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 CONTENTS

47 50 64
IN THIS ISSUE
JUNE 2017 ISSUE 1033

57 REHEARSAL ORCHESTRA 22 INDUSTRY VIEW 76 RECORDING

Practising for 60 years Katy Wright offers her  Kate Lindsey
perspective  Simon Wynberg
60 NAXOS AT 30  Presto Classical
Staying ahead of the curve 23 INSIDE VIEW  Tinderbox
Wider listening, Emmanuel
64 THE TRONDHEIM Macron, Paul Hillier’s 80 CD REVIEWS
SOLOISTS Ars Nova
Recreating a pilgrimage 83 BOOK REVIEWS
from Orkney to Trondheim OPINION
24 Andrew Mellor 85 BROADCASTING
68 TERRY HARRISON 26 John Wallace The music of
Memories of one of the 29 Mark Gotham Rebecca Clarke
great managers
30 PREMIERES 86 ENIGMA
COVER STORY
CM0617_001_Cover 2.indd 2 15/05/2017 10:49:52

71 BAMBERG SYMPHONY Brett Dean, Olga Neuwirth Cryptic crossword and quiz
42 LONDON INTERNATIONAL Jakub Hrůša on the and Luke Styles
A CAPPELLA CHORAL orchestra’s Bohemian 88 RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING
COMPETITION ancestry 34 MEET THE MAESTRO
A celebration of song Matthew Kofi Waldren at 90 EXTENDED INTERVALS
Opera Holland Park Michael White’s critic’s
REGULARS month
FEATURES 5 EDITORIAL 36 Q&A: KATE WHITLEY
47 MAKE MUSIC DAY Introducing CM’s Composer and Multi-
The UK gets more involved new team Story Orchestra artistic
director
50 WELSH NATIONAL OPERA 6 LETTERS & HORNBLOWER
The company takes its 38 ISM
REGISTER WITH
learning programme 7 NEWS A new resource for
RHINEGOLD
Create an account to receive
to Dubai composers
our free newsletters,
14 BARLINES
download free resources and
52 COMMUNITY OPERA News in brief 40 SMITH & WILLIAMSON
enjoy our interactive content
Upcoming projects at Forthcoming changes to
www.rhinegold.co.uk/registration
Garsington and Nevill Holt 20 ARTIST MANAGER NEWS the tax system
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 3

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 Don’t miss a note
11 - 18 June 2017

bbc.co.uk/cardiffsinger

4 Opera Now Magazine – 210x276.indd 1 16/05/2017 10:30

CM0617.indd 4 18/05/2017 10:13:24
 Welcome
MANAGING EDITORS
Ashutosh Khandekar
Owen Mortimer
DEPUTY EDITOR
Katy Wright
CONSULTANT EDITOR

© SIMON JAY PRICE

© OLIVER HALL
© BENJAMIN EALOVEGA
Keith Clarke
HEAD OF DESIGN & PRODUCTION
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PRODUCTION
Gordon Wallis
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George Slater-Walker
ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE
Andrew Brandon
MARKETING MANAGER
Alfred Jahn
PUBLISHER
Derek Smith
PRINTED BY
HALSTAN UK
2-10 Plantation Road Ashutosh Khandekar Owen Mortimer Katy Wright
Amersham
Buckinghamshire

W
HP6 6HJ
PRODUCED BY ith this issue of Classical Music, we say farewell to Kimon Daltas, the magazine’s
Rhinegold Publishing Ltd esteemed editor since 2012. Kimon has done a magnificent job of steering CM through
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editors, they will be harnessing editorial firepower across all Rhinegold’s music titles, drawing together
the expertise of more than 50 international correspondents, as well as calling on those of you working
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within the industry to comment on the pressing issues of the day.
Classical Music Subscriptions Providing continuity and insight at Classical Music is our current news editor, Katy Wright, who
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T: +44 (0) 1795 414 922 editor of CM, handling the day-to-day interaction between the magazine and the music world at large.
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Classical Music tries to avoid
inaccuracies. If readers believe that
an error has been made they should
contact the editor before taking
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does not imply endorsement.
Editorial and image research
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Classical music is a sector that is often seen as beleaguered or sidelined by mainstream culture. In
representing the industry for the future, Classical Music aims to reinforce itself as a voice that not only
speaks up for the concerns of those in the classical music world, but also celebrates the overflowing
reserves of talent and creativity in our sector. We want to capture the passion of those who perform
and listen to serious music, and to highlight the positive impact that music makes in society.
Over the next few months, you’ll notice a few changes in how we do things. In July’s festival focus,
we introduce our first guest editor – Meurig Bowen, artistic director of the Cheltenham Music
Festival. Meurig brings his tremendous experience as a festival director to address a number of
conundrums that face him in his current job: should (or indeed can) classical music try to emulate the
hugely successful popular festivals such as Glastonbury and Womad? Are multi-disciplinary festivals
just paying lip service to classical music in their programming? Why is arts funding in Britain so
stacked against the festival concept? Meurig will be inviting some prominent figures in the British
musical scene, many of them at the helm of their own festivals. Guest editors will become a regular
fixture in future issues, stimulating lively debate around serious music and its future.
Derek Smith, Publisher

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 LETTERS AND DIARY
LETTERS
WAKE-UP CALL
It was gratifying to see Katy Wright
addressing the difficult subject of funding
in her column ‘Drama at the Opera’. The
chattering (Twittering?) classes cry time and
again that art must be funded just… well,
because, but public money given is always
public money taken from elsewhere, and it is
difficult to envy those at ACE charged with
carving up grants between a huge number
of diverse and worthy organisations. ENO
has relied on bailout funding time and
again; how could this ever be a model of
‘value for money’, that sainted category
of public service? Ultimately, it’s difficult
to see how ENO’s detractors argue for
anything less than a privatised second opera
company in London; there is no reason
for ACE to support a financially unstable
organisation and Darren Henley has made
his stance quite clear. Cressida Pollock
HORNBLOWER’S
DIARY
A rather unexpected Twitter exchange between the LSO and Cypress Hill. The hip-hop
group posted a screenshot of an episode of The Simpsons in which it is trying to remember
whether it requested the orchestra for a travelling rock festival, and when the LSO
responded made it clear it was keen to collaborate in real life
6 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_006_R_Letters & Diary KC T OK.indd 6
WRITE TO: The Editor, Classical Music, Rhinegold Publishing Ltd,
has seen the company through to sell-out
shows and positive revenues, with a clear
goal of restoring ENO’s grant. Not without
speedbumps, of course, but maybe there’s
some of that old ENO spirit there after all.
Nathan Allarden
St Neots
NATIONAL INTERESTS
It is telling to me that Jasper Parrott’s
recent anti-Brexit screed (retweeted by
CM on 9 May) invokes the ever-reliable
spectre of ‘Little England’ in its defence
of the European project. Quite apart from
the curious charge that a political system
putting votes on policy to the country is
‘undemocratic’, it’s worth remembering that
the original ‘Little Englanders’ fought to
encourage the nurturing of British business
at the expense of wasteful colonial ventures,
The CM team still isn’t sure…
CONTACT US
EMAIL: letters@rhinegold.co.uk
20 Rugby Street, London, WC1N 3QZ
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK: Classical Music Magazine
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @ClassicalMusic_
and were even to be found filling the ranks
of the anti-imperialist wing of the Liberal
Party throughout the 19th century. How far
this mighty edifice is fallen!
The campaigner Naomi Klein has written
extensively on the negative impacts of
globalisation on domestic employment, and
the benefits of protectionist industrial policy
in promoting both quality manufacturing
and reliable, stable employment. Where are
employment conditions less stable than in
the music ‘biz’ these days? Young players are
forced in to taking peanuts for their 10,000
hours’ training, and reliable work is far less
than scarce with an ever-increasing number
of brilliant up-and-comers year on year.
Perhaps we need a protectionist hand on
the tiller; perhaps we need a well-managed
Brexit?
Jennifer Green
Manchester
A copy of the Daily Herald from 1956
reveals the dangers of driving to concerts.
Hat tip to Michael Castle of Stonehouse,
Gloucestershire, who says: ‘I’m not sure
what’s more shocking – being intoxicated
by Tchaikovsky’s Fifth or speeding
between 45 and 52 mph.’
17/05/2017 12:21:38

Winners of RPS Music Awards 2017 revealed
© SIMON JAY PRICE
Outstanding achievements: John Gilhooly (centre) with the winners
T he winners of the Royal Philharmonic
Society (RPS) Music Awards 2017 were
announced in a ceremony at London’s Brewery
on 9 May.
The awards recognise outstanding musical
achievement across the UK in 2016, with
projects, artists and organisations from across
the UK receiving accolades.
Soprano Karita Mattila, violinist James
Ehnes, conductor Richard Farnes and pianist
Joseph Middleton took home top individual
RPS Music Awards, with Mr Farnes receiving
additional praise for his part in Opera North’s
Ring cycle, which won the award for opera and
music theatre.
Rebecca Saunders won her third RPS Music
Award for Skin, becoming the society’s most
decorated female composer. The other com-
poser to receive an award was Philip Venables,
Audiences prefer newer violins to old, study reveals
A recent study has revealed that audiences
are no better than players at identifying
new violins from old, and might prefer the
sound of newer instruments to Stradivaris.
The findings, which have been published by
the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences (http://bit.ly/2r24x7V), indicate that
on average new violins project more effectively
than those made by Stradivari, and that both
CM0617_007-013_R_News - KC T OK.indd 7
whose opera 4.48 Psychosis was named best
large-scale composition.
Both the Lammermuir and East Neuk Fes-
tivals picked up prizes, with the former win-
ning the concert series and festivals category
and the second the audiences and engagement
award for David Lang’s Memorial Ground, a
collaboration with 14-18 NOW.
Other winners include Edward Dusinberre,
who received the creative communication
award for his book on playing Beethoven with
the Takács Quartet; Manchester Camerata,
which received the ensemble prize; and the
South-West Open Youth Orchestra, the UK’s
first disabled-led youth orchestra, which won
the learning and participation category.
The ceremony also saw veteran filmmaker
Barrie Gavin, who has made more than 200
films about music and more than 250 live
players and audiences are more likely to prefer
instruments with better sound projection.
In two separate experiments, three new vio-
lins were compared with three by Stradivari.
Projection was tested both with and without
orchestral accompaniment, and listeners were
divided into two groups in order to simultane-
ously judge projection and preference.
The study found that new violins projected
NEWS
relays of performances, made an honorary
member of the Royal Philharmonic Society.
The RPS citation read: ‘Barrie Gavin has
spent a lifetime single-mindedly document-
ing the arts through film: above all classical
music, with the composers of today as an
overriding priority. The hallmarks of his
work are the care and attention to detail
which he invests in each and every subject,
and his ability to demonstrate insightful
authority and profound understanding,
while always allowing the music to speak
for itself.’
Pianist Stephen Hough presented the
awards and gave the evening’s keynote speech.
Stressing the importance of giving everyone
the chance to experience classical music, Mr
Hough also noted that we should accept that
‘in the end some people will just not respond
to this art form we love – and that’s just fine.’
The evening also saw the Royal Phil-
harmonic Society launch its #LiveMusicIs
campaign, which features words chosen by
musicians and music lovers across the UK re-
flecting their feelings about the special quality
of the live music experience.
‘This year’s RPS Music Award winners take
no prisoners, united in their excellence and
their commitment to removing barriers to
listening or participation in classical music,’
said RPS chair John Gilhooly. ‘The awards cel-
ebrate live music of extraordinary quality and
ambition, taking place across the width and
breadth of the country (closer to home than
many might think). I’d urge those who have
yet to experience its multifarious pleasures to
get out there and listen and make music, in the
moment, of the moment. Live Music Is… more
vibrant than ever.’
rpsmusicawards.com/
better than the Stradivaris whether tested with
orchestra or without, and were generally pre-
ferred by the listeners, who could not reliably
distinguish new from old.
The paper builds on a recent study which
found that ‘under blind conditions, violin
soloists generally prefer new violins and are
unable to distinguish between new and old at
better than chance levels’.
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 7
17/05/2017 09:53:37
 NEWS
Colston Hall to change name following protests
New name: Colston Hall
B ristol Music Trust has confirmed that
Colston Hall is to change its name, which
it currently shares with a Bristol-born slave
trader, following protests.
The venue will reopen with a different name
in 2020 following refurbishment. The charity
stated that ‘the name Colston, and its associa-
tions with the slave trade, does not reflect our
values as a progressive, forward-thinking and
open arts organisation.’
Search begins for team to design Centre for Music
T he Barbican, London Symphony Orches-
tra and Guildhall School of Music &
Drama are seeking applications from design
teams to develop plans for London’s proposed
Centre for Music.
The procurement process will lead to
the appointments of an architect, building
service engineer, civil and structural engi-
neer, acoustician, and theatre consultant,
who will develop a concept design for the
new centre.
The design will form part of the detailed
business case for the project, funded by the
Architects appointed for proposed Edinburgh concert hall
D avid Chipperfield Architects has won
the contract to design a new arts centre
for Edinburgh.
The company, which is currently transform-
ing the Royal Academy of Arts in London,
will work with a design team including ARUP,
Whitby & Mohajer Engineering, Gross.Max
Landscape Architects and Theatre Projects.
The site of the proposed £45m project centre
is behind Dundas House at 36 St Andrew
Square. The heart of the building would be
8 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_007-013_R_News - KC T OK.indd 8
Louise Mitchell, chief executive of the trust,
described the venue’s current name as ‘toxic’,
adding: ‘We are doing this now because it is the
right thing to do. It’s not actually about com-
merce – it’s about doing the right thing.’
Edward Colston (1636-1721) was a merchant
and MP. Although he also traded in cloth,
wine and sugar, a great deal of his wealth was
acquired through the slave trade.
A statement on Colston Hall’s website reads:
City of London Corporation, which will be
submitted to the corporation in December
2018.
The panel appointed to assess tender
responses from architects comprises:
XXA lex Beard CBE, chief executive, Royal
Opera House
XXProfessor Ricky Burdett CBE, professor
of urban studies and director, LSE Cities
XXEva Jiricna CBE RA, founder, Eva Jiricna
Architects
XXSir Nicholas Kenyon, managing director,
Barbican (panel chair)
a 1,000-seat auditorium, filling the gap for a
purpose-built, mid-sized performance venue
in Edinburgh; the facility would also contain
education facilities and a studio providing
rehearsal, recital and recording space ‘to rival
the best in Europe’.
Nagata Associates is already advising
Impact Scotland and will work closely with
the architect and design team. The acoustics
consultancy’s recent work includes the Elbe
Philharmonic in Hamburg.
‘We are in no way trying to erase recognition of
Bristol’s role in the slave trade, and we recognise
the importance of remembering the part this
city played in those events as a way of shaping
our city for the better moving forward.
‘We want to embrace our position at the cen-
tre of this naming discussion to work beyond
the building and help lead conversations across
Bristol about diversity and inclusivity.
‘However, as the south west’s flagship concert
venue, we also see changing the name as part of
our wider redevelopment plans as an oppor-
tunity to make a clear statement that Edward
Colston does not represent the values of Bristol
Music Trust.’
The second phase of Colston Hall’s re-
furbishment will begin in 2018 – the hall’s
150th anniversary – and is due for comple-
tion in 2020.
www.colstonhall.org/
XXK athryn McDowell CBE, managing
director, London Symphony Orchestra
XXA lastair Moss, deputy, City of London
Corporation
XXLucy Musgrave, director, Publica
XXSir Simon Rattle, music director desig-
nate, London Symphony Orchestra
XXLynne Williams, principal, Guildhall
School of Music & Drama
The £250m centre would contain a ‘world-
class concert hall for the digital age’, as well as
spaces for education and training, and facilities
for audiences and performers.
Sir Ewan Brown, chair of Impact Scotland,
described David Chipperfield Architects
as ‘a highly skilled team led by a strong and
confident architect’, adding: ‘Their approach
to designing the interior of the new venue was
intriguing, well-expressed and demonstrated
a desire to create spaces that would welcome
visitors and performers alike. In addition, the
team showed sensitivity to the design chal-
lenges that would be faced in creating a venue
with exceptional, world-class acoustics.’
17/05/2017 09:54:01

Radio 4 axes Saturday Review
RICK JONES
G wyneth Williams, the controller of
Radio 4, has axed Saturday Review. The
programme paid a fee to three critics each
week, at a time when paying more than a single
presenter’s fee for a programme is said to have
become almost anathema to the BBC, even for
a Saturday evening. The long-running discus-
sion programme will not be broadcast again
after August.
Ms Williams admited that the programme
will be missed, but said that ‘difficult deci-
sions have had to be made on how we can best
safeguard the overall range of content on Radio
4 while delivering savings’.
According to the BBC’s Full Financial State-
ment for 2015/16 presented to government, the
corporation has to save £800m a year by 2021.
The chair of Saturday Review, Tom Sutcliffe,
said: ‘I’ve been told it’s about money, though if it
was editorial I guess they might say that to spare
my feelings. But I think their explanation is the
real one.
‘Radio Four needed to make substantial cuts
which are the continuing consequence of the
last licence fee agreement.’
Much less income derives from the licence
than was predicted because of the commit-
New chief conductor for BBC Singers
S wedish conductor Sofi Jeannin has been
appointed as chief conductor of the
BBC Singers, effective from July 2018.
Ms Jeannin succeeds David Hill, who
has been chief conductor for ten years
(2007-17). Paul Hughes, the ensemble’s
general manager, praised Mr Hill’s ‘inspired
leadership’ and confirmed that the ensemble
would continue to work with him in future.
Before taking up the role, Ms Jeannin will
conduct the BBC Singers in a number of
performances in the UK, including a special
‘Reformation Day’ concert as part of the
2017 BBC Proms in August and a pro-
gramme of Handel with St James’ Baroque
at Milton Court Concert Hall in May 2018.
Born in Stockholm, Sofi Jeannin studied
music both in Sweden and France before
gaining her MMus in choral conducting
at the Royal College of Music, where she
received lessons from Paul Spicer.
CM0617_007-013_R_News - KC T OK.indd 9
ment to waiving the fee for the over-75s and
the fact that fewer households now own
television sets as viewers prefer to watch
via catch-up on mobiles, online and via the
BBC’s own iPlayer service.
Saturday Review is an entertaining and
thoughtful programme typically cover-
ing film, theatre, literature, television and
visual art.
The critics frequently disagree, and with
deft refereeing from Sutcliffe, lively, witty and
sometimes acrimonious exchanges result.
Critics say that a long and brave tradition
is associated with this branch of journalism
and that to speak out when others disagree
takes courage and requires expertise and
knowledge. Critics often find themselves
flying in the face of the popular, which makes
them unpopular, but their stock-in-trade is
reasoned argument, a learned skill acquired
through experience. It is a healthy society
which encourages and fosters criticism.
However, one subject, music, has been
conspicuous by its absence from Saturday
Review since most general critics feel unquali-
fied to judge what is seen from the outside as
a specialist area.
She has prepared choirs for Sir David
Willcocks, Bernard Haitink and Peter
Schreier, taught choral singing at the RCM
Junior Department and sang with London
Voices and Terry Edwards before working as
a professor of choral conducting at the Con-
servatoire Albéric Magnard in Évry, France.
Ms Jeannin is currently musical director
of la Maîtrise de Radio France since 2008,
and in 2015 was appointed musical director
Living the dream: Sofi Jeannin
NEWS
When approached about offering some
kind of Saturday Review equivalent on Radio
3, controller Alan Davey declared himself
receptive to the idea.
He said the questions of criticism ‘are live
to us at the moment’. He pointed out that
Radio 3 already airs criticism on Free Think-
ing, Record Review and Music Matters, but
that ‘perhaps there may be more we can do,
especially in regard to younger critics’.
None of these programmes, however,
takes the Saturday Review form of a round
table debate, which had a progenitor in the
long lost and fondly remembered Radio 3
programme Critics’ Forum, which ran for 15
years from the 1970s.
From September, the daily arts magazine
programme Front Row will be extended with a
weekend show to become Saturday Front Row.
This will be ‘a digest of the best Front Row
highlights from the previous week’ which will
also look ahead to what’s to come in the fol-
lowing week and present reaction to the stories
aired on Front Row.
Ms Williams insists that ‘intelligent arts
review remains an important part of Radio
4’s content’.
of the French Radio Chorus, the largest
professional symphonic chorus in Europe.
She has developed a full-time choir
school in the city of Bondy, north France,
where she has musical and pedagogical
responsibility of 180 choristers, has worked
with the chorus and orchestra of Kinshasa,
Congo, and is involved in El Sistema
Greece. She regularly gives workshops and
masterclasses around the world and has set
up a new course of choral conducting at the
Paris conservatoire.
Paul Hughes predicted ‘exciting times’
for the ensemble, adding: ‘The range of
[Ms Jeannin’s] experience and the exact-
ing standards she demands have produced
thrilling results with the singers and I am
absolutely delighted to welcome Sofi in her
new role.’
www.bbc.co.uk/singers
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 9
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CM0617.indd 10 18/05/2017 10:13:25

 NEWS

Philharmonia launches app on PlayStationVR

T he Philharmonia Orchestra has become
the first symphony orchestra to release a
VR app on the PlayStationVR platform.
The Virtual Orchestra has been
released as two apps – preview (99p) and
premium (£2.99) – on the PlayStationVR
store, both of which feature the orchestra
at Southbank Centre in full 3D audio and
3D video.
The premium version is a 14-minute
experience, and features a backstage docu-
mentary film followed by a full performance
of the third movement of Sibelius’ fifth
symphony under Esa-Pekka Salonen at the
Royal Festival Hall.
The apps have been released in Europe
ahead of a wider international release.
‘This special release cements the Philhar-
monia Orchestra’s status as a sector leader
in the emerging market for virtual reality,’
said Helen Sprott, managing director of
the Philharmonia. ‘We firmly believe in
VR as a tool for both reaching new audi-
ences and diversifying new revenue streams
for the orchestra.’ Appy days: The Philharmonia’s VR experience
Philharmonia digital director Luke
Ritchie noted that the VR app continued pioneering use of video to capture live premium version of the app release, and the
the orchestra’s tradition of technological performances in the 1960s and 1970s’. Philharmonia will unveil a second virtual
innovation, which has included ‘the early The Virtual Orchestra will return to the reality experience at Sheffield DocFest from
adoption and development of stereo and foyer of the Royal Festival Hall from 28 9 to 13 June.
multitrack techniques in Abbey Road in September to 1 October 2017, featuring the
the 1950s, through Herbert von Karajan’s long-form VR experience which forms the www.philharmonia.co.uk/the_virtual_orchestra

International Opera Awards 2017 winners announced

T he winners of the 2017 International
Opera Awards were announced on 7
May at the London Coliseum.
Renata Scotto collected the lifetime
achievement award, with Lawrence Brown-
lee and Anna Netrebko taking the male and
female singer awards respectively.
Excepting the Opera magazine readers’
award, which went to Juan Diego Flórez
after nearly 7,000 votes were cast online, the
winners were selected by an international
jury chaired by John Allison, editor of Op-
era magazine and classical music critic with
the Daily Telegraph.
Radio 3 broadcast highlights in a special
programme at 7.30pm on 21 May.
www.operaawards.org
THE WINNERS IN FULL
XXCHORUS Arnold Schoenberg Chor
XXCONDUCTOR Philippe Jordan
XXDESIGNER Klaus Grünberg
XXDIRECTOR Christof Loy
XXEDUCATION & OUTREACH Natalya Sats
Children’s Opera Theatre, Moscow
XXFEMALE SINGER Anna Netrebko
XXFESTIVAL Wexford Festival Opera
XXLEADERSHIP IN OPERA
Bernard Foccroulle
XXLIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Renata Scotto
XXMALE SINGER Lawrence Brownlee
XXNEW PRODUCTION Saariaho: L’amour de
loin, d Robert Lepage (Metropolitan Opera)
XXNEWCOMER Lorenzo Viotti (conductor)
XXOPERA COMPANY Opéra de Lyon
XXOPERA MAGAZINE READERS’ AWARD
Juan Diego Flórez
XXPHILANTHROPIST FEDORA
XXRECORDING (COMPLETE OPERA) Pique
Dame (BR Klassik)
XXRECORDING (SOLO RECITAL)
Pretty Yende: A Journey (Sony)
XXREDISCOVERED WORK
Żeleński: Goplana (Polish National Opera)
XXSPECIAL AWARD IN MEMORIAM
Alberto Zedda
XXWORLD PREMIERE Thomas Adès: The
Exterminating Angel (Salzburg Festival)
XXYOUNG SINGER Louise Alder

JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 11

CM0617_007-013_R_News - KC T OK.indd 11 17/05/2017 09:54:38

 NEWS
New teams beds in with ENO 2017/18 season
© DONALD COOPER
Staging a return: Phelim McDermott’s Satyagraha
E nglish National Opera’s 2017/18 season
comprises four new productions and five
revivals at the London Coliseum, and a num-
ber of projects in other venues.
Daniel Kramer will direct his first opera as
ENO artistic director – a ‘sweepingly romantic’
new production of La traviata – and Martyn
Brabbins will begin his first full season as ENO
music director, conducting the world premiere
of Nico Muhly’s latest opera, Marnie, and The
Marriage of Figaro.
Based on Winston Graham’s psychologi-
cal thriller of the same name, Marnie is Nico
Muhly’s second world premiere for ENO,
following 2011’s Two Boys. According to the
composer, the opera ‘follows one woman on a
journey from constant deceit into emotional
honesty. She is plagued by two men in very dif-
ferent ways, and the chorus plays a major role
in creating an unsettling atmosphere of gossip,
innuendo and pressure.’
A new production of Verdi’s Aida will
Garsington Opera commissions first new work
G arsington Opera’s 2018 season will
include the festival’s first commission,
a new work from composer David Sawer and
playwright Rory Mullarkey.
Based on Roberto Bolaño’s novella, The
Skating Rink will be directed by Stewart Laing
and conducted by Garry Walker.
The season will open with The Magic
Flute, Christian Curnyn conducting and
Netia Jones directing, and will also include
Verdi’s Falstaff, which will be conducted
by Richard Farnes and directed by Bruno
Ravella, with the Philharmonia Orchestra
playing and Henry Waddington mak-
12 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_007-013_R_News - KC T OK.indd 12
open the season, which will also include Cal
McCrystal’s new production of Gilbert &
Sullivan’s Iolanthe and five revivals: Jonathan
Miller’s The Barber of Seville; Richard Jones’
Rodelinda; Phelim McDermott’s Satyagraha;
Robert Carsen’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream;
and Fiona Shaw’s The Marriage of Figaro.
During the summer months, ENO will
stage productions at other venues around
London. In June 2018, Regent’s Park Open Air
Theatre and ENO will present a new produc-
tion of Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, directed
by Timothy Sheader and conducted by ENO
Mackerras fellow Toby Purser. Following its
launch in summer 2017, ENO Studio Live
will return, and the company’s orchestra will
play for a number of productions presented by
Grange Park Opera at West Horsley Place as
part of a three-year partnership.
In announcing the new season, ENO also
revealed some of its plans for beyond 2017/18.
It will increase the number of fully-staged pro-
ing his debut in the title role. Garsington
© JOANNA ELDREGE MORRISEY
Opera’s first collaboration with Santa Fe
Opera will complete the season. Tim Al-
bery will direct and Douglas Boyd conduct
Strauss’s Capriccio, which will feature
Miah Persson as the Countess.
Running 1 June - 30 July, Garsington Op-
era’s 2017 season comprises four operas – Han-
del’s Semele, Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande,
Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Rossini’s Il
turco in Italia – and Roxanna Panufnik’s new
community opera Silver Birch.
www.garsingtonopera.org
ductions at the London Coliseum from nine
in 2017/18 to ten by 2019/20, and is currently
conducting a full review of its talent develop-
ment programmes.
In November and December 2018, ENO
will mark the 100th anniversary of the end
of world war one with a performance of
Britten’s War Requiem. Directed by Daniel
Kramer and conducted by Martyn Brabbins,
the performance will feature soprano Emma
Bell, tenor David Butt Philip and baritone
Roderick Williams.
The company is also developing a collabora-
tion with the Gate Theatre, Notting Hill to
be staged there in 2018, and has formed a new
partnership with the Unicorn Theatre to create
work aimed at teenage audiences, with the first
production scheduled for 2019.
The final production of the 2018/19 season
will see Daniel Kramer and Martyn Brabbins
work together on the world premiere of Iain
Bell’s fourth opera, Jack the Ripper, billed as
a ‘sympathetic exploration of womanhood in
London’s East End’.
‘With Daniel and Martyn leading the
way artistically, we are able to plan further
ahead than we have before and to increase the
quantity of wonderful opera that we share with
our audiences,’ said Cressida Pollock, CEO
of ENO. ‘The ’17/18 season will highlight the
work of our incredible chorus, orchestra, crea-
tive and technical teams, celebrating the high
standard of artistry and music-making that
audiences have come to expect from ENO.’
www.eno.org/
New work: David Sawer
17/05/2017 09:54:58

Barber premiere for Glyndebourne’s 2018 festival
© BILL COOPER
Revival: Barrie Kosky’s 2015 staging of Saul
T he Glyndebourne Festival 2018 (19
May - 26 August 2018) will feature the
UK’s first professional production of Samuel
Barber’s Vanessa.
The new production will be directed by Keith
Warner, with Jakub Hrůša conducting the Lon-
don Philharmonic Orchestra and Emma Bell
appearing in the title role.
The festival will also include a production
of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande by Stefan Her-
heim, and three revivals: David McVicar’s 2005
production of Giulio Cesare, Barrie Kosky’s
2015 staging of Saul, and Richard Jones’s 2014
production of Der Rosenkavalier. Completing
the season is Annilese Miskimmon’s produc-
tion of Madama Butterfly, which will make its
Dudamel speaks out against Venezuelan government
G ustavo Dudamel has urged the govern-
ment of Venezuela to ‘listen to the
people’ following weeks of violent anti-govern-
ment protests.
More than 30 individuals have been killed
and hundreds injured since protests against
President Nicolas Maduro began in early April.
In a message on his Facebook page, the
conductor wrote: ‘Nothing justifies blood-
shed. We must stop ignoring the just cry of the
people suffocated by an intolerable crisis.’
Emphasising that democracy ‘cannot be
built to fit the needs of a particular govern-
ment’ and ‘involves listening to the voice of
© FUNDAMUSICAL/GERARDO GÓMEZ
the majority’, he added: ‘No ideology can go
beyond the common good.’
He concluded: ‘Times cannot be defined
by the blood of our people. We owe our youth
a hopeful world, a country where we can walk
freely in dissent, in respect, in tolerance, in
dialogue and in which dreams have room to
build the Venezuela we all yearn for.
‘It is time to listen to the people: Enough
is enough.’
CM0617_007-013_R_News - KC T OK.indd 13
festival debut following performances as part of
the 2016 Glyndebourne Tour.
Glyndebourne’s first-ever production of
Massenet’s Cendrillon – created by Fiona Shaw
– will be the highlight of the Glyndebourne
Tour (13 October - 1 December 2018), which
celebrates its 50th anniversary next year.
The tour will also include a revival of Tom
Cairns’s production of La traviata (2014);
this will be the focus of a Behind The Cur-
tain event, which will feature performance
extracts from the cast and orchestra of the
main Tour 2018 production.
The company also revealed that another
new main stage community opera by Howard
Moody will be staged in March 2019, and an-
nounced the inaugural Glyndebourne Opera
Cup, which will offer a top prize of £15,000 and
a platform for launching an international opera
career, with the overall winner guaranteed a role
at one of the opera houses represented on the
jury within five years of their success.
Each edition of the biennial competition
will focus on a different single composer
or strand of the repertoire, with eligibility
criteria varied accordingly.
The message was posted the day after
17-year-old string player Armando Cañi-
zales was killed when violence erupted
between protesters and the national guard
at a rally. Although Mr Cañizales’ name is
not mentioned in the text, it is displayed in
white text against a black background at the
top of the post.
Mr Dudamel emerged from El Sistema,
the country’s celebrated music education
programme, and remains music director
‘Enough is enough’ – Gustavo Dudamel
NEWS
The inaugural competition will require
singers to focus on Mozart. Applications
for the inaugural contest will open later this
year, with preliminary rounds taking place
in January 2018 in Philadelphia, London
and Berlin and the final stages held at
Glyndebourne in March 2018.
In addition to its 2018 festival announce-
ment, Glyndebourne unveiled plans for a new
production hub that will bring all of its making
departments under one roof. The organisation’s
biggest capital investment since the rebuilding
of its opera house in 1994, the building will
contain technical workspace, three music
practice rooms and an extra rehearsal space.
A targeted fundraising effort will seek to raise
the money for the project, underwritten by
reserves that have been built up in recent years
for this purpose.
Nicholas Hare Architects has been appointed
to the project and an architect’s model of the de-
velopment will be on display to visitors during
the 2017 Glyndebourne Festival. Work on the
new building is expected to begin this winter.
glyndebourne.com/
of its flagship ensemble, the Simón Bolívar
Symphony Orchestra.
He has been criticised on numerous oc-
casions for failing to speak out against the
Venezuelan regime. In 2015 Venezuelan
pianist Gabriela Montero publicly accused
him of ‘collaboration’ with a corrupt regime
and denounced El Sistema as a ‘propaganda
tool’. Later that year, Mr Dudamel wrote an
essay for the Los Angeles Times titled ‘Why I
don’t talk Venezuelan politics’.
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 13
17/05/2017 09:55:17
 BARLINES NEWS & LISTINGS
Classic FM names winners of
birthday commission competition
© ISABEL INFANTES
Young talent: Competition winners
Classic FM and the Royal Philharmonic So-
ciety have selected seven young composers to
write new pieces to celebrate the radio station’s
25th birthday.
The winners are: Alexander Woolf (21) and
Alexia Sloane (16) from Cambridge; Jack Pep-
per (17) from Epsom; Benjamin Rimmer (23)
from Stamford, Lincolnshire; Dani Howard
(23), who was born in Hong Kong and now
lives in London; Marco Galvani (22) from
Prenton on the Wirral; and Oliver Muxwor-
thy (23) from Uckfield, East Sussex.
All the composers will be paid for their
work, which will be recorded live and broad-
cast. Some winners will also see their work
premiered at one of the station’s events, such as
Bachtrack launches concert
streaming platform
Classical music events website Bachtrack has
launched Bachtrack At Home, a classical mu-
sic streaming platform featuring an archive of
on demand concerts and live performances.
Aimed at those who might otherwise find
it difficult to attend concerts, Bachtrack At
Home gives users free access to performances
filmed in HD.
Users will be able to stream a number of live
performances, and can also view concerts from
the archive at any time. Each concert has its
own comment feed and Twitter hashtag in or-
der to allow users to engage with one another.
Bachtrack At Home is in collaboration
with six partners, including orchestras and
broadcasters:
XXBergen Philharmonic Orchestra
XXAVROTROS Dutch Public Broadcasting
14 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_014-019_R_Barlines - KC T OK.indd 14
Sound and Music
announces
the 25th birthday celebration concert with the
New Voices for
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra or
Classic FM Live at Royal Albert Hall, both of
which take place in September.
Entrants needed to demonstrate that they
2017/18
could write accessible classical music for vary- Sound and Music has announced the art-
ing sizes of ensemble. Their work was reviewed ists selected for its composer development
by a panel of judges which included compos- programmes for 2017/18.
ers Debbie Wiseman, Errollyn Wallen, Paul The scheme focuses on raising the
Mealor and Stephen McNeff. profiles of artists who exist outside of
‘Over 350,000 Classic FM listeners are the support of commercial publishers or
younger than the station itself – and in this, record companies.
our 25th birthday year, we’re so excited to be The 26 composers will be participat-
showcasing the music of these seven brilliant ing in the charity’s Embedded, Portfolio,
composers to our wider audience of 5.4 mil- Pathways and Next Wave projects.
lion people,’ said Sam Jackson, Classic FM’s They will undertake residencies
managing editor. throughout 2017/18 with a range of
‘The Royal Philharmonic Society very much Sound and Music partners, including
shares Classic FM’s mission of bringing clas- Apartment House, Radio 3, Birmingham
sical music to as many people as possible, and Contemporary Music Group, Heritage
their support of new music is second to none. Quay, London Graduate Orchestra,
Together, we’re looking forward to seeing how Ludi Guitar Quartet, NMC Record-
these young musicians rise to the challenge of ings, the Paraorchestra, ROLI and
composing for Classic FM.’ Sage Gateshead.
The chosen artists are:
www.classicfm.com/ XXAilis Ni Riain
royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/ XXAlex Hall
XXAlex Mackay
XXAmble Skuse
XXBlasio Kavuma
XXDavid Roche
XXDom Bouffard
XXEmma Wilde
XXEmma-Kate Matthews
XXGothenburg Symphony Orchestra XXGemma Nash
XXRoyal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra XXGeorgina Buchanan
XXNorwegian Radio Orchestra XXJack Sheen
XXGürzenich Orchestra XXJason Yarde
XXJoanna Ward
Four of these orchestras already have their XXMark Rossi
own digital concert platforms, which will be XXMatthew Kaner
integrated with Bachtrack At Home in order XXMichal Libera
to help them to reach larger audiences. XXPeter Wilson
Alison Karlin, director at Bachtrack, XXRasmus Zwicki
described the initiative as ‘part of an exciting XXRobert Piotrowicz
shift in the way that audiences consume classi- XXRobin Haigh
cal music in the digital age’. XXSamantha Fernando
Founded in 2007, Bachtrack lists classical XXTom Barnes
music, opera and dance performances across
the world, and publishes reviews, interviews Three further participants will be
and previews. announced at a later date.
bachtrack.com/ www.soundandmusic.org
17/05/2017 10:51:28

CBSO plans Debussy festival for 2017/18
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orches-
tra’s (CBSO) 2017/18 season will see music
director Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla conduct 26
concerts, including a Debussy Festival in
March 2018.
Other highlights include two performances
of Haydn’s The Creation with the CBSO
Chorus to open the season, Mahler’s first and
fourth symphonies, and a performance of
Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.
The Debussy Festival, titled ‘In Search
of Beauty’, will see the composer’s major
orchestral works performed alongside
complementary pieces across two week-
ends. There will also be a series of chamber
music concerts from CBSO musicians, and
Birmingham Conservatoire musicians will
perform piano music and songs.
To conclude the festival, Ms Gražinytė-Tyla
will conduct the CBSO’s first performance of
Pelléas et Mélisande in June 2018.
Scottish Ensemble residency at MacMillan’s fourth
Cumnock Tryst
The fourth Cumnock Tryst will take place in
venues across Cumnock, New Cumnock and
Auchinleck and at Dumfries House between
28 September and 1 October.
The Scottish Ensemble has been named this
year’s artists-in-residence. It will be joined by
Colin Currie to launch the festival, and will
appear in a number of other events – including
a performance of founder and artistic director
Sir James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from
the Cross with the Westminster Cathedral
Choir – as well as contributing to the festival’s
education programme.
Four new productions for Longborough 2018
Longborough Festival Opera has unveiled its
programme for 2018, which comprises four
new productions.
The 2018 festival will open with Wagner’s
The Flying Dutchman. Performed for the first
time at Longborough, the production will be
directed by Thomas Guthrie and conducted by
Anthony Negus.
Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos will
CM0617_014-019_R_Barlines - KC T OK.indd 15
Clarinettist, composer and conductor Jörg
© NANCY HOROWITZ
Widmann will be artist-in-residence for the
season, and will perform as a concerto soloist,
play chamber music, collaborate with Bir-
mingham Contemporary Music Group and
conduct the CBSO in performances including
his own works.
The season will also feature six premieres,
including the world premiere of Gerald Barry’s
organ concerto and the UK premiere of Kaija
Saariaho’s Trans, and performances of Fauré’s
Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem and works by Lili
Boulanger by the CBSO Chorus.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Xavier de Maistre
and Joana Mallwitz will be among the artists
making their debuts with the CBSO, and
the orchestra’s Friday Night Classics concerts
will highlight the music of David Bowie, Star
Wars, and Bollywood.
The CBSO will also expand its programme
of ‘relaxed’ concerts, with performances for
The event features new works from David
Maric, Jay Capperauld and Michael Murray,
and will mark the 300th anniversary of the
Dumfries Arms Hotel with a range of events,
including the Festival Club.
Other highlights include a performance by
Ayrshire’s Dalmellington Band and the Wal-
lace Collection under Martyn Brabbins; a solo
performance from Colin Currie; a concert
by the Cumnock Tryst Festival Chorus; and
a coffee-and-cake concert from traditional
music group Gnoss.
The festival will conclude with a concert in
also be performed for the first time at Long-
borough, with Anthony Negus conducting
Alan Privett’s production.
Longborough’s Young Artist production
for 2018 is Monteverdi’s The Coronation of
Poppea, which will be conducted by Jeremy
Silver and directed by Jenny Miller. Verdi’s La
traviata will complete the 2018 season, with
Thomas Blunt conducting a new production
barlines@rhinegold.co.uk
E xploring Debussy: Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla
800 children and young people with special
educational needs and disabilities, and a per-
formance for people living with dementia and
their families, friends and carers.
An additional 1,700 tickets will be available
under £25, and tickets for young audiences
from £6.
www.cbso.co.uk
Dumfries House comprising three perfor-
mances in three different rooms.
Drake Music Scotland will work with
pupils from Hillside School and adults with
special educational needs, with the resulting
work forming two movements of a ‘symphony’
called Kaleidoscope, which will be premiered as
part of the festival.
General booking opens on 12 June. This
year, up to two free tickets for under 16s can be
claimed for every full price ticket.
www.thecumnocktryst.com/
from director Daisy Evans, making her Long-
borough debut.
Performance dates will be announced later
in 2017, and general booking will open
March 2018.
Longborough’s 2017 season will take place
8 June - 4 August.
www.lfo.org.uk
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 15
17/05/2017 10:52:07
 BARLINES NEWS & LISTINGS
BBC National Orchestra of Wales celebrates 90th
© MARTIN BUBANDT
 raming the season: Principal conductor
F the orchestra and his 70th birthday with two
Thomas Søndergård
The BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of
Wales (BBCNOW) has announced its 2017/18
season, which includes a celebration of the
orchestra’s 90th anniversary in April 2018.
Principal conductor Thomas Søndergård
will frame the season with performances of
Sage Gateshead reveals 2017/18
season
A Royal Northern Sinfonia (RNS) 16-concert
‘At Home’ series is at the heart of the Sage
Gateshead’s 2017/18 season.
This year, the ensemble will explore the music
of Bach, his offspring, and composers of later
generations who have felt his influence most
strongly, as well as presenting its first complete
cycle of Mendelssohn symphonies.
Other RNS highlights include music
director Lars Vogt conducting Dvořák’s New
World symphony; principal guest conductor
Julian Rachlin performing The Four Seasons;
the third year of Sage Gateshead’s New Year
New Artists festival; and return visits from
At home at the Sage: Lars Vogt
© BEN HUGHES
16 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_014-019_R_Barlines - KC T OK.indd 16
Shostakovich symphonies (numbers 12 and
five). He will present five further concerts,
which will include performances of Sibelius’s
fifth symphony, Brahms’ first symphony, Men-
delssohn’s first piano concerto (with Stephen
Hough as soloist) and Tchaikovsky’s violin
concerto (with Baiba Skride).
Principal guest conductor Xian Zhang
will begin a complete Beethoven symphony
cycle, which will be performed over two
seasons around Wales, and conductor laureate
Tadaaki Otaka will celebrate 30 years with
programmes focused on Elgar in December.
Composer-in-association Huw Watkins
will present a new commission, and will curate
two concerts featuring music that has shaped
him, ranging from Britten and Tippett to
John Woolrich.
As part of the 90th anniversary celebra-
tions at BBC Hoddinott Hall, the orchestra
conductors Olli Mustonen, Clemens Schuldt
and Alexandre Bloch.
The Brussels Philharmonic will make its
Sage Gateshead debut, and the Royal Liver-
pool Philharmonic Orchestra (with a perfor-
mance of Philip Glass’ new Symphony No 11),
the City of Birmingham Symphony Orches-
tra, the Hallé, the BBC Scottish Symphony
Orchestra, Opera North and The Sixteen will
return to the venue.
The 2017/18 season will see the launch of
Piano Greats, a series of solo piano recitals
which will launch with a performance of the
Goldberg Variations from RNS music direc-
tor Lars Vogt. Subsequent recitals will come
from Imogen Cooper, Anna Fedorova and
Peter Donohoe.
RNS’s Nights Out series will include music
from Star Wars, musical tributes to New York
and Broadway, and ‘Home Alone Live’. Clas-
sics 4 Kids will also return, and the chamber
music series ‘Small is Beautiful’ will see
Philippe Cassard perform the complete piano
works of Debussy in a single day.
The season goes on full public sale on 10 June
www.sagegateshead.com/
will look back at works that it has commis-
sioned over the years. The two concerts,
which will each feature a new commission,
will also include music by former compos-
ers-in-association Michael Berkeley, Simon
Holt and B Tommy Andersson, and former
composers-in-residence Guto Puw and
Mark Bowden.
BBCNOW will also participate in Russia
17, a series marking the centenary of the
Russian Revolution. It will collaborate
with National Dance Company Wales on
a performance of Satie’s Parade, and will
present a ballet score by Mosolov, and works
by Shostakovich, Mussorgsky and Scriabin.
Other highlights include an evening of
Bernstein’s music for the stage; a Bach-focused
programme with Mahan Esfahani; and a fes-
tive concert featuring Clare Teal.
bbc.co.uk/now
Expo Manchester
programme
announced
Rhinegold Media & Events has announced the
conference programme for the inaugural Music
& Drama Education Expo | Manchester.
The free show, which will take place on
4 October 2017 at the Hilton Manchester
Deansgate Hotel, will offer a day of high-
quality CPD, networking opportunities and
the chance to try out hundreds of products
at the comprehensive exhibition.
The event will offer 20 free CPD sessions,
catering for music and drama teachers of all
key stages.
Alex Stevens, head of content (music),
said: ‘We are thrilled to be bringing the
Expo to Manchester and have been encour-
aged so far by the support from teachers,
schools, suppliers – people from across the
music and cultural education sectors.
‘We very much hope it will be the first
of many such events for music and drama
teachers closer to the north of England.
It’s totally free to attend, so put the date
in your diary.’
musicanddramaeducationexpo.co.uk/manchester/
17/05/2017 17:14:41

OBITUARIES
ENDRIK WOTTRICH
13 OCTOBER 1964 - 26 APRIL 2017
German tenor Endrik Wottrich, whose signa-
ture roles included Siegmund in Die Walküre,
Siegfried, Lohengrin, Parsifal, Tannhäuser and
Don Carlos, has died suddenly aged 52.
Wottrich made his stage debut as Cassio
in the Staatstheater Wiesbaden’s Otello in
1992, and performed regularly at the Berlin
Staatsoper Unter den Linden between 1993
and 1999.
In 1996 he made his debut with the Cham-
ber Orchestra of Europe under Nikolaus
Harnoncourt – with whom he would work
regularly – at Carnegie Hall and gave his first
performance at the Bayreuther Festspiele.
A career-defining moment was his perfor-
mance of the title role in Opernhaus Bonn’s
Don Carlo in 2000/2001.
ILLUMINATING HAYDN
The Chiaroscuro Quartet chose Haydn’s Op 20 Sun quartets for its first project on
BIS. As the ensemble prepares to release the second volume, its members tell
Katy Wright why spontaneity is the key
© SUSSIE AHLBURG
L ooking for the unexpected:
Chiaroscuro Quartet
The Chiaroscuro Quartet was established 12
years ago, and has been performing in its cur-
rent form – violinists Alina Ibragimova and
Pablo Hernán Benedí, violist Emilie Hörn-
lund and cellist Claire Thirion – for eight
of those. It has only been in the past couple
of years, though, that the ensemble has got
round to recording what is widely considered a
CM0617_014-019_R_Barlines - KC T OK.indd 17
He performed in Die Meistersinger von
Nürnberg at Bayreuth in 2001, returning in
2003 to make his debut as Erik in Der flieg-
ende Holländer.
In 2004 he sang Siegmund in Die Walküre
at the Semperoper in Dresden and the title role
in Parsifal in Bayreuth.
In 2005 he sang the lead role in Tannhäuser
at La Scala, and in 2007 made his debut as
Florestan in Fidelio at Covent Garden.
GORDON LANGFORD
11 MAY 1930 - 18 APRIL 2017
British pianist, composer and arranger Gor-
don Langford has died aged 86.
Langford studied piano and composition
with Norman Demuth before serving with
the Royal Artillery Band. He held a number of
roles, including positions with seaside orches-
milestone in the quartet repertoire.Known as
the Sun quartets as a result of the illustration
on the cover of an early edition, the six Op 20
quartets saw Haydn introduce ideas which
quickly became conventions, transforming
the genre. ‘They’re the basis of the quartet
repertoire, and a real pillar for any quartet,’
says Alina Ibragimova, leader of the quartet.
‘It helps you to see things differently. Our
previous discs have been Schubert, Mozart
and Beethoven – we’ve never recorded Haydn
before, so it’s really nice to really get into it and
get to know the language.’
Having already recorded the first three
quartets in the set (released in July 2016; BIS-
2158 SACD), the players agree that they feel
confident in their shared language for Haydn.
‘It’s playful, with contrasts and surprises,’ says
Claire Thirion. ‘In our interpretation, nothing
in the writing is bland, and nothing we play
barlines@rhinegold.co.uk
tras and as a stint as ship’s musician, before
coming to prominence in the 1960s.
Some of his compositions and arrangements
were used as Test Card music in the 1960s and
1970s, and he wrote and arranged music for
numerous BBC programmes including Friday
Night is Music Night.
Langford also orchestrated the scores for
several West End musical shows and films
including Raiders of the Lost Ark, Superman
II, TheFirst Great Train Robbery, Clash of the
Titans and Return to Oz.
In 1994, he was awarded Basca’s gold badge
of merit, and in 2011 was made a fellow of the
Royal Academy of Music.
Langford worked extensively with the
King’s Singers, whose founding bass Brian Kay
wrote: ‘Gordon was a genius ... we shall always
remain profoundly grateful.’
is bland. We communicate in each moment.’
Pablo Hernán Benedí agrees: ‘We really look
for the unexpected – and we did in the studio.’
The ensemble’s spontaneous approach
meant that every take for the CD was radi-
cally different, meaning that some takes were
entirely up to the producer. ‘The recording is
just one version of the pieces,’ says Ibragimova,
prompting Thirion to comment: ‘That’s the
beauty of Haydn – it’s very ephemeral. It has to
be in the moment.
‘Hopefully it will be very different in the
concert!’
The Chiaroscuro Quartet’s second volume of Haydn’s
Sun quartets will be released on BIS. The ensemble
will present a Rhinegold LIVE recital featuring music
from the new recording at London’s Conway Hall on
Tuesday 4 July. Register for free tickets to the recital
at http://bit.ly/2qSNQhV
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 17
17/05/2017 10:53:13
 BARLINES NEWS & LISTINGS
IN BRIEF
MUSICAL CHAIRS
XXLudovic Morlot is to step down as
Seattle Symphony music director in
2019, following eight seasons with
the orchestra.
XXT he Swedish Chamber Orchestra
has announced Martin Fröst as
its new chief conductor. He will
take up the position with the
2019/20 season, replacing Thomas
Dausgaard, who will become
conductor laureate.
XXA ndrew Litton has been appointed
as principal guest conductor of the
Singapore Symphony Orchestra. His
tenure, which begins in September
2017, will see him work on up to four
projects per season.
XXRebecca Allen has been appointed
as president of Decca Records
Group UK. During her 17 years at
Universal Music, Allen has held posts
as Decca’s director of media and
general manager, becoming managing
director in November 2014.
XXB en Palmer has been appointed
as chief conductor of the Deutsche
Philharmonie Merck in Darmstadt.
The three-year contract will begin in
September 2017.
XXT he Incorporated Society of
Musicians has appointed Sue
Sturrock, former director of
communications at the Royal College
of Music and founder-director
of Music Talks, as president for
2017/18.
© CHRIS CHRISTODOULOU
New role: Sue Sturrock
18 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
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XXMichael Finnissy is to become
composer-in-residence at St John’s
College Cambridge. He will work
closely with St John’s College Choir,
writing four new anthems and five organ
‘reflections’ for the organ scholars, and
will also teach and give recitals.
XXThe Juilliard School has selected
Damian Woetzel, director of the
Aspen Institute Arts Program, artistic
director of Vail Dance Festival, and
former principal dancer at New York
City Ballet, to serve as its seventh
president beginning July 2018.
XXAlisdair Hogarth and the Prince
Consort have been named associate
artists of the Guildhall School’s vocal
department.
XXThe Arod Quartet, winners of the
2016 ARD International Music
Competition, have signed an exclusive
recording contract with Erato, and
will release an album devoted to
Mendelssohn in autumn 2017.
XXThe City of London Sinfonia has
appointed Fiona Lambert as its new
director of participation. Currently
opera learning and participation
consultant at the Royal Opera House,
she will work on the orchestra’s Meet
the Music programme.
XXUK Music has appointed Labour
politician Michael Dugher as chief
executive. He will succeed Jo Dipple,
who is stepping down after almost
nine years with the organisation and
five years in the role.
XXQuatuor Arod, winners of the 2016
ARD International Music Competition
in Munich, has signed to Erato.
XXAinars Rubikis assumes the role of
Generalmusikdirektor (music director)
of the Komische Oper Berlin with the
2018/19 season. His contract will
run for three years with an option to
extend until 2021/22, the final season
of Barrie Kosky’s directorship.
XXThe Royal Northern College of Music
has appointed Nicholas Thompson as
head of the school of wind, brass and
percussion and Manus Carey as its
director of performance.
XXThe Royal College of Organists has
appointed Tom Bell as director for
the north of England, north Wales
and the Isle of Man. His appointment
completes the organisation’s new
regional management structure,
which is designed to increase local
engagement and activity.
XXMurray Perahia is to become
the Leeds International Piano
Competition’s new patron.
Succeeding Dame Janet Baker, he will
provide special encouragement and
support to the applicants and winners
of the competition. Perahia, who won
the fourth Leeds International Piano
Competition in 1972, said he was
‘delighted’.
XXBimm Birmingham has appointed
Antony Greaves as its principal.
Greaves pioneered the UK’s first
electronic music production degree
and has an extensive background in
music and education, having worked in
the industry since 1999.
XXRory Jeffes is to become Opera
Australia’s new CEO. He replaces
Craig Hassall, who stepped down
in February 2017 to become chief
executive of the Royal Albert Hall, and
will assume the position on 31 July
2017.
XXThe Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
has appointed Samantha McShane
as its head of artistic planning.
From September 2017, she will
be responsible for managing and
developing the artistic planning of the
School of Music and will contribute
towards artistic strategy and planning
across the institution.
AWARDS
XXRussian Renaissance has won the
$100,000 grand prize at the University
of Michigan’s second M-Prize
Chamber Music Competition. First
prize in the senior strings category
($20,000) went to the Argus Quartet,
and the Astera String Quartet
won first prize in the junior strings
category ($5,000).
17/05/2017 10:53:30

XXJosep-Ramon Olivé has won the 2017
Guildhall School Gold Medal.
XXMezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey
won the $10,000 first prize at the 29th
Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition.
Second prize ($5,000) went to soprano
Laura Wilde, and third ($2,500) to
soprano Mane Galoyan. The People’s
Choice Award ($1,000) went to baritone
Kihun Yoon.
XXOliver Knussen CBE has been named as
the recipient of the ISM’s Distinguished
Musician Award 2016, awarded in
the 2016/17 presidency of Nicolas
Chisholm MBE, for his ‘extraordinary
services to music as a leading figure in
contemporary classical music’.
XXLennox Mackenzie, sub-leader and
former chair of the London Symphony
Orchestra, has been awarded the Royal
Philharmonic Society/Association of
British Orchestras Salomon Prize for
orchestral musicians. The prize was
presented in recognition of Mackenzie’s
‘innate ability, love of music, generosity
of spirit’ and his ‘wisdom, strength
of character, good judgment and
diplomacy that has served the LSO well
over so many years’.
© TRISTRAM KENTON
 ewarded: Lennox Mackenzie receives
R open the first job centre aimed at
the Salomon Prize
XXThe National Youth Orchestras of
Scotland has awarded the 2017 Colin
MacLean Bursary Fund to French horn
player Diana Sheach. She receives
£2,000 to help further her studies and
professional career.
CM0617_014-019_R_Barlines - KC T OK.indd 19
ANNOUNCEMENTS
XXThe Temple Music Foundation has
announced the Outcry Ensemble as
its associate orchestra.
XXThe 40 singers who will compete in
the 25th Operalia competition have
been revealed. The competition will
take place 24 to 29 July at Astana
Opera, Kazakhstan; visit http://
bit.ly/2qT3tFY to see the list of
competitors.
XXThe first international organ
competition to take place in
China will be held in Shanghai
in September 2017. The
Shanghai Conservatory of Music
International Organ Competition
will be part of the Shanghai
Conservatory of Music International
Organ Festival (12-17 September).
XXThe Incorporated Society of
Musicians has launched an
organists’ fees survey in partnership
with the Royal College of Organists.
Visit http://bit.ly/2qZVX90 to fill
in the questionnaire, entering
‘organists’ as the password, before
30 June.
XXThe 2018 edition of the Menuhin
Competition is to take place in
Geneva, Switzerland for the first
time. The Orchestre de la Suisse
Romande, the Geneva Chamber
Orchestra, the Geneva Music
Conservatory, the Haute Ecole de
Musique and the Center des arts
de l’Ecole Internationale are among
the cultural institutions which will
be involved, and the jury will include
Maxim Vengerov, Henning Kraggerud,
Itamar Golan and Ilya Gringolts, and
will be led by Pamela Frank.
XXThe Creative Society is planning to
young unemployed people seeking
work in the creative industries. The
Creative Job Studio will bring young
job-seekers aged 18-24 together in a
working environment, running events
such as networking and advice
sessions and holding meetings with
employers. The first studio will open
barlines@rhinegold.co.uk
in London’s Somerset House later
this year.
XXM ax Richter has signed a long-term,
global publishing deal with Decca
Publishing, a new division dedicated
to expanding opportunities for
‘neo-classical’ composers to write
for television, film and video games,
and offering artists a coordinated
recording and publishing strategy.
XXMarie Jacquot (France), Kerem
Hasan (Great Britain) and Nuno Filipe
Coelho Silva (Portugal) have been
announced as the finalists for the
Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young
Conductors Award 2017.
XXThe 2017/18 cohort of English
National Opera Harewood artists
comprises Katie Coventry, Eleanor
Dennis, Matthew Durkan, Rhian Lois,
Soraya Mafi, Samantha Price, Andri
Björn Róbertsson, Božidar Smiljanic
and David Webb.
OPPORTUNITIES
XXOrganists under the age of 21 are
invited to register for the Northern
Ireland International Organ
Competition, which will take place
21-23 August in Armagh. The closing
date for entries is 28 July at 2pm.
EVENTS
XXPeterborough Cathedral is to host
a Summer Music Festival (9-11
June) in order to mark the return of
its re-pitched organ. The process
of re-pitching all 5,286 pipes of the
19th-century Hill organ from old
philharmonic to standard concert
pitch took 18 months, and was
carried out by Harrison & Harrison
organ builders.
XXThe contemporary classical festival
Nordic Music Days will take place
at Southbank Centre for the first
time between 28 September and 1
October. The event will showcase
compositions by Nordic composers
and sound artists alongside a
wide-ranging programme of talks,
workshops and family events.
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 19
17/05/2017 10:55:06
 ARTIST MANAGER NEWS BY ANDREW GREEN
Eastern promise
A Muscat-based artist management is determined to set up a Middle Eastern touring
network and nurture interest in classical music among Arab youth
O
nce upon a time, a western classical
music concert in the Middle East
was something an artist manager
might seek for a musician in order to break
a journey whose final destination was a Far
Eastern or Antipodean tour. As likely as
not, a European ex-pat would be playing the
role of concert promoter, serving the local
ex-pat community. Muscat-based Arabesque
International has been seeking to change all
that. Having founded the Muscat Chamber
Music Society (MCMS) in 2014, Arabesque is
bent on establishing a Middle Eastern touring
network. One key aim along the way is the
nurturing of an interest in classical music
among Arab youngsters.
Arabesque was the brainchild of Egypt-
born concert pianist Ahmed Abouzahra.
After training at the Cairo Conservatoire,
Abouzahra undertook extensive studies at
the Heidelberg-Mannheim Music School
in Germany before going on to competition
successes and to an international solo and
chamber music career. At the same time,
he remembered the words of his teachers in
Egypt. ‘They wanted me to make contact with
western musicians who might come and play
in Cairo. So I was always talking with people
I met while playing. Eventually this led to my
opening the East West Arts Promotion com-
pany in both Germany and Egypt, dedicated
to cultural exchange. I brought the likes of the
Vienna Symphony Orchestra to Cairo. We
Smiling through: New opportunities in difficult times
20 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_020-021_R_Mangers KC T OK.indd 20
exchanged opera productions with Beijing.
The peak period of prosperity in Egypt was
from 2006 to 2011. The 20th anniversary of
the opening of the current Cairo Opera House
was celebrated by presenting 17 different musi-
cal groups from around the world – Germany,
Switzerland, Spain, Mexico, China and so on
– with sponsorship support from international
companies working in Egypt.’
Then came the 2011 revolution in Egypt.
Eight contracts with touring groups had to
be cancelled. Abouzahra lost a packet. ‘The
WDR Radio Choir from Germany was in the
country when the revolution happened. The
German embassy did a great job getting them
out safely. A German tv documentary cover-
ing the trip suddenly became a documentary
about the revolution.’
By chance, almost immediately an oppor-
tunity opened up in Oman to run concerts
in the new Royal Opera House Muscat,
built by the Sultan of Oman, whose legend-
ary devotion to western classical music
was nurtured during early years in Europe.
Arabesque International was founded in
2012. Various international orchestras duly
appeared in Muscat. Carreras sang.
Abouzahra was joined in the enterprise
by fellow-Egyptian Dahlia Rashad, who had
been introduced to western classical music as
a child by her father. ’He was so passionate
about it that he bought a piano even though
he couldn’t play,’ she recalls. ‘My own interest
developed through things like listening to
classical music on the radio and taking an arts
course at college. I was thrilled when the op-
portunity came up in Muscat.
‘When the opera house opened there were
a few protests from muftis in Oman – music
was to do with the devil, that sort of thing.
But the Sultan is greatly loved here and the
wider view was that if he was behind the opera
house then it was OK. It’s mainly ex-pats that
support western classical music here, but if you
go to people of other cultures and invite them
personally they’ll often come. One thing that
helps is doing workshops in schools, including
those involving disabled young people. Many
pupils then want to come to the concerts, so
they bring their parents along. Networking is
as important as advertising.’
Among performers at the chamber music
society have been Kremerata Baltica with
Gidon Kremer, the Moscow Rachmaninov
Trio, the Jacaranda (world music) Ensemble
and Egyptian-French soprano Amira Selim.
‘Sponsorship has underpinned things until
recently,’ Abouzahra explains. ‘But with the oil
price down, supporting concerts seems like a
luxury for companies in the Gulf.’
‘A major focus now is on developing the
touring circuit around the Middle East,’ adds
Rashad, ‘with artists tapping into public
sources of money from their home countries to
support trips. Among the other locations we’re
targeting are Lebanon, Jordan and Abu Dhabi.
12/05/2017 14:44:23

Youth in focus: Bringing classical music to young people is key
I’m not pessimistic. What keeps us fighting
is the belief that even in places where western
musical culture doesn’t have strong roots, it
can still change lives.’
As for Egypt’s future as a classical music
destination? ‘There’s no cash around at all,’
Abouzahra bewails, ‘but still some artists want
>
Find out more at
southbanksinfonia.co.uk
CM0617_020-021_R_Mangers KC T OK.indd 21
ARTIST MANAGER NEWS BY ANDREW GREEN
to go there. The biggest worry is that education
has collapsed. No education, no future. But
look, it’s only difficult to do things when you
don’t believe in them – and I believe passion-
ately in our work.’ CM
arabesqueint.com
UPCOMING RUSH HOUR CONCERTS
AT ST JOHN’S WATERLOO, LONDON SE1
FREE RUSH HOUR #9: STRIPPED
THURSDAY 1 JUNE | 6.00pm Royal Opera House
Opera arias by Jette Parker Young Artists
MOZART, GOUNOD, TCHAIKOVSKY,
VERDI, DONIZETTI AND BIZET
As part of #ConcertLab, we ask if opera stripped of its usual ornate
costume may better reveal the music’s enduring modernity.
FREE RUSH HOUR #10: MOTION
THURSDAY 8 JUNE | 6.00pm + 8.00pm Maxime Tortelier conductor
SIBELIUS Scene with Cranes Imogen Knight movement director
TAKEMITSU Tree Line
RAUTAVAARA Cantus Arcticus
Why stand still? In collaboration with Amadeus movement director
Imogen Knight, the entire orchestra takes flight, asking how movement
might capture more of the music’s boundless spirit.
£8,
£12
WATERLOO FESTIVAL: IMMERSION
THURSDAY 22 JUNE | 7.30pm Jonathan Berman conductor
BRUCKNER Symphony No.4 Patricia Hodge narration
Join us as we smash the ‘fourth wall’, permitting the audience to
sit alongside and close to the orchestra: feel the vibrations, gain a
new perspective and be at one with the music.
FREE RUSH HOUR #11: HEROES
THURSDAY 29 JUNE | 6.00pm Mark Wigglesworth conductor
BEETHOVEN Symphony No.3 ‘Eroica’
At a time when the air of Europe was thick with revolution,
Beethoven took a huge creative breath. The result was the ‘Eroica’,
a symphony that broke all the rules - and liberated music.
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 21
17/05/2017 10:01:42
 INDUSTRY VIEW

offers affordable access to specialist hearing British Orchestras (http://bit.ly/2prAGUt)

© JAMES TAGGART

assessments and bespoke hearing protection
– desperately needed, as the charity’s 2015
survey revealed. Just as important as providing
solutions is attacking the stigma which tends
to surround health problems, preventing many
from seeking the help they need.
The regular appearance of opinion pieces
heralding the death of classical music – each
more certain than the last – and declining
standards run contrary to what is heard in
concert halls and on recordings. Contempo-
rary music is thriving as much as ever, there is
debate about perceived merits and failures, and
artists and ensembles continue to innovate; in
this way, little has changed over the past few
KATY WRIGHT hundred years. We are often unable to fit all
DEPUTY EDITOR of our premieres listings into the magazine’s
new music section, and there are doubtless
revealed that orchestras are doing more for
less money – this might not be a positive
thing, but it is evidence of the sector’s de-
termination and resilience, which can never
be bad.
Although it might not be considered part of
the classical music industry per se, the crisis in
music education continues to heighten, and is
bound to have a significant impact in future.
The government’s EBacc proposals – in which
arts subjects are side-lined – are having a nega-
tive impact on the provision and uptake of mu-
sic in schools, and particularly concerning is
the fact that the percentage of state schools in
which music is compulsory for students aged
13 to 14 dropped from 84% to 62% between
2012/13 and 2016/17. It will be difficult to
achieve a diverse and inclusive industry unless

Credit where many more first performances taking place

across the UK each month which we have not
there is equal access to music education, so it
is vital that everyone continues to raise their

credit is due
heard about. And then, of course, there are
the second, third and fourth performances of
each piece, which often escape attention, but
certainly deserve it.
Budgets might be constantly diminishing,
voices against the EBacc and in defence of
music’s place in schools.
As you will have seen in the introduction to
this issue (p5), there are some changes afoot –
but CM remains a magazine for the classical

M
any commentators tend to view but the sector’s capacity to make the most of music industry, about the classical music in-
the classical music industry the resources at its disposal is admirable. A dustry. Please send any thoughts or suggestions
through a pessimistic lens. It is report commissioned by the Association of to classical.music@rhinegold.co.uk. CM
true that many budgets are smaller than would
be considered ideal, and that there is a way to
Diversity in action: a panel from October’s Diversity and Inclusion in Composition conference
go before the sector can be considered truly
diverse. But this tendency to focus on the
negatives means that we rarely take a moment
to celebrate any progress made, and to give
praise where it is due.
Although change rarely seems fast enough,
the past couple of years have seen an increas-
ing number of individuals contribute to the
conversation on diversity, which has become
© GUY LEVY/BBC
gradually more prominent and is helping to
cultivate positive change. Numerous schemes
have been introduced which are making a real
difference, both in terms of those within the
industry and those looking to enter it. As the
 earing health: There is now much more
H In peril: Music provision in schools is
report on PRS Foundation’s Women Make support available under threat
Music fund and UK Music’s diversity survey
revealed (http://bit.ly/2qSFqDt and http://
© MONKEY BUSINESS IMAGES/SHUTTERSTOCK

bit.ly/2pYurcx respectively), there is still a

great deal of work to be done – but progress is
© AFRICA STUDIO/SHUTTERSTOCK

progress, no matter how slow.

Musicians’ health – both mental and physi-
cal – has also received an increasing amount of
attention, with an increased awareness of mu-
sicians’ rights and an expansion of the support
systems available to them. A prime example
is Help Musicians UK’s Musicians Hearing
Health Scheme (http://bit.ly/2aFJi72), which
22 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017

CM0617_022_R_Katy column KC T OK.indd 22 12/05/2017 14:50:02


Life beyond Radios 3 and 4 has been getting
a bit of an airing in the pages of Private Eye
lately. Lunchtime O’Boulez kicked it all off
with news that Bulgarian National Radio
(BNR) was only playing out-of-copyright mu-
sic during a dispute with the national royalty
collection agency, which had hiked fees by
an eye-watering 350%. The depressing result
of a constant diet of Beethoven and Mozart
was that audience figures soared by 20%. Un-
daunted, Mr Dave Dillingham wrote in to say
he hates British radio (so there) and that BNR
is now his classical station of choice. Anyone
who wants to try it should go to http://player.
bnr.bg/ and scroll down to Бинар - Класика.
The programme is tailor-made for all those
KEITH CLARKE people who love the moments on Radio 3
CONSULTANT EDITOR when they keep you guessing about what
you’re listening to, because although there is
Clear choice very little chit-chat between tracks, it is all in
Bulgarian. Spot the Tune doesn’t get better
than that.
If your Italian is a bit better than your
Y
ou have to look for positives in these Bulgarian, take note of a further letter from
dark times, so let’s say hooray for the Mr Geoff Yeates, who pointed us towards RAI
general election – if only for the fact Radio 8 Opera, which he says broadcasts its
that the run-up must send Radio 3’s listening own recordings of opera performances from
figures soaring, surely? Who in their right the last 50 years or so, all day, every day, and
mind is going to stay with Radio 4 with its again with minimal chit-chat.
endless politicians being Very Clear, making With all this music coming through a
impossible pledges and stretching credibility broadband router rather than a radio with
beyond reasonable measure? Other radio knobs on, it can only be a matter of time before
channels do exist, of course, though I wouldn’t Mark-Anthony Turnage revises a late-eighties
know how to find them on any of our wireless work and gives us Three Streaming Popes. Of
sets. (Builders know how. Many years ago, course, Radio 3 would be the only station to
when the foyer of BBC Broadcasting House play it.
was being renovated, the decorators resolutely
had their transistors loudly painted on to Still with politicians, new French president
Capital Radio for the duration of their stay, Emmanuel Macron made an interesting
and no one dared say anything.) musical choice for his victory rally. While
Music, please: Radio 3 election boost Ready to play: Emmanuel Macron
© FREDERIC LEGRAND - COMEO / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
© CALIGULA
CM0617_023_R_Inside View KC T OK.indd 23
INSIDE VIEW
Beethoven’s Ode to Joy made its point as the
European anthem, there must have been a few
sensitive souls in the crowd not enamoured
of the EU power structure and wishing for
something not quite so, er, German.
Never mind, his cultural soul seems to be in
the right place – he is a keen amateur pianist
who studied at the Amiens music conserva-
toire for ten years. He is especially enthusiastic
about Schumann and Liszt. ‘And Debussy and
Ravel,’ his advisers will no doubt be whisper-
ing in his ear.
And back with the router, praise be that BT
Infinity stopped wobbling long enough for
a download of First Drop, a new album from
Copenhagen-based vocal ensemble Ars Nova
on Cantaloupe Music. Paul Hillier conducts a
programme that boasts mainly first recordings
of choral works by Steve Reich, Terry Riley,
Howard Skempton, David Lang, and others.
Michael Gordon’s bendy-pitched He Saw a
Skull is among works specially written for the
group and one wacky number is Hillier’s cho-
ral arrangement of Reich’s Clapping Music.
Hillier has devoted a lifetime to the voice
(and was born the same year as me, so still
very young). After four decades of the Hill-
iard Ensemble he founded Theatre of Voices,
has been chief conductor of Ars Nova for 14
years and artistic director of the National
Chamber Choir of Ireland for nine. His
experience certainly pays off here with beauti-
fully controlled singing of a very well chosen
programme: Howard Skempton’s lush and
romantic Rise up my love, David Lang’s fresh-
faced when we were children, five beautiful
motets by Pablo Ortiz stick in the mind, but
it is all high-octane material. And a perfect
antidote to election fever. CM
Vocal bliss: Ars Nova
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 23
12/05/2017 14:51:47
 OPINION
A ‘cultured’ culture minister? Be careful what
you wish for
ANDREW MELLOR
E
ven if Theresa May triumphs at the
general election, there’s every chance
the UK will get a new culture minis-
ter in the wake of the process. And we know
what that means: a frenzied trawl through
the internet to learn whether or not the new
incumbent has ever crossed the threshold
of a theatre, concert hall or opera house or
made so much as a passing comment on
anything resembling art.
On that front, erstwhile post-holder
Maria Miller set the bar pretty low when
she reacted with all the lucid eloquence of
Donald Trump when asked if she’d ever
been to the Old Vic. Then along came Karen
Low bar: Maria Miller and Karen Bradley
24 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_024-025_R_Opinion Mellor Dani KC T OK.indd 24
Bradley, whose list of interests at the time of
her appointment, according to the website
They Work For You, got no more creative
than ‘organ donor cards and tyres’.
Having a PhD in the chamber music of E
J Moeran is no more likely to induce clear-
headed arts policy than having number
crunched for KPMG for three decades. It
would be wonderful to welcome a culture
minister who believed in art for art’s sake
and didn’t hitch artistic activity to eco-
nomic benefit, but in 2017 that seems like
wishful thinking.
Meanwhile, those in Europe – and I
count myself as one nowadays – can appear
pretty smug when spotting politicians of
assorted portfolios at the opera or hearing
about their passions for Locatelli and Sartre.
Shortly after moving to Denmark I heard a
live broadcast of Copland’s Lincoln Portrait
narrated by the then culture minister Bertel
Haarder. I remember the warm feelings
it prompted, not long before Haarder
launched an ideological ransacking of the
arts in his country.
Haarder, who has a passion for folksong,
one or two composing credits, and who
once appeared on Denmark’s equivalent of
Newsnight wearing a tie with a musical score
plastered across it, undoubtedly wanted
12/05/2017 14:53:57

the best for Denmark’s creative life. But his
loose-canon energy, political idealism and
specific knowledge led him to take action
with frightening acuity. His turn-on-a-
sixpence decisions and personal artistic
preferences made arts professionals in Den-
mark pine for a minister whose sensitivities
probed no deeper than Eurovision.
Haarder never really got into his stride.
Anyway, his various noises-off were a mere
hors d’oeuvre to what came next. When a
new government was formed by negotiation
in late 2016, he was replaced by Mette Bock
– a former programme director at state
broadcaster DR who immediately began
discussing the various orchestrations of
Handel’s Messiah in the media. Bock knows
that Messiah calls for small forces and sells
tickets, so why, she argued, should perfor-
mances of this popular work in December
be mounted by state-funded ensembles?
Once again, that proved the tip of the
iceberg. In the last few months in Denmark,
we have witnessed politicians discussing
Fabio Luisi’s interpretations as part of a
Norway’s Leading Publisher
Represents Musikk-Husets Forlag • Lyche Forlag
Igmar Alderete Acosta
B Tommy Andersson
Sally Beamish
Jacques Cohen
David Friedman
Ola Gjeilo
Anna Ignatowicz-Glinska
Egil Hovland
CM0617_024-025_R_Opinion Mellor Dani KC T OK.indd 25
flawed argument to remove the Danish Ra-
dio Symphony Orchestra from the auspices
of DR. We have heard politicians propose
the merger of choirs and the moving of
musicians from symphony orchestra A to
symphony orchestra B. We have seen politi-
cians pushing far-right agendas of ‘national
identity’ in relation to a cultural policy that
It would be wonderful to welcome a culture
minister who believed in art for art’s sake
would deliver a cultural landscape founded
entirely on the worship of a handful of
historical artists, writers and composers
(invariably white men). Such is the political
power of the Danish People’s Party, whose
own culture spokesperson has an academic
background in Greek literature, that its
ideas almost always end up shaping govern-
ment policy.
Orchestral music by:
Wim Henderickx
Kjell Mørk Karlsen
Ståle Kleiberg
Trond Kverno
Markus Leoson
Trygve Madsen
Dave Maric
Knut Nystedt
www.musikkforlagene.no
www.norsk-percussion.no
OPINION
Uncomfortable questions about the status
quo of state arts funding are to be welcomed.
But the frightening reality, in northern
European countries where total state support
for certain cultural institutions has often
been viewed from abroad as a sort of utopia,
is that politicians can close an orchestra at
the click of a mouse simply by shutting off
the funds. Such organisations are, therefore,
totally beholden to the state. The politicians’
closeness to and familiarity with the cultural
life of their countries can be heartening on
the surface, but in reality it seems only to
foster interference. Whoever lands the job of
UK culture minister, it may well be a case, for
those who work in the arts, of better the devil
who knows nothing. CM
Marcus Paus
Eric Sammut
Pascal Schumacher
Andrew Smith
Henning Sommerro
Emmanuel Séjourné
Knut Vaage
Torstein Aagaard - Nilsen
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 25
18/05/2017 10:05:26
 OPINION

Brass Banding: Music-making the British way

JOHN WALLACE

T
he British brass band is a pecu-
liarly UK phenomenon which
arose during the 19th century.
At the height of its popularity, it touched
almost every town and village in the
British Isles, from St Mary’s in the Isles of
Scilly to Lerwick in Shetland, a distance
of some 750 miles as the cornet blows.
This British invention is also a popular
export, now embedded in many European
countries, Australia, New Zealand and,
most recently, parts of the United States.
One byproduct of brass bands’ musical
activities was the sense of cohesion and
identity they provided for local com-
munities involved in the rapid change
from agrarian to industrial society. What
separates the British brass band from the
bands which arose throughout Europe
and its colonies at the same time, fulfill-
ing virtually the same social functions, is
their all-brass, saxhorn-inspired instru-
mentation, and their organisation into
a national competitive league system of
band contests. Regional contests feed into
national leagues, with annual promotion
and relegation based on contest results.
The British were among the first to
organise football in similar fashion, and
although football continues to flourish,
brass banding has dwindled as a national
and local amateur passion, presently
involving only some six or seven hundred
bands and around 17,000 officially regis-
tered players.
In the 21st century it is my contention
that those brass bands which have sur-
vived the de-industrialisation of Britain
have a responsibility to prioritise this
identification with their localities over
the holy grail of competing, not only to
survive, but also in order to distribute the
beneficial effects of music more widely to
a greater number of people.
Most brass bands that continue to
flourish (Salvation Army Bands have
similar instrumentation but a different
ethos) are amateur, entrepreneurial and

Loud and proud: John Wallace

26 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017

CM0617_026-027_R_Opinion_Wallace KC T OK.indd 26 12/05/2017 14:56:02


Back to basics: The Wallace Collection
competitive. This last attribute has both
positive and negative consequences: on
the positive side, the technical levels
of the best bands equate to the highest
professional levels in the UK; and on the
negative side the modern test-pieces that
they play, with notable exceptions, seem
to be aimed towards a fearsome techni-
cal examination of the best bands rather
than musical communication of universal
truths to a music-loving audience.
To me, a brass band is not a musical ma-
chine that churns out contest results, but
a resource for everybody to enjoy. While
it contests to hone its musical skills, the
primary reason for its existence is to ir-
rigate its locale with live music and help
give its local community, young and old
alike, some sense of rootedness and conti-
nuity in the face of the rapid changes, not
all of them beneficial, which are trans-
forming our lives on the back of the global
digital revolution.
That is why I and my group, the Wal-
lace Collection, are working with the
band with which I began playing at the
age of seven, Tullis Russell Mills, to bring
CM0617_026-027_R_Opinion_Wallace KC T OK.indd 27
a new sort of brass band performance
to life at the East Neuk Festival, at the
invitation of its artistic director Svend
McEwan-Brown. Returning to our agrar-
ian roots, we will perform in a huge barn
in Anstruther. Our performance of De
Profundis will involve more than 50 musi-
cians of all ages from Tullis Russell’s in-
termediate and senior bands in a devised
piece built on plainchant and evocations
of Fife’s coal mining past. A brass band
marathon in different localities along the
Fife coast will also take place during the
course of the day, and the whole area will
be enlivened by joyful noise.
That is why I will also be working with
the inspired individuals who run the
Junior Band to attract beginners to come
and give music a chance to transform their
lives. Although there are bright spots in
our music education systems across the
UK, they are endangered by the creeping
darkness of the current UK, Welsh and
Northern Ireland’s governments’ narrow
anti-arts and humanities education poli-
cies (Scotland and the Republic of Ireland
are both in a more enlightened place).
OPINION
There are few better places to have your
initial musical experience than a brass
band. Music played on a brass band is
as valid in the 21st century as it ever was.
Brass bands develop creativity through
music-making, and as a prominent
feature of the life of our island nations,
deserve far greater attention than they
currently receive. CM
John Wallace CBE is a trumpeter, educational-
ist, composer, founder of the Wallace Collection
and co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to
Brass Instruments and The Trumpet .
De Profundis is performed at The Bowhouse, Anstru-
ther at the East Neuk Festival on 1 July at 6pm. Further
info and booking: www.eastneukfestival.com
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 27
12/05/2017 14:58:17
 OPINION
Scores of scores: open access and new
possibilities in the digital era
MARK GOTHAM
T
he times, they certainly are
a’changin’. Change in the clas-
sical music world might seem
unrelentingly negative, with ever more cuts
to provision and access, and an ever more
problematic perception of musical literacy
(see Guardian, Letters, 5 April). However,
also blowing in the wind are some exciting
28 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_028-029_R_Opinion Gotham KC T OK.indd 28
online initiatives that could help to counter
those trends by making it easier for anyone
to access scores, and to engage with their
content on an appropriate level.
Ten years ago, there were few notable
online initiatives in sheet music and those
there were faced major difficulties. For
instance, the online score-library IMSLP
started in 2006 and was brought down
again soon afterwards by a legal challenge.
Since that early setback, it has stayed online
and can now boast a collection of more than
100,000 works, making it much larger than
most public – or even specialist – music
libraries. The scale of this increased access
to sheet music arguably puts it on a level of
historical significance comparable only to
the development of written notation and of
mechanical printing.
‘Openness’ is key to both the success
and significance of such ventures. Con-
tent is often ‘crowd-sourced’ through user
contribution: a division of labour that
makes huge tasks manageable, and keeps
the repository closely based on those users’
interests. In turn, that content is offered
freely to all. While many sites rely on a
premium (paid) version and/or advertise-
ment to survive, most of the success stories
offer at least a free version.
However, despite IMSLP’s impressive
scale, there is nothing so radically new about
scanned scores. Viewing an image on a
screen is not so different from looking at the
printed page; it is when those scores become
computer-readable that exciting new pos-
sibilities emerge.
Enter OpenScore. The good people
at MuseScore, not content with having
provided the world with the most-used
open-source software for music notation,
have now embarked on coordinating the
creation of an open, online repository of
reliably-encoded scores in an editable and
transferable format.
What does this add to IMSLP? First,
MuseScore can play the music back to you
from the score, while highlighting where
you are. You may have that function already
with commercial software, but only for
your own scores, and only with synthesised
sounds. Now, integrating a game-changing
feature called ‘Match’, MuseScore is able to
Evolution: MuseScore and IMSLP
12/05/2017 14:59:27

coordinate with any corresponding audio or
video, from YouTube for instance.
Second, you might want to adapt the
score, perhaps to produce your own edition,
arrangement, or teaching resource. This has
previously involved tedious photocopying,
typesetting from scratch, or trawling the
internet for something reliable. OpenScore
will alleviate this preparatory grunt work
and give greater flexibility, enabling teachers
and musicians to focus on the creative side.
In turn, what we need next is a repository
for sharing those teaching resources. This
might well feature in the context of the in-
stitutional responses to the musical literacy
problem which are now being mobilised
by organisations like the Society for Music
Analysis. Watch this space.
Finally, OpenScore will greatly serve
music information retrieval: a branch of
musicology that seeks to develop a better
understanding of how music works through
computer-aided analysis. Reliable, machine-
readable scores will provide the data needed
to make progress with big questions like
“…pure,
first-rate,
powerhouse
sound.”
Marissa Licata,
Rock Violinist,
Jethro Tull
Photo © Kevin Sprague
CM0617_028-029_R_Opinion Gotham KC T OK.indd 29
what really constitutes a style, common
practice, or historical trend.
One day, these scores might also enable
wider participation in the emerging practice
of ‘digital edition’: another great venture for
enhancing the functionality and interactive
usability of scores.
The Music Encoding Initiative (MEI) is
providing excellent leadership in this area.
Projects have focused so far on bring-
ing together editorial sources for direct
comparison, making engagement with
editorial matters easier to undertake as
part of preparing an interpretation. Apart
from simply showing score variants side-
by-side, MEI brings a range of additional
functions, including integrated reference
to facsimile source images and details of
scribal interventions.
Significantly, it is also another promis-
ing area for teaching and learning; MEI
supports the analytical mark-up of scores,
bringing them alive with all kinds of
instructive annotations, colourful visuali-
sations, and interactive content. Brilliant
617-698-3034 luisandclark.com
OPINION
MEI-based initiatives like Verovio are
improving the technical infrastructure for
this and reducing the barrier to entry.
There are, of course, substantial chal-
lenges in all of this, not least because there
are relatively few people active in these areas,
and with limited resources. But these people
are resourceful in finding ways to progress,
and their number is growing.
Perhaps most encouraging is the evidence
of greater collaboration. Crowd-sourcing is
not just about the scale of content, but also
about connecting people. There are also
some signs of improved connection between
teachers, learners, scholars and musicians
– interest groups that really ought to be in
constant dialogue. So I remain optimistic.
Whatever the future holds, do check out
the resources on offer (and contribute if you
can). Most of all, enjoy any system (digital
or otherwise) that gets you inside musical
scores – they are treasure troves of beauty
and brilliance that will repay your effort. CM
https://musescore.org/
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 29
17/05/2017 10:02:54
 NEW MUSIC BY KATY WRIGHT
PREMIERE CHOICE
BRETT DEAN – HAMLET
© PAWEL KOPCZYNSKI
True to Shakespeare’s spirit: Brett Dean
‘M
y first reaction was, “Ooh,
that’s big, I don’t know”,’ says
Brett Dean, remembering his
thoughts when Hamlet was suggested as the
subject for his second opera. ‘It’s a timeless
and incredibly wonderful story that offers so
many facets, but it was something I warmed
to slowly.’
It was the composer’s wife, Heather Betts,
who set things in motion. ‘She started to do
a series of paintings, some of which are being
shown in collaboration with the premiere in
Glyndebourne. In so doing, she started ex-
amining even just single lines, so in a way was
doing the forensic work. It was her enthusiasm
for the idea that cut through all that bowing
down at the great temple of Shakespeare, and
just saying, ‘What would Will himself have
thought? He’d have said, “Go for it!” ’
Confronted with more than 4,000 lines,
Dean and Matthew Jocelyn approached the
project by prioritising what they felt was
most important. ‘We both wrote down our
six top moments and then our second six,
and compared them. Rather than looking
at this massive block of stone and chipping
away, it was starting with a blank page and
30 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_030-033_R_Premiers KC T OK.indd 30
We mustn’t forget
how funny and likeable
Hamlet is
only bringing on to it what had to be there,’
Dean says, adding that the geopolitical ele-
ment of the play has been sidelined in favour
of a closer focus on the family drama.
‘It was a much less daunting project to
approach it from nought and build it to the
length, form and shape we felt it ought to
have in order to be true to the original.’
Composer and librettist also had to
decide on what aspects of the title charac-
ter they wished to emphasise. ‘One of the
things that I remember Neil [Armfield, di-
rector] saying when we had our first lengthy
chat is that we mustn’t forget how funny
and likeable Hamlet is, and that the tragedy
comes from him having to deny this witty,
urbane character in order to fulfil what he
feels has to be done. ‘It was important for
me to recognise that the character needs to
bring out sympathy in the audience in order
for the piece to work as a real tragedy. It’s no
good for a Hamlet to be very intelligent and
intellectual but not really touch you.’
These were qualities which the composer
found in Allan Clayton, who will sing the
role of Hamlet in the premiere production.
Dean met the tenor in the early stages of the
project, getting him to record the play’s famous
soliloquy a couple of times. ‘I thought he was
the ideal artist with whom to form a Hamlet
character,’ he says. ‘Allan’s so sympathetic,
even in his spoken voice, to say nothing of his
remarkable artistry as a tenor. He’s a person
who draws out great humour and sympathy,
and his voice can really touch you.’
Dean has demonstrated a fair amount of
sympathy with the Glyndebourne audi-
ences, taking the dinner break into account
when structuring the piece. ‘It was Simon
Rattle who said to me to keep the second act
shorter than the first, and kick it off with a
punch to make sure the possible lethargy of
a long picnic on the lawn is dealt with!’ As
such, eight of the 12 acts will precede the
interval; as for rousing the audience, ‘There
are more than enough dramatic highs and
lows to deal with!’
Rattle also inspired Dean to take advantage
of the company’s chorus. ‘Hamlet didn’t strike
Matthew or myself as a chorus opera, but the
way he has peopled the piece is quite ingen-
ious, so it lends itself to it quite logically and
quite beautifully. On top of that, I’ve added
eight voices to the orchestration in the pit, so
there’s this vocal link between the stage and
the orchestra. The chorus will be providing
comment; and also there as witnesses, as mem-
bers of the court, as an extension of Hamlet’s
state of mind; that also relates to the unseen
singers in the pit, so what’s happening on stage
infiltrates the orchestration immediately.’
Dean is keep to stress that the opera isn’t a
deconstruction of Hamlet: ‘It’s the Hamlet
story, nevertheless told in our way. I’m quietly
optimistic that we’ve got something that’s
true to Shakespeare’s spirit; in any case, we’re
having a great deal of fun finding out.’
XX 11 JUNE
Brett Dean Hamlet (Allan Clayton, tenor, Sarah
Connolly, mezzo-soprano, Barbara Hannigan,
soprano, Rod Gilfry, baritone, Kim Begley, tenor,
John Tomlinson, bass, Jacques Imbrailo, baritone,
David Butt Philip, tenor, Rupert Enticknap,
Christopher Lowrey, countertenors, Glyndebourne
Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir
Jurowski, conductor, Glyndebourne, 4.45pm; also
13, 17, 21, 24, 27, 30 June, 6 July)
12/05/2017 15:00:44

June 2017
PREMIERES
IN THE UK & IRELAND
World premieres unless otherwise stated. Full listings at www.classicalmusicmagazine.org
XX 4 JUNE
George Morton Pomp and Circumstance (Són
Project, Robin Browning, conductor, Turner Sims,
Southampton, 3pm)
XX 6 JUNE
Eivind Buene, Rolf Wallin New works UK prems
(London Sinfonietta, Pierre-André Valade,
conductor, St John’s Smith Square, London,
7.30pm)
Daryl Runswick Concerto for piano and nine
instruments (Aleksander Szram, piano, Solisti di
Londra, Daryl Runswick, conductor, Cadogan Hall,
7.30pm)
XX 7 JUNE
Nathan James Dearden It’s Not Working (Tippett
Quartet, Kings Place, London, 7.30pm)
XX 8 JUNE
Matthew Martin The Rose Magnificat (Gabrieli
Consort, Paul McCreesh, conductor, St John’s
Smith Square, 7.30pm)
XX 9 JUNE
Lucy Hale New work (Carole Nash Recital Room,
Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester,
1.15pm)
XX 10 JUNE
Colin Matthews New work (Birmingham
Contemporary Music Group, Ryan Wigglesworth,
conductor, CBSO Centre, Birmingham, 7.30pm)
Simon McEnery Space Time Matter Energy (Peter
Toye, piano, Salisbury Chamber Chorus, Beaten
Track Ensemble, Simon McEnery, conductor, St
Mary-le-Strand, London, 7.30pm)
XX 11 JUNE
Jörg Widmann Three Shadow Dances for solo
clarinet (Jörg Widmann, clarinet, Britten Studio,
Snape Maltings, 7.30pm)
Joel Rust The Fall of the Rebel Angels Edward
Nesbit Near Paradise (Melos Sinfonia, Oliver
Zeffman, conductor, Milton Court Concert Hall,
London, 7pm)
Kaj Duncan David Computer Music UK prem Islam
Shabana New work (Carole Nash Recital Room,
RNCM, 7.30pm)
Matthew Taylor Fantasy Pieces (new arrangement)
(Sarah-Jane Bradley, viola, John Lenehan, piano,
Bradby Hall, Haileybury School, Hertford 11am)
Matthew Taylor String Quartet no 8 ‘Salutations
and celebrations’ (Carducci Quartet, All Saints’
Church, Hertford, 3.30pm)
XX 12 JUNE
Olga Neuwirth ‘tintarella di luna’ UK prem Neville
Bower, Joseph Cutler, Tansy Davies, Michael
Finnissy New works (Andrew Watts, countertenor,
Iain Burnside, piano, Aldeburgh Church, 3pm)
XX 13 JUNE
Deborah Pritchard Edge (Catrin Finch, harp,
Aldeburgh Festival Orchestra, Jonathan Berman,
conductor, Britten Studio, Snape Maltings, 3pm)
XX 14 JUNE
Wolfgang Rihm Quintet for guitar and string
quartet (Arditti String Quartet, Eliot Fisk, guitar,
Wigmore Hall, London, 7.30pm)
CM0617_030-033_R_Premiers KC T OK.indd 31
NEW MUSIC BY KATY WRIGHT
PICK OF THE REST
XX 15 JUNE
Tom Armstrong Morning Music Graham Yeloff
Night Windows and New York City Robert Percy
Crepuscule Ellen Drewe Night Scurry (Nicola
Meecham, piano, The Warehouse Waterloo,
Lambeth, London, 7.30pm)
XX 16 JUNE
Ian Assersohn The Pied Piper of Hamelin (The
Bach Choir, children from the Bach Choir’s
outreach project, Philip Scriven, conductor, St Contrapuntal concerto: Colin Riley
John’s Smith Square, London, 6.30pm)
Counterpoint is high on the agenda
XX 17 JUNE
Jörg Widmann Viola concerto (Antoine Tamestit,
in Colin Riley’s new concerto, which
viola, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, recontextualises the melodic patterns,
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, conductor, Snape Maltings bowing figures, harmonic progressions
Concert Hall, 7.30pm)
and dance-form structures from
Bach’s solo cello suites. The two
XX 18 JUNE
Dominick Argento Walden Pond UK prem Rob soloists will engage in theatrical
Keeley Tre Canti di Ariel (Choir of King’s College
London, Britten Sinfonia, Joseph Fort, conductor, dialogue over the three-movement
Kings Place, London, 7.30pm) work, which has a ‘sensuous double
aria’ at its heart.
XX 19 JUNE
Dominic Wills New work (Matthew Rose, bass, XX 8 JUNE
Albion Quartet, Orford Church, Suffolk, 3pm) Colin Riley Double concerto for two cellos
Richard Miller The Enraged Musician (Royal (Guy Johnston, Gabriella Swallow, cellos,
College of Music students, Cadogan Hall, Manchester Camerata, Gábor Takács-Nagy,
7.30pm) conductor, Manchester Cathedral, 7.30pm)
XX 20 JUNE
Julian Philips Concertante for viola and double
© BRAD OLIPHANT
bass (Adrian Turner, viola, Stacey Watton, double
bass, Orchestra of the Swan, David Curtis,
conductor, Civic Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon,
7.30pm)
Olga Neuwirth quasare/pulsare UK prem (Trio
Frühstuck, Britten Studio, Snape Maltings, 3pm)
XX 21 JUNE
Olga Neuwirth Kloing! UK prem (Marino
Formenti, piano, Britten Studio, Snape Maltings,
7.30pm)
XX 23 JUNE
Joanna Lee, Huang Ro, Sean Shepherd New
works (Nicholas Daniel, oboe, Jubilee Hall, Musical journey: Aaron Jay Kernis
Aldeburgh, 4pm)
David Gorton Farnaby’s Maske Adam de la Cour A notable departure from his first two
New work (Zubin Kanga, piano, St John’s Smith works in the genre, which looked to
Square, 7.30pm)
Harrison Birtwistle Chorales from a Toyshop the musical past for inspiration, Aaron
Oliver Knussen O Hototogisu (Claire Booth, Jay Kernis’s River quartet is inspired
soprano, Birmingham Contemporary Music
Group, Oliver Knussen, conductor, Britten by nature, with the journey of a river
Studio, Snape Maltings, 7.30pm) from source to sea representing
that from cradle to grave. The outer
XX 29 JUNE
movements depict the source and
James MacMillan New work (Philharmonia
Orchestra, David Hill, conductor, Royal Festival mouth/estuary respectively, and the
Hall, 7.30pm) central movements depict speed,
XX 1 JULY
lyricism and the play of light on water.
Mark Boden Homo sum (Croydon Bach Choir,
Croydon Minster, 7.30pm) XX 16 JUNE
Adriano Adewale New work (Horsham Symphony Aaron Jay Kernis String quartet no 3 River
Orchestra, The Capitol, Horsham, 7.30pm) (Jasper Quartet, Wigmore Hall, 7pm)
►
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 31
12/05/2017 15:02:13
 Rhinegold
live

Free rush hour concerts in the heart of London

© SUSSIE AHLBURG

Chiaroscuro Quartet
Tuesday 4 July 2017 | 6.15pm drinks reception | 7pm recital
Conway Hall, London
Formed in 2005, the Chiaroscuro Quartet comprises violinists Alina Ibragimova (Russia) and Pablo Hernán Benedí
(Spain), the Swedish violist Emilie Hörnlund and cellist Claire Thirion from France.
Dubbed ‘a trailblazer for the authentic performance of High Classical chamber music’ in Gramophone, this
international ensemble performs music of the Classical and early Romantic periods on gut strings and with
historical bows. The quartet’s unique sound – described in The Observer as ‘a shock to the ears of the best kind’ –
is highly acclaimed by audiences and critics all over Europe.
The quartet will performs works from their second volume of Haydn ‘Sun’ Quartets, launching their new BIS
recording.
This concert will be preceded by a complimentary drinks reception for ticket holders and is followed by an
informal Q&A with the artists conducted by the editor of Classical Music.

RESERVE YOUR FREE TICKETS AT RHINEGOLDLIVE.CO.UK

CM0617.indd 32 ad.indd 1
RGLIVE_0717_FP 18/05/2017 10:13:26
26/04/2017 11:34

LUKE STYLES – SONGS FOR FRIDAY AFTERNOONS
Launched in 2013 as part of the
celebrations for Benjamin Britten’s
centenary, the Friday Afternoons
initiative has gone from strength to
strength. Luke Styles is the latest
composer commissioned by the project,
contributing 12 songs – suitable for
young people between Year 3 and the
end of secondary school and a range of
abilities – to its free Song Bank (http://
bit.ly/29FjpW5).
Head of education Phillipa Reive
contacted Styles after seeing his
‘sci-fi youth opera’, Tycho’s Dream. ‘I
expressed how much I liked the Friday
Afternoons songs, and how well that
format could embrace the wild and
absurd that I think is really inherent in
young people’s creativity,’ says Styles.
‘It felt like there was an opening to
focus on that aspect on young people
and young voices.’
Styles was commissioned to write
eight songs with a librettist and then to
create four other collaborative songs. ‘I
worked with children from two different
schools on Skye and got them thinking
about composition and responding to
existing music, and then creating their
OLGA NEUWIRTH – MAUDITE SOIT LA GUERRE
© HARALD HOFFMANN
Warning against war: Olga Neuwirth
Alfred Machin’s 1914 silent film Maudite
soit la guerre follows two friends on
opposing sides of war. ‘It’s an incredible
early document on the craziness of war,’
says Olga Neuwirth. ‘Machin shot a lot
of real sequences by himself, and it’s
CM0617_030-033_R_Premiers KC T OK.indd 33
Embracing the absurd: Luke Styles
own music and words,’ the composer
says. ‘I did a similar thing in schools in
Ipswich and London, and ended up with
a collection of words and a bit of music
strange to follow this kind of dramaturgy
– it’s almost like a play. It’s a strong and
touching film.’
Neuwirth is a featured composer at
this year’s Aldeburgh Festival, and she is
pleased that this is the first piece of hers
to be performed at the 2017 event. ‘I like
that Roger Wright has put this piece first
and Kloing! Last – they both use video in
very different contexts.’
Written to commemorate the centenary
of world war one, Neuwirth’s music for
the 45-minute film uses a seven-piece
chamber ensemble and a sampler. ‘I use
samples which I made myself, at home.
I wanted to be able to delay sounds,
to anticipate what might come, and to
explore different possibilities for of how
music should react to images.’
The composer found it difficult to
create music suitable for the subject
NEW MUSIC BY KATY WRIGHT
from each session.’ The final song is by
Elliott Kendall, one of the Trinity Laban
composition students selected for
mentoring by Styles, and who were each
asked to write a song to one of Alan
McKendrick’s texts.
‘The biggest challenge was trying to
integrate as many of the ideas from
the young people in the collaborative
songs into something coherent, so it
represented Julia and Thomas and
Peter and Rebecca’s ideas, but was
wasn’t just a big collage of unconnected
thoughts,’ Styles adds. ‘There was
such a rich amount of source material
to work with – I found it hard to cut
material.’
Styles hopes that those who have
been involved in creating the songs
have had their appetites piqued. ‘It’s
great that they can feel some kind of
ownership – their involvement in one
song will hopefully make them want to
learn others and get involved that way.’
XX 17 JUNE
Luke Styles New works for Friday Afternoons
(Cambiata, The Cardinal Vaughan School,
Jubilee Opera, Greg Hallam, Scott Price, Ben
Parry, conductors, Snape Maltings Concert Hall)
matter. ‘Britten did it wonderfully in his
War Requiem - that’s why the subtitle is
A Film Music War Requiem. With music
you have to be careful not to fall into
representation, as Hans Eisler always
said, but I wanted to show the audience
the essence and the strengths of the
movie and the characters of these
two friends.’
Although the piece was written
three years ago, Neuwirth considers
it particularly timely. ‘War destroys
everything and nowadays we are very
close to it. Other generations tried to tell
us not to go so far that we come to war, so
I think this is a very important document.’
XX 10 JUNE
Olga Neuwirth Maudite soit la guerre –
A Film Music War Requiem UK prem (London
Sinfonietta, Gerry Cornelius, conductor, Britten
Studio, Snape Maltings, 11am)
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 33
12/05/2017 15:02:31
 INTERVIEW

MEET THE MAESTRO

Matthew Kofi Waldren
The conductor in charge of Opera Holland Park’s La rondine spent the first decade of
his professional life as a singer. Interview by Toby Deller

‘W
e were saying yesterday, the as-
You have to sistant director and I: this is a
good job, isn’t it?’ beams Mat-
have the ability to thew Kofi Waldren, taking a lunch break at a
local Italian restaurant, early in the rehearsal
be able to bring run for Opera Holland Park’s production of
La rondine. ‘This is a fantastic job. We come
the best out of a together to create. And people feel more them-
selves often, in a rehearsal room or making
group of people and creating this art, than they do at any other
point. They are true to themselves.’
The conductor (he uses his second name to
acknowledge a Ghanaian grandmother) has
been involved with the company in that capac-
ity since 2009 when he was chorus master. In a
way, the idea of being true to oneself applies to
him as much as anyone since he spent the first
decade of his professional life as a singer before
realising in his thirties that his future stood on
the podium.
‘I’d started singing in churches at six, I sup-
pose, started piano at five, flute at nine, went
to junior department at music college, went to
Cambridge to study music, went to Guildhall
as a postgraduate. But there was a sense that I
had been set off on a path but had never really
asked myself: was that what I wanted to do?
At the time it probably was right for me but
it wasn’t what really made me tick. My piano
teacher when I was at Cambridge, Raymond
Fischer, he really wanted me to do my post-
graduate at the Royal College. He said, “Hear
me out: combine the singing, which I know
you can do, with piano at the same time. Do a
joint master’s because this is going to be more
important than I think you realise.” ’
Waldren, however, did focus on vocal train-
ing, spending two years as a postgraduate at the
Guildhall School of Music & Drama before
embarking on a singing career. ‘I had almost a
ten-year career working with various compa-
nies, generally in the UK. It gave me a huge
number of skills, I loved being on stage, I loved
© DAVID MYERS

Change of direction: Matthew Kofi Waldren

34 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017

CM0617_034-035_R_Maestro KC T OK.indd 34 12/05/2017 15:03:36

 INTERVIEW

acting and I loved singing. And I loved inhabit-
ing characters, but I always felt – it’s not that
singers aren’t central but I felt that I wanted to
be more central to the music, that I wanted to be
more immersed in the music and help facilitate
it. And I felt I had the means to be able to do
that. So after ten years I said no to the rest of my
singing work and I just realigned my career.’
By no means were those years wasted, since
they provided him with an alternative insight
into the requirements of opera rather than a
more conventional pathway of conducting
training-assisting-répétiteur work. ‘I was con-
stantly observing conductors as I was working,
then I had private tuition with conductors. I’d
been at university and then music college but I
didn’t take myself back to music college. I did
immerse myself in a learning process of my own
and with conductors who I trusted and worked
with. And the thing about conducting is you
learn by doing: it’s such a necessary truth.’
Since the switch, he has conducted several
productions at Holland Park in the past few
years, including Will Todd’s Alice’s Adventures
in Wonderland (which also had a run at the
ad:Layout 1 19/05/2015 11:49 Page 1
Royal Opera House). He now holds one of
ENO’s two-year Mackerras fellowships and
will conduct The Marriage of Figaro there in
spring 2018.
‘I’m predominantly known now as an
opera conductor and I love exploring the
composer as dramatist, I love working with
singers, understanding singers. It’s incredibly
important in this job being able to breathe
with them, to understand what the con-
straints of being on stage are. There are things
that need to happen when you are on stage
and you need a conductor to understand that
these need to happen so that you can per-
form. Having been there, I understand what
they are going through on stage.’
Fortified by gnocchi, Waldren heads back
to the rehearsal venue for the afternoon ses-
sion. ‘There was always something in me as a
musician who had that desire to facilitate good
music-making, the best music-making that can
possibly be, under whatever circumstances.
Whatever the calibre of the players, you have to
have the ability to be able to bring the best out
of a group of people. And in opera, to best fa-
BIOGRAPHY
XX1977 Born Geneva
XX1995-98 Studies at Fitzwilliam College,
Cambridge
XX1998-2000 Studies at Guildhall School
of Music & Drama
XX2012 Appointed conductor of Christine
Collins Young Artist Scheme at Opera
Holland Park
XX2015 Debut disc, Todd’s Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland, enters
specialist classical chart at no 1
XX2016 Appointed ENO Mackerras Fellow
XX2017 International Opera Awards
Newcomer nominee
cilitate that story. That’s the extra layer of opera
which I love – which means I still get to act. In
fact, the leading lady in Rondine this week said
I should be understudying every part!’ CM
www.matthewwaldren.com

| quartz|

AN HISTORIC RECORDING OF CECILIA VAJDA’S

A Tribute to Bartók from Wales

PARTSONGS
THREE VILLAGE SCENES

Ensemble of soloists from

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Jeanette Massocchi

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JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 35

CM0617_034-035_R_Maestro KC T OK.indd 35 17/05/2017 10:10:45

 INTERVIEW
Q&A KATE WHITLEY
The composer, pianist and Multi-Story Orchestra co-founder and artistic director talks
about music education, live performance and the challenges of composing for children
© AMBRA VERNUCCIO
Multi-tasker: Kate Whitley
What are you working on at the moment?
Multi-Story is doing a big project this
summer with Peckham schools, so we’re
preparing for that, as well as planning for
everything else. This is always the most
hectic time of year. I’m also arranging
Bartók’s Hungarian Folk Dances for sec-
ondary school musicians for two perfor-
mances in July.
What do you like about classical music
today, and what frustrates you?
It’s great how much of it there is. It’s amaz-
ing how much goes on, and in so many
different forms and places. It’s so cool that
Multi-Story is doing another Prom this
summer. When we had the first one last year
36 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_036-037_R_Q&A KC T OK.indd 36
it seemed like such a big deal, but this year
it seems normal – like it’s really part of the
Proms. It’s amazing that there’s so much
classical music in London, but I think it’s
a shame that it isn’t the case more widely
around the country. It’s great that we’re here
with such a concentration of events, but it
would be great if it could be better spread
across the country.
What do you think is the best way to bring
classical music to new audiences?
I would never say that I know the best
way. Bringing it to more people is really
important, but it’s important to keep the
music the same and to do it with really
good musicians.
Do you see the effects of music education
cuts when you visit schools?
You really see the impact when music isn’t
prioritised. It has a massive impact on the
ethos of the school and the attitude of the
kids, as well as teamwork, collaboration and
learning. Schools that have amazing music
often have amazing atmospheres – they’re
often really positive places to be. Its musical
benefit and broader educational benefit
means it’s such a valuable thing for schools
to do.
It’s so tragic when you go into schools and
see what impact it can have on kids. It’s so
sad more people don’t have access to that.
It gave me so much growing up – it opened
so many doors and made me see the world
12/05/2017 15:04:45
 INTERVIEW

so differently. I really think it’s something
everyone should have access to.
How do children react to Multi-Story
performances?
We often take the whole orchestra to go and
play in schools, and it’s always the most enthu-
siastic audience you can imagine. They’re so
cute. When you take a full orchestra it’s such
a thrill for them and they get such a buzz. The
tuba player is always such a superstar – they
always think the tuba is the most exciting
instrument they’ve seen and cheer for it!
What are the challenges of writing
for children?
Writing for kids is so fun because you have
limitations, so for singers you have to write
within their range which can be quite small,
and if you’re writing for children who don’t
read music so you have to make sure it can
be picked up. It’s amazing how much having
those limitations can be creatively inspira-
tional. If you have a creative brief of things you
need to fulfil, knowing who you’re writing for
and what the concert’s going to be like, I al-
ways find it inspiring to think about what you
want the piece to be like. For me it’s a positive
Schools that have
set of limitations. amazing music
What do you hope people will take away often have amazing
from a Multi-Story concert?
Excitement at being so close to the music. atmospheres
That’s really the thing that we hope it gives
people, because it means you can sit so much
closer and the audience and performers are
all on the same level. Hopefully they’ll take
away the thrill at being so close to orchestral
music-making.
How do you hope to develop Multi-Story?
We’d like to do it in more spaces, and spread to
some more places. We’re doing one in Ipswich
in June and we’re doing one in Birmingham
for the first time in September which is really
exciting. I think our aim is to end up with a
few different places with schools we know
really well and spaces we’re happy to perform
in, and have a network of places around the
country we can take it. CM

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CM0617_036-037_R_Q&A KC T OK.indd 37 17/05/2017 10:11:27

 ISM ADVICE
Composer opportunities
The Incorporated Society of Musicians has a new
resource as a starting point for composers looking for
opportunities. Henry Vann introduces it
I
n 2016, the ISM’s Composers Spe-
cial Interest Group led a survey of
composers asking a host of questions
about BBC commissioning, PRS for
Music and opportunities for composers
to find work. Some 89% of all survey re-
spondents reported that they do not know
how the BBC commissions new music, or
how new music is selected for broadcast.
The good news is that the BBC is now
working hard to improve this and make
its work more transparent.
Make a note: The new resource helps lead composers towards opportunities, networks, venues, record labels and events
38 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_038-039_R_ISM KC T OK.indd 38
But the challenge is not unique to one
funder of new music. When talking about
opportunities, 69% of composers had heard
of Sound and Music’s excellent Oppor-
tunities finder and just 46% had heard of
Women in Music’s Competitions and Op-
portunities page – a live list of opportunities
and competitions for composers.
If composers don’t know about some of
the opportunities out there, this can lead to
other challenges, too. If opportunities for
commissioning and competitions are closed,
Help for composers: Henry Vann
inaccessible, or based only in one region it
simply won’t be accessible to a wide range of
composers from diverse backgrounds.
Sound and Music launched an excel-
lent diversity initiative, Because It’s 2016,
opening up data and more pathways to more
musicians to make new music. And when we
asked the musicians what they wanted help
with, for 37% (the highest score) it was ad-
vice on how to find funding, with a further
26% wanting help on handling commission-
ing opportunities.
© DJEM
12/05/2017 15:06:13

At the ISM we decided to help to level
the playing field. There are some fantastic
resources out there and online, but not
everyone knows where to find them and
– aside from generating your own work,
working with venues and performers and
ensembles – we want to help you find these
opportunities. Which is why we’ve created
‘Opportunities and resources for composers’
on our website.
This resource is a non-exhaustive list of
opportunities, networks, venues, ensembles,
record labels and events which may wish
to engage composers in commissions or
partnership work. It is designed to serve as a
starting point. Building relationships with
performers and venues is equally important.
We have also included some ISM resources
to help you further.
The top three to start with? Try the wealth
of opportunities funded by the PRS for
Music Foundation or Sound and Music’s
Opportunities finder, followed by the live
listing of the Women in Music’s Competi-
tions and opportunities page.
“
THE FELLOWSHIP IS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME
OPPORTUNITY TO DISCOVER AND PUSH YOUR
BOUNDARIES. I WOULDN’T BE THE SAME
WITHOUT SOUTHBANK SINFONIA.
EUGENE LEE / VIOLIN, PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA
CM0617_038-039_R_ISM KC T OK.indd 39
ISM ADVICE
We have also listed festivals such as with other members at www.ism.org/profes-
Huddersfield Contemporary, local groups sional-development. You can also find other
like the Severnside Composers’ Alliance, ISM members using our music directory,
new music-friendly venues like Block 336, which is available at www.musicdirectory.
record labels NMC Recordings and Non- ism.org. (If you are a member and reading
classical, and other programmes such as the this, don’t forget to update your profile.) CM
John Armitage Memorial (JAM) and the
RSNO’s composer hub www.rsno.org.uk/ John Vann is head of external affairs at the ISM.
hub – these are all there to help composers
explore new opportunities. For more composing advice and information, and if
At a round table meeting following this you are considering joining the ISM, please do visit
survey composer members of the ISM gave www.ism.org.
us even more content to included. The list is www.ism.org/composer-opportunities
by its very nature not comprehensive, but if www.soundandmusic.org/create/opportunities
you think there is something missing, email www.womeninmusic.org.uk/compsandops.asp
us at membership@ism.org. This is a living,
breathing resource – there to practically aid
composers and others who might be keen to
support the creation of new music.
And of course none of this will eclipse the
importance of building your own networks.
I have spoken to two ISM members in recent
weeks who have generated new work by
finding other ISM members. Find out about
our upcoming events where you can network
CALLING ALL
GRADUATES
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acclaimed young orchestra, performing
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Perform with the Royal Opera House,
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Make lasting contacts and develop
new skills, preparing you for every
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If you - or a student you teach - are
embarking on an orchestral career,
this is the perfect place to start.
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”
Find out more and apply online now
at southbanksinfonia.co.uk
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 39
18/05/2017 10:07:44
 FINANCE
QUARTER NOTES Fundamental changes to the tax system will affect UK-based musicians.
Mark Wingate explains all
M
ost performing musicians who
are resident in the UK currently
need to report their income and
profit to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)
every year. If you are a self-employed artist
you will be familiar with the need to file an
annual self-assessment tax return. If you trade
through a limited liability company you will
be filing an annual corporation tax return. You
may prepare your accounts and complete the
tax return yourself, have the help of a friend
© JONATHAN STEWART
or relative, or engage a professional to do it for
you. Whatever the situation, things are going
to change fundamentally for you very soon.
Before the general election was called,
the UK government announced plans to
F
 inal bar: The annual tax return bows out
© ROB HYRONS / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
40 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_040-041_F_SmithWilliamson KC T OK.indd 40
transform the tax system and gave HMRC the
objective of replacing the annual tax return for
individuals and businesses. The intention is
that by 2020 annual tax returns will have been
replaced by a digital tax account. However, for
most businesses, including the self-employed,
HMRC has more ambitious plans. On the
one hand HMRC will populate the digital tax
account (DTA) with information they receive
direct, such as pay and tax/national insurance
deductions from employers or interest received
on bank and building society accounts. On the
other hand, HMRC will want the individual
taxpayer to fill in some of the gaps each quarter.
This is where you will see the greatest
change, because under Making Tax Digital
12/05/2017 15:08:14
 FINANCE

(MTD) you will need to update the DTA at
least quarterly with income and expenditure
from business sources, including self-employ-
ment and rental income. This quarterly report-
ing, probably with a 30-day deadline, will be at
a summary level with a year-end adjustment, in
effect the annual tax computation.
HMRC intends that mandatory quarterly
reporting commences in stages from 2018
through to 2020. However, concerns have
been expressed in the accountancy profession
that HMRC is pushing ahead with this too
quickly and without taking account of all
considerations including the cost to taxpayers.
The Federation of Small Businesses estimates
that businesses will spend three times as much
time on their tax obligations as they currently
do, which could cost around £3,000 a year in
time, salaries and accountants’ fees. HMRC
believes the cost will be negligible.
The House of Lords’ Economic Affairs
Committee recently concluded that the
roll-out of the scheme was being rushed; small
businesses will face unnecessary burdens and
the government will only benefit marginally.
Among their recommendations is an extended
pilot to show whether this proposal will reduce
taxpayer errors as HMRC contends and to al-
low the actual costs to business to be assessed.
In essence, MTD is about compelling
businesses of all sizes to record income and
expenses closer to real time using software or
apps. If the thought of dealing with your tax
affairs digitally gives you practical concerns
you are not alone; HMRC’s own research
shows that 61% of the self-employed cannot
interact with the government online or need
help to do so.
As a firm, we at Smith & Williamson are
engaging with HMRC and other stakehold-
ers on the introduction of MTD. Following
consultation with the accountancy profession
and others, HMRC will not require copies of
individual invoices and receipts to be kept elec-
tronically and will permit the use of compati-
ble spreadsheets. However, at present, HMRC
has only agreed a deferral of MTD for some
smaller businesses; those with turnover for all
their businesses of under the VAT threshold
will have an extra year to comply. Those with
turnover of £10,000 or less will be exempt but
the government is still considering whether
those with a higher level of turnover should
also qualify for deferral. At a time of increased
uncertainty for the classical music profession
this is one extra distraction but it cannot be
ignored and will require your attention over
the next few years; potentially within the next
12 months. CM
DISCLAIMER By necessity, this briefing can only
provide a short overview and it is essential to seek
professional advice before applying the contents of
this article. No responsibility can be taken for any
loss arising from action taken or refrained from on
the basis of this publication. Details correct at time of
writing. The tax treatment depends on the individual
circumstances of each client and may be subject to
change in future.
Mark Wingate is a partner in the private client
tax team at Smith & Williamson. He leads a team
providing specialist tax and accountancy advice to
classical musicians. To find out more, contact him on
020 7131 4888

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 COVER STORY

JUST VOICES
As the third London International A Cappella competition prepares to take over
St John’s Smith Square, Helen Cocks talks to founder Peter Phillips and some
of the participants

W
hat do a university society from
Indonesia, a Columbian new
music ensemble, a group of
singers named after a Norwegian violinist
and a London Catholic boys’ choir have in
common? They will all be competing later
this year at St John’s Smith Square as part
of the London International A Cappella
competition (LIACC).
This is the third edition of a contest estab-
lished only in 2014, but drawing on London’s
matchless history as a centre of international
choral music. It is the UK’s only choral com-
petition exclusively championing unaccompa-
nied music. Founder Peter Phillips has been
touring the world with his group, the Tallis
Scholars, for over 40 years, and seeing choral
singing outside the UK flourishing, wanted to
bring some of this talent to London.
‘The purpose of founding the competition
was to bring really good amateur choirs from
abroad,’; he says. ‘There are many competitions
like this in many countries, but these choirs
never come to London.’
This year, 16 groups, ranging in size from
a consort of seven to a chorus of 50, have
reached the competition’s performance stages.
They will be coming from as far afield as India
and Chile, as well as from throughout Europe.
In the last week of June the choirs will com-
pete over four heats, with the winner of each
going through to a grand final on 1 July.
As well as their competition perfor-
mances, each choir has also been given the
opportunity to perform a lunchtime concert
at a London church. Performances will take
place throughout the week at St Gabriel’s
Pimlico, St Stephen’s Rochester Row and
St James’s Piccadilly.
Augustine Paul leads Octet Cantabile,
whose members will be coming from Chennai,
India to compete in Heat 2. Although the
group has been performing since 1994, he is
excited about the further development that
the competition will bring. ‘I can confidently
say that participating in a music festival of this
magnitude is a great learning experience and
the things that we [will] learn from each other
are unimaginable,’ he says.
Each year, the LIACC especially features
the works of one composer; nominating Arvo

International line-up: C
 openhagen Chamber Choir Camerata from Denmark
© MATHIAS BOJESON

42 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017

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 COVER STORY

Pärt for 2017. As well as a required perfor-

© ANDREAS GRIEGER
mance of one of Pärt’s works by all choirs
at their heats, there will also be an opening
concert of music by Pärt at the start of the
week. Fringe events include an exhibition of
photographs of the composer, and a showing
of a film about his life, Even if I lose everything.
For the Ole Bull Kammerkor, based
in Bergen, Norway, the connection with Pärt
was a deciding factor in its entry
into the competition, having previously
worked with the composer on a project in
Iceland. The choir’s director Jon Flydal Blich-
feldt hopes to ‘experience good choirs and be
inspired for future work’ at LIACC this year.
The other focus of the competition is renais-
sance polyphony. Peter Phillips has been per-
forming this music for many years, and is one
of its most respected interpreters, along with
his group the Tallis Scholars (which will also
perform a concert as part of the competition’s
events). When conceiving of the competi-
tion Phillips was very definite that it should
exclusively showcase the unique skills required
for unaccompanied music and he believes that
the basis of good a cappella singing is rooted in
the renaissance repertoire.
‘If you can sing Palestrina really well, you
can sing anything – his style is so clear you
can’t get away with anything. It’s a basic train- ►

Ole Bull Kammerkor from Norway. Above: The Cantus Ensemble from the UK

JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 43

CM0617_042-045_F_LIACC KC T OK.indd 43 16/05/2017 11:36:46

 advert:Layout 1 16/05/2017 17:11 Page 1

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1st Prize Winner at the
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RODERICK WILLIAMS
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NIGHTS NOT
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KITTY WHATELY
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SIMON LEPPER
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A CAPPELLA CHORAL
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CM0617.indd 44 18/05/2017 10:13:26


Ensamble Oltremontani from Chile
Dysonans Chamber Choir from Poland
ing every choir should have.’ This is certainly
an approach very familiar to David Allinson,
whose London group the Renaissance Singers
will compete in Heat 1. But Allinson also says
the impetus behind him wanting to enter the
competition was broader than repertoire: ‘The
Tallis Scholars’ heritage certainly made me feel
comfortable about entering, but I think we’ll
need to bring a lot more than an early music
specialist sound.
‘One of the reasons I’m glad we’re doing the
competition is that it will stretch the choir
out of its comfort zone and encourage us to
explore other approaches.’
As well as the competition and performance
elements, LIACC also offers a workshop to all
choirs, with renowned coach Ghislaine Mor-
gan. Although not compulsory, the workshops
are part of the competition’s drive to make the
experience ‘nurturing as well as challenging’ to
the entrants.
CM0617_042-045_F_LIACC KC T OK.indd 45
For Sansara, the London-based choir which
won the competition in 2015, the experience
was indeed a nurturing one. Director Tom
Herring remembers that the standard at the
final was high, but the warm atmosphere al-
lowed the choir ‘the freedom to really express
ourselves and conjure an atmosphere through
our performances’. Sansara’s win has kick-
started several high-profile appearances, and
the choir will be heard again at the competi-
tion this year as part of the opening concert.
Although suggesting that the excellent
reputation of English choirs around the
world might be intimidating to international
groups, Phillips has been inspired by the
standard of entrant and feels that choirs of the
English school have much to learn from other
traditions: ‘The first competition in 2014
was won by a Spanish group who were just
amazing and beat off the competition from all
these young English groups.’
COVER STORY
© SPINBOX
Phillips admits that his horizons have been
broadened by seeing a different approach
to choral singing from abroad, where the
‘Oxbridge route’ of training as a chorister
or choral scholar as a child and teenager is
not the focus. ‘If you can’t sight-read in the
English world you’re not going to do very
well as a choral singer. But at this level you
need a little more thought than that in your
interpretations.’
That interpretative thought has certainly
been very evident in the performances at the
competition so far and with this third edition
just around the corner, it seems that Phillips’
dream of bringing the world’s best amateur
choirs together in London has become a
reality. CM
The London International A Cappella competition
is at St John’s Smith Square 25 June - 1 July.
www.liaccc.org.uk
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 45
17/05/2017 15:21:28
 ADVERTORIAL
My ISM is family
A
s a professional guitarist, I’ve
been lucky enough to perform
in venues around the world and
supporting our next generation of artists
is something that is incredibly important
to me – I’m a performer but also a
Principal Lecturer at the Royal Northern
College of Music and Visiting Lecturer
at London’s Royal College of Music.
Performing, recording and teaching
gives me a hugely rewarding career but
as a freelancer, I need the backing that
would otherwise leave me vulnerable.
Increasingly, promoters expect artists to
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and the ISM provides this as a standard
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The ISM gives me that sense of family;
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My ISM is
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Guitarist
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Join our growing membership
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support is vital for any musician. If I have
a problem, I can just give the ISM a call
and will shortly be speaking to a member
of the in-house legal team.
Being part of a professional
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musicians. There’s great strength in
numbers and if there is an issue that
affects us then it’s much more effective
to campaign for change together and the
ISM provides that connection for us all
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To join our growing professional community and
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ism.org
18/05/2017 10:28:24

A day for
music
Make Music Day is celebrated on 21 June in 750 cities across 120 countries and this
year the UK will be making more of an effort to join in. Rebecca Ranson reports
I
n 1982, the then French minister for
© ICREATIVE3D
culture Jack Lang discovered that five
million French children – one in two
– played a musical instrument. A statistic to
be proud of and one, in Lang’s eyes, to shout
about. He envisaged a day in the summer
when musicians would have the opportunity
to perform, and everyone would be given
the chance to listen to those performances
for free. That vision quickly became a reality
on 21 June 1982 when the first Fête de la
musique took place.
CM0617_047-049_F_Make Music Day KC T OK.indd 47
MAKE MUSIC DAY
The event has grown steadily and spread
widely in the subsequent 35 years, and Make
Music Day (it remains Fête de la musique in
France) now takes place on 21 June, Midsum-
mer’s Day, in 750 cities across 120 countries
worldwide, including Greece, Russia, Japan,
Mexico, Peru and Australia. It has been a
particular success in the US with 32 cities col-
lectively staging a total of 3,238 events in 2016.
The huge success of Make Music Day in the
US resulted in the birth of the Make Music
Alliance, a collective of US Make Music Day ►
Global effort: Make Music Day 2016
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 47
12/05/2017 15:13:47
 ‘Dramatic intensity...
fiery and fabulous’
HHHHH
The Guardian, Hyd | Oct 2016

Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru gyda

balchder yn cyflwyno
Welsh National Opera proudly presents

Tomáš Hanus
Cyfarwyddwr Cerdd WNO Music Director

Am wybodaeth bellach am Tomáš ymwelch â

For more information on Tomáš please visit

wno.org.uk/tomas

Rhif Elusen Gofrestredig | Registered Charity No 221538

CM0617.indd 48 18/05/2017 10:13:27


Sounding out: A musical Midsummer’s Day across the world
executives who share their skills and expertise
with new and less experienced organisers.
The UK has been surprisingly slow to
get in on the act. The first Make Music Day
to take place in these shores was in 2012
with a small number of performances being
staged each year, the majority of them in
London. But that is set to change for 2017
and beyond.
‘Just meeting the guys from the States has
been the inspiration to kickstart it here,’ says
Alison Porter, project manager for Make Music
Day UK. Porter was appointed only in Febru-
ary and has been working diligently ever since
to coordinate events throughout the country.
‘This year won’t even touch the scale of
what happens in the States,’ she explains,
‘but we’re aiming to have 150 to 200 events
across the country.’ These will range from
formal concerts to outdoor events, open
rehearsals to school concerts with venues
ranging from bandstands to libraries and
most things in between.’
The complete diary of events is still being fi-
nalised, but will include showcase performanc-
es in St Helen’s Square in York, Edinburgh’s
Grassmarket, and London Bridge station in
the capital.
‘There’s a real spread of groups signing
up,’ Porter enthuses. These include jazz, pop,
world and folk musicians, marching bands,
barbershop groups and orchestras. ‘It’s a whole
CM0617_047-049_F_Make Music Day KC T OK.indd 49
MAKE MUSIC DAY
mixture, which is really exciting and will give and performers as, she says, ‘even amateur
people the opportunity to hear music they groups plan far ahead. But ultimately we need
might not necessarily seek out themselves.’ to get through this year, see what we’re able to
Porter is concurrently in discussions with a make happen and who embraces it, evaluate
range of businesses and Business Improvement and then see how it can grow and how we can
Districts to lever in more commercial support. fund it.’
Coffee chain Caffè Nero is on board and will What is particularly appealing about Make
have live music in a number of its stores for Music Day is what Porter described as its
this year’s Make Music Day. There is interest ‘hodge-podge’ nature. ‘It’s open to perform-
too from the small but expanding The Stable ers of all ages, standards and genres. Abso-
restaurant group. lutely anyone can take part. Indeed, one of
For 2017, Make Music Day in the UK is be- the organisations straplines is: ‘Performed by
ing funded by a number of partners including everyone, enjoyed by everyone’. CM
Making Music, Music for All (the charity arm
of the Music Industries Association), and the To find out more about Make Music Day or to get
Musicians’ Union, and supported by Music involved in this year’s event visit
Sales and Classic FM. www.makemusicday.org/uk
‘There are various small pots of funding
we’ve cobbled together to make it work this
year but we’ll need more to really make it fly,’
says Porter. Luckily help is on hand from the
Make Music Alliance, which provides advice,
as well as marketing tools, a website template,
software to match performers with potential
venues, apps and a myriad of other resources.
‘They’ve given me so many tips and their
advice is really useful,’ says Porter. ‘And being
in regular contact with them makes me feel
linked to a global organisation.’
While Porter works hard to deliver this
year’s Make Music Day, she has half an eye on
2018 and is already talking to potential venues
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 49
12/05/2017 15:14:07
 New horizon: Welsh National Opera’s Madama Butterfly in Dubai
The WNO effect
It was a learning curve for all when Welsh National Opera took its award-winning
learning programme to Dubai, reports Amanda Holloway
C
lassical music in the Gulf received
a boost with the opening of Dubai
Opera under the leadership of Jasper
Hope, former CEO of the Royal Albert Hall.
Before a BBC Proms season (previewed in the
March issue) Dubai Opera hosted productions
of La bohème and Madama Butterfly by Welsh
National Opera. The British presence was part
of the UK/UAE 2017 Year of Creative Col-
laboration, a programme spanning the arts,
education, society, sport, science and trade.
While Dubai Opera helped fund the perfor-
mance side of the tour, Emma Flatley, WNO’s
director of partnerships and engagement,
was keen to take some of her department’s
award-winning work to Dubai. She found a
willing partner in the British Council, which
agreed to support a programme of workshops,
masterclasses and public performances.
Flatley came up with a workshop format
– The WNO Effect – to introduce opera to
children in Years 5 and 6. Arriving a few days
before the main company, Flatley and her
small team, including singer and animateur
Kate Woolveridge and pianist Nicola Rose,
50 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_050-051_F_WNO KC T OK.indd 50
put on four morning sessions in the studio at
Dubai Opera. ‘We aimed to introduce chil-
dren to opera in its entirety: what it is, what
we do as a company and what it’s like to stage
an opera. We had four orchestra members, one
from each section, and the pupils or children
learnt about how the sections come together
and form the backbone of the score.’
In the afternoon the team decamped to
Dubai’s Centre for Musical Arts and worked
with a youth orchestra that included levels from
Grade 1 upwards. ‘We took two orchestral piec-
es arranged for a range of abilities and again the
orchestra members did sectionals with students
before they performed the pieces together.’
Flatley, through Dubai Opera, had issued
invitations to schools to attend the dress
rehearsals for a small charge, and teachers had
been sent a resources pack and a DVD. I sat in
on the La bohème rehearsal with an impeccably-
behaved audience of 712 11-year-olds. WNO
deputy stage manager Suzie Erith reminded her
young audience of the plot points and explained
some of the design and technical decisions that
go into staging an opera.
At the interval I talked to two girls from
the American School in Dubai, who had
never been to an opera before. It was a new
experience for them to be sitting in the stalls
so close to a live orchestra and trained sing-
ers, and they couldn’t get over the power of
the voices. ‘I can’t believe they’re not miked’,
said a sophisticated 12-year-old beside me.
‘That is awesome.’
Events aimed at adults included pop-up
mini-concerts known as Access All Arias,
given by soloists from the excellent WNO
chorus. They popped up in the courtyard of
the British Council offices, to the surprise of
language students on their break, and in the
foyer of the Emirates Literature Festival, where
they attracted an enthusiastic crowd and en-
couraged a few to come along to performances
of Madama Butterfly. I was allowed to join
Kate Woolveridge’s Come and Sing master-
class for non-professional singers, along with
members of several enthusiastic Dubai choirs,
and by the end of an hour we had mastered a
Welsh folk song and the Humming Chorus
from Madama Butterfly.
12/05/2017 15:15:30
 WNO IN DUBAI

Back in Britain, I phoned Emma Flatley to

ask whether she felt the tour had been a suc-
cess. ‘Everyone was very pleased,’ she said. ‘We
were quite cautious in the number of events we
offered but next time we would certainly do
more, and we would like to work in Arabic-
speaking schools too. It was so exciting to work
with young people that hadn’t encountered
WNO before – they were so delighted and
engaged. It is very energising for a company to
be profiled on the world stage and it endorses
our reputation back home too.’
No suggestions that they should do more in
their heartland? ‘We are in schools every week
in Wales,’ says Flatley. ‘We’re working right
across the country, in hubs in north, mid and
south Wales, and three more in England. Far
from feeling that we’re neglecting our home
patch, people are very proud that we’re out
there representing Wales and learning about
different audiences and cultures.’
The Participation and Engagement team
look forward to more opportunities in the
future, when the company plans to tour the
Gulf and beyond. CM Pit stop: WNO Orchestra at Dubai Opera

We don’t
just help
with broken

MUSIC bones

OPEN
DAY
3 JULY Support us now
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rwcmd.ac.uk/opendays 26 Fitzroy Square, London W1T 6BT | 020 7629 6137
enquiries@royalsocietyofmusicians.org
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JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 51

CM0617_050-051_F_WNO KC T OK.indd 51 17/05/2017 10:15:40

 GARSINGTON OPERA

People’s opera
Roxanna Panufnik’s Silver Birch brings the realities of war to a new generation.
Andrew Green sits in on a far-reaching community project

Roxanna Panufnik: Garsington Manor was a key element in her war-related opera

A
blustery early spring afternoon
at Cressex Community School in
High Wycombe. I stifle inhibi-
tions and join in the warm-ups before two
performances by these secondary school
pupils of a miniaturised version of Rox-
anna Panufnik’s new ‘people’s opera’, Sil-
ver Birch. Commissioned by Garsington
Opera, Silver Birch is tough stuff. Gritty.
Uncompromising. It confronts head-on
the realities of human involvement in con-
flict, bridging the gap between the Great
War poetry of Siegfried Sassoon and
modern dilemmas surrounding decisions
to sign up as a soldier. This cut-down
rendering packs plenty of punch in vocal
and dramatic terms, not least thanks to
52 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
the integration of Cressex pupils into the
Foley ‘sound design’ team from Pinewood
Studios. A terrifying imagined wartime
soundscape. My ears hum for hours.
The Cressex mini-residency saw a team
from Garsington Opera (headed by the
effervescent Karen Gillingham, creative
director of the company’s Learning and
Participation programme) work with
youngsters over three days. A string of
other primary and secondary schools are
involved in the Silver Birch exercise, which
BBC Arts has been filming. Selected pupils
will join the Garsington Youth Com-
pany for the late July performances of the
complete Silver Birch in the company’s
award-winning auditorium on the gorgeous
Wormsley Estate, a short drive from High
Wycombe. Members of Garsington’s adult
community choir and young musicians
from the Buckinghamshire Music Educa-
tion Hub also take part, dovetailing with
professional soloists and orchestra under
the company’s artistic director, Douglas
Boyd. Tickets start at a tenner.
Engaging with the local community has
been a key element in the opera company’s
progress, not least since the 2011 move
from its original home in Garsington
village, close to Oxford. ‘This work is
incredibly important to us,’ says Nicola
Creed, the company’s executive director.
‘It’s about far more than just saying “Hey,
this is opera, why not come and enjoy it?”

CM0617_052-055_F_Nevill H Garsington KC T OK.indd 52 17/05/2017 17:19:07

 GARSINGTON OPERA

It’s about making a difference to people’s

lives. We’ve been working, for example,
with a group at Wycombe Women’s Aid
who’ve suffered domestic abuse, and
with Stoke Mandeville patients who have
severe spinal injuries. All this work is
funded by grants from trusts and founda-
tions, and by private donations. It’s not
about cultivating audiences. It’s just the
right thing to do.’
Some school headteachers were initially
wary about engaging with Garsington,
says Karen Gillingham. ‘There was the
suspicion that opera would alienate kids,
and misconceptions of what it actually is.
It’s helped that we’re able to say that our in-
volvement costs them nothing, but equally
it’s been about gradually building trust via
a succession of workshops.’ Cressex Com-
munity School head teacher David Hood
was effusive indeed in his thank-you speech
following the Silver Birch residency.
Roxanna Panufnik confesses to hav-
ing ‘fallen in love’ with the Silver Birch
project since Douglas Boyd phoned her
with the idea of a Great War-related
opera. Garsington’s original home was a ►
Renewal: Librettist Jessica Duchen

Hands up who’s ready: Silver Birch in preparation

© DAVID FLEMING

JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 53

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 NEW
TO
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REGISTRATION
NOW OPEN!
Following five successful years in London,
Music & Drama Education Expo comes to
Manchester on 4 October 2017 for a one-day
celebration of CPD!

Held at Hilton Deansgate in Manchester’s

iconic Beetham Tower, the conference will offer
over 20 seminars, workshops and debates,
the chance to meet and browse the services of
over 40 key exhibitors, and the opportunity to
network with 500 of your peers in music and
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18/04/2017 14:06
 GARSINGTON OPERA

key element, Panufnik explains. ‘In 1917 way I never thought I could”.’ After those ting involved has given me much more
Garsington Manor was bought by Lady Cressex performances, pupils were invited self-confidence,’ he said. ‘It’s opened my
Ottoline Morrell and her husband. She to put on paper their thoughts about the eyes to what you can do in the future if
fell for Siegfried Sassoon – he visited benefits of the experience. you work hard – it won’t be just an office
Garsington several times. So it’s been a ‘It helps you use your imagination in job for me.’
matter of building a modern-day story the future,’ I read. Then: ‘You don’t feel as Then he added: ‘I’ve also learned how
from that connection. Sassoon is in there nervous when you’re performing in front horrible war is. And what it costs.’ CM
as a ghost, as well as Lady Ottoline.’ of lots of people.’ And: ‘It shows how
The Silver Birch libretto was fashioned much you can learn from so little’. Silver Birch: Garsington Opera, 28, 29, 30 July,
by author/journalist Jessica Duchen. I engaged a pupil who joined the sound 7.30pm. www.garsingtonopera.org/
At the outset, she and Panufnik visited design group for the performances. ‘Get- performance/silver-birch
several schools with Karen Gillingham
to fathom what ideas and themes could
be developed. ‘I was astonished at how
easily pupils embraced Sassoon’s poetry MEANWHILE, IN THE MIDLANDS…..
and things like what it might mean to Nevill Holt Opera (NHO) stages its first community children’s opera – an outdoor
go to war today,’ Duchen recalls. ‘I asked production of Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde – on 1 and 2 July, 2pm and 5pm.
one young boy what he’d miss most if Some 130 schoolchildren from Northamptonshire, Leicestershire and Rutland appear,
he went off to fight. He said it would be conducted by NHO artistic director Nicholas Chalmers. The project involves NHO in
the silver birch outside his house, which partnership with Oakham School, the Rutland Music Education Hub and the David Ross
he’d watched growing. I latched on to Education Trust. The trust has previously been involved with the NHO in supporting
that immediately, not least as a metaphor musical activities in 35 academies in the East Midlands. The NHO’s community and
for growing up. Things happen to you, education work has so far engaged with more than 1,000 school pupils and 200 adults.
dreams are shattered, and yet there can be
renewal. Spring returns.’ www.nevillholtopera.co.uk/
Duchen also foraged for material from noye-s-fludde-2017/
Iraq war veteran Jay Wheeler. ‘The things
he had to say about what drives individu-
als to volunteer for war were really power-
ful. His line that it’s your ‘one chance
to do something brave’ made it into the
libretto. However, one problem dealing
with a military story was not being able
to reproduce some of the rich language
solders inevitably use. We had to find a
way around that.’
A major part of the challenge for
Panufnik has been ‘to provide music that’s
as aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable for
the professionals as it is for the amateurs.
As far as the vocal parts for the amateurs
were concerned, I sang through every note
myself. I’m not a good singer, so if I can
manage, so will they.’
Eight of the youngsters from the Cressex
school performances have joined the Gars-
ington Youth Company for the Silver Birch
performances, including a Polish girl who
arrived in the UK last year. ‘She said that
taking part in Silver Birch made her feel
for the first time that she really belonged
here,’ says Karen Gillingham. ‘She’d never
performed anything before. At last she felt
she’d arrived. Two women from Wycombe
Women’s Aid have joined the adult choir.
One of them said that being involved with
the Garsington team had changed her life.
She said, “I’m able to hold my head up in a
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 55

CM0617_052-055_F_Nevill H Garsington KC T OK.indd 55 12/05/2017 15:19:35

 ALBAN NOTES ONLY
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Illustrated throughout with colour and black and white photographs.
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Mainly for
pleasure
They have been practising for 60 years but the players of the Rehearsal Orchestra
wouldn’t want to spoil the fun by giving a concert. Toby Deller reports
Just the once, then: The Rehearsal Orchestra’s one-off fundraising concert
‘W
e did do a concert once, a
fundraising thing,’ says Levon
Parikian, conductor and artis-
tic director of the Rehearsal Orchestra (RO).
‘It was with Claus Moser, a keen amateur
pianist and distinguished academic. He did a
Mozart piano concerto with us. It was fine –
but it wasn’t the Rehearsal Orchestra.’
The odd aberration aside, the RO has
been not giving concerts for 60 years since it
was set up by Harry Legge to give amateur
musicians visiting the Edinburgh Festival an
economical way of using the time between
attending concerts. What it has been doing
has been assembling several times a year, not
only at its residential week in Edinburgh but
also for one- or two-day courses in London,
CM0617_057-058_F_Rehearsal Orch KC T OK.indd 57
to work on and play through repertoire,
with a session open to the public at the end
of each course.
‘The idea is always, as Harry used to say,
to get through the stuff,’ says Parikian, who
took over the direction of the RO from
Legge following his death in 2000. ‘So
anybody who’s going into the profession
and the repertoire treadmill: this is like
what is going to be out there when they are
doing these pieces on three hours and they
are expected to know them. So it covers a
very useful niche in that regard for aspiring
professionals, and for amateur players who
are looking for something a bit more intense
and focused than they might get with their
regular orchestras, wherever they might be.’
REHEARSAL ORCHESTRA
But that intensity is balanced by a relative
lack of pressure. ‘The unique selling point has
been that we don’t give concerts and that is
attractive to some people in that it’s a good
way of learning about orchestral repertoire and
orchestral life without the pressure of having
to make it concert standard. That does mean
you can take on things that are pretty difficult
in a short space of time.’
Over the years, but from early in its
existence, the range of repertoire expanded
and now the focus tends to be on the major
20th-century orchestral repertoire: so far
this year the RO has tackled the Rite of
Spring, Don Quixote and Prokofiev’s fifth
symphony, with Also sprach Zarathustra to
come. Those last two are with Sian Edwards
and Sir Mark Elder respectively; the RO has
always invited eminent conductors, not to
mention soloists, themselves perhaps look-
ing for a low-pressure environment in which
to run through a concerto.
‘Finding repertoire is actually quite difficult
these days,’ says Parikian, who has the job of
putting the programmes together. ‘If you look
at the orchestra’s history, there are quite a few
things that wouldn’t have been done by ama-
teur orchestras at the time – the Rite of Spring
wasn’t a standard occurrence in the 1960s
when Harry was doing it. Shostakovich Four is
another one. Nowadays, there will be players,
especially in London, who’ve done this, done
that, done Turangalîla.’
Parikian picks out the RO’s 2006 course on
Messiaen’s extravaganza as his particular high-
light. ‘I can’t help saying that doing Turan-
galîla on an open weekend was terrifying and
amazing: it’s 75 minutes long and pretty hard
all the way through – we had Cynthia Millar
playing the ondes martenot solo. And you’ve ►
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 57
12/05/2017 15:20:48
 REHEARSAL ORCHESTRA

experience that people are paying for. It would

Don’t panic: Rehearsal it what it’s all about
got that responsibility to people to deliver an
experience. In that piece, there’s a lot for the
conductor to do, a lot for the conductor to
think about. I don’t usually wake up panicking
beforehand but that one, a week before, I was
thinking: are we going to get through it all?’
The orchestra also make occasional forays
into opera, particularly Wagner (there is
also an opera highlights course in June). ‘It
would be good to slip in more of the getting-
established contemporary stuff with which I’m
not familiar enough because I don’t conduct
it very often. But each one of those is a big risk
because if people don’t sign up, and if there
are complexities that you can’t solve within
a day, then you end up with an unsatisfying
be nice to expand the opera beyond Wagner.
I think we do enjoy doing that 20th-century
war-horsey stuff and it would be quite nice to
go into some of the darker regions: Agon, that
kind of thing.’
Then there is August in Edinburgh, the
orchestra’s spiritual home – it was for a while
named the Edinburgh Rehearsal Orchestra
until it began running courses around Eng-
land in places such as Bournemouth, Liverpool
and Oxford. (‘It would be amazing to go back
to that sort of thing but it’s probably a pipe
dream’, reflects Parikian.) ‘The Edinburgh
course we just stuff with as much music as
we can. It’s all set in the Edinburgh Festival
and the Fringe so people are getting up early,
rehearsing all day and then going out to two
or three shows in the evening. We had a guest
principal cello – we have professional leaders
for all these courses – and at the end of the
week he said: “What a roast-up, I’ve never had
anything like it!” I said: “Oh good!” ’ CM
www.rehearsal-orchestra.org

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58 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017

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© LAM KING YIN

CM0617_060-063_F_Naxos KC T OK.indd 60 12/05/2017 15:23:14


PLAYTIME WINNERS
A lot has changed since the Naxos label shook up the recording world 30 years ago.
But founder Klaus Heymann remains determined to stay ahead of the curve,
reports Phillip Sommerich
T
he appearance in 1987 of distinc-
tively white-sleeved CDs offering
popular classics for under a fiver
marked a record industry revolution. Con-
sumers restocking their music libraries with
new-fangled digital recordings rushed these
recordings, undeterred by obscure east Eu-
ropean performers, and high-street record
stores were happy to rack these Naxos discs
separately beside the cash registers.
Klaus Heymann’s very different portrait
of the industry today – gone are most high-
street stores and bumper CD sales – under-
lines the turbulence his Naxos empire has
survived over the past 30 years: ‘It seems
Heymann gambles determinedly on his hunches
and usually wins
CD sales have stopped their freefall or are
declining at a much slower rate. Download
is declining, affected by streaming.’
While most independent labels lack the
breadth of catalogue for the new plat-
form, streaming, Naxos, with 9,000 titles
including two Shostakovich cycles and
five of Sibelius symphonies, does. ‘People
who used to buy a CD to hear what, say, a
Koželuch symphony sounds like can now
just stream it.’
But streaming earns just nine cents an
album from Apple Music and four cents
from Spotify. What really pay, Heymann
says, are licensing, public performance
fees and revenue from YouTube streams.
‘We don’t sell standard repertoire by the
truckload any more. Ten or 15 releases sold
Founding father: Klaus Heymann
CM0617_060-063_F_Naxos KC T OK.indd 61
more than a million copies in the good
old days, whereas last year 110 titles sold a
grand total of 30,000 copies – but we had
millions of pays on YouTube. We make
more money from our new recordings being
played on the radio and elsewhere than
from selling CDs of that repertoire. The
cost of producing 200 titles a year is covered
by their airplay.’
Also, Naxos artists are no longer obscure
one-time-only appearances: Boris Gilt-
burg’s Shostakovich, Slatkin’s Ravel and the
ongoing Ring cycle conducted by Jaap van
Zweden boost the label’s digital profile.
The company’s survival is much down
to its founder: his love of classical music
nurtured in his native Germany; an intel-
lect refined by studies of languages and lit-
erature in Frankfurt, Lisbon, London and
Paris; market know-how honed by careers
in journalism, advertising and marketing
that led to a Hong Kong business supplying
American troops in Vietnam with records
and others goods – and then came Naxos.
Heymann gambles determinedly on his
hunches and usually wins – the closure of
Classics Online, his attempt to provide
high-quality streams of classical repertoire,
was a rare failure. Despite his reserva-
tions about streaming’s revenue model, he
put the entire Naxos catalogue online in
1996 and six years later launched Naxos
Music Library, a unique streamed resource
which although offered only to students,
academic institutions and artists, is now
making money.
NAXOS AT 30
He has taken over the Capriccio, Dynam-
ic, Ondine, Orfeo and Prophone labels, and
recently bought the Vox Turnabout cata-
logue, which preceded Naxos in pioneering
the budget market. Reappearance of its
recordings of performances by Klemperer,
Walter Klien, Brendel, Skrowaczewski and
others will be welcomed by collectors.
Naxos has also cut its warehouse network
to fit the virtual world, with bases in
Munich, the UK, Nashville and – a shared
depot – Japan. Nashville handles digital
distribution with about 25 people, a team
of nearly 100 in the Philippines looks after
data creation, web design and other digital
areas, while A&R and administration are
located in Heymann’s traditional base and
main home, Hong Kong.
Last October marked Heymann’s
80th birthday, but he has loosened the
managerial reins only a little. He spends
February-April and mid-August to mid-
October at his home in New Zealand ‘to
breathe fresh air and play more golf than I
can in Hong Kong’.
After Heymann’s son Henryk immersed
himself in Korea’s K-pop music, a structure
to ensure Naxos’ future emerged. Astrid ►
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 61
12/05/2017 15:23:31
 NAXOS CELEBRATES 30 YEARS
30 CDS TO CELEBRATE 30 YEARS
This limited edition anniversary boxed set
comprises thirty CDs spanning the wide range
of the label’s repertoire and featuring many
of the artists and orchestras with whom
the label is identified.

“In celebrating Naxos’ 30th anniversary,

my hope is that we can all strive to adapt,
evolve and reinvent ourselves in the same way that
Klaus has done at Naxos.

© Emily Chu
I am proud to be a Naxos artist!” – Marin Alsop

Klaus Heymann
COMPOSERS INCLUDE
8.503293

BACH • BEETHOVEN • BRAHMS • BRUCKNER • CHOPIN • COPLAND

DAUGHERTY • DEBUSSY • DVOŘÁK • ELGAR • GLIÈRE • GÓRECKI • GRIEG
HANDEL • HAYDN • LISZT • MOZART • RACHMANINOV
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV • RODRIGO • ROSSINI • SARASATE • SZYMANOWSKI
TALLIS • TCHAIKOVSKY • VIVALDI

For more information and to purchase the box for £30 only (+free p&p) go to WWW.NAXOSDIRECT.CO.UK
www.naxos.com • www.naxosmusicgroup.com

ABCD 32 nd AnnuAl Convention

25-27 August 2017
royAl ConservAtoire of sCotlAnd,
glAsgow

Practical sessions for everyone leading singers, including

masterclasses • repertoire • vocal & conducting technique
working with young voices • inspiration from leading composers
Plus:
large trade fair with the leading UK music publishers
pre-convention conducting course • young conductors’ course
Gala concert on 26 August with choirs from Norway & Scotland

A year ’s motivation from one weekend!

For more information contact:

01935 389482 rachel.greaves@abcd.org.uk
www.abcd.org.uk

CM0617.indd 62 18/05/2017 10:13:28


Profile boosters (clockwise from top): Jaap van Zweden’s Wagner, Boris Giltburg’s Shostakovich, Leonard Slatkin’s Ravel
Angvik was appointed deputy chair-
man about five years ago and Edith Lei,
former general manager of the Hong Kong
Philharmonic Orchestra, heads A&R. But
Klaus Heymann is also active in talent and
repertoire scouting, on a daily basis edits the
metadata with which new releases are put on-
line and oversees the group’s diverse interests,
ranging from Naxos Audiobooks and Naxos
Books to Naxos Jazz to Chinese music labels
Middle Kingdom and Yellow River.
He is also preparing to announce further
acquisitions in the coming months, ‘some of
which will be quite amazing’.
Peering ten years into the future, he
suggests: ‘Streaming will be 70-75% of our
business and we will probably not make
CDs of 70% of what we produce. We may
not have physical warehouses but digital
warehouses where CDs are burned on de-
mand with same-day delivery. I have looked
at such products that we do in the US and
you cannot tell the difference from a nor-
mal CD. We will probably instal another
unit at our central warehouse in Munich
CM0617_060-063_F_Naxos KC T OK.indd 63
NAXOS AT 30
© SASHA GUSOV
and another in Japan. But radio stations and the folk songs for piano trio and voice
will still play our music and advertisers will which we are recording in association with
still need our music. And the artists still Yale University’.
want CDs to sell at concerts.’ As he embarks on a round-the-world
Mr Heymann’s favourite Naxos record- circuit of Naxos at 30 celebrations, Klaus
ing is, unsurprisingly, of Vivaldi’s The Four Heymann has plenty to keep him off the
Seasons with his wife, Takako Nishizaki, as golf course. CM
soloist; sentiment aside, he points out that
it has sold 1.5 million copies and ‘she has www.naxos.com
her own take on the piece’.
Other favourites are the 30 titles released
as a set to mark the anniversary, each cho-
sen by him as ‘a personal testament’.
He still hopes to record the complete
works of Pfitzner, ‘a dream I’m still quite
far away from realising because I can’t find a
conductor who is keen on doing it’.
He also aims to complete the Liszt edi-
tion – 45 volumes completed, 30 to go – he
is trying to recruit artists for the stalled
Schumann edition, and Naxos is 80% of
the way to a complete Beethoven edition
in time for the 250th anniversary, ‘but the
remaining 20% is not easy with oddities
such as the sonata for mandolin and piano,
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 63
12/05/2017 15:23:55
 TWO FESTIVALS

PILGRIMS’
PROGRESS
A Norwegian orchestra will recreate the steps of early pilgrims from Orkney to
Trondheim this summer, in an affront to the banality of life on the road.
Andrew Mellor reports

C
ontrary to what many an aspiring
young conservatoire student might
believe, touring can be one of the
dullest, most frustrating and most creatively
infertile strands of life as a performing musi-
cian. That pervades everything from the
artistic product – endlessly repeated (and
often frothy) programmes – to the reality of
hours spent in airports and on buses.
Conductors Sir John Eliot Gardiner and
Paul McCreesh were among the first in
modern times to short-circuit such tedium
by re-thinking the ‘tour’ as a retrospective,
historically-informed pilgrimage. Gardiner’s
Monteverdi Choir journey to Santiago and
his later Bach Cantata Pilgrimage were
geographically rooted in Catholicism and
Lutheranism respectively; they bore with
them the musical fruits of each doctrine. In
the case of Santiago, Gardiner’s musicians
followed a prescribed pilgrimage route fol-
lowed for centuries.
But what of examining lesser-known pil-
grimage routes that pre-date western tonal-
ity and music as we know it? Nine hundred
years ago this year, the Norwegian Earl
of Orkney Magnus Erlendsson died, and
his nephew Rögnvald Kolsson ordered the
construction of a cathedral in his memory.
Orkney and the new church fell under the
diocese of Trondheim in central Norway.
The cathedrals of St Magnus and St Olav
(in Trondheim) became the twin treas-
ures of the diocese; thousands of pilgrims
journeying from Orkney to the shrine of
St Olav would, on the final steps of their

Pilgrimage: Øyvind Gimse

64 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017

CM0617_064-066_F_Magnus KC T OK.indd 64 12/05/2017 15:24:48

 TWO FESTIVALS

Twinned: Trondheim Soloists and St Magnus Cathedral

journey, have passed under the statue of St

Magnus that adorns Trondheim Cathe-
dral’s west front.
This summer, The Trondheim Soloists
(TTS) and BBC Singers will recreate that
journey, taking a new work by Alasdair
Nicholson from the St Magnus Festival on
Orkney to the St Olaf Festival in Trond-
heim. ‘For many years as a touring musician,
I was travelling around endlessly and never
noticing the difference between, say, Brussels
and Rome. I considered travelling the most
boring part of my job’, says Øyvind Gimse,
cellist and artistic director of TTS. ‘But I
realised later that it was potentially the most
important part. Travelling to different places,
meeting other people and experiencing other
cultures is what music is about.’
The idea of a ‘pilgrimage’ project was A new one, of course. Alasdair Nicolson, where it will be heard a month later. ‘Along-
knocking around at TTS headquarters for artistic director of the St Magnus Festival side the idea of religious pilgrimage is that
some years, with the upcoming festivities to to which TTS has been a frequent visitor, of journeys towards sanctuary, the special
mark 900 years since the death of Magnus was commissioned by the orchestra to write place where there is safety and tolerance,’
and the beginnings of the cathedral present- a new score on the theme of pilgrimage for says Nicholson.
ing themselves as an opportunity. But what performance at both festivals. I, Pilgrim, ‘Perhaps pilgrimage today is more of a
work could adequately unite two distantly with a libretto by the Norwegian novelist personal journey for those who are inves-
related cultures, and bind a Norwegian Jon Fosse, will be performed in Orkney tigating their own lives or attempting to
orchestra to a British choir? on 17 June before travelling to Trondheim change them.’ ►
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 65

CM0617_064-066_F_Magnus KC T OK.indd 65 12/05/2017 15:25:04

 TWO FESTIVALS
Gimse insists direct parallels exist
between the life of a musician and the lot
of a pilgrim, bound up in ideas of com-
munication and humanity. ‘This project
is a way of showing that travelling is part
of human culture and always has been’, he
says, knowing that the whole concept of
human movement is a hot topic right now.
‘The important thing to remember is that
all human culture comes from meetings
such as the one we are planning.’
The performances, Gimse’s last as TTS’s
artistic director before he stands down af-
ter 15 years handing the reigns to violinist
Geir Inge Lotsberg, will be complemented
by visits to St Magnus from KORK (the
Norwegian Radio Orchestra) and Bergen’s
Cathedral Choir. The Norwegian flavour
to this year’s St Magnus Festival reinforces
one of the island’s most steadfast interna-
tional relationships. As Europe drifts apart,
here is a timely reminder that we have
always been close to our northern neigh-
bours, even if the journey there was once a
far more arduous one. CM
A CLASSIC LOVE STORY
66 RSO–ClassicalMusicMagazine_17.indd
CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
1 13.4.2017 12.37
CM0617_064-066_F_Magnus KC T OK.indd 66
ORKNEY SALUTES ST MAGNUS
XXMAGNUS
 new work by Kirkwall composer
A a belief in something that keeps
Gemma McGregor and Orkney writer
Ron Ferguson. This piece
for chorus, soloists, narrator and
actors will recount Magnus’ story.
Its first performance on 17 June
will preface a procession from the
cathedral to the harbour, where
Viking paper boats will be sent out
to sea.
XXI, PILGRIM
 lasdair Nicolson’s new work for
A excerpts from Grieg’s Peer Gynt and
The Trondheim Soloists and BBC
Singers will reflect on the pilgrimage
tradition and its relevance in an age
of migration. ‘Those people who are
fleeing wars and travelling for miles
across sea and land, often in very
dangerous circumstances, have a
yle.fi/rso
strong purpose and hope in mind:
them travelling and searching’,
says Nicolson. It will receive its first
performance on 17 June.
XXNORWEGIAN VISITORS
 ORK will perform two concerts at
K
the St Magnus Festival under chief
conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya.
The first (18 June) includes Mozart’s
Requiem with the Festival Chorus
and the second (20 June) includes
Sibelius’s fifth symphony. Bergen
Cathedral Choir will visit Orkney
(24 June), singing music composed,
arranged and improvised by choir
members themselves.
stmagnusfestival.com
18/05/2017 10:10:27
 TAKE ME THERE
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CM0617.indd 67 18/05/2017 10:13:29

 TERRY HARRISON
THE EXTRA MILE
Music management lost one of its great figures when Terry Harrison died in January.
Andrew Green gathers memories
‘I
t signals the end of an era,’ Sir
András Schiff told me when
Harrison Turner Artist Manage-
ment closed a while back, Helen Turner
concentrating on caring for the legendary
Terry Harrison, her partner, as vascular
dementia took hold. How much more did
those words ring true at Harrison’s death
earlier this year. Quite simply, he was one
of contemporary artist management’s
ground-breaking figures.
Pianist Michael Roll remembers his
manager’s ‘boundless energy and enthu-
siasm for his work. Once Terry started a
sentence, it was hard to stop him! His no-
nonsense Yorkshire manner was a breath
of fresh air in a profession often dominat-
ed by people whose more subtle approach
belied a ruthless streak which was far less
attractive. He’s sorely missed.’
Breath of fresh air: Terry Harrison
68 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_068-069_F_Harrison KC T OK.indd 68
Terry Harrison made his name as an
artist manager as one half of the Har-
risonParrott operation, founded when he
and Jasper Parrott departed the Ibbs &
Tillett office in 1969 with bold new ideas
on managing artists, masterminding every
aspect of their careers instead of merely
booking dates. They would represent the
likes of Kyung Wha Chung, André Previn
and Radu Lupu.
Harrison had finally found his feet in
career terms after a roundabout jour-
ney. Life was tough for his single parent
mother in 1940s Sheffield. HP executive
vice-chairman Linda Marks remained in
touch when Harrison left the company
to go it alone in the late 1980s and heard
stories of his childhood. ‘His mother
would go off to work leaving the pre-teen-
age Terry in charge of his even younger
brother – with half a crown in his hand.
Terry would buy spuds and milk, then
serve up chips (cooked, frighteningly, in a
frying pan) and afterwards “coostard”, as
he’d say!’
After a spell in accountancy, Harrison
did national service before going into
banking. However, a passion for classical
music (opera especially) led to a massive
letter-writing campaign before he landed
a job at Ibbs & Tillett, where the ageing
Emmie Tillett found him and Parrott a
handful with their ‘advanced’ ideas. The
split was inevitable.
‘Artists wanted, needed and deserved
something more proactive than they were
getting – more successful, satisfying and
creative careers,’ observes Jasper Parrott.
‘Terry was a brilliant natural marketer.
I’ve rarely met anyone to match him.
He could describe artists in such an
irresistibly exciting way that promoters
felt they were missing out if they didn’t
engage them. Artists found him fascinat-
ing – good fun, lively, very impulsive,
and with ideas. He was always eager
to pursue new creative territories on
their behalf.’
‘Terry understood musicians,’ continues
Linda Marks. ‘He knew how difficult
their performing lives were, having to
cope with never being allowed an off-day.
He’d sit up all night with them if they
were going through some kind of crisis.
‘He wasn’t a great time-keeper! It
wasn’t unknown for him to leave for a
foreign trip then re-appear in the office
having missed his plane. He once turned
up really late for an important meeting,
saying “Oh, sorry!” before tipping some
peppermints on to the table with a “Help
yourself ”.’
Among European artist managers with
long-term memories of Harrison is north-
12/05/2017 15:26:06
 TERRY HARRISON

west Germany-based Martin Müller. ‘I exceptional affection and loyalty amongst

had several long talks with Terry in the
early years of my career which still are
friends, colleagues and artists.’ Another
highlighted Harrison’s ‘special way of
He could describe
very important to me,’ he says. ‘What
really impressed me was how it was always
dealing with staff, artists and promoters,
his enthusiasm and charm, his ability to
artists in such an
the artist’s artistic need and wish that call a spade a spade.’ irresistibly exciting way
were given priority. And Terry had a very Turner herself cherishes the memory of
subtle sense of humour which I loved. A someone who ‘always went the extra mile that promoters felt they
remarkable personality.’ for everyone. Terry was 58 when our son
From his decades running the Philhar- Toby was born and he was a brilliant dad. were missing out if they
monia Orchestra, David Whelton recalls
Harrison’s ‘forensic approach to managing
A neighbour wrote saying “We have lovely
memories of hearing Terry and Toby play-
didn’t engage them
artists on a bespoke list, and yet there was ing cricket in the garden”.’ CM
also something slightly old school about
him. He did things with style and dignity Terry Harrison, 26 August 1937 - 23 January 2017
– the opposite of a hard-nosed business-
man. Terry never over-sold an artist,
and was very skilled at conveying realities
to an artist who might have wondered
why London fees didn’t match those
available elsewhere.’
Helen Turner was swamped with mes-
sages of tribute at Harrison’s death. An
example describes ‘a one-off: a man with
a warm and generous spirit who inspired

21 July – 6 August 2017

JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 69

CM0617_068-069_F_Harrison KC T OK.indd 69 18/05/2017 10:11:34

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Beautiful complexity
As Jakub Hrůša
announces programming
for his second season in
the Bamberg Symphony,
he talks to Kimon Daltas
about the complicated
historical roots of the
orchestra and why it
makes a natural home
from home
CM0617_071-073_F_Bamberg KC T OK.indd 71
T
he city of Bamberg – a Unesco world
heritage site with Germany’s largest
old town, having largely escaped
Allied bombing – is a magnet for tourists from
around the world and yet by no means overrun
with them. It lies on the river Regnitz near
where it meets the Main, in northern Bavaria
(actually Upper Franconia, as locals will abso-
lutely insist), not far from Bayreuth and closer
to Prague than to Berlin.
Not having its own airport – you fly to
Nuremberg – adds an extra step to any journey,
which seems enough to keep away most Brits. It
didn’t deter Jonathan Nott, though, who took
on the orchestra in 2000 and stepped down just
last year after a reign only slightly short of the
orchestra’s founding principal conductor Joseph
Keilberth’s from 1949 to 1968.
© PETRA KLAČKOVÁ
Diplomatic mission: Jakub Hrůša
The orchestra’s true roots go much further
back, however, and further east, as it was
formed largely by members of the German
Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague expelled
after the second world war. That Bohemian
ancestry is crucial to its identity and evident
in its long-term programming favourites, with
Mahler, of course, a particular lynchpin.
There is therefore an added cultural interest
to the appointment of the Czech conductor
Jakub Hrůša to take the orchestra through its
next phase. It inevitably invites an examina-
tion of a complicated history which is after all
just a small reflection of the huge changes in
central Europe through the centuries.
‘It’s not a coincidence, is it?’ says Hrůša,
whom we are lucky to have seen quite a
lot of on these shores, particularly with ►
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 71
17/05/2017 10:30:21
 BAMBERG SYMPHONY
New perspectives: Bamberg Symphony Orchestra
the Philharmonia and at Glyndebourne
or during his three years as music director
of Glyndebourne on Tour. ‘This coming
together is something of a fantastic fortune,
because it really connects various back-
grounds and components of relationship in
a complete harmony.’
Hrůša was born in Brno, the Czech
Republic’s second city, in historical Moravia,
but studied and began his career in Prague,
the Bohemian capital. In that context, neither
the orchestra’s Prague-based antecedent, nor
Gustav Mahler for that matter, were Czech:
they were German-speaking in Czech lands.
‘And that’s quite an important distinction,’
continues Hrůša, ‘because it gives our relation-
ship with Bamberg even more spice. There
is quite a bit of difference between German-
speaking Bohemians and Czech-speaking
Bohemians. The two cultural streams were
always neighbouring each other, there was
always a tension and collaboration – this kind
of interesting co-existence.
‘And take Mahler, he’s just the right exam-
ple. He was born in exactly the same region
that Smetana and Martinů were born. But
72 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_071-073_F_Bamberg KC T OK.indd 72
unlike them, he was really from a German-
speaking Jewish community. So his cultural
background was on one hand the same, and
on the other completely different. It creates a
beautiful complexity.’
So Hrůša finds himself chief conductor of
Bamberg Symphony as well as the permanent
guest at the Czech Philharmonic. And if you
trace back the genealogy, they’re like two
branches of the same tree torn apart by wars
and territorial disputes.
‘This collaboration and friendship which we
have now feels like a beautifully fulfilled dip-
lomatic mission that those two shades of the
same culture embrace each other completely
without really thinking about it much.’
As for the orchestra’s sound and affinity for
particular repertoire, Hrůša is clear: ‘I would
definitely say that Bamberg Symphony is a
German orchestra. It’s not a Czech orchestra.
They have roots here and the best possible
quality stemming from the traditions here.
However, their approach to Czech music and
to Slavic music maybe, may differ profoundly
from other German orchestras because they’re
simply close to it, historically.
© ANDREAS HERZAU
‘I really think that music making in Bam-
berg, in Prague, in Vienna, is quite close. Much
closer than, for instance, Berlin and Hamburg.
It’s a different tradition. And this origin of the
orchestra in Bohemia simply creates an affinity
which is quite unique – there are compos-
ers such as Mahler, who therefore feel very
authentic here in the orchestra.’
These ideas are feeding directly into the fu-
ture programming of the orchestra, with what
Hrůša describes as the ‘not only but also’ ap-
proach: ‘Exploring a bit of the core repertoire
– which also will be the focus of our recording
activities – so we will definitely explore a lot
music by Brahms, Dvořák, Mahler, Richard
Strauss, all these things which just belong to
the traditions of the orchestra. Also Mozart,
because I believe every symphony orchestra
should regularly play smaller, more chamber-
like pieces to really have a deep connection
between each other.
‘On the other hand, there are also fields of
repertoire where I really feel it’s important
to bring new perspectives, even if it’s not of
contemporary music. Including repertoire from
my country, so there are composers such as Suk
17/05/2017 10:30:53

and Martinů. Also composers who somehow
stand exactly culturally between Bohemia and
Germany or Austria, people like Carl Maria von
Weber who was active in Prague, Alexander von
Zemlinsky. I think it takes orchestras from this
part of the world to really advocate this music,
you know, because who else should do it?’
I
f Hrůša is currently mainly an orchestral
conductor, he is making sure to keep up
his opera work too, not least in Barrie
Kosky’s new production of Carmen at Covent
Garden in March 2018.
‘You cannot, I think, without compromis-
ing, do both at the same point of your career,
with exactly the same amount of time and
devotion. But if you elevate a bit and look at
the career from a higher perspective, what I
find important is to stay in close contact with
both art forms, and so far I always have done.’
Back in 2012, however, things were looking
like taking a turn in favour of opera with his
appointment as music director of the Royal
Danish Opera, joining at the same time as
artistic director Keith Warner. However,
a big government funding cut saw Warner
withdraw, and Hrůša followed him out – an
immensely difficult decision, considering it
would have been a major step up career-wise,
Solid base: The orchestra has 6,000 subscriptions in a city of 60,000 at its Konzerthalle Bamberg home
CM0617_071-073_F_Bamberg KC T OK.indd 73
and a natural progression from his time at
Glyndebourne on Tour (he continues to de-
scribe Glyndebourne as his ‘operatic home’).
He is surprisingly unguarded about the
entire affair, and responding to the suggestion
that bad luck was to blame, he says: ‘Luck. I
don’t say good or bad! Just luck.
‘I take that what happened had to happen,
and I think I most probably would have gained a
lot of experience, but I would have lost a lot too.
‘It is sad to see stories of budgets and tur-
moil continuing in Copenhagen. In a sense,
it makes me more peaceful, because I realise,
again, that I made the right decision. Or at
least that it wasn’t just my capriciousness.
‘On the other hand, I would wish the
artists there really to flourish, and it seems
it’s not easy. I mean, art-making isn’t easy
anywhere, and budget cuts are omnipresent,
but after all, it’s the main theatrical institu-
tion in the whole country.’
Budgets are one worry that he doesn’t have
in Bamberg. The orchestra has some 6,000
subscriptions (in a city of 60,000) and is rock
solidly funded, to the tune of around 80%,
by Bavaria, the city, and the local district. As
part of its regional remit, the orchestra tours
many concerts to neighbouring towns, which
Hrůša cherishes as an opportunity to get extra
BAMBERG SYMPHONY
time to go deeper into works and experiment.
‘You touch the music each time anew and in
a different acoustical setting and learn more
and more about it so that sometimes it really
feels truly precious when you come for the last
concert in Bamberg.’
The orchestra tours further afield, to festivals,
later this year to Spain, and next year to Japan
for the 15th time. Following an established
pattern, it is also reasonable to expect a Proms
appearance in 2018 or 2019, too. But why wait,
suggests Hrůša, keen to close our conversation
with a hymn of praise to the city of Bamberg.
‘It is very beautiful. Especially the small
river with its serene atmosphere is very dear to
me. It has its beautiful hills and medieval ar-
chitecture, and great pubs with a famous local
beer [made with smoked malted barley]. And
there’s also a cultural life here and university,
so the town feels alive.
‘Actually, for me, it’s very difficult to find
any disadvantage to Bamberg.’ CM
Jakub Hrůša will be conducting the BBC Symphony
Orchestra in a programme of Czech music at the
Proms on 26 August, and the Philharmonia in a
programme including Dvořák’s violin concerto with
Hilary Hahn at De Montfort Hall on 7 October and the
Royal Festival Hall on 8 October
© PETER EBERTS
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 73
17/05/2017 10:31:24
 ADVERTORIAL
MUSICIAN ON A MISSION:
an interview with pianist
Elizabeth Sombart
A
recording consisting entirely of
piano concerto slow movements is
no ordinary album. But Elizabeth
Sombart is no ordinary pianist. The French
musician, pedagogue and writer has devoted
her career not only to performance, but to
communication through music-making at the
deepest level.
Having studied the phenomenology of
music with no lesser figure than the conduc-
74 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_074-075_Advertorial T OKED.indd 74
tor Sergiu Celibidache, she has written a
three-volume book on the system she terms
‘Pédagogie Résonnance’; and in 1988 she
instigated the Fondation Résonnances that
now operates in seven countries, aiming
both to educate young musicians and to
encourage them to bring music to disad-
vantaged, ill and suffering people well away
from usual performance venues. Three years
ago she also founded a new international
centre for studies and masterclasses in her
Résonnance system.
The new recording, with the Royal Philhar-
monic Orchestra conducted by Pierre Vallet,
ties in, she says, with those humanitarian
aims. “I noticed that in my concerts, in places
where classical music is not so well known, it
is through the slow movements that people
would be more immediately touched,” she says.
“Perhaps the composers opened their hearts
more in the slow movements than anywhere
else. These composers say in their adagios: ‘I
understand your suffering, I understand how
difficult life is; I can tell it for you without
words and I can also give you hope’.”
The album juxtaposes concerto movements
from Bach to Ravel, including a new composi-
tion by Pierre Adolphe written especially for
Sombart. It also reunites the team with which
she recorded the Chopin concertos a couple
of years ago: Vallet is a close friend, while
the RPO, through its flourishing ‘Resound’
programme of community work, shares many
of her own ideals.
Sombart first began to explore this direc-
tion, she says, when an elderly woman came
up to her after a recital and told her that
she would not be able to come to concerts
in future because she was going into a care
home. The pianist responded promptly that
she would come in and play to the residents
on location.
“Because I knew the power of classical
music, I suffered a lot with this institution-
alised lie that classical music belongs to
people who are rich and educated,” Sombart
declares. “This is not true. Music belongs
to everybody. I have given thousands of
concerts – in Palestinian camps, in war
situations, in prisons, in hospital for elderly
people, for orphaned children – and some of
these people have never seen a grand piano
in their lives. It would be the first time
they had heard Schubert’s Ave Maria or
some Chopin and, believe me, they were all
 lizabeth Sombart recording Favourite
E
Adagios at Abbey Road Studios
12/05/2017 15:28:18

Elizabeth Sombart and Pierre Vallet performing with the RPO at Cadogan Hall in 2016
touched and often crying, because classi-
cal music speaks about the heart and about
what is the best in all of us.”
Sombart’s musical journey began under-
neath her mother’s piano. As a child, she
was fortunate enough to meet great pianists
including Wilhelm Kempff and Emil Gilels,
artists her parents would invite to their home
in Strasbourg. She remembers sensing a
musical “calling” early on: “Under this piano,
surrounded by music, I knew that that was my
world, the world where everything could be
understandable,” she says.
Winning a competition in Paris aged ten,
she realised, she says, that competitiveness
has nothing to do with making music. “I was
not happy to have won, because I saw some
of the others crying and their parents being
sad, although I thought everyone had played
well,” she says. “I thought that one day I would
imagine a school where competition would
not exist, or not like that. And this is actually
what I did, 20 years later.” Non-competitive
piano schools are a vital part of the Fondation
Résonnance’s activities.
At 16 Sombart met her pianistic hero,
Bruno-Leonardo Gelber, who invited her to
study with him in Argentina. She managed
to find a sponsor and made her way, alone, to
Buenos Aires – despite being terrified of flying.
CM0617_074-075_Advertorial T OKED.indd 75
Further studies included time in Vienna with
Hilde Langer-Rühl and in London with Peter
Feuchtwanger, and ultimately delving into
musical phenomenology with Celibidache,
over ten years – a serendipitous contact, as the
great conductor was a friend of her grandfa-
ther’s, the economist Werner Sombart.
“From Celibidache I learned something
very important: music doesn’t exist in itself,”
says Sombart. “Turning sound into music
needs knowledge – and the music exists at
the end, or not. That was absolutely revolu-
tionary for me, because he said that either
you use music to tell who you are, or you use
music to get above what you are, and you
reveal the relations between sounds to make
them become music. Actually it’s not you
that gives order to the sounds, but the just
relation between them, and the knowledge
of how you have to do it, that will finally
adjust your world – not the contrary.
“The phenomenology of music is about how
we can reduce the multiplicity of the param-
eters of the sound phenomenon into unity.
Because we have one consciousness, we cannot
take something in in multiplicity: we have to
reduce it to unity. If you play five notes, they
can remain separate, or you create one unity
of them. Then this is not only for five notes,
but for the whole piece. Celibidache would say
ADVERTORIAL
therefore that the end is already in the begin-
ning; and it was important to understand that
the notes come from silence and go back to the
silence – as we do.”
Meanwhile she remains devoted to her
Fondation Résonnances. “The first aim of
the foundation is to give music back to the
people in places where music doesn’t go,” she
says. Across centres in Romania, Italy, Spain,
France, Lebanon, Belgium and Switzerland,
the foundation sends its students to play
in “solidarity” venues such as hospitals and
orphanages, enabling the young musicians to
understand that “the mission of an artist is to
give back, and to see for themselves what joy
they can give in those places”.
And next? “I hope,” says Sombart, “that what
we try to do at the foundation together will
radiate around us this hope, this beauty, this
immense work we are doing to make the world,
people and life more beautiful. Simple!” CM
Jessica Duchen
Elizabeth Sombart’s latest album, Favourite Adagios
(LYD002), will be available on CD – and also to down-
load – from all major stores from 3 June. She will be
performing a recital entitled The Art of Chopin on
20 June at Cadogan Hall. For more information and
tickets, please visit: www.cadoganhall.com
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 75
12/05/2017 15:28:31
 RECORDING NEWS FROM THE STUDIOS BY PHILLIP SOMMERICH
Tales of alienation
Soprano Kate Lindsey joins jazz pianist Didier Trotignon to explore a
turn-of-the-century theme
© ROSETTA GREEK
Deeper levels: Kate Lindsey
H
ard on the heels of Benjamin Appl’s
album Heimat, on the elusive con-
cept of homeland, Kate Lindsey’s
debut recording for Alpha Classics, Thousands
of Miles, explores alienation through the
works of 20th-century composers.
It may echo a Zeitgeist, but the American-
born, London-resident soprano says it did not
start that way.
‘I was trying to work through ideas with
Didier Martin, the producer of the album,
and he came up with Kurt Weill. I had not
come across that music before and I thought
I needed a couple of weeks to look a bit more
closely at him and his contemporaries. I had
done quite a lot of repertoire from the early
20th century and looking at the composers
I felt there was something there that was
quite interesting.’
The choice of jazz pianist Didier Trotignon
as her partner solidified matters. Lindsey
arrived in Paris with a ‘big bag of music’ that
served as a bridge between two genres.
‘We work in a complementary way. I really
76 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_076-079_R_Recording KC T OK.indd 76
focus on the text, that’s what draws me in. He,
being the ultimate jazz musician, is thinking
about the structure of the music.’
Lindsey had not worked with jazz musi-
cians before, but her early career was im-
mersed in music theatre. ‘As opposed to opera,
people spend a lot more time in a rehearsal
space, people do a lot more acting exercises
together, and I grew up with a lot more Broad-
way and jazz sound.’
The alienation theme emerged gradually.
‘What struck me, looking at early 20th-
century music and moving on into the 1930s
and 1940s is that the harmonic progressions
were such a precursor to the sounds we hear in
jazz even today. The way the music flows into
the “modern” sound is quite smooth.’
The works of composers such as Zemlinsky
and Alma Mahler revealed a sense of restless-
ness, underlined by the high suicide rate in
early 20th-century Vienna. ‘You see it in the
art, you hear it in the music.’ During the first
world war that became ‘a sense of desperation’
that deepened in the post-war world.
‘There was at the turn of the century a sense
of alienation within one’s self, everyone is
looking for a sense of deeper understanding
of what life means. Then it comes to the point
where people are being forced to leave their
homes and countries, and that is a whole other
sense of alienation. We didn’t base the album
on the crises happening in the world today but
that sense of alienation is being keenly felt in
the world today. It has taken on deeper levels
than I first imagined.’
Lindsey’s appearance this summer at
Glyndebourne as Sesto in La clemenza di Tito
– a role she first performed at the Théâtre des
Champs-Élysées – might be thought, then,
as a step back into a world with scant modern
resonances, but not to her. ‘What is difficult
in having to stage the work is made up for by
the sheer beauty of the music, and the depth
of the relationship between the characters can
really be focused on. There is betrayal due to a
love that is being manipulated. I think we can
all relate to times we have struggled between
friendship and having to do something that
might not be right for that other person.’
There are at least two more recordings to
come with Alpha but planning for them must
await a schedule that has kept Lindsey away
from home: a run of Cherubinos in Vienna
has been followed by taking a programme
of Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne to Paris,
Vienna, Prague and Dresden.
www.katelindsey.com
12/05/2017 15:29:48

Survival tactics
Szymon Laks is celebrated in a new release as part of Chandos’ Music in Exile series
T
he music of composers murdered in
the Holocaust has been resurrected
in several recordings, but Simon
Wynberg in his Music in Exile series for
Chandos focuses on those who, he argues,
suffered because they survived.
None more so than his latest subject,
Szymon Laks, six of whose chamber works
are recorded – mostly for the first time – by
Canada’s ARC Ensemble, of which Wyn-
berg is artistic director.
Laks was a Pole who studied mathemat-
ics, conducting and composition in Paris,
and was deported to Auschwitz in 1942.
Wynberg speculates that because of his
charm, musicianship and knowledge of five
languages, Laks was spared hard labour and
made conductor of the camp orchestra. He
composed the tunes that accompanied fel-
low Jews to the gas chambers.
‘It was a terrifying place to be in, but at
the end of the war he looked back at a time
when he was in the middle of this horror yet
worked in this music room where he spent
Rediscovered: Szymon Laks, and with his wife in 1948
CM0617_076-079_R_Recording KC T OK.indd 77
RECORDING NEWS FROM THE STUDIOS BY PHILLIP SOMMERICH
all his time. He expressed regret when the
orchestra in Auschwitz was closed and he
was shipped out.’
The postwar years were troubled for Laks.
In an interview for Apple Republic Films
(http://bit.ly/2pDgp1m), Laks’ son André,
professor of philosophy at the Sorbonne,
recalls that his father seldom left his Paris
flat and shunned concerts.
‘When the six-day war broke out in
1967 he felt, “Here we go again”. It was an
existential crisis and he stopped composing,’
Wynberg says. Instead, he turned to litera-
ture, including Music from Another World,
his account of the years in Auschwitz.
Within this bleak history, Wynberg has
found a musical treasury: ‘There is a lot of
music there and there is not a weak piece
among them. He never experimented with
serial music or any of the vogueish things
that happened. He developed a language
fairly early on and he stuck with it.’
That language is a striking mix of Polish
and French influences. ‘We took the piano
He composed the
tunes that accompanied
fellow Jews to the gas
chambers
quintet to Poland in 2008 and got an amaz-
ing reception. Some of these tunes were
familiar to the audience,’ Wynberg says.
A guitarist, conductor and arranger,
Wynberg has piles of scores from Holocaust
survivors awaiting rediscovery. Material
for a previous recording of works by Jerzy
Fitelberg was found in the New York public
library’s Lincoln Centre branch. ‘No one
had looked at them. One piece had been
performed but none of the others had been.’
www.arcensemble.com ►
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 77
12/05/2017 15:30:01
 Supported by Beethoven-Haus Bonn.

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CM0617.indd 78 18/05/2017 10:13:30

Quick thinking
Presto Classical’s head of editorial has enlarged its online presence to great effect
K
atherine
Cooper
says she
has always been
equally interested
in words and mu-
sic, and her role as
Katherine Cooper head of editorial
at retailer Presto
Classical has struck an ideal balance.
While the UK has retained a surprising
number of independent classical music retail-
ers, Presto has a worldwide online following
rivalling those of Apple, Amazon and Google.
And, while those giants bind their employees
to strict anonymity, Presto encourages its staff
to display their musical abilities and enthusi-
asms to customers.
Cooper, as Presto’s head of editorial, has
enlarged its online presence with interviews
and reviews that have won respect from the
recording industry and its consumers alike.
Her childhood enthusiasm was the violin
but at secondary school that switched to
English literature, which took her to Oxford
University. ‘Like so many people, I got the
singing bug in the chapel choir.’
She took a Saturday job at Blackwell’s. ‘I
loved talking to people about the music that
Tinderbox ten
A left-field musical project in Scotland now has a CD to help spread the word
I
s it an arts centre or a community project?
That question, often asked of Jack
Nissan, founder and creative director of
Tinderbox, is now answered by the release of
an album titled Tinderbox.
Its ten tracks, ranging from a poem deliv-
ered by composer Nigel Osborne to Frazer
Knox’s Quetzalcoatl, for an orchestra featur-
ing classical and pop instruments – and
released in January as a single – to rapping
from Thomas Murray, sums up the evolution
of Tinderbox since it attracted a few dozen
youngsters in the tough Edinburgh suburb
CM0617_076-079_R_Recording KC T OK.indd 79
RECORDING NEWS FROM THE STUDIOS BY PHILLIP SOMMERICH
excited me and helping them to find what they
were looking for, or didn’t know they were
looking for. Slowly I realised that was what I
wanted to do rather than writing academic
work that only a few people would read.’
In 2009, with the PhD gained and having
risen to head the Oxford retailer’s classical
recording department, she was hired by Presto.
‘When I started it was more of a data job,
wrestling with the metadata.’
Then, the Presto website’s editorial content
was just a brief weekly editorial from manag-
ing director Chris O’Reilly. ‘Then Chris went
off to Australia for six weeks and asked me if I
could do the weekly thought. I loved it and we
got a positive response.’
She was already doing concert reviews
elsewhere (and has a busy side career as a
mezzo), and decided to review new recordings
for Presto. Then, for Dame Janet Baker’s 80th
birthday Cooper did a video interview with
the singer. ‘I hope I was not too star-struck, but
soon other record labels and artist managers
asked me to do the same thing.’
Artists on tour volunteer to be interviewed
on Skype or even film themselves and send in
the result. Now fellow staffers James Long-
staffe and David Smith also contribute. ‘We
aim for two interviews a week, and have to
of Muirhouse to a music workshop.
‘The idea was to do something unusual with
an orchestra and bring together people from
all walks of life in an inclusive environment,’
Nissan says.
Further sessions combining music
students, people from the band scene and
estate youngsters with no music experience
to compose and perform developed slowly
until 2012, when a multi-faith project
titled Colour of Conflict brought together
people from mosques, Sikh temples and
Christian churches.
turn loads of people away. We do roundups
like the best boxed sets review once a month
and the best high-res downloads.’
Unsurprisingly, all reviews are positive –
Cooper does not deny that the site is there
to sell recordings. ‘We only ever write about
something we genuinely love, regardless of
how much pressure we get from external
sources.’ A summary of the online content is
emailed out to Presto’s 100,000 newsletter
recipients. Presto has expanded into sheet
music and instruments and its product range
of 750,000 items bring international attention
to its base in Leamington Spa. On average
there are daily bulk mail-outs to airports in
25 countries, for forwarding to individual
customers in those territories.
‘We get a lot of feedback. It’s nice, replicat-
ing the conversation you would have with
people who wander in. I think customers ap-
preciate they are dealing with real people with
real opinions.’ One Israeli customer recently
sent Cooper a gift of Dead Sea cosmetics.
What goes unmentioned for now is stream-
ing. ‘We can’t ignore it, but the question, is
how do we monetise it? That remains some-
thing for the future.’
www.prestoclassical.co.uk
Today the Edinburgh sessions draw some
200 people to compose and perform, and
many participants have gone on to careers in
music. It has also had input from Osborne,
who has found synergies with his longstanding
work with war-scarred youngsters in Bosnia
and Croatia.
A Tinderbox is planned for Dumfries, but
Nissan hopes the recording – available on
streaming and download sites as well as in CD
form – will spread the creative fire further. CM
www.tinderboxcollective.org
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 79
12/05/2017 15:30:19
 REVIEWS BY GUY WEATHERALL

CDs
Bach: St John Passion
EDITOR’S CHOICE Lothar Odinius (t), Christian Immler (ba),
Schubert, Schumann, Britten, Debussy, etc: works for cello and piano etc; Les Musiciens du Louvre, Marc
Mstislav Rostropovich (vc), Benjamin Britten (pf) Minkowski
Testament SBT2 1517 (2CD) Erato 0190295854058 (2CD)
 

Nothing to see here? These artists made excellent Decca
studio recordings of sonatas by Schubert, Debussy and
Britten (and the five Folk Pieces by Schumann), so why issue
these previously-unissued 1961 Aldeburgh Festival
recordings? Well, two reasons: this is the world premiere of
Britten’s sonata, a tense, compact work written expressly for
Rostropovich and fitting him like a glove; and the sheer
magnetism of both musicians’ playing is jaw-dropping. The Schubert is warm and
expressive, without the hint of mannerism that mars the studio recording; the
Debussy and Schumann are vivid and captivating; the Britten (with two movements
encored) incandescent. With generous Bach bonuses and naturally-balanced mono
sound, this is a hugely important release.
Sheer magnetism: Rostropovich and Britten
Paring down his
vocal forces to just
nine voices, and
opting for an
accompaniment
harpsichord and
contrabassoon
continuo, Minkowski achieves great
clarity but also great depth of texture.
Solos and choruses are shared, and there
is no weak link anywhere in the line-up.
Odinius’s Evangelist is superb, clear and
focused, pairing nicely with Immler’s rich,
sonorous Jesus. Orchestral playing and
dramatic timing are of the very highest
standard throughout, matched by fine
recorded sound. A thought-provoking
alternative to last month’s King’s
Cambridge release.

Brahms: Die schöne Magelone;

Vier ernste Gesänge
Roderick Williams (ba), Roger Vignoles
(pf)
Champs Hill Records CHRCD108 (2CD)
    

Brahms’
picaresque
romance has an
identity crisis: is it
a cycle of 15 songs
which tells part of
the story, or is it an
evening of words and music which tells
the whole story? The current artists
generously resolve the issue by
presenting both, squeezing the full
version alternating songs with Vignoles’
deft translation of Tieck on the first disc,
the song-only version coupled with the
Four Serious Songs on the second.
Williams is in superb voice, matched by
Vignoles’ incisive playing: this is clearly a
labour of love for both artists and one
which should be rewarded.
80 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017

CM0617_080-081_R_Reviews Cds 2 pages KC T OK.indd 80 12/05/2017 15:31:28

 REVIEWS

Saint-Saëns: Proserpine of the overall shape of the work, never Debussian of rare insight, and a Strauss
Véronique Gens (s), Marie-Adeline Henry letting tension slip. Typically fine Chandos Burleske from Pittsburgh (learnt in a
(s), etc; Flemish Radio Choir; Munich Radio surround sound. week) belies Kapell’s apparent
Orchestra, Ulf Schirmer dissatisfaction with it. Few allowances
Ediciones Singulares ES1027 (2CD) need to be made for the sound.
 Honegger: Le Roi David
Soloists; Lausanne Vocal Ensemble;
Saint-Saens’ Swiss Romande Orchestra, Daniel Reuss Bach: Overtures nos 1, 3 & 4
Wagnerian lyric Mirare MIR318 Zefiro, Aldredo Bernardini
drama tells of a      Arcana A400
courtesan cursed 

never to find love, a All recordings of this

story to which the
work’s harmonic
boldness and
full-throated drama
are well suited. One
of the composer’s
most dissonant
scores, it has hardly been heard since its
1887 premiere. If Gens is marvellous as the
tortured Proserpine, it’s Henry who makes
an even bigger impression as her innocent
rival Angiola. She is relatively new to disc
and we should hear more of her. As with
other recordings in this series, Schirmer
conducts with authority and panache,
making the most of a fascinating score.
This enterprising label should be
congratulated for yet another imaginative
release, beautifully recorded and
handsomely packaged.
Elgar: Symphony no 1; Introduction
and Allegro*
inventive biblical
drama rest in the
shadow of
Ansermet’s vintage
Decca version. Sixty
years on, the same
orchestra (albeit scaled down to
Honegger’s original pit band) triumph with
a performance which outclasses its
predecessor in nearly every department.
If Christophe Balissat’s narrator is a little
on the cool side, solo singers are
uniformly excellent (especially mezzo
Marianne Beate Kielland). Reuss paces
the drama perfectly and is well served by
his engineers. Anyone unfamiliar with this
work now has no excuse.
William Kapell: Broadcasts and
Concert Performances 1944-1952
William Kapell (pf)
Marston 53021-2 (3CD)
    
Bach’s overtures (or
are they suites?)
have been lucky on
record, yet even if it
leaves out the
B minor (BWV 1067
with flute), this is a
highly desirable release. Playing throughout
is crisp and vibrant – Bernadini’s
scampering about with his fellow oboist and
bassoon is a delight – yet every bar feels
infused with the spirit of the dance. The
famous D major air is meltingly beautiful,
the three unison violins entirely as one.
With matching demonstration quality
sound, surely the omission mentioned
above can be rectified soon?
Shostakovich: Preludes and Fugues,
Op 87
Peter Donohoe (pf)
Signum SIGCD396 (2CD)


Doric String Quartet*; BBCSO, Edward

Gardner Kapell was killed in
Chandos CHSA5181 (hybrid-SACD) a plane crash aged
 just 31 and his
recordings provide
The gamble of a tantalising
supplementing an glimpse into the
orchestra’s string artist he could have
section with the become. This lovingly remastered set
members of an adds significantly to his posthumous
established string discography, and speaks of a refined
quartet pays off here musician for whom detail and clarity were
handsomely, the first-among-equals feeling as important as expressive warmth.
enhancing a finely nuanced recording of the Mozart’s K330 sonata is crisp and
Introduction and Allegro. In the symphony, buoyant in outer movements,
Gardner’s feeling for pace and for colour unsentimentally lyrical in the second.
really are top drawer, more measured than Both Children’s Corner and Suite
some performances but never losing sight bergamasque show him to have been a
Playing straight,
expansively and
respectfully,
Donohoe seems to
see the set of 24
Bach-inspired pieces
as a single work. His
approach is cogent, if sometimes it results
in a somewhat dogged quality (the slightly
woolly sound doesn’t help). While there is
not a hint of mannerism or exhibitionism at
any point in these two well-filled discs, the
current issue is not to be preferred to
Nikolayeva (seek out her revelatory sixties
Melodiya recording, fleeter than her two
digital remakes) or especially Melnikov
(Harmonia Mundi). CM
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 81

CM0617_080-081_R_Reviews Cds 2 pages KC T OK.indd 81 12/05/2017 15:32:02

 © Camilla Greenwell, Menuhin Competition London 2016

MENUHIN
APPLICATION DEADLINE
31 October 2017

ELIGIBILITY

COMPETITION
Violinists born after 22 April 1996

JURY

GENEVA 2018
PAMELA FRANK Chair USA
JOJI HATTORI Vice Chair Japan / Austria

APRIL 12 – 22
THE WORLD’S LEADING COMPETITION
FOR YOUNG VIOLINISTS
ITAMAR GOLAN Lithuania / Israel / France
ILYA GRINGOLTS Russia / Switzerland
HENNING KRAGGERUD Norway
LU SIQING China
JOSEF ŠPAČEK Czech Republic
MAXIM VENGEROV Monaco
SOYOUNG YOON South Korea

ORCHESTRAS & CONDUCTORS

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
L’Orchestre de Chambre de Genève
REPERTOIRE & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
APPLICATION INFORMATION Marin Alsop
MENUHINCOMPETITION.ORG Julian Rachlin

The information was correct at the time of print. Details may be subject to change. The
Menuhin Competition Trust. Registered in England No. 01612181. Registered Charity No. 284467

CM0617.indd 82 18/05/2017 10:13:30


BOOKS
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Cherubino’s Leap:
In Search of the
Enlightenment Moment
Richard Kramer
University of Chicago Press
Hardback, £31.50
Not for the casual reader,
this admirable sequence
of nine studies will appeal
most strongly to anyone
with a special interest in
music of the Enlightenment
period. Kramer refers
to ‘a book of snapshots’
because ‘each of them
captures a moment’, but this is not to imply any superficiality,
nor any suggestion of the modern mania for ‘soundbites’. These
snapshots are what we might describe as moments of truth –
‘the smile, the gesture, the telling action that invites us into the
piece and that, upon further reflection ... guides us into its less
accessible recesses, deepening for us its befores and afters.’
The first two selected musical examples are a few
extraordinary bars from the opening movement of Mozart’s
C major string quintet and a moment from the second
movement of C P E Bach’s boldly original Sonata in F minor
(from the third collection ‘für Kenner und Liebhaber’). Then,
after a chapter on the pre-eminence of Klopstock’s verse,
Kramer examines Gluck’s setting of Klopstock’s Der Jüngling
(later version), C P E Bach’s ‘unsettling’ lied based on the
same poet’s Lyda, and Beethoven’s sketches for never-to-be-
realised lieder settings of Klopstock texts.
The remaining chapters focus on an extract from Gluck’s
Iphigénie en Tauride, Cherubino’s music from The Marriage of
Figaro, especially the extremely anxious passage ending with the
Page’s leap from a window (hence this book’s title), and, finally,
Konstanze’s soliloquy in Act 2 of Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
Before all of these psychologically penetrating discussions,
which represent the bulk of a scholarly and rewarding book,
Chapter 1 concerns ‘The Chromatic Moment in Enlightenment
Thought’. For the great philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, ‘it is
the element of surprise – Überraschung is his word – that, in
some measure, defines Enlightenment sensibility’ … ‘Unhappy
are those whom reason has hardened against the onset of
such a surprise.’ Here Kramer’s purpose is ‘to understand …
how, in the music of the Enlightenment, the tension between
… the diatonic and the chromatic plays itself out in music that
seems often enough [a rather weakening qualification] an
exploration of this very tension.’
PHILIP BORG-WHEELER
CM0617_083_R_Reviews Books 1 page KC T OK.indd 83
REVIEWS
Benjamin Britten and
Russia
Cameron Pyke
Boydell and Brewer
Hardback, £55
This engaging, multi-faceted
subject was waiting to be
addressed, so this major study
is very welcome. Cameron
Pyke deals with every aspect,
beginning with ‘Earliest
and Lifelong Russophilia’. A
recurring theme is Britten’s
passion for Tchaikovsky,
dating from the 1920s, a
time when such high regard
was uncommon. Other chapters consider Britten’s attitudes
towards the music of Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Stravinsky
respectively. How much did each composer influence Britten?
The answers are complex – by no means clear-cut, except in
isolated instances. Few major composers of strong individuality
are too obviously influenced by their contemporaries, as those
influences which do occur are effectively subsumed.
Pyke works hard to draw parallels, but many turn out to be
relatively minor – often a case of similar ideas being adopted for
different purposes. The detailed comparative readings of works
such as Shostakovich’s second cello concerto and Britten’s Cello
Symphony will be better appreciated with scores to hand.
With performers we are on more secure ground. Britten was
powerfully influenced by Rostropovich (who wouldn’t be?) but
also by his wife Vishnevskaya. The soprano part of the War
Requiem was intended for, and remarkably suited to, the unique
characteristics of her voice. When Rostropovich first played
through her music he said, ‘He’s painted your portrait!’.
Though Britten is often described as a withdrawn and difficult
man, his modesty and kindness are also mentioned in these pages.
Of course, a personal slight would be neither forgotten nor forgiven,
and thus Stravinsky’s acid remarks do explain Britten’s eventual
lack of interest in his music. His admiration of even favourite
composers was usually selective, while he found Mussorgsky,
Rachmaninov and Scriabin unattractive. Other questions include:
did Britten influence younger Russian composers such as
Schnittke? How deep was Britten’s interest in Russian literature?
The 17 indices comprise interviews (with Lord Harewood,
Donald Mitchell, Hochhauser, Vishnevskaya, Rozhdestvensky
and others) and testimony (Mackerras). These are generally
revealing, although there is some repetition. One error which
should have been spotted is a reference to Shostakovich’s viola
sonata as a ‘Concerto’, while Britten’s nurse, Rita Thomson,
becomes ‘Thompson’ on p 274. CM
PHILIP BORG-WHEELER
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 83
12/05/2017 15:33:33
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JUST VOICES
Pärt for 2017. As well as a required perfor-

© ANDREAS GRIEGER
PRINT & DIGITAL
mance of one of Pärt’s works by all choirs
at their heats, there will also be an opening
CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017 £5.50
concert of music by Pärt at the start of the
week. Fringe events include an exhibition of
photographs of the composer, and a showing
As the third London International A Cappella competition prepares to take over of a film about his life, Even if I lose everything.
For the Ole Bull Kammerkor, based
St John’s Smith Square Helen Cocks talks to founder Peter Phillips and some in Bergen, Norway, the connection with Pärt

FORMATS
was a deciding factor in its entry
of the participants into the competition, having previously
worked with the composer on a project in
Iceland. The choir’s director Jon Flydal Blich-

W
hat do a university society from
Indonesia, a Columbian new
music ensemble, a group of
singers named after a Norwegian violinist
and a London Catholic boys’ choir have in
common? They will all be competing later
this year at St John’s Smith Square as part
of the London International A Cappella
singing outside the UK flourishing, wanted to
bring some of this talent to London.
‘The purpose of founding the competition
was to bring really good amateur choirs from
abroad,’; he says. ‘There are many competitions
like this in many countries, but these choirs
never come to London.’
This year, 16 groups, ranging in size from
opportunity to perform a lunchtime concert
at a London church. Performances will take
place throughout the week at St Gabriel’s
Pimlico, St Stephen’s Rochester Row and
St James’s Piccadilly.
Augustine Paul leads Octet Cantabile,
whose members will be coming from Chennai,
India to compete in Heat 2. Although the
feldt hopes to ‘experience good choirs and be
inspired for future work’ at LIACC this year.
The other focus of the competition is renais-
sance polyphony. Peter Phillips has been per-
forming this music for many years, and is one
of its most respected interpreters, along with
his group the Tallis Scholars (which will also
perform a concert as part of the competition’s

competition (LIACC).
This is the third edition of a contest estab-
lished only in 2014, but drawing on London’s
matchless history as a centre of international
a consort of seven to a chorus of 50, have
reached the competition’s performance stages.
They will be coming from as far afield as India
and Chile, as well as from throughout Europe.
group has been performing since 1994, he is
excited about the further development that
the competition will bring. ‘I can confidently
say that participating in a music festival of this
PERFECT
events). When conceiving of the competi-
tion Phillips was very definite that it should
exclusively showcase the unique skills required
for unaccompanied music and he believes that BAMBERG REHEARSAL ORCHESTRA

choral music. It is the UK’s only choral com-

petition exclusively championing unaccompa-
In the last week of June the choirs will com-
pete over four heats, with the winner of each
magnitude is a great learning experience and
the things that we [will] learn from each other
the basis of good a cappella singing is rooted in
the renaissance repertoire.
SYMPHONY

HARMONY
nied music. Founder Peter Phillips has been going through to a grand final on 1 July. are unimaginable,’ he says. ‘If you can sing Palestrina really well, you Jakub Hrůša’s

Mainly for
touring the world with his group, the Tallis
Scholars, for over 40 years, and seeing choral
As well as their competition perfor-
mances, each choir has also been given the
Each year, the LIACC especially features
the works of one composer; nominating Arvo
can sing anything – his style is so clear you
can’t get away with anything. It’s a basic train- ►
new home

International line-up: Copenhagen Chamber Choir Camerata from Denmark Ole Bull Kammerkor from Norway. Above: The Cantus Ensemble from the UK
SEE PAGE 71

An a cappella celebration
at St John’s Smith Square pleasure
They have been practising for 60 years but the players of the Rehearsal Orchestra
wouldn’t want to spoil the fun by giving a concert. Toby Deller reports

But that intensity is balanced by a relative

lack of pressure. ‘The unique selling point has REVIEWS BY GUY WEATHERALL
been that we don’t give concerts and that is
attractive to some people in that it’s a good
way of learning about orchestral repertoire and
orchestral life without the pressure of having CDs
to make it concert standard. That does mean
Bach: St John Passion
you can take on things that are pretty difficult EDITOR’S CHOICE Lothar Odinius (t), Christian Immler (ba),
Schubert, Schumann, Britten, Debussy, etc: works for cello and piano etc; Les Musiciens du Louvre, Marc
in a short space of time.’
© MATHIAS BOJESON

Mstislav Rostropovich (vc), Benjamin Britten (pf) Minkowski

Over the years, but from early in its Testament SBT2 1517 (2CD)

Erato 0190295854058 (2CD)


existence, the range of repertoire expanded

Nothing to see here? These artists made excellent Decca Paring down his
and now the focus tends to be on the major studio recordings of sonatas by Schubert, Debussy and vocal forces to just
Britten (and the five Folk Pieces by Schumann), so why issue nine voices, and
20th-century orchestral repertoire: so far these previously-unissued 1961 Aldeburgh Festival opting for an
this year the RO has tackled the Rite of recordings? Well, two reasons: this is the world premiere of
Britten’s sonata, a tense, compact work written expressly for
accompaniment
harpsichord and

42 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017

Spring, Don Quixote and Prokofiev’s fifth
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 43
symphony, with Also sprach Zarathustra to
come. Those last two are with Sian Edwards
Rostropovich and fitting him like a glove; and the sheer contrabassoon
magnetism of both musicians’ playing is jaw-dropping. The Schubert is warm and continuo, Minkowski achieves great
expressive, without the hint of mannerism that mars the studio recording; the clarity but also great depth of texture.
Debussy and Schumann are vivid and captivating; the Britten (with two movements Solos and choruses are shared, and there
encored) incandescent. With generous Bach bonuses and naturally-balanced mono is no weak link anywhere in the line-up.

CM0617_042-045_F_LIACC KC T OK.indd 42 16/05/2017 CM0617_042-045_F_LIACC

11:36:31
and Sir Mark Elder respectively; the RO has
KC T OK.indd 43 16/05/2017 11:36:46
always invited eminent conductors, not to
mention soloists, themselves perhaps look-
Just the once, then: The Rehearsal Orchestra’s one-off fundraising concert ing for a low-pressure environment in which
to run through a concerto.
sound, this is a hugely important release. Odinius’s Evangelist is superb, clear and
focused, pairing nicely with Immler’s rich,
Sheer magnetism: Rostropovich and Britten
sonorous Jesus. Orchestral playing and
dramatic timing are of the very highest
standard throughout, matched by fine
recorded sound. A thought-provoking
alternative to last month’s King’s
Cambridge release.

‘Finding repertoire is actually quite difficult

WNO IN DUBAI ‘W
e did do a concert once, a
fundraising thing,’ says Levon
Brahms: Die schöne Magelone;
to work on and play through repertoire, these days,’ says Parikian, who has the job of Vier ernste Gesänge
Roderick Williams (ba), Roger Vignoles
with a session open to the public at the end putting the programmes together. ‘If you look (pf)

Education and outreach on tour

artis-
Parikian, conductor and artis of each course. at the orchestra’s history, there are quite a few Champs Hill Records CHRCD108 (2CD)
    

tic director of the Rehearsal Orchestra (RO).
‘It was with Claus Moser, a keen amateur
pianist and distinguished academic. He did a
‘The idea is always, as Harry used to say, things that wouldn’t have been done by ama-
Brahms’
to get through the stuff,’ says Parikian, who teur orchestras at the time – the Rite of Spring picaresque
romance has an
took over the direction of the RO from wasn’t a standard occurrence in the 1960s identity crisis: is it

REHEARSAL ORCHESTRA
Mozart piano concerto with us. It was fine –
but it wasn’t the Rehearsal Orchestra.’
The odd aberration aside, the RO has
Practice makes perfect
Legge following his death in 2000. ‘So
anybody who’s going into the profession
and the repertoire treadmill: this is like
when Harry was doing it. Shostakovich Four is a cycle of 15 songs
which tells part of
another one. Nowadays, there will be players, the story, or is it an
evening of words and music which tells
especially in London, who’ve done this, done
the whole story? The current artists

06>
been not giving concerts for 60 years since it
was set up by Harry Legge to give amateur
musicians visiting the Edinburgh Festival an
what is going to be out there when they are
doing these pieces on three hours and they
are expected to know them. So it covers a
that, done Turangalîla.’ generously resolve the issue by
presenting both, squeezing the full
Parikian picks out the RO’s 2006 course on version alternating songs with Vignoles’
deft translation of Tieck on the first disc,
Messiaen’s extravaganza as his particular high- the song-only version coupled with the

269105
Four Serious Songs on the second.
economical way of using the time between very useful niche in that regard for aspiring light. ‘I can’t help saying that doing Turan-

COMMUNITY OPERA
attending concerts. What it has been doing
has been assembling several times a year, not
Williams is in superb voice, matched by
professionals, and for amateur players who galîla on an open weekend was terrifying and Vignoles’ incisive playing: this is clearly a
labour of love for both artists and one
are looking for something a bit more intense amazing: it’s 75 minutes long and pretty hard which should be rewarded.

Getting everyone involved

770961
only at its residential week in Edinburgh but and focused than they might get with their all the way through – we had Cynthia Millar 80 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017

also for one- or two-day courses in London, regular orchestras, wherever they might be.’ playing the ondes martenot solo. And you’ve ► CM0617_080-081_R_Reviews Cds 2 pages KC T OK.indd 80 12/05/2017 15:31:28

JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 57

9
CM0617_057-058_F_Rehearsal Orch KC T OK.indd 57 12/05/2017 15:20:48

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CM0617_001_Cover KC T OKED.indd 2 17/05/2017 12:09:36

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LISTEN OUT FOR
1 JUNE
XXR3 Recordings from this year’s
Hay Festival made for Radio 3’s
lunchtime concerts, featuring flautist
Adam Walker, pianists James Baillieu
and Federico Colli, the Amatis Trio
and French ensemble Quator Voce
2 JUNE
XXR3 Live from the Barbican, composer
Thomas Adès conducts the Britten
Sinfonia in Beethoven’s first
two symphonies. Ensemble and
conductor will be returning over the
next three years to complete the
cycle, pairing each Beethoven with
a work by the Irish composer Gerald
Barry
11 JUNE
XXR3 In this lunchtime concert slot
you can hear the Cardiff Singer song
prize rounds
24 JUNE
XXR3 A performance of Britten’s A
Midsummer Night’s Dream from
Snape Maltings, with Iestyn Davies,
Sophie Bevan and Matthew Rose
conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth
28 JUNE
XXCinemas Antonio Pappano
conducts the Royal Opera House’s
production of Verdi’s Otello, with
Jonas Kaufmann making his debut
in the title role and Maria Agresta as
Desdemona
29 JUNE
XXClassic FM Saturday Night at the
Movies features the work of Bernard
Herrmann, Alfred Hitchcock’s
favourite composer, who was born
100 years ago this month. To mark
the occasion, Classic FM will play
the scores for Psycho and North by
Northwest as well as scores by other
composers who were influenced
by Herrmann’s ability to create
suspense
CM0617_085_R_Broadcasting KC T OK.indd 85
BROADCASTING BY RICHARD FAWKES
Making an impression
Radio 3 celebrates the violist and composer
Rebecca Clarke
R
adio 3’s Composer of the Week at student. It was Stanford who advised her to
the beginning of this month is the change from violin to viola, and that most
remarkable Rebecca Clarke (and if soulful of instruments seemed to appeal to her.
you’ve missed the original broadcast you can She did two world tours, composing one of her
always catch up on the programme for 23 pieces in Hawaii.
days on iPlayer). Born in Harrow, she quickly ‘She must have been a concert promoter’s
became recognised not just as one of the first dream,’ comments Macleod. ‘She was very
female professional orchestral players in Brit- glamorous and always beautifully turned
ain, but also as a talented composer. out. After she was thrown out of her father’s
However, you are probably not alone if house, she worked like a demon, producing
you’ve never heard of her. ‘She is a composer some of her best work. The viola sonata was
whose music, with the exception of a few a quality piece, as fine a work for the viola as
pieces, has dropped out of the repertoire one could wish.’
almost completely,’ comments Composer of At the outbreak of world war two, Clarke
the Week presenter Donald Macleod. ‘I hope was in the States when she literally bumped
by the end of the week people will have made into an American musician who had studied
some real discoveries. It is not overwhelmingly with her at the Royal College in London
sensational music, but there are three or four – James Friskin, who she married. Compo-
pieces which really make an impression.’ sitional inspiration, however, dried up. ‘She
Clarke’s home life was horrendous, largely would have liked to have written more but
because her father used to beat her up regu- had just lost interest. Instead she began to
larly. ‘He was a monster, a man with a violent revise her work, a project on which she was still
temper, a tyrant. Eventually he threw her out working when she died in New York at the age
of the house to make her appreciate more the of 93.’ CM
benefits of a home. It’s lucky she didn’t depend
on the work of composing to make a living
Remarkable story: Rebecca Clarke
– but she did need a job.’ A graduate of both
the Royal Academy and Royal College, she be-
came a jobbing musician and was persuaded to
join the ranks of the Queen’s Hall Orchestra
viola section by none other than Henry Wood.
At this time, she was also starting to write
songs and enter composing competitions.
Feeling that being a female was working
against her, she entered one of these competi-
tions under the name of Anthony Trent.
‘Legend has it that she might have won first
prize,’ continues Macleod, ‘but the judges
thought her entry was written by Ravel, so
gave her second prize anyway.’
Clarke maintained a dual career as an
instrumentalist and as a composer. She
became one of the great viola players of the last
century, to be mentioned in the same breath
as Lionel Tertis, the daddy of them all. Her
father kept telling her ‘You have the tempera-
ment of a genius but not the talent of a genius’;
despite this, he sent a few of her early songs
to Stanford, who recognised her talent and
took her on as his first female compositional
JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 85
12/05/2017 15:34:24
 ENIGMA
WIN a CD GOODIE BAG
Send completed crossword to Enigma, 20 Rugby Street, WC1N 3QZ
or email a scan to classical.music@rhinegold.co.uk
D Take your time! The closing date is 15 June

QUIZ
1 Which opera by Jonathan Dove is based on a Romanian folktale? The
Opera Group’s production is pictured below if you need a clue…
2 Who wrote four symphonic poems based on ballads by Czech
folklorist Karel Jaromír Erben?
3 Which Czech composer wrote his own funeral march in 1889?
4 Which variation in Britten’s Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge is
a funeral march?
5 The board of which opera company wanted to appoint Britten as its
music director in the early 1950s?
6 What do Arturo Toscanini, Carlo Maria Giulini and Claudio
Abbado hold in common?
7 Who told the teenage Abbado that he had the potential to become a
conductor?
8 Which ensemble, founded by Abbado in 1976, is now conducted by
Vasily Petrenko?
9 Petrenko is chief conductor of which orchestras, based in the halls
pictured below?
10 Who preceded him at both orchestras?

© CATHERINE ASHMORE
SET BY FUSTIS

ACROSS DOWN
1 Bird sounds like Sir James in 2 Verdi hero loved by Leonora
high wind (11) (2,9)
5 Goes with Pag (3) 3 Sullivan opera featuring Friar
8 Prima donna loved by Tuck (7)
Hoffmann (6) 4 Slowly (5)
10 Musical symbols (8) 6 Ralph wrote a song about one
11 First and last note (3) across and the cuckoo (7,8) 1
13 Billiards game for Elise (9) 7 Frederic’s phonic
14 Daughter of Erda (4) arrangement (6)
16 Dance of the Hours composer 9 J M Keynes’ wife, née
(10) Lopokova (5)
19, 25 Sworn urban location of 12 Dry (5)
1 across (8) 15 Shipmate of Pussycat (3)
21 Boring instrument (5) 17 Tommy Dorsey’s song from
23 She sings in silence in Sadko (5)
Suor Angelica (4) 18 Short spoof (4)
25 See 19 (6) 19 Labrosones (5)
26 Frank in the midst of 20 Count of Luxembourg
bobbysoxers in a trance (7) composer (5)
27 Alcestis’ husband, sad, mute, 22 Tribe producing French
upset (7) composer (5)
24 Suor Angelica, for one (3)
9
MAY SOLUTION QUIZ ANSWERS
Pekka Saraste
 erard Schwarz and Jukka-
10 G
Orchestra
and the Oslo Philharmonic
Philharmonic Orchestra
9 The Royal Liverpool
Youth Orchestra
8 The European Union
7 Leonard Bernstein
of La Scala
6 They were all music directors
Covent Garden
5 The Royal Opera,
4 Number eight
3 Josef Suk
2 Antonin Dvořák

This month’s winner is

1 The Enchanted Pig
9
Robert Walton from Petersfield

86 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017

CM0617_086_R_Enigma KC T OK.indd 86 16/05/2017 11:11:22

 NEXT ISSUE
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 HANNAH KENDALL
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and performing arts jobs, from
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JUNE 2017 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG 87

CM0617_087_R_Next issue KC EDIT T OK.indd 87 17/05/2017 10:19:10

 Head of Junior Music Courses

Salary Range: £45,490 - £51,870

(including London Weighting)
23 – 25 June 2017
All Saints Centre / St Michaels Church
Permanent, Full Time: 35 hours per week
Junior Guildhall is the specialist pre-conservatoire department of the
Guildhall School of Music & Drama with over 450 students aged 8 CONCERTS, 15 MUSICIANS!
between 4 and 18 enrolled on the Music Course, Drama Course and
String Training Programme on Saturdays. JOIN IN THE FESTIVAL
We seek to appoint an outstanding musician and administrator AND DISCOVER
with extensive experience in the education sector to assist the Head
of Junior Guildhall and Safeguarding Lead and ensure that Junior
SOMETHING NEW!
Guildhall continues to provide specialist education at the highest level. GILCH
RIST PHILIP HIGH
JAMES AM
The successful candidate will be dynamic and committed to TOM POSTER
INS
HUW WATK
developing talented young students to reach their full potential. They
will be a self-starter with excellent communication skills, the ability QUARTET MATHILDE
THE EUSEBIUS MILWIDSKY

to build positive relationships with parents, staff and students and

to create a culture which fosters collaboration, innovation, personal
motivation and a lateral approach to problem solving.
He/She will manage a varied portfolio of tasks, including
Safeguarding and management responsibilities. He/She has a
proven track record as a musician and educator, a sound artistic
judgement and a passion for encouraging artistic excellence in a
creative work environment.
For more details please go to www.gsmd.ac.uk/jobs.
Closing date for applications is 12.00 noon on Monday 19 June 2017.
First Round Interviews will take place on Tuesday 27 June 2017.
Second Round Interviews will take place on Saturday 8 July 2017.
To apply online, please visit www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/jobs.
Alternatively, please contact 020 7332 3978 (24hr answerphone)
quoting GS340. A minicom service for the hearing impaired is
available on 020 7332 3732.
The City of London Corporation is committed to Equal Opportunities
and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.
NELLY BEN-OR
London Piano Courses
incorporating The Alexander Technique
for pianists, teachers & advanced students
19-24 July 2017
Daily sessions at the piano and individual
Alexander sessions, both aiming at new ways of learning
and preventing disturbing tensions
Some scholarships available
Details from: 23 Rofant Road, Northwood, Middlesex, HA6 3BD
Tel: 01923 822268 Email: roger.clynes@virgin.net
www.pianocourseswithalexandertechnique.com
www.leweschambermusicfestival.com
DON’T MISS OUT BOOK NOW! TICKETS:
box-office@leweschambermusicfestival.com | 01273 479865
FREE TICKETS FOR U26s
www.leweschambermusicfestival.com
JUNIOR GUILDHALL has the following teaching
vacancies from September 2017
String Training Programme (Felsted School, Essex)
• Dalcroze Eurhythmics Class Teacher (GS337)
• Piano Teacher (GS338)
• Violin/Viola Teacher (GS339)
This is an opportunity for highly motivated, outstanding musicians
with a proven track record of working with talented young children
aged between 4 – 11 to be involved in these specialist music
programmes on Saturdays.
The remuneration: an hourly rate of £34.52 including holiday
entitlement.
Closing date for applications: Monday, 19 June 2017, 12 noon.
Interviews: Week commencing 1 July 2017
Enhanced DBS checks will be required.
For more details please go to www.gsmd.ac.uk/jobs
To apply online, please visit www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/jobs
Alternatively, please contact 020 7332 3978 (24hr answerphone)
quoting the relevant reference number. A minicom service for the
hearing impaired is available on 020 7332 3732.
The City of London Corporation is committed to Equal Opportunities
and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

CM0617.indd 88 18/05/2017 10:13:31

CM0617.indd 89 18/05/2017 10:13:31
 MICHAEL WHITE
Extended Intervals
Our roving music critic encounters heavy breathing in Manchester, a missing pianist
in Dresden and a new song cycle amid the crusader tombs of Temple Church
I
t’s a paradox of modern times that no one
has the money to keep musical life up and
running, but wherever in the world you go
they’re either building or considering new con-
cert halls – and I observed the opening of two
last month: in Manchester where Chetham’s
School now has the Stoller Hall, and Dresden
where the 1960s Kulturpalast has been reborn.
They make interesting comparisons in what’s
expected of a new hall. First and foremost is of
course a decent sound. And at the Stoller it’s the
sound that everybody wants these days: imme-
diate, alive and bright, but with a hard edge that
maintains a clarity within the resonance.
It’s what you hear at Milton Court or Kings
Place. And the Stoller is a similar construc-
tion: mid-sized, shoe-box style, a touch austere
but viable. On the opening weekend I heard
the Navarra String Quartet blaze radiantly
through Beethoven and Shostakovich, plus
two chamber orchestras of Chetham’s students
past or present; and it sounded wonderful, the
only problem being that in halls so resonantly
pin-sharp, you hear things you might not
want to – like whatever chronic respiratory
complaint it was that tortured someone several
rows behind me and projected through the
stalls with textbook definition.
Dresden was another matter. It’s a fascinat-
ing place: an architectural showcase blitzed in
1945, inhabited by rubble through the GDR,
but now restored, its streets re-lined with
resurrected baroque palaces. But in the middle
stands the Kulturpalast, an iconic building
Closing for adjustments: Kulturpalast
© GMP
90 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG JUNE 2017
CM0617_090_R_Intervals KC T OK.indd 90
from the GDR which like so many of that
era seemed exciting as a concept but acquired
forbidding dreariness in actuality. Multi-pur-
pose, it was used for politics as well as concerts.
There was no bloom to the sound. And as a
major music centre with an annual festival,
the city needed something better. Preferably
something altogether new.
But Dresdeners sustain a lingering nostalgia
for the GDR and a reluctance to see every
vestige of it swept aside, so there has been a
compromise: to renovate rather than raze the
building, fitting a new auditorium into its ex-
isting framework – the auditorium itself being
a compromise between shoebox austerity and a
more organic alternative.
It looks good, and the sound is better than
before, with resonance of a deep, warm kind
that suits the Dresden Philharmonic who
will mostly use it, burnishing their Bruckner,
Strauss and Wagner. But there’s also a disturb-
ing lack of focus. Matthias Goerner singing
Schubert at the opening concert had the muf-
fled quality of someone heard through closed
doors. And a Beethoven triple concerto, done
period-style by Dresden’s Festival Orchestra
under Ivor Bolton, sounded like a double
because you could only hear two of the soloists,
Nicola Benedetti and Jan Vogler. Alexander
Melnikov’s fortepiano scarcely registered.
After the Dresden Festival, which is run-
ning right now, the Kulturpalast will close
down for ‘adjustments’; and I hope they work,
because this hall is too important to be less
Alive and bright: Stoller Hall
than first-rate. It must service world-class
orchestras. And fuzziness aside, the Philhar-
monic brought undoubted world class to the
Kulturpalast’s opening with a Beethoven
Nine that also brought tears to my eyes. I’ve
never really liked the Ode to Joy, it tub-
thumps. But it’s come to stand for the idea of
Europe as a noble venture, flawed but vision-
ary. That we’re about to be to be excluded
from the vision is a painful thought.
One of the joys of music is the way it opens
doors to other disciplines, like poetry. And
thanks to a new song cycle premiered in the
Temple Church, London I’ve just discovered
the verse of Charlotte Mew, which strikes me
as a literary analogue to Gwen John’s paintings
in the quietly desperate way it speaks of lonely
women crushed by life and failed relationships.
The music was by Kate Whitley, a composer
best-known for her relationship with car-parks
through the Multi-Story Orchestra but writ-
ing here for the smaller, more exacting forces of
baritone Matthew Rose and the Albion string
quartet. It was a powerful piece to the extent
that I could hear it in the bathtub boom of
Temple Church – a venue that could definitely
do with an acoustic refit. Box in those crusader
tombs, tear out the lawyers’ pews (which
charmingly have pegs for them to hang their
wigs on), baffle-board the aisles – well, maybe
not. The Whitley cycle gets a second hearing at
the Aldeburgh Festival this month. No prob-
lems there, except the shriek of gulls. CM
Out of the car park: Kate Whitley
12/05/2017 15:35:29
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