Omer Meir Wellber conducts Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Ella Milch-Sheriff’s “The Eternal Stranger” at New Year’s Eve concerts at the Wiener Konzerthaus (December 2023)

Omer Meir Wellber will conduct the New Year’s Eve concerts at the Wiener Konzerthaus on December 30 and 31, 2023 and January 1, 2024. The program includes Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, which the Wiener Symphoniker and the Wiener Singakademie traditionally perform at the turn of the year. On December 30, there will also be the Austrian premiere of “The Eternal Stranger”, a monodrama by Israeli composer Ella Milch-Sheriff with actor Eli Danker, who is well-known from film and television.

December 30                    Vienna, Konzerthaus
Wiener Symphoniker
Ella Milch-Sheriff: The Eternal Stranger. Monodrama for an actor and orchestra
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor op. 125
Omer Meir Wellber, conductor

December 31, January 1              Vienna, Konzerthaus
Wiener Symphoniker
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor op. 125
Omer Meir Wellber, conductor

Kent Nagano and Mari Kodama with the Haydn Orchestra in Bolzano (December 2023)

On December 5 and 6, Kent Nagano conducts the Haydn Orchestra with Mari Kodama at the piano in the Bolzano Concert Hall. The program includes works by Haydn and Ligeti, two very different composers who both use humor, irony and the fun of surprise in their music. 2023 would have been Ligeti’s 100th anniversary.

György Ligeti: Poème symphonique / Musical Ceremonial for 100 Metronomes
György Ligeti: Musica Ricercata n. 11 “Omaggio a Girolamo Frescobaldi”
Haydn: Sonata in C major Hob. XVI/48
György Ligeti: Concerto for piano and orchestra
Haydn: Symphony No. 102 in B flat major, Hob. I: 102

Dresdner Musikfestspiele program 2024: “Horizons” (November 2023)

Next year’s edition of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele with its theme “Horizons” will take place from May 9 to June 9, 2024.

Jan Vogler, cellist and Intendant of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele, is focusing on variety and new discoveries in the program of the 47th festival:

“The reception of classical music is changing. It could be the biggest transformation for almost a hundred years. We let ourselves be inspired by this and explore new horizons with our fantastic audience in 2024. I am looking forward to the most colorful festival year since the festival was founded.”

 

The opening concert with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Klaus Mäkelä and the closing concert with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Jakub Hrůša form a classical framework for a whole festival month in which classical music meets pop, jazz and dance.

Other highlights of the festival include the concert with Jan Vogler (cello) and Daniel Hope (violin) with Deutsches Sinfonieorchester Berlin under the direction of Anna Rakitina and performances by Sting and jazz singer Laufey.

As part of a special concert, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra will perform under the direction of Jaap Van Zweden with a new composition by Daniel Lo and pianist Alexandre Kantorow.

READ MORE

Omer Meir Wellber: I Capuleti e I Montecchi premiere and stream on 26.11.23 (November 2023)

Today, Omer Meir Wellber will conduct the premiere of Vincenzo Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo.

The performance of the opera on Sunday, November 26, 2023 will be streamed live on teatromassimo.it from 5.15 pm (CET) and will be available for 30 days.

“We are opening the season with a ‘Sicilian’ masterpiece such as I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Bellini’s favorite opera”, says Omer Meir Wellber, “with a combination of music and dance created with director and choreographer Idan Cohen (…). The protagonist couple, Romeo and Juliet, are entrusted to two female voices, as in Bellini’s score, with Romeo being “en travestie”. A stylistic choice that has to do with the customs of the time and which also has a political value today, as it shows how similar the characters of the two conflicting parties are, both vocally and as human beings.”

“The setting of the opera is a dystopian taxidermic museum with infinity mirrors, masterfully designed by Riccardo Massironi. The costumes designed by Edoardo Russo enhance the atmosphere and contribute to the portrayal of the young female lovers in this unique setting,” adds Idan Cohen.

 

November 22 Palermo, Teatro Massimo          Premiere

Vincenzo Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi
Idan Cohen –  director
Further performances: November 23, 24, 25, 26, 28

Midori plays Bernsteins Serenade: WDR Concert-Stream (November 2023)

Here you can watch Midori’s recent concert in Germany: Bernstein’s Serenade for violin, strings, harp and percussion with the WDR Symphony Orchestra and Constantinos Carydis recorded on September 22 at Cologne Philharmonie is now available on YouTube and on the WDR Symphony Orchestra’s website.

 

Midori just finished her US tour with the Festival Strings Lucerne having played in Atlanta, Iowa City, San Francisco and Santa Barbara, among others. Her next stop is Korea: she will perform Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in Seoul on November 25 .

READ MORE

Two ICMA and one Grammy nomination (November 2023)

We are delighted that two of our artists’ CDs have been nominated for international awards this week:

Midori’s recording of the Beethoven sonatas for piano and violin with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet (Warner Classics) has been nominated for the International Classical Music Award 2024 in the chamber music category.  The latest CD recording by Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 & Schulhoff: Five Pieces, released on Reference Recordings, has also been nominated for the ICMA in the Symphonic Music category. The finalists will be announced on December 8 and the winners of the ICMA will be announced on January 18, 2024.

In addition, the PSO’s Tchaikovsky / Schulhoff-CD under the direction of Manfred Honeck has been nominated for a Grammy in the category “Best Engineered Album, Classical” with sound engineer Mark Donohue of Soundmirror for his work as “engineer and mastering engineer”. The Grammys will be awarded on February 4, 2024 in Los Angeles.

Salome premiere with Kent Nagano in Hamburg on ARTE Concert (November 2023)

On Sunday, 29 October 2023 at 6 p.m. (CET), General Music Director Kent Nagano will conduct the premiere of Richard Strauss’ opera Salome at the State Opera Hamburg.

ARTE will broadcast the premiere live and the stream will be available in Europe on ARTE Concert for 180 days afterwards. NDR will also broadcast the opera live on the radio starting at 6 p.m. (CET). Director Dmitri Tcherniakov, “Director of the Year 2023” chosen by the German magazine Opernwelt, directs the production.

The role of Salome is sung by Asmik Grigorian, “Singer of the Year 2023” (Opus Klassik), alongside Kyle Ketelsen in his role debut as Jochanaan, as well as John Daszak as Herod and Violeta Urmana as Herodias.

Further performances:

1, 4, 8, 12 & 15 November, 2023.

For more info, visit staatsoper-hamburg.de

The stream on ARTE Concert is available free of charge and without registration.

 

Midori and Festival Strings Lucerne (Oktober 2023)

On October 25, Midori will perform Schumann’s Violin Concerto in D minor and Dvořák’s Romance for Violin and Orchestra with the Festival Strings Lucerne under Daniel Dodds at the KKL Luzern. The violinist shares an intense partnership with the Festival Strings Lucerne musicians, and prior to the concert in Lucerne will accompany them to two concerts on October 22 and 23 in Bologna and Rimini, as well as on a nine-concert U.S. tour.

For more information, visit fsl.swiss

READ MORE

Amanda Gorman & Jan Vogler at Carnegie Hall (October 2023)

History-making Presidential inaugural poet and bestselling author Amanda Gorman and internationally acclaimed cellist Jan Vogler share the stage for the first time at Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, February 17, 2024 at 8pm, in an evening of spoken word and music featuring the award-winning poetry of Ms. Gorman and the Cello Suites of J.S. Bach, offering a message of hope and humanity. Tickets are on sale today. 

READ MORE

Omer Meir Wellber at the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig (October 2023)

On 19 and 20 October, Omer Meir Wellber, together with the Gewandhausorchester, Michael Schönheit on the organ and Geir Draugsvoll on the accordion, will present the world premiere of Aziza Sadikova‘s work Strahlen des Feuers for orchestra, accordion and organ. The work commissioned by the Gewandhaus will be paired with works by Haydn and Bruckner.

More information here.

19, 20 October  Leipzig, Gewandhaus
Gewandhausorchester
Haydn: Sinfonie d-Moll Hob
Aziza Sadikova: Strahlen des Feuers für Orgel, Akkordeon und Orchester (world premiere)
Bruckner: Sinfonie d-Moll (“Die Nullte”)
Michael Schönheit – Organ
Geir Draugsvoll – Accordion

GDPR Cookie Consent with Real Cookie Banner