BTHVN2020 – Beethoven anniversary goes into overtime

BTHVN2020 exceeds its initial course, runs projects until September 2021

The celebrations in honour of Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday will continue until September 2021. This was agreed on by the supervisory board of Beethoven Jubiläums GmbH at its meeting this Friday. This will allow the creative potential of BTHVN2020 to continue to unfold, despite the restrictions imposed by the COVID 19 pandemic.

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Remembering Margaret Rutherford: murder on and off screen

Margaret Rutherford and Stringer Davis in Murder Ahoy

You have to be forty-one at least, to make an impression as the dotty old woman on screen. That was Margaret Rutherford’s age when she began her film career. She said in a BBC television interview that she was puzzled why so many people found her films comic. Solving crime is a serious business, she added. Coming from her lips, we find that comic too.

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London Mozart Players’ new virtual initiative, ‘At Home with LMP’

Actress Joanna Lumley and composer Alex Woolf collaborate with London Mozart Players
in a new virtual initiative, ‘At Home with LMP’

  • London Mozart Players’ virtual series continues with an exciting upcoming schedule of digital releases featuring high-profile talent
  • Young British composer Alex Woolf has composed a series of ‘Homespun Miniatures’ to be performed by LMP musicians
  • ‘Duet No. 1’, the first composition in the ‘Homespun Miniatures’ series, had its world premiere on Channel 4 News on Friday 10 April, performed by LMP Leader Simon Blendis and his wife Saoko Blendis
  • The second composition will be premiered via LMP’s digital channels on Wednesday 29 April, with the remaining four compositions being released over the course of May
  • BAFTA fellow Joanna Lumley OBE narrates poetry to accompany a performance of Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals by LMP musicians
  • Due to be released at 10.00am on Friday 24 April, this digital rendition of The Carnival of the Animals will be accompanied by animated illustrations designed by Cat Fuller

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‘Pay it forward’ – SJSS’s free concert ticket fund for NHS staff

‘Pay it forward’ – free concert tickets at St John’s Smith Square for NHS staff

Inspired by the ‘clap for our carers’ initiative and with a desire to look ahead to life after lockdown, St John’s has launched a ‘pay it forward’ campaign with a difference.  Supporters are invited to give to the campaign to fund free concert tickets for NHS staff.

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ETO’S BROADCAST DEBUT – WATCH ST JOHN PASSION UNTIL 10 MAY

English Touring Opera’s St John Passion

ETO are extending the broadcast period of Bach’s St John Passion until 10 May,
following an overwhelming response

ETO’s St John Passion (c) Andreas Grieger

On Easter Sunday English Touring Opera broadcast a performance of Bach’s St John Passion which premiered in London on 5 March 2020 and was due to tour nationally.

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Remembering George London’s life and legacy on the 100th anniversary of his birth

For a singer whose career was cut short in the 1960s by illness, Canadian-American bass-baritone George London’s presence still looms large in the opera world. His magnificent voice can be heard on recordings, including a 1960 Tosca with Renata Tebaldi that for many remains a definitive version of the Puccini opera, but it is the work of The George London Foundation for Singers that is his true legacy. Each year the Foundation awards tens of thousands of dollars to young American and Canadian singers who are in the early stages of their careers.

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2020 Lucerne Summer Festival – 14 August to 13 September CANCELLED

2020 Lucerne Summer Festival

CANCELLED

The Festival kicks off on August 14th with performances by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly; Beethoven’s First Symphony and Mahler’s First Symphony. Concert repeated next day with Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto replacing the Beethoven symphony, Martha Argerich at the keyboard.

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