Llŷr Williams wins South Bank Sky Arts Award
Broadcast on the Sky Arts television channel on 1 May 2012, Llŷr Williams was announced as the winner of the South Bank Sky Arts Award, in the Classical category, for his Beethoven Sonata Cycle at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh in August 2011.
The ceremony took place at The Dorchester Hotel in London, where the leaders of the contemporary British arts scene gathered to celebrate. These awards are now in their sixteenth year and represent the entire spectrum of British arts, from visual arts to opera, television drama to dance, film to literature. The Master of Ceremonies was Melvyn Bragg and other winners this year included Michael Frayn, Grayson Perry, Sophie Bevan, Kate Bush, Claire Tomalin, Arthur Pita, Terry Gilliam and the team of the BBC's recent Sherlock series.
This is a high profile and very well deserved award which recognises Llŷr Williams' astonishing, unique and profound musicianship, along with the epic nature of this project (encompassing all 32 sonatas in just 2 weeks!) Further complete cycles are planned in London and Glasgow in the future.
Mitsuko Uchida
Gold Medal
We are thrilled to announce that Mitsuko Uchida has been awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society's Gold Medal, one of classical music's highest honours. The Gold Medal was presented to her at the RPS Awards ceremony at the Dorchester Hotel in London on 8 May. Other, current RPS Gold Medallists include Bernard Haitink, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Janet Baker, Alfred Brendel, Colin Davis, Elliott Carter, Pierre Boulez, Simon Rattle, Placido Domingo, Daniel Barenboim, Henri Dutilleux, Thomas Quasthoff and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Further back into history, recipients have included Brahms (1877), Delius and Elgar (1925), Richard Strauss (1936), Stravinsky(1954), Britten and Bernstein (1987). For more information, please visit the Royal Philharmonic Society website.
Antonello Manacorda
Antonello Manacorda's latest CD, of Schubert's 3rd and 7th Symphonies with Kammerakademie Potsdam, was released in April by Sony Deutschland. This CD forms a part of a larger project and the near future will see a further release, featuring Schubert's 5th and 8th Symphonies.
The disc was received with great enthusiasm by the German press. Manacorda was described by critic Wolfram Goertz as a conductor who overpowers with an absolutely top-notch interpretation of the symphonies. Goertz also praised the recording as full of character, combining nervous fire, bright charm, abyss and sky. As soon as the CD was released, it became CD of the week on Kultur Radio, RBB. To purchase or sample the CD, please click here.
Joseph Swensen
Round the world tour! Within a period of just a few weeks, Joseph Swensen will be conducting all over the world: he will perform in countries including Scotland, Adelaide, Portugal, France and Japan.
Success with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Joseph Swensen has recently conducted the world première of Sally Beamish’s percussion concerto Dance Variations, with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Colin Currie. The concert also featured Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and was a huge success. Tim Ashley wrote in The Guardian, ‘his Beethoven … combines fire with spaciousness in ways that are well-nigh ideal. The Seventh was superbly controlled yet thrilling and ecstatic, above all in the tensions of the allegretto and the drama of the finale.’ For more reviews, please click here.
Violin Soloist As of next season, Joseph Swensen is delighted to announce that he will return to the violin, once again performing concerti with orchestra. He will combine this with his conducting career. Before launching his conducting career, Swensen enjoyed a highly successful career as a violin soloist throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, and was an exclusive recording artist with BMG Classics.
Duo Swensen has recently formed a violin-piano duo with his longtime collaborator, Amercian pianist and conductor, Jeffrey Kahane.
Philippe Bach
Last year ended triumphantly for Philippe Bach who in early December 2011 premiered Wagner’s Das Liebesverbot at Meininger Theater. This production was highly acclaimed by both press and Meiningen’s audience and was broadcast by Deutschland Radio. Early January saw Bach’s return to the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in Manchester where he conducted music by Berg and Rachmaninoff. Other engagements in early 2012 will include further performances of Das Liebesverbot, a revival of Tannhäuser and concerts with the Zuger Sinfonietta and Sinfonie Orchester Biel.
Roman Rabinovich
US based pianist, Roman Rabinovich, started 2012 with a European presence, appearing at Paris’ magnificent Hotel de Ville in a New Year’s concert hosted by the mayor of Paris. On this occasion Rabinovich collaborated with Ensemble Orchestra de Paris and their Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor Joseph Swensen performing Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No1. Following this, Rabinovich performed in a chamber music concert at Vienna’s Musikverein where among other pieces he interpreted Dvorak’s Piano Quartet. Highly sought after in Israel, Rabinovich will spend several weeks there in early 2012 where his busy concert schedule will include both appearances with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, when he will perform Benjamin Yusupov’s piano concerto as well as chamber music engagements.
