February 2009

February marks the opening of City of Dreams: Vienna 1900 - 1935, the Philharmonia Orchestra’s major multi-disciplinary project exploring the music and culture of Vienna between 1900 and 1935. Over the next 9 months the Philharmonia Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen travel to 18 major European cities, exploring the music of Mahler, Schoenberg, Zemlinsky and Berg. With overseas performances presented by Van Walsum Management, the orchestra is joined on tour by soloists Mitsuko Uchida and Christian Tetzlaff. The Philharmonia’s wider project comprises chamber concerts, lectures, film screenings, education events and the inspired City of Dreams website. After opening concerts in Basingstoke and Birmingham on 25 and 27 February, the orchestra presents Schoenberg’s colossal Gurrelieder at London’s Royal Festival Hall on 28 February before taking the piece on tour to Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional de Musica on 19 March.

VWM brings the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln and Semyon Bychkov to Japan for a major nationwide tour opening in Nagoya on 23 February. With further performances in Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Tokyo, Kanazawa, Osaka and Sendai, the tour comprises Toshiba’s prestigious Grand Concert Series for 2009 organised by the Fuji Television Network. The series explores repertoire by Brahms and Dvo?ák alongside concertos by Beethoven (Violin Concerto in D Major with Viviane Hagner) and Mozart (Piano Concerto No 23 in A Major with Hibiki Tamura).

photo: Mateusz Nasternak

NEW SIGNING:Ewa Strusi?ska. As Assistant Conductor of the Hallé Orchestra and Music Director of the Hallé Youth Orchestra, Ewa Strusi?ska has built an impressive reputation within British musical life. Since studying at the Frederic Chopin Music Academy in her native Poland, she has completed a Junior Fellowship in Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music and reached the finals of the 2007 Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition in Bamberg.

photo: Marco Borggreve

Rory Macdonald conducts Daniel Slater’s vibrant production of Donizetti’s L'elisir d'amore at the Welsh National Opera. After opening in Cardiff on 12 February and following a short run there, the production designed by Robert Innes Hopkins tours to Plymouth (5 and 7 March), Southampton (12 and 14 March), Llandudno (19 and 21 March) and Birmingham (26 and 28 March).

photo: Kasskara - DG

After play/conducting Turin’s Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai in January, Yuri Bashmet is in Gent and Rotterdam to play/conduct the Brussels Philharmonic - the Orchestra of Flanders on 13 and 14 February. In other news, Yuri and his outstanding Moscow Soloists have not only received their third Grammy nomination in as many years (for their Onyx release featuring works by Tan Dun) but have also had their most recent disc (featuring works by Grieg, Tchaikovsky and Mozart) selected as Gramophone’s January 2009 Editors Choice.

photo: Delahaye Photographie

Originally presented in 2005, Laurent Pelly is currently working on a revival of Chabrier’s comic opera Le Roi Malgré Lui at Opéra de Lyon. Opening in Lyon on 26th February, this same production will enjoy a run at Paris’s Opéra Comique from 27 April – 5 May.

photo: Jorgen Gomnes

NEW SIGNING : Eivind Aadland, one of Norway's most respected conductors, balances his position as Chief Conductor and Artistic Leader of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra with his commitments as an in-demand guest conductor (with particularly strong ties to the major Scandinavian orchestras). An experienced recording artist, he has built an impressive and diverse discography with releases on BIS and Hyperion among others.

photo: Sheila Rock

VWM brings the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln and Semyon Bychkov to Japan for a major nationwide tour opening in Nagoya on 23 February. With further performances in Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Tokyo, Kanazawa, Osaka and Sendai, the tour comprises Toshiba’s prestigious Grand Concert Series for 2009 organised by the Fuji Television Network. The series explores repertoire by Brahms and Dvo?ák alongside concertos by Beethoven (Violin Concerto in D Major with Viviane Hagner) and Mozart (Piano Concerto No 23 in A Major with Hibiki Tamura).

photo: Guy Vivien

On 6 February Francois-Frédéric Guy inaugurates his cycle of Beethoven piano concertos with Philip Jordan and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France at Paris’ Salle Pleyel. With a performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1 in the opening concert, the cycle forms part of Francois-Frédéric’s wider Beethoven Project examining the complete sonatas and concertos.