BARRY DOUGLAS IN CONVERSATION WITH GEOFFREY NEWMAN

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.

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THE PIANIST VALENTINA LISITSA IN CONVERSATION WITH GREGOR TASSIE

AN INTERVIEW WITH VALENTINA LISITSA

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Valentina Lisitsa (c) Sam Jones

The Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa has achieved the accolade of becoming the world’s most popular classical artist since her first YouTube recital in 2007. By leading the way to finding new audiences with sensational success, Lisitsa has gained a staggering 95 million views and almost 200,000 subscribers on YouTube.

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Dénes Várjon Talks to Sebastian Smallshaw About Budapest’s Kamara.hu

Dénes Várjon in conversation with Sebastian Smallshaw

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András Keller and Dénes Várjon playing Busoni’s Second Violin Sonata at kamara.hu 2019
(c) Liszt Academy/Gábor Valuska

Dénes Várjon studied music at the Liszt Academy with Sándor Falvai, György Kurtág, and Ferenc Rados. Over the last 25 years, he has established an international career as a concert pianist and chamber musician, and is a regular guest at prestigious festivals in Europe and the United States. Since 2015, he has been artistic co-director of the chamber music festival kamara.hu, which he coordinates together with his wife, the pianist Izabella Simon. I spoke with Dénes Várjon in Budapest, just after he had performed in the second concert of this year’s kamara.hu.

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Composer Speaks Up for the Environment: An Interview with Margaret Brouwer

Mark Sebastian Jordan Encounters Margaret Brouwer

American composer Margaret Brouwer will be premiering an oratorio, Voice of the Lake, on November 12 in Cleveland. Though she grew up in Michigan, the composer now lives near Lake Erie in Ohio, where she served as head of the composition department of the Cleveland Institute of Music until 2008. By her own reckoning, she has a special relationship with nature in general, and water in particular, which is reflected in many of her pieces.

 Margaret Brouwer, composer of 'Voice of the Lake' (Photo: Christian Steiner)
Margaret Brouwer, composer of Voice of the Lake
(c) Christian Steiner

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JUSTIN DOYLE DISCUSSES MONTEVERDI WITH MARK BERRY

Justin Doyle Discusses Monteverdi with Mark Berry

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Justin Doyle from the general rehearsal for Vespers (c) Matthias Heyde

For his first concerts as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the RIAS Chamber Choir, Justin Doyle finds himself very much in at the deep end: dual-venue performances of Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers of the Blessed Virgin (at the Pierre Boulez Saal) and the Missa ‘In illo tempore’, with which it was published (just around the corner, at St Hedwig’s Cathedral). ‘Finds himself’, one might ask, or was he pushed? I was lucky enough to be able to do so, on the lunchtime in between the first, Friday evening performances, and the second ones on Saturday afternoon (the latter to be reviewed shortly).

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ITINÉRAIRE BAROQUE 2017: TON KOOPMAN TALKS TO COLIN CLARKE

Ton Koopman Talks to Colin Clarke

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Ton Koopman performing at his 2017 Itinéraire Baroque festival

I met Ton Koopman in his lovely home near Verteillac, France. Koopman’s festival, Itinéraire Baroque, had finished the night before; arriving at the house, there was a palpably convivial atmosphere, with artists featured in the festival relaxing alongside Koopman and his friends and family. The interview itself took place in a lovely, peaceful space away from the hubbub.

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ANGELA BROWNRIDGE IN CONVERSATION WITH ROBERT BEATTIE

Angela Brownridge in Conversation with Robert Beattie

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Angela Brownridge

Angela Brownridge is one of the UK’s leading concert pianists.  She has won rave reviews for her interpretations, being compared to giants of the piano such as Solomon, Cherkassky and Bolet.  She was a child prodigy giving her first public recital at the age of 6 and her first concerto performance when she was 10 years old. She has performed with many of the world’s leading conductors and orchestras and she has an impressive and varied discography which includes the complete piano works of Barber and Gershwin.  I spoke to her about her musical background and training, the pianists and artists whom she most admires, her love of jazz and improvisation, her view of piano competitions and her recording plans for the future.

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