News März 2010

In February, Pedro Halffter and the Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria released two new CDs on the label Warner Classics & Jazz – both contain unusual repertoire. On one of them, Halffter presents arrangements of two works by Johannes Brahms and Johann Sebastian Bach: The Piano Quartet in G Minor by Brahms and Prelude and Fugue BWV 552 by Bach are played as orchestrated versions by Arnold Schönberg. The second recording contains rarely performed works by Franz Schreker: Halffter conducts “Nachtstück” from the opera “Der ferne Klang”, the “Kammersymphonie” as well as the “Phantastische Ouvertüre”.

During their tour through the USA and Canada in January, the press described the musicianship of the Fauré Quartett as “exhilarating”. The ensemble gave eleven very successful concerts, in cities including Los Angeles, Calgary, Washington and New York. Another chance to listen to the four musicians is their new CD which is published on 19th March. After the release of a recording featuring arrangements of famous pop songs last autumn, the quartet now returns to classical repertoire. The CD contains the Piano Quartets No. 2 and 3 by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and is released on the label Deutsche Grammophon.

This month, the Scharoun Ensemble arrives at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris for a “mini residency”. The members of the Berlin Philharmonic give three concerts on 11th, 13th and 14th March with different programmes: the first evening is dedicated to French composers, featuring works by Debussy, Ravel and Dalbavie. The programme of the second concert includes “Der Dämon” by Hindemith as well as Stravinsky’s “A Soldier’s Tale” in which Fanny Ardant takes the role of the narrator. For the last concert, the group has prepared works by Brahms and Schubert.

Piano enthusiasts should consider a trip to Leipzig: on 27th March, Murray Perahia gives a solo recital at the Gewandhaus, presenting a carefully chosen programme. The concert includes J.S. Bach’s Partita No. 6 BWV 830, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 30 op. 109, Schumann’s “Kinderszenen” op. 15 and several works by Chopin. Another recital with the same programme follows on 19th April at the Philharmonie am Gasteig in Munich.

Andris Nelsons and the CBSO tour Germany

Following a concert in Utrecht, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra tours Germany, starting with a concert in Cologne on 12th March. Other concerts take place in Hannover (13th March), Regensburg (14th), Stuttgart (16th), Freiburg (17th), Düsseldorf (18th), Heidelberg (20th), Frankfurt (21st), Dortmund (22nd) and Hamburg (23rd). The soloists in Cologne and Frankfurt are Håkan Hardenberger and violinist Alina Pogostkina. In the remaining eight concerts, Baiba Skride plays Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor or the Violin Concerto by Tchaikovsky which she recorded with Andris Nelsons and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 2008. The programme of this extensive tour also includes Wagner’s “Meistersinger von Nürnberg” overture and Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” overture, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 and Stravinsky’s “Firebird”. Just in time for the tour, Nelsons’s new CD with the CBSO is released on the label Orfeo, featuring Stravinsky’s “Firebird” and his “Symphony of Psalms”. The tour in March is their first extensive German tour after some guest performances in Bonn, Berlin and Wuppertal in September 2009.

Andris Nelsons © Marco Borggreve

London Philharmonic Orchestra: Concerts with Anne-Sophie Mutter

The famous Violin Concerto by Johannes Brahms is part of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s German tour in March. The solo part is played by Anne-Sophie Mutter who accompanies the orchestra to all tour destinations. One of their concerts takes place in Hannover, other venues are Cologne, Essen, Baden-Baden, Mannheim, Munich, Hamburg and Dortmund. Under the baton of Ludovic Morlot, the programme also includes Wagner’s Prelude to “Lohengrin”, Bartók’s “Concerto for Orchestra” Sz 116 and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 D Minor op. 70.

Anne-Sophie Mutter @ Anja Frers / Deutsche Grammophon

New artist: Kazuki Yamada

Konzertdirektion Schmid is proud to announce the signing of young Japanese conductor, Kazuki Yamada, for general management. Winner of the 2009 Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors, he has in the last few months emerged as a major talent in Europe. Notable European appearances for him in coming months will include his London debut with BBC Symphony Orchestra, at London's Barbican Hall, his Paris debut with Orchestre de Paris and his Berlin debut with Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin.