JACK Quartet and Morton Feldman's 100. anniversary

To mark the 100th anniversary of Morton Feldmann's birth, the JACK Quartet, together with pianist Florence Millet, will perform his late masterpiece Piano and String Quartet on 16 January in Wuppertal and on 31 January in Tübingen.

The composer, who died in 1987, described the 80-minute work as ‘my favourite piece in my whole life’. Both at the Skulpturenpark Wuppertal on 16 January and in Tübingen, the Piano and String Quartet takes centre stage.

NEW RECORDINGS

Congratulations to Antje Weithaas on winning the BBC Music Magazine Award!

IN CONVERSATION

Simon Bode talks about his wanderlust for musical journeys.

With his work Api-danza macabra, Vito Žuraj addresses the explosive topic of bee mortality. The WDR Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Cristian Măcelaru, premiered the commissioned composition this summer.

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NEW RECORDINGS

Eliahu Inbal's recording of Shostakovich's 11th Symphony is the first purely orchestral release by the fledgling SWR Symphony Orchestra.

Congratulations to Ming Tsao on his award as a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for 2021!

NEW RECORDINGS

Marie Heeschen and her ensemble Paper Kite are dedicated to the evocative music created during or as a result of the Thirty Years' War.

IN CONVERSATION

Outrage is not enough: Titus Engel talks to the FAZ about conducting Bartók's only opera and about cultural politics in Corona times.

ON OUR BEHALF

Solution-oriented work during the pandemic: In an interview for the Niedersächsische Musiktage, KWMM Managing Director Maike Fuchs gives insights into our current everyday working life as we navigate between concert cancellations and quarantine regulations.

The winner of the International Ernst von Siemens Music Prize 2020, Tabea Zimmermann, accepted the prize during the digital ceremony on 15 June 2021. A portrait by Patrick Hahn outlines her exceptional career.

CERHA 100

The series of concerts celebrating Friedrich Cerha's 95th birthday culminated in August 2021: the monumental Spiegel cycle was performed at the Salzburg Festival by the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Ingo Metzmacher. We celebrated the anniversary with a collection of portrait articles, current links, and his video interview for the Stadtjournal wien.at.

Under the artistic direction of Jeremias Schwarzer, three venues in the northern Eifel came together for the first time to form an interdisciplinary festival in May, June and September 2021.

Eliahu Inbal im Jugendorchester Jerusalem, ca. 1950, vorne rechts

Our three-part series of interviews marking Eliahu Inbal's 85th birthday kicks off with musings and memories about his musical roots.

On 19 February, Ryoko Aoki joined musicians from Ensemble Musikfabrik in the virtual space to perform Peter Eötvös' melodrama Secret Kiss.

Jan Caeyers' Beethoven biography is a resounding success, also in its English translation.

Bringing about new things: Ilya Gringolts' I&I Foundation

NEW RECORDINGS

In 2019, Alejo Pérez conducted Sergei Prokofiev's operatic tragedy The Fiery Angel to great acclaim at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. The production is now available on DVD.

IN CONVERSATION

Breathing differently every evening: The conductor Alejo Pérez

We congratulate Titus Engel on being named Conductor of the Year 2020 by Opernwelt magazine!

In the second instalment of our series of interviews to mark Eliahu Inbal’s birthday, the conductor looks back on his apprenticeship years in Israel and Europe.

NEW RECORDINGS

Before his career as a conductor, Michael Wendeberg was a member of the Ensemble Intercontemporain as a pianist and worked closely with Pierre Boulez. On the fifth anniversary of Boulez’ death, his complete recording of the composer's piano works were released.

Anssi Karttunen is against monotony. On his Instead List for Cello, he pairs a rarely played work worth listening to with every well know piece.

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Charles V, Walter Benjamin, Prince of Homburg, Friedrich Hölderlin, Martin Luther: Dietrich Henschel takes on history’s greats.

Our series of interviews celebrating Eliahu Inbal’s birthday concludes with the conductor’s memories of his recording successes, and reflections on orchestral sound and the interpretation of works.

CERHA 100

Musicians who also express themselves in other artistic fields were at the centre of the Donaueschingen Festival 2014. A composer who many saw in a new light on this occasion is Friedrich Cerha.

New in New York: Brad Lubman and the Reich Richter Pärt project

ON OUR BEHALF

Emergency planning – Karsten Witt in conversation about corona and its consequences

GrauSchumacher Piano Duo: Always Ready for Something New

15 Years: Our Anniversary Magazine and an Interview with Karsten Witt.

"At a time when the livelihood of artists is fundamentally threatened, they must use their resources in a creative way to find a way out of this crisis," says Dietrich Henschel about his opera project COSÌ.20 – Love is Contagious.

IN CONVERSATION

Philosophy and Emotion: The Conductor Titus Engel

IN CONVERSATION

Ryoko Aoki incorporates into her performances a theatrical culture that, in the past, was largely reserved for male performers.

A new concert hall complex of the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic, home of the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra, will be completed in 2023 with a design by the London office of the late renowned architect Zaha Hadid.

Karsten Witt about the late Hans Zender

The libretto and score for Johannes Maria Stauds new opera Die Weiden were written in parallel, developed through constant communication.

From life on the front line to the intimacies of love: Chaya Czernowin’s new opera Heart Chamber presents a huge tonal shift from the subject matter of her last project for the stage.

The chemistry is right: Alejo Pérez about his new position at the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen.

IN CONVERSATION

Lukas Ligeti on artistic influences and his father's legacy.

"Few approach the unknown world of the organ with such patience and intensity,” enthused organist Stephan Heuberger about composer Mark Andre and his work iv15 Himmelfahrt.

In 2019, Wergo released a portrait CD including Anssi Karttunen’s recordings of Hans Werner Henze’s English Love Songs with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Oliver Knussen.

Voyage of the Philharmonie: Philippe Manoury's Triptych for Orchestra

IN CONVERSATION

In an interview with German music critic Eleonore Büning, Christoph Prégardien muses about empathy and stage fright, talk of a lieder crisis and the sins of concert promoters.

Eclectic and cosmopolitan, from a mediaeval point of view: Anna Maria Friman, Linn
Andrea Fuglseth and Jorunn Lovise Husan perform repertoire from the Codex Las Huelgas.

IN CONVERSATION

François-Frédéric Guy, expert in romantic German repertoire and especially Beethoven's works, describes his experience as an orchestra leader from the piano as a "thrilling tightrope act".

IN CONVERSATION

Peter Rundel talks about opera.

Jerusalem Calling: Steven Sloane on New Journey

“Now” is always different, fluid, says conductor Bas Wiegers in his essay about diversity, change, and the power of live performances.

Remembering Noam Sheriff: Steven Sloane in Conversation with Karsten Witt

NEW RECORDINGS

Claire Huangci: In the Studio with Rachmaninov

Toshio Hosokawa's opera Erdbeben. Träume leads on a journey that shows the human capacity for mass violence and both the ferocity and the grace of nature.

An outstanding soloist, chamber musician, pedagogue, artistic director and essayist – and in all these things a musical bridge-builder and partner to musicians, composers and artists from various fields: Anssi Karttunen forges his own path.

Chaya Czernowin talks about her artistic path and her cello concerto.

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In September 2017, Mariam Batsashvili was on concert tour in Mexico. News of the devastating earthquake on 19 September reached the pianist shortly before her first concert in Monterrey.

IN CONVERSATION

No panic – Christoph Prégardien, one of the leading tenors of our time, is still on tour as a soloist. However, considering the success of his St. John and St. Matthew Passions it is no surprise that the singer will increasingly be seen on the conductor’s podium.

Andreas Grau and Götz Schumacher perform classical concert repertoire, prevent works of the 20th century from sinking into oblivion, and continue to prompt composers to write new pieces for orchestra and two pianos: no other piano duo is currently taking to the stage with such a wide repertoire with orchestras.

Johannes Maria Staud talks about his orchestral piece Stromab.

IN CONVERSATION

We talked to Mariam Batsashvili in 2017 – at a particularly exciting time in her career.

IN CONVERSATION

In conversation with Jeffrey Arlo Brown, Mark Andre discussed teachers and companions, his German-French heritage and the aesthetics of fragility.

IN CONVERSATION

Brad Lubman’s official title at the Grafenegg Festival 2017 was “only” Composer-in-Residence. However, at Schloss Grafenegg, the many facets of his musical life were on display.

In 2016, the Bochumer Symphoniker and their long-standing Music Director Steven Sloane celebrated a milestone with the opening of their long-awaited new home, the Anneliese Brost Musikforum Ruhr.