NEW! MARKUS POSCHNER IN CONVERSATION WITH GREGOR TASSIE
19/04/2018
Markus Poschner talks to Gregor Tassie
Markus Poschner (c) Reinhard Winkler
Born in a musical family in 1971 in Munich, Markus Poschner has become one of the most sought-after conductors in recent years. He has worked extensively in both opera and concerts, all the major European orchestras, and in the United States and the Far East. Currently Markus Poschner is general music director of Opera Linz and principal conductor of the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, which he shares with and the principal conductorship of the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in Locarno with whom he has made a highly regarded cycle of the Brahms symphonies. As he prepares his orchestra from Linz on their third UK tour he spoke to me about his career and ambitions in music. Read more
NEW! A Q&A WITH ITALIAN BARITONE FRANCO VASSALLO
16/04/2018
Franco Vassallo is an acclaimed interpreter of leading Verdi roles – amongst many others – in the world’s most important opera houses (including Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Opéra de Paris, London’s Royal Opera House and New York’s Metropolitan Opera). He has just sung Scarpia for the first time in Puccini’s Tosca at the Staatsoper Hamburg in the Robert Carsen production and performed with Anja Harteros and Jonas Kaufmann. Read more
NEW! MICHAEL SANDERLING IN CONVERSATION WITH GREGOR TASSIE
04/04/2018
NEW! ARABELLA STEINBACHER IN CONVERSATION WITH GREGOR TASSIE
09/03/2018
Interview with Arabella Steinbacher
Arabella Steinbacher (c) Sammy Hart
When I spoke with Arabella Steinbacher, she was half way through a tour with the Orchestre National de Lille in Southern France playing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and conductor Mark Shanahan. The bitterly cold weather allowed the German violinist some extra time in her hotel to speak with me about her early career and her inspirations for what has been a busy calling embracing the standard classical repertoire and explorations of less known 20th century repertoire. Read more
NEW! THE CONDUCTOR LAURENCE EQUILBEY IN CONVERSATION WITH COLIN CLARKE
23/02/2018
Laurence Equilbey on La Seine Musicale, Insula Orchestra and Female Composers
La Seine Musicale (c) CD92/Olivier Ravoire.
NEW! A Q&A WITH LISETTE OROPESA AS SHE RETURNS TO LA OPERA FOR ORFEO ED EURIDICE
18/02/2018
Lisette Oropesa (c) Steven Harris
A highlight of this season for soprano Lisette Oropesa was her Royal Opera debut as Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor) at Covent Garden. She will soon be making a role debut as Euridice in the French version of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice with Los Angeles Opera, in a new production opening on the 10 March, directed and choreographed by John Neumeier, and conducted by James Conlon. In advance of these performances in Los Angeles, Lisette Oropesa answers Seen and Heard International’s questions about this current role, as well as, looking back on her life and his career. Read more
NEW! A Q&A WITH ANDREA CARÈ AS HE RETURNS TO COVENT GARDEN AS DON JOSÉ
16/02/2018
Andrea Carè © Juan Carranza
The Italian tenor Andrea Carè has recently appeared at the Teatro Real in Madrid – in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (Puccini) and Bizet’s Carmen – and at the Palau de Les Arts in Valencia – in Verdi’s Don Carlo alongside Plácido Domingo – and he returns to Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House (February 16, 27 and March 8, 12, 16) in the role of Don José in Carmen, a role he first performed there in 2015. He has previously said: ‘In spite of the brutality and intolerance of what Don José does, I still believe that in reality he is a pure man who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is a passionate man, as many of us are, but he does not have the luck or intelligence to realise that Carmen represents a danger to his own life, his heart and his mental stability. I believe that, however mistakenly and violently he behaves, there is a Don José in every one of us, constantly struggling not to fall into the abyss of insanity’.
In advance of these performances at Covent Garden Andrea Carè answers Seen and Heard International’s questions about this current role, as well as, looking back on his life and his career. Read more
NEW! BARRY DOUGLAS IN CONVERSATION WITH GEOFFREY NEWMAN
12/01/2018
Barry Douglas discusses – amongst other things – his career, composers, interpretation, recordings, masterclasses, chamber music, competitions, and his annual Clandeboye Festival.
Barry Douglas © Katya Kraynova
Winner of the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in 1986, Barry Douglas has toured the world for the last three decades, bringing distinction and splendour to the wide range of concertos he plays, and taking on innumerable institutional responsibilities as well. That is to be expected from any major competition-winner, but perhaps closest to the artist’s heart is the founding of his orchestra, the Camerata Ireland, and overseeing his annual Clandeboye Festival, both of which serve as a meeting place for Irish artists in general and young Irish musicians in particular. Read more
Latest Classical Music News and Reviews
- NPR
- NY Times
- BBC
- Independent News
Conductor Marin Alsop muses on the power of ballet and her memories of watching choreographer George [...]
A new album of the Estonian composer's four symphonies trace the path of a brave artist who ris [...]
Stephanie Richards' trumpet sounds like deep space wrapped around your head, a flood in the end [...]
The Philadelphia Orchestra will perform the work Tuesday at Carnegie Hall. He based the composition [...]
This week's batch of essential new songs includes a curiously gorgeous piano piece from Iceland [...]
Readers discuss getting past the Classical Music Insecurity Complex. [...]
As she prepares to retire, the orchestra’s archivist shares some favorites: a 1926 music video, the [...]
The Pacific Symphony, in its hall debut, played Philip Glass and the Grand Rapids Symphony dove into [...]
Mozart, “Candide” and the music Pulitzer were among the highlights. [...]
An 18th-century panoramic vision of Versailles at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is the inspiration [...]
This joyous set of Beethoven's sonatas takes its place among the very best. [...]
In its own way, the Seven Words of Christ is just as sublime as the Stabat Mater. [...]
This sensitive, dynamic recording is a joy, and may even constitute a revelation. [...]
The pair exhibits a refined style on these illuminating performances. [...]
A deeply affecting experience that ought to win the opera many new admirers. [...]
Igor Levit performs Frederic Rzewski's new piano work Ages – with added whistling, hooting, and [...]
