Modern gallery with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain; and a recording of Nino Rota's Trombone Concerto with SWR Symphony Orchestra Freiburg. Later this month Heras-Casado travels to Tokyo for Stockhausen's Gruppen with the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Orchestral, choral, new and early music and opera are intertwined in Heras-Casado's musical interests. "I look for the new," says the Granada native, "whether the ink is still wet on the page or a first performance of ancient music. It's about the discovery....

with Televised Gala Concert on Wednesday, September 16 Alan Gilbert begins his tenure as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in the 2009–10 season, which launches on Wednesday, September 16 with a concert from Avery Fisher Hall that will be televised on PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center . The program features a new work, EXPO, by the Philharmonic’s new Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg, commissioned by the Philharmonic for the occasion; superstar soprano Renée Fleming singing Messiaen’s Poèmes pour Mi ; and Gilbert conducting Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique . The opening-night concert will also be projected live onto Lincoln Center ’s Josie Robertson Plaza , and the public is invited to a free open rehearsal of the evening’s program conducted by Alan Gilbert that morning. Most of Gilbert’s concerts this season will be with the New York Philharmonic, but he will also return to Europe to continue his relationship with Hamburg ’s NDR Symphony Orchestra, where he has been pr...

World-Premiere Performance of Arvo Pärt’s "Symphony No. 4" and works by De Falla, Debussy and Ravel The very first Los Angeles Philharmonic release in the DG Concerts series featured Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa , surely one of the great works of the twentieth-century. During Esa-Pekka Salonen’s final season as music director he presented the world-premiere of Pärt’s Symphony No. 4, “Los Angeles.” Salonen long desired a new work by Pärt and at the time of commission the composer was working with ancient canon in Church Slavonic and with a prayer to a guardian angel – “the connection to Los Angeles was irresistible,” as a note in the score indicates. Working with simplicity as a guiding principle, Pärt builds his music “with the most primitive materials – with the triad, with one specific tonality.” Yet, Pärt remains simple in only spirit and texture (the work is scored for strings and percussion only) as he quickly expands upon this musical language with the use of modal and ch...

“Renée Fleming’s soprano is not only beautifully in place for this music, but it is employed with a rare flexibility and sensitivity for the text.” – International Herald Tribune Renée Fleming appears on DVD in one of her greatest roles – the Marschallin, in Richard Strauss’s bittersweet comedy of love, Der Rosenkavalier . Her peerless performance is supported by “a galactic cast” (Christian Thielemann), which includes Sophie Koch as Octavian, Diana Damrau as the young Sophie, Franz Hawlata as the boorish Baron Ochs and Jonas Kaufmann, making a guest appearance as the Italian Singer. Herbert Wernicke’s celebrated Salzburg Festival production was specially restaged at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden for this high-definition film. R. Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Fleming / Koch / Damrau / Hawlata / Kaufmann Christian Theielmann / Munich Philharmonic / Baden-Baden Release Date: October 6, 2009

“Her singing is utterly delectable and completely assured…Sheer ‘joie de vivre’ and mastery come spilling across, to the eyes as well as the ears.” -The New York Times Danielle made her Met debut as Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro . At just 19, it was already clear that she was destined to be a major Mozart singer, with her extraordinary ability to communicate emotion through the expressive use of vocal color and the irresistible force of her personality. This recording of Mozart arias is thus a natural follow-up to the remarkable Handel album. Her partnership here with Sir Charles Mackerras lends her the wise and authoritative support of one of the great modern heroes of Mozart performance style and practice. It’s an added bonus that in the only duet on this album — “Là ci darem la mano” from Don Giovanni — Danielle is reunited after ten years with the great Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, who had also been in the Figaro in which she made her Met debut. On The Mozart Album she a...

Naxos to release recording of this major work August 25, 2009 There are few composers in the 20th century with as much magnitude as Leonard Bernstein. His effect on both his generation of musicians and future composers is immense. Working as a composer with Steven Sondheim on West Side Story, still one of the best musicals ever written, and Stephen Schwartz for Bernstein’s “Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers,” he directly affected the two of the greatest writers in American musical theatre today. As an educator, his “Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard” is still a seminal work for music educators today. The list goes on, but this is not a review of Leonard Bernstein’s life’s work which is too vast for me to do it justice in this small space. This is a review of Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s recent recording of Bernstein’s “Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers.” I started with references to Bernstein’s work to gi...

LSO President Sir Colin Davis begins a two-year survey of Nielsen’s six symphonies and continues his well-known love for the music of Sibelius, alongside conductors Kristjan Järvi, John Adams and Robin Ticciati, who makes his LSO debut this season. Sir Colin Davis says: ‘Sibelius and Nielsen have certain universal things in common. Both are obsessive: Nielsen is obsessive, almost relentless, with certain figures, and you could say that Sibelius’s relentless pedal points have something in common with that. I haven’t been close to Nielsen’s music until now, but in looking for new repertory for the Orchestra I have spent time with the fourth and fifth symphonies, and found it increasingly fascinating. There’s such a destructive force in the man and he lets it loose in the most surprising ways. The forms that Nielsen chooses seem to develop out of themselves. You could say that is also the case in Sibelius’s music but Nielsen’s is a much more discrepant and wilder way of going on. We are ...

On Tuesday, October 13, Wigmore Hall Live releases a new CD by pianist Jonathan Biss of works by Franz Schubert and György Kurtág. Recorded before a live audience at the Wigmore Hall this past May, the album is Mr. Biss’s first on the Wigmore Hall Live label. The recording of Schubert’s Piano Sonatas in C Major, D. 840 (Reliquie) and A Major, D. 959, opens and closes with two selections from Kurtág’s Játékok--B irthday elegy for Judit, for the second finger of her left hand and Hommage à Schubert . Mr. Biss believes that because Kurtág has “such deep roots in the past and is the most sensitive of souls,” Schubert and Kurtág make a very natural pairing. “It’s very interesting how these kinds of pairings across the centuries work,” said Mr. Biss. “It’s not only that Kurtág responds to Schubert but also that the reverse is true. Somehow Schubert’s music is changed and affected, and its chemistry is altered by sharing a platform with Kurtág. “ “For years, the Schubert Sonatas have b...

Tour includes ten concerts, in Toronto , Amsterdam , Paris , Luxembourg , Vienna and Linz Music Director Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra will embark on their eighth international tour together, which includes their fourth biennial residency in Vienna ’s historic Musikverein, famous for its golden concert hall with golden sound. The Orchestra will give ten performances in Canada and Europe from October 20 through November 3. The tour includes a concert in Toronto , two concerts in Luxembourg , and single concerts in Amsterdam , Paris , and Linz , and four concerts in Vienna as part of the residency. Musikverein Residency and Tour Performances During the Musikverein Residency, pianist Mitsuko Uchida will be soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. A long time member of the Cleveland Orchestra family, Ms. Uchida completed a five-year project performing all of Mozart’s piano concertos with the Orchestra in 2007. A recording of recent live performances of The Clevela...

Following Unanimously-Praised Production of Meyerbeer’s Grand Opera Les Huguenots at Bard SummerScape Wall Street Journal Calls Bard’s Huguenots, “A Triumph for Conductor Leon Botstein” Each summer at Bard SummerScape, and each season at Lincoln Center, Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra explore the forgotten byways of operatic repertoire with often-revelatory results. In recent seasons, they have given concert performances of such rarities as Dame Ethel Smyth’s The Wreckers – which the New York Times called “a bang up performance, one of the best [Botstein] has ever put on”; Édouard Lalo’s Le roi d’Ys; and a double bill of one-act operas by Italian modernist Luigi Dallapiccola that left a critic for ConcertoNet “astonished by what [Botstein] brings to light – sometimes radiant light.” Following a performance by Botstein and the ASO of Franz Shreker’s Der ferne Klang, veteran critic Peter G. Davis wrote for Musical America , “Botstein’s sympathy for the score wa...

“As a huge fan of O'Riley's work with the Radiohead and Nick Drake catalogs, I am very impressed and honored that he chose to interpret this song.” - Michael Stipe, R.E.M. Critically acclaimed concert pianist Christopher O'Riley releases Out of My Hands, a new album of his trademark piano interpretations of contemporary repertoire featuring compositions by Nirvana, REM, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Tori Amos, The Smiths, Cocteau Twins, and Portishead, among others. These are based on his own groundbreaking transcriptions of the songs in question, following on the heels of his past readings of the finest in pop repertoire from Radiohead, Elliott Smith and Nick Drake. Along with his powerful interpretations of the Classical piano repertoire, these new performances exhibit how pianist Christopher O'Riley continues to stretch and redefine the possibilities of Classical music in our time. Out of My Hands features the single “Heart Shaped Box,” now available on iTunes, origi...

Nurturing young musicians is important. However, when we think of budding young musicians we imagine a screeching violin never quite in tune or a halting performance of “Heart and Soul.” From the Top at the Pops with Erich Junzel and the Cinicinnati Pops Orchestra is a soon to be released CD by Telarc where the star performers are young, budding musicians, but a far cry from out of tune – quite the opposite, this recording is a stunning example of what the horizon holds for classical music. There are shafts of brilliant gold screaming through a heavily laden sky of great classical music. The pieces range from the powerful Piano Concerto in A minor by Edvard Greig (with Ji-Yong on piano, age 17) to the very modern jazz The Upward Stream by Russell Peck (with Corey Dundee on Tenor Saxophone, age 17). For the past ten years From the Top has been showcasing young performers. Caroline Goulding, who's debut CD I recently reviewed, is one of these stunning performers and well on ...

Ravel is one of those composers who can transcend time. Although his Daphnis et Chloé was first performed nearly a hundred years ago, the music is rich and evocative as any music score today, floating along unusual harmonic lines, fluttering with elements of late 20th century like ethereal sounds orchestrated as only Ravel could do. There are moments where the melody soars and others where the music seems to drift into a world of bacchanalia. The Boston Symphony Orchestra's new recording of Daphnis et Chloé is as timeless as the ballet, completely modern and yet as lost in mythos as Pan and Syrinx. While this particular piece is considered as part of the repertoire of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, it is seldom played or performed. Typically we are treated to Ravel's Bolero or his orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition . Getting to hear the complete Daphnis et Chloé is pure pleasure. James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra bring the story t...

Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes has embarked on a major collaboration with South African-born artist Robin Rhode, creating a special program entitled “Pictures Reframed”. At the core of the project is Mussorgsky’s epic piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition , and it combines music, film and still imagery. The world premiere of “Pictures Reframed” takes place at Lincoln Center on November 13 & 14, but National Public Radio provides a preview – including interviews with the artists – on Friday, August 21 during All Things Considered , broadcast between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm eastern time (the segment is currently slotted to run at the end of the first hour of the program – approximately 4:50pm New York time). Visit NPR's newly designed music web site at http://www.npr.org/music/ to see video footage of the development of the project; and for those who miss the radio broadcast, the ATC audio segment will be available online, at the same link, after 7pm eastern time. EMI Cl...

New role follows his appointment in october 2008 as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra Emmanuel Villaume has been appointed Chief Conductor of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra that is based in Bratislava . He will begin his tenure with the orchestra during the 2009-10 season with three programs featuring Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, Poulenc’s Gloria and Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique . Mr. Villaume will gradually increase his presence with the orchestra over the next few years. Founded in 1949, the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra marks its 60th anniversary during the 2009-10 season. The Orchestra resides in the Baroque-era Reduta Concert Hall built in 1773 and in addition to its concert season, performs regularly at music festivals throughout Europe, and has made international tours to Cyprus, Turkey, Japan, and the United States. In October 2008 Mr. Villaume was appointed the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Slovenian Philharmo...

The poignant and tragic love story of Robert and Clara Schumann told in words and music to be released on Opus Arte September 29th DVD sales to support the vital work of the Royal Opera House Education Program On September 29th, Opus Arte presents Twin Spirits , the story of the passionate romance and subsequent marriage between composer Robert Schumann and piano prodigy Clara Wieck, available on DVD and Blu-Ray disc. This production from the Royal Opera House brings together nine diverse performers of the highest caliber: Sting, an artist who defies simple classification, joins his wife, actress and producer Trudie Styler to read from the letters between Robert and Clara. Their story, narrated by Sir Derek Jacobi, is illustrated and interwoven with music composed by Robert – whose spirit is embodied by pianist Iain Burnside, baritone Simon Keenlyside and violinist Sergej Krylov – and by Clara, who is evoked by pianist Natasha Paremski, soprano Rebecca Evans, and cellist Natalie C...

Album Launch Event at New York’s (Le) Poisson Rouge on Tuesday, September 29 Violinists Adele Anthony and Gil Shaham share many passions. Along with their personal relationship (they are married) and careers as performing artists, they both feel a deep connection to the music of Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908), the legendary Spanish violinist and composer whose colorful dance- and song-inspired works are not only enormously entertaining and irresistibly appealing, but also full of sometimes hair-raising technical challenges. Following a number of concert performances at home and abroad dedicated to the composer’s music, Adele and Gil recorded many of their favorites for a new album, Sarasate: Virtuoso Violin Works , which will be released by Canary Classics – the label Gil founded in 2004 – on Tuesday, September 29. Gil and Adele will celebrate the release by performing an all-Sarasate program at the popular downtown music club (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City . Adele and Gil use...

A Little Night Music and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 also on the November program Baltimore, Md. (August 19, 2009)—BSO Music Director Marin Alsop will welcome soprano Susanna Phillips to the stage to perform selections of Mozart’s arias with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 8 at 3:00 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The program also includes Mozart’s lively Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. Originally scored for a chamber ensemble, Mozart composed Eine kleine Nachtmusik while concurrently composing Don Giovanni . Though Mozart originally composed the piece in five movements, only four survive. Even in its diminished form, the tuneful melodies and simple harmonies make it a favorite among classical and non-classical audiences. Of Mozart’s 60 arias, 35 were composed for soprano. Susanna Phillips will sing three that were composed in the later years of Moz...

After summer festival performances in the US with the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst, the New York Philharmonic under Alan Gilbert and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Leonard Slatin, Nikolaj Znaider performs in a pair of concerts at the Salzburg Festival with the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel. Znaider will perform the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto on August 27 and August 29. These will be his first performances with the Vienna Philharmonic since his recording sessions under Valery Gergiev for the recently released Brahms and Korngold concertos, a disc that earned this rave from the Dallas Morning News : “The Copenhagen native with matinee-idol looks serves up deeply committed and lustrously intoned performances of both the Brahms and the…Korngold.” The Daily Telegraph wrote of the Brahms recording: “Znaider’s own playing transmits thoughtfulness, expressive power, concentration and command of the nuances of phrasing, combined with an overarchi...

Fiddler on the Shore premieres with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra on August 22 Hope and Maxwell Davies Give UK Premiere on September 8 with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at BBC Proms Violinist Daniel Hope, a long-time champion of new music, is the soloist for the world premiere of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s second violin concerto, Fiddler on the Shore , on August 22 with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. The work, commissioned by the orchestra and written specially for Hope, will be conducted by the composer. This performance will be part of the orchestra’s Mendelssohn bicentennial celebrations in Leipzig. After the world premiere, Daniel Hope and Peter Maxwell Davies will bring the piece back home to Great Britain, where they will present the UK premiere at the BBC Proms on September 8 – Sir Peter’s 75th birthday, this time with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Both Hope and Maxwell Davies are favorite British musicians. Peter Maxwell Davies, one of the UK’s most celebrate...

For those of you who don't know, I am also a composer. Occasionally I post links to pieces I am currently working on. This trumpet concerto is my lastest project. The link is only the first movement, but feel free to comment...

DENVER, CO—Opera Colorado General Director Gregory Carpenter announced plans for the company’s upcoming 2009/2010 Season. “Our new season includes three beloved elections from the operatic repertoire that represent both traditional and innovative approaches to the art form,” Carpenter said. Carpenter stated that the artistic goals for the new season build on the company’s recent successes. “As we move into the future, Opera Colorado will strive to present at least one opera per season that is either new to Opera Colorado, new to Denver audiences or rarely performed in Colorado,” Carpenter said. “We are particularly excited that the 09/10 season will also introduce Denver audiences to many new artists, including conductors, designers, directors, and singers.” All together, twenty-nine artists will make their Opera Colorado debuts next season when all casting is complete. The Tales of Hoffmann By Jacques Offenbach November 7, 10, 13 and 15, 2009 The Barber of Seville By Gioachin...

Washington National Opera’s acclaimed 1998 production of Puccini’s La Rondine , which was nationally televised on PBS, is now available on DVD. Decca is proud to add this title to its impressive collection of opera-on-DVD, especially as this is the first available performance of the controversial “third ending” which Puccini completed in 1921. After extensive investigative research and tireless efforts, the director, Marta Domingo, has reconstructed the tragic version of this opera. Rather than having Magda fly off like a swallow at the end, the story ends with her taking her own life. This alternate edition of the score presents a very different Magda and dramatic arch. Seen not only in Washington DC but also Los Angeles , this production is a deeply moving addition to the standard repertoire and this DVD a valuable document of Puccini’s experimentation with drama and theatricality.