by Daniel Hathaway
INTERNATIONAL NEWS FROM IDAGIO AND VIENNA:
Idagio, the Berlin-based classical music streaming platform, will offer the first performance in its new Global Concert Hall on May 29 with a recital by Norwegian violinist Mari Samuelson, with performances by such artists as baritone Thomas Hampson, violinist Christian Tetzlaff, soprano Kristine Opolais, and pianist Garrick Ohlsson to follow.
Performances will be ticketed, with 80% of proceeds going directly to the artists. Founder Till Janczukowicz wrote in a press release, “The pandemic has led to an unprecedented increase in the popularity of classical music streaming, but almost all of the digital concerts are offered for free.
“In the near future artists will rely on earning an income online, and audiences want more programmatic variety — both now and whenever the current restrictions are lifted. The internet should provide more than archived broadcasts of old recordings: it’s a medium that offers new opportunities, and we want to use these for classical music. The Global Concert Hall creates new experiences for classical music lovers all over the world, and in doing so, helps musicians and promoters reach listeners directly online: a collaborative initiative and a melting pot for new experiments around classical music and interactivity.”
The Vienna Philharmonic plans to resume live performances on June 5 in the Musikverein, complying with Austrian regulations by restricting the audience to 100 guests and requiring the wearing of face masks. Concerts will last no longer than 70 minutes and will not include intermissions.
A statement on the orchestra’s website notes: “Due to official regulations, the number of visitors is extremely limited and there will therefore be no public sale of tickets.
“A small contingent of tickets will go to family members and supporters who have accompanied us through this crisis. We kindly ask for your understanding and will do everything possible to ensure dissemination to a wider audience through broadcasts and streams. We hope to see you again when our subscription concerts resume in October.”
The June 5 concert will feature Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 – performed and led by soloist and conductor Daniel Barenboim. Check our Concert Listings later to see if the performance will be streamed.
TODAY ON THE WEB AND THE AIRWAVES:
In addition to WCLV’s daily Lunchtime with the Cleveland Orchestra, Oberlin Stage Left considers the question, “Does Beethoven Matter?” Later in the evening, the final fp Creative Long Distance concert covers a lot of stylistic ground, and the MET Opera features an archived performance of Berlioz’s Les Troyens. Details here.
ALMANAC FOR MAY 28:
On this date in 1805, Italian composer Luigi Boccherini died in Madrid, Hungarian composer György Ligeti was born in Transylvania in 1923, and German baritone and conductor Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau took his first breath in 1925 in Zehlendorf.
Boccherini’s Cello Sonata No. 6 received a local performance by CIM double bassist Benjamín Harris and pianist Evan Solomon in March, 2019. Watch here.
ChamberFest Cleveland musicians Diana Cohen, violin, William Caballero, horn, and Zoltán Fejérvári, piano played Ligeti’s Trio during the 2018 festival in Mixon Hall at CIM, and frequent Cleveland Orchestra soloist Pierre-Laurent Aimard has taped a brilliant performance of Ligeti’s Etude L’escalier du diable (“The Devil’s Staircase”), commenting,
When I play Ligeti’s Étude No. 13, I have the feeling of climbing and of [M.C.] Escher’s endless staircases that Ligeti loved so much. I have the feeling not of looking at this famous architectural illusion, but of being part of it, and in vain of looking for an exit. And I feel deeply the existential dimension that this situation had for Ligeti.
And the Latvian/Danish/Hungarian Carion woodwind quintet Carion gave an unforgettable performance (memorized, and choreographed!) of Ligeti’s Six Bagatelles on Cleveland’s Latvian Concert Association series in late February. Enjoy their previously recorded video here.
Finally, there’s a slightly gloomy video of Fischer-Dieskau and Alfred Brendel performing Schubert’s Die Winterreise that nonetheless captures the baritone’s wonderfully evocative interpretations of Lieder. Watch here.