07 Gustav Mahler As seen by Max Brod
09 Jay Schwartz Narcissus & Echo at the Munich Opera Festival
11 Georg Friedrich Haas Summer’s Night at the Gewandhaus
31 Karol Szymanowski In the limelight at the Bregenz Festival
33 Alban Berg New music for stage and concert
Gustav Mahler New: Gustav Mahler Blog
newsletter 03/09 • summer 2009
Contents
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= World Première
NEWS Survey results — 4 New: Gustav Mahler Blog — 5 Editors’ Report — 5 COMPOSERS Mahler — 6 Schwartz — 9 Haas — 11 Pousseur — 11 Lentz — 12 Luke Bedford — 12 Rihm — 13 Sawer — 14 Boulez — 15 Staud — 16 Eichberg — 16 Pärt — 17 Furrer — 18 Colla — 18 Schnyder — 18 Birtwistle — 19 Kagel — 20 Stockhausen — 20 Berio — 21 Ligeti — 22 Feldman — 22 Foerster — 23 Webern / Pernes — 23 Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival — 25 Krenek — 26 Schnittke — 26 Weill / Brecht — 27 Poot — 28 Martin — 28 Füssl — 29 Hauer — 29 Casella — 29 Szymanowski — 31
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contents 03/2009
Bartók — 32 Berg / Kloke — 33 Schönberg — 34 Rott — 34 Schreker — 35 Zemlinsky — 35 Schmidt — 36 Suk — 36 Delius — 36 Janáček — 37
ANNIVERSARIES — 38 - 39 WORLD PREMIÈRES — 40 NEW RELEASES — 41 - 42 NEW ON CD — 43 - 44 WORKLIST Sotelo — 45 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — 48
Dear Readers, Music is hard work – and that’s good news. Musicians, ensembles, orchestras, composers and publishers are vibrant and creative links in a valuechain which contributes not just directly to our economies but also to our cultural and social well-being. In the 20th century composers and publishers endured some of the greatest crises imaginable. The spirit that moved our predecessors to continue to publish music in the face of such difficulties lives on in us today. UE is now an international economic factor, with more than 70 staff members in Austria, the UK and the USA; engravers in Austria, Poland, Hungary, Italy, France, Slovakia, Russia, the Czech Republic; printers in Austria and the Czech Republic; and a rich network of partners across the whole world. The value that this spirit creates is a long-standing cultural, artistic and social value. That is something to take great comfort in. Music is hard work, and the hard work is worth it. The Editorial Team
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UNIVERSAL EDITION
Survey results 82% satisfaction Many thanks to the 350 readers who completed our newsletter survey – a healthy return for this kind of survey. Asked about your overall satisfaction with the newsletter, you gave us an average of 4.1 out of 5 points, corresponding to an approval rating of 82%. Thank you! That’s a gratifying figure, and it cheers us to know that the effort is worthwhile. Asked how often you read our newsletter, you gave us an encouraging score of 4.2 out of 5 (5 meaning always, 1 meaning never). The average reader reads more than half the whole newsletter (3.4 out of 5, 5 being everything). 85% of you found information about composers and their works important, ahead of premières (72%) and UE news (69%). That’s not really a huge surprise, but gives us confirmation of what is important. 75% find the articles informative, and 62% are introduced to new composers or works. 91% of you find internet links useful, which sounds obvious these days, but we weren’t really sure. 3.4 out of a possible 5 for design and appearance is good, but shows us we need to think about improvements. Be assured that we will!
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We received a wealth of constructive comments and suggestions, which have all been read by the whole newsletter team. We will take them all on board and endeavour to improve the quality of the newsletter continuously. Thank you again to all those who participated. If you didn’t get around to doing so, or if you have any comments, questions or requests, you can contact us directly anytime at promotion@universaledition.com Remember that all our past newsletters are online to browse, search, print and download at www.tinyurl.com/news-en If you don’t already receive our monthly e-mail newsletter, sign up here: www.universaledition.com/email news
UNIVERSAL EDITION
UNIVERSAL EDITION
New:
Editors’ report
Gustav Mahler Blog Exclusive video interviews with Pierre Boulez and Daniel Barenboim are just the first two to be published on our new Gustav Mahler blog at www.universal edition.com/mahler In the middle of the Berliner Staatskapelle’s concert series of Mahler symphonies, we asked both conductors to talk about their personal relationship with the music of Gustav Mahler. Interviews with a stunning list of conductors will follow leading up to and during the anniversary years. The new blog is where we will be publishing all information regarding performances, festivals, interviews, new editions, recordings and reviews, and where we will be pointing to content about Gustav Mahler on the internet. If you are planning an activity related to Gustav Mahler in the anniversary years (or in the run up), let us know, and we will make sure it is published on the blog. www.universaledition.com/mahler
In our last newsletter we announced the first ever publication of our editors’ report, giving an overview of the new scores created last year. The feedback we received was very generous. Here’s a reminder of the link: www.universaledition.com/editors report
Gustav Mahler by Emil Orlik, 1902
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MAHLER
The original romantic “When I first met him in Hamburg in the autumn of 1894, shortly after derisive criticism of his Symphony No. 1 had given me an ardent longing for the work and its creator, he seemed to me to be the original romantic,” said Bruno Walter in 1956, remembering Gustav Mahler. Today it is hard to imagine that Mahler once needed promoting. This summer will again feature a wealth of Mahler performances: Symphony No. 1 can be heard under young Gustavo Dudamel (Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France) in Paris on 26 Jun and under the eminent Claudio Abbado (12, 14–15 Aug, opening concert at the Lucerne Festival). On 21–22 Aug, Abbado will also be presenting the Rückert-Lieder and Symphony No. 4 at the same venue. Both performances will have the ethereal Magdalena Kožená as soloist. The Vienna Philharmonic also has a musical treat in store with Symphony No. 4 on its Spanish tour, under principle conductor Fabio Luisi (2–7 Jun, soloist: Mojca Erdmann). Ingo Metzmacher will be touring Germany and Paris with Adagio from Symphony No. 10 (19–24 Jun).
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Gustavo Dudamel
Philippe Jordan is to conduct the same piece with the Orchester der Deutschen Staatsoper (25–26 Jun) in Berlin. Steven Sloane will be incorporating Adagio into his Mahler cycle on 18 Jun with the Bochumer Symphoniker. Manfred Honeck, the new music director in Pittsburgh, will be showcasing Symphony No. 2 there (12–14 Jun). The work will also be performed at the Flughafenhalle in Cottbus under Evan Christ (5, 7 Jun).
MAHLER
Jewish melodies Excerpt from Die musikalischen Blätter des Anbruch, 2nd edition, issue 10, May 1920, p. 378 f.: Gustav Mahler’s Jewish Melodies by Max Brod, Prague Since the Galician refugees came to Prague, I now often attend the religious services of the eastern Jews – absolutely the most sublime events I have ever been privileged to experience. In particular, I can only recommend with the deepest reverence the mystical “third meal” (schlosch sude) at the end of the Sabbath, which a Hassidic rabbi permitted me to attend with his congregation several times. The enthralling holy melodies sound continuously, hummed by individuals, taken up by the choir, from the dark corners of the unlit suburban room, along the humble yet dignified table, in deep male voices and in a bright children’s descant … suddenly I understood. In a flash it was as if I had found the key (long-sought, to something that might seem remote, but was also deeply Jewish) to the art of Gustav Mahler. And, in particular, to one striking characteristic of his work, which has often been discussed and even criticised: to Mahler’s march rhythms, which he uses remarkably often. There
have been a number of different interpretations of the composer’s particular fondness for marches, which mount up and expand in almost every symphony (for example, in the first movement of the I, III and VI, in the final movements of the II, VI and VII symphonies, or in the song “Revelge”). One biographer (I think it was Specht) affectionately attributes this partiality to the fact that the young Mahler grew up next to a barracks in Leibmeritz, where the trumpet commands
Gustav Mahler
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CONT. P. 7
Jewish meldodies and military rhythms sank into his consciousness. Less generous critics speak instead of banality and lack of ideas. And at every Mahler performance one can still see a few fans of “genteel” music wringing their hands, who might in the same way fall upon the less subtle, but slicker formal talent of Richard Strauss: “oh, so crude, this eternal tran-ta-ra!”. Others see Mahler’s step-wise four-four time signature as an effort to write in the style of German folk songs, an attempt at assimilation. – No! Since hearing the Hassidic folk songs, I believe that Mahler had to write in this way and no other, with his music springing from the same unconscious place in his Jewish soul as is the source of these beautiful Hassidic songs, which he is unlikely ever to have heard. The strange thing is that these songs often use sharply delineated march rhythms, even when the text speaks of the most exalted things, of God and eternity. The gradual songs and psalms are also presented in this way. So these marches are not banal, base, military, but seem to me to symbolise the determined, upright, happy gait of the fulfilled and godly soul. At the same time one sees the inestimable crowds of the host of comrades in the name
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of God approach. And can one not get the same impression from Mahler, when one listens closely? Doesn’t the splendid final movement of the II Symphony show the endless armada of souls risen from the dead hurrying to the Jewish Last Judgement – expressed by Mahler in march-time? – Often, on the other hand, the quiet step-time represents quiet joy, as in the indescribably beautiful Sabbath hymn “Jißmechu bemalchusscho”. It seems that the Jewish listener has access to a great variety of different kinds of march, to express a great range of emotions. It is only to the non-Jew that this appears monotonous – the Jew can hear nuance. ...
SCHWARTZ
Illusion and beauty There’s no real vanity or narcissism in Jay Schwartz’ chamber opera Narcissus & Echo, for countertenor, viola, percussion and organ, sung in the original Latin from Ovid’s Metamorphosis. Schwartz’ interpretation deals much more with the fact that Narcissus never recognised himself in the water, and fell in love with an illusion and above all with beauty itself. The musical instrumentation of counter-
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tenor and viola produces a duet of both harmony and tension – two independent voices that nevertheless create a homogenous sound. The Bavarian State Opera has commissioned a new version of this work for the Munich Opera Festival 2009. Christiane Pohle directs a performance designed by Raimund Orfeo Voigt. Charles Maxwell is the countertenor, with Lila Brown on viola. The première is on 2 July at the Allerheiligen Hofkirche in Munich. For more information, see the Bavarian State Opera website: tinyurl.com/nandecho In Narcissus & Echo, Schwartz makes use of his “highly sensuous musical language”, as the earlier version of the work was described. On the world première of his earlier work, Music for Chamber Ensemble, in 2006, the Estonian composer and music critic Märt-Matis Lill wrote “In Jay Schwartz’ music we find a very successful synthesis of American and European traditions. In a sense, the way in which the contrasting musical elements of his works are united demonstrates the way America and Europe themselves are united.”
Jay Schwartz
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HAAS
Dark side of the summer As well as commissioning Johannes Maria Staud (see Newsletter 2/2009), the Gewandhaus Orchestra has given Georg Friedrich Haas an assignment. The world première is set for 28 Aug under Riccardo Chailly. The title of the new piece, Traum in des Sommers Nacht, naturally makes a reference to Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, while at the same time distancing itself from him. It targets the obvious difference between midsummer’s night and the summer’s night (i.e. its end) itself, while also referring to a constant element of Haas’ work: night. Haas has written several works that are performed in total darkness – as a tribute to his love of obscurity and the resulting heightened awareness. At the opening concert of the Wiener Festwochen in early May, Clemens Hagen played Haas’ microtonal cadence in Joseph Haydn’s Cello Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic under Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
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Henri Pousseur
POUSSEUR
Henri Pousseur dies Festival and concert organisers, journalists and publicists all around the world were busy preparing tributes to Henri Pousseur for his 80th birthday when his death was announced on 6 Mar 2009. Dedicated to Pousseur this year, the Festival Ars Musica in Brussels became a memorial event in his honour, with his new book presented and many of his works performed. Universal Edition mourns a great, sophisticated composer who was a central figure in the development of modern music.
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LENTZ
LUKE BEDFORD
Pensées
New shores
australiennes
The music of Luke Bedford reaches new shores this summer as part of the Tokyo Concerts Summer Festival. Despite previously working with the Tokyo Philharmonic, this marks the first concert performance of Bedford’s music in Japan. On 25 Aug, Ryusuke Numajiri will conduct the Tokyo Metropolitan SO in the Japanese première of Wreathe. Bedford found himself attracted to the “slightly archaic, decaying quality [of the title] and also because it describes the way in which the ideas of the piece entwine each other.”
The new version of Guyuhmgan for orchestra by Georges Lentz will be premiered on 2 July at the Philharmonie in Luxembourg. Emmanuel Krivine conducts the Orchestre philharmonique du Luxembourg. Lentz writes of the work, “Influences behind the composition of Guyuhmgan include my discovery of the works of Australian Aboriginal painter Kathleen Petyarre: her huge canvasses filled with innumerable tiny dots, which look a bit like a night sky, have made a great impression on me. The beginning of Guyuhmgan is a direct reflection of this.” Lentz has also quoted Blaise Pascal’s Pensées, with their thoughts on the smallness of man, as an influence. He continues: “The title Guyuhmgan (an Aboriginal word meaning “stars”) reflects my love of the vast empty space of the Australian landscape with its radiantly beautiful night skies.”
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Luke Bedford
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Wolfgang Rihm RIHM
Sounds and forms Forms have a central role in Wolfgang Rihm’s work, as Form / 2 Formen, Gedrängte Form, Gejagte Form, Jagden und Formen and Verborgene Formen clearly show. Gejagte Form develops its flow from the basic contradiction implied in the descriptive title, which is mentioned by Rihm in his text for the world première: “An energy beyond form, but of the same essence, leads the music into formal arrangements, but, taken seriously as an element, drives it inevitably back out of them again”. Ensemble Modern will be performing Gejagte Form on 8 Jun as part of the focus on Rihm in Essen. It will be conducted by Stefan Asbury.
of his Déserts has been enhanced by a double bass, replacing the piano and tape. Rihm clearly admires Varèse’s alchemy of sound. In this work, he builds on Varèse’s concepts of form with Varèse’s creative cycle becoming a spiral in Rihm’s work. Rihm’s sound productions are multi-layered, with the individual layers frequently moving in opposite directions. We experience the tension and relaxation of the vertical dimension or tonal range (as in Varèse’s work), as well as of the horizontal or time dimension. Ensemble Modern will be performing Form / 2 Formen at the Salzburg Festival on 11 Aug in a version for 20 instrumentalists in 4 groups of 5 musicians, under François-Xavier Roth. Ricercare for 14 instrumentalists, which received its world première in Turin/I in 1990, will be returning to Italy for a performance in Montepulciano on 24 Jul.
Form / 2 Formen is dedicated to Edgar Varèse. The instrumentation
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SAWER
Fresh tonality Commissioned by NMC as part of its Songbook project to celebrate 20 years of innovative recordings of contemporary British music, David Sawer’s The Source opens the collection of some 100 new works, all on the theme of “Britain”. Receiving its world première on 1 Apr, the subtle interplay between two wellmatched voices (in this case Claire Booth, sop. and Susan Bickley, mezzo) contrasts with the vibrant ringing of tubular bells (Owen Gunnell) to create an unusual texture bursting with energy (CD box set available from www.nmcrec.co.uk, see p. 44).
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Shortly before this first performance, the Piano Concerto was heard again in Manchester (19 Mar),
when James MacMillan conducted the BBC Philharmonic and soloist Rolf Hind, for whom the work was composed in 2002. Later this year Skin Deep – Sawer’s satirical opera with a libretto by renowned satirist Armando Iannucci – will receive its Austrian première at the Bregenz Festival on 17 Aug, before further performances at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen next spring (opening 23 Apr 2010). “He commands a light touch, a terse rapidity, a witty scherzando manner that is Stravinskyan in its biting clarity, but aids him in emulating those masters of comic texture Rossini and Offenbach, whom he cites as models for Skin Deep. Sawer uses tonality in a completely fresh way, while drawing freely on more acerbic, modernist sounds native to him.” (The Sunday Times)
David Sawer Skin Deep Opera North Leeds 2009
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Pierre Boulez
BOULEZ
Giving his all “In a disquieting way, it’s impossible to imagine the music world without Boulez. His age has a youthfulness. He gives his all.” (diary entry by Wolfgang Rihm, 2000). Pierre Boulez will be giving his all this summer – whether working with top orchestras or on his friend Daniel Barenboim’s project, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. In early June, he will be conducting his Notations I–IV and Notation VII (4–6 Jun) from the rostrum of the Berlin Philharmonic. These brilliant orchestral works are based on Douze Notations for piano, written in 1945, and a stroke of genius by the young Boulez. He is also working to complete the cycle.
Boulez can be experienced as a teacher at the Salzburg Festival: Le Marteau sans maître and Messagesquisse will be performed on 16 Aug (West-Eastern Divan Orchestra). The Helsinki Festival will also be showcasing Boulez: ... explosante-fixe ... for flute with live electronics, 2 flutes and ensemble and Dialogue de l'ombre double (13–14 Aug). The Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music will present the US première of the solo piano piece une page d'éphéméride as well as a performance of Incises (11 Aug, soloist Nicolas Hodges). Thomas Zehetmair is to conduct Éclat in Gateshead/GB on 18 Jun (Northern Sinfonia).
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STAUD
Comparative meteorology Like Johannes Maria Staud’s last world première for the Gewandhaus Orchestra, his piece written for the Cleveland Orchestra was also inspired by Bruno Schulz’s (1892–1942) visionary collections of short stories and graphic works. On Comparative Meteorology is influenced by his hypertrophic descriptions of nature and their idiosyncratic reflections within the human mind. However, it does not attempt to duplicate Schulz’s pictures (world première 28–30 May, Cleveland/USA). Chief conductor Franz Welser-Möst will be on the rostrum. The general high esteem in which Staud is held has brought him two awards: the Paul Hindemith Prize of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (in conjunction with a
portrait concert on 14 Aug with Ensemble Modern, which will include Incipit I). Staud is also being awarded the Emil Berlanda Prize of Tyrol/A.
EICHBERG
The Inuit in ecstasy In his 11-minute violin concerto Qilaatersorneq, Søren Nils Eichberg followed the ritual drum dance of Greenland’s original inhabitants: the Inuit. Beginning with an elegiac melody, the ritual develops into a rhythmic frenzy. The piece was awarded the Grand Prix de Composition in the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium in 2001. The Danish RSO performed the piece on 30 May in Copenhagen under Thomas Dausgaard with Johannes Soe Hansen as soloist.
Johannes Maria Staud
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Arvo Pärt PÄRT
A summer of string sounds A glance at Arvo Pärt’s work reveals his affinity with and love of the homogeneous sound of strings. Pärt’s Symphony No. 4 ‘Los Angeles’, which premièred this January, was written for string orchestra, harp, timpani and percussion. Some of the works with which Pärt embarked on his new era of composition in 1976 (Tintinnabuli) and which are scored or were later arranged for string orchestra, have since become mainstays of international concert calendars: Tabula Rasa, Fratres, Summa and Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten. Christian Lindberg will be presenting the trombone, string orchestra and percussion version of Fratres in London (1 Jul), while Valery Giergiev is to conduct the London Symphony
Orchestra performing Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London (9 Jul). Darf ich … for violin and strings was written for Yehudi Menuhin and will be played by Daniel Hope in Gstaad/CH (25 Jul) at the Menuhin Festival, where the piece received its world première. Silouans Song for string orchestra will feature in three performances by the Nederlands Strijkers Gilde: in Groningen (10 Jul), Delft (11 Jul) and Amsterdam (12 Jul). A very special event will be taking place in Tallinn/EST in July. The Estonian Song Festival is set to attract some 20,000 choral singers to Tallinn. Credo for piano, mixed choir and orchestra will be performed at the opening concert (4 Jul) by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra under Eri Klas.
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FURRER
Sounds of noise Beat Furrer’s ensemble piece Gaspra (1988) is named after a five kilometre-wide asteroid which wanders the gravitational fields of our solar system. The seven instruments – flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, viola and cello – are formed into smaller groups within the ensemble. This is the first work in which the composer used nonmusical noise and worked with rhythmic patterns which undergo a transformation from their initial constellation to reach a pre-determined final configuration. The emex ensemble presents the work at the Philharmonie in Essen (3 Jun).
COLLA (BORN IN 1963)
Arabian rhythms
reminding them of, the experiences of past generations of composers. The St. Louis SO performed the piece in St. Louis/USA under David Robertson (20 Mar).
SCHNYDER
Out of Africa The Summer Festival in Grafenegg/A begins on 11 Jul with the theme of “Out of Africa”, when the futuristic cloud structure of the newly built open-air stage in the park of Grafenegg Castle hosts music from the African continent. Kristjan Järvi and his Tonkünstler Orchester will also play three works from Abdullah Ibrahim’s Symphonic Encounters with South Africa (Blanton, Ishmael and Tsakawe) in an arrangement for orchestra by Daniel Schnyder. More Information: www.grafenegg.at
The Italian composer Alberto Colla uses mainly Arabian scales and rhythms, primarily from Egyptian music, in his orchestral work Le rovine di Palmira (The Ruins of Palmyra) (1999). The composition is based on the same Arabian tale as Rimsky-Korsakov’s 2nd Symphony ‘Antar’. In the piece, Colla unites various styles and quotations, familiarising listeners with, or
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Harrison Birtwistle
BIRTWISTLE
Happy Birthday Harry Following the spring celebrations we mentioned last time, the 75th birthday concerts for Harrison Birtwistle are now in full swing. Both Bath and Aldeburgh festival are presenting the newly restored and re-mastered Chronometer in all of its four-channel glory. Two full days of birthday celebrations at Bath (31 May, 1 Jun) dedicated to the composer see a rare performance of For O, for O, the Hobby-Horse is Forgot for 6 percussion players presented alongside a wealth of the smaller chamber works. Aldeburgh marks the occasion across a series of concerts, the first of which observes the opening of the new Hoffmann Building on
13 Jun, featuring performances of Chronometer and György Ligeti’s Poème Symphonique for 100 metronomes. Later concerts include: An Imaginary Landscape (15 Jun), Interludes from The Mask of Orpheus (17 June), Cortege and Secret Theatre (22 Jun). Looking further ahead, the 2009 BBC Proms season begins just two days after Birtwistle’s 75th and there are a number of celebratory concerts to support the occasion. On 4 Aug (Prom 27), the London Sinfonietta are joined by their founder-conductor David Atherton to give a birthday concert, including Birtwistle’s earliest Sinfonietta commissions, Verses for Ensembles and Carmen arcadiae mechanicae perpetuum and Silbury Air will also feature in this late-night concert of his major early works. On 14 Aug (Prom 39), Martyn Brabbins and Ryan Wigglesworth take control of the BBC SO and BBC Singers, leading a performance of Birtwistle’s gargantuan opera The Mask of Orpheus. The central act will be presented, complete with a newly digitally re-mastered version of the electronic material.
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KAGEL
Musical knitting needles Using an impressive variety of approaches and methods, Mauricio Kagel creatively explored what an instrument can be. An early phase gave rise to works which could be placed under the heading of “Instrumental Theatre” – pieces which used different non-musical objects, alongside conventional and exotic instruments. His String Quartets I and II (1965/67) use matches, knitting needles, leather gloves, wooden poles and coins, to name but a few. The Quatuor Bozzini perform the works on 5 and 6 Jun in Montréal/CDN.
STOCKHAUSEN
Time and space At this year’s Stockhausen courses in Kurten/D, the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen will be presented across a total of 17 concerts. Works will include Telemusik (1966) for electronics, which lines up 32 structures, one after another, without breaks. Stockhausen introduces elements of different cultures, which he extracts from their contexts and builds seamlessly into
Susanna Mälkki
the electronic composition. Gruppen (1955/57), one of his ground-breaking pieces, will be performed in Tokyo on 31 Aug by the NHK SO under Susanna Mälkki, Clement Power and Pablo Heras Casado: three separate orchestras each play independently of each other under three different conductors. The three orchestras are situated in a semi-circle around the listeners. Stockhausen communicates here for the first time the conception of sound in the space using the large symphonic structure. The changing tempi allow multiple time periods to be experienced at once, built together to form a new, unified time and space. .
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BERIO
Berio in Paris This June sees three of Luciano Berio’s key works being performed in concert in Paris: Passaggio, Coro and Formazioni. Passaggio (for soprano, two choirs and instruments) caused a scandal when it premièred at the Piccola Scala in 1963. “I knew the audience would lose their heads so I briefed the choir accordingly. I told the choir that they should join in as soon as the audience starts shouting, echo the last word and improvise on it. And that’s exactly what happened. Some people shouted “Buffoni”. The choir echoed the word immediately, sped it up, whispered it, lengthened the “o” and turned the improvisation into part of the performance. The audience became completely hysterical because they had lost their chance to protest.” Passaggio can be heard at the Biennale d’Art Vocal in the Cité de la Musique on 9 Jun. Susanna Mälkki will be conducting Ensemble Intercontemporain with Julia Henning as soloist. In Coro (for choir and orchestra), highly varied folk techniques and gestures of sound are combined in places without referring to any specific folk songs. Coro can be heard on 13 Jun, performed by the Vlaams Radio Orkest & Koor under
Michel Tabachnik. In Formazioni, Berio questions “conventional” orchestral arrangement by using a special configuration of instruments, creating entirely new “formations” of orchestral sounds. Jean Deroyer will be conducting the Orchestre de Paris on 11 Jun at the Salle Pleyel.
Luciano Berio
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LIGETI
FELDMAN
Historic success Personal connections The world première of Atmosphères in 1961 brought György Ligeti fame almost overnight. From a compositional viewpoint, he realised an idea that he had already had in mind in Hungary: dazzling, static music that moves within itself and avoids traditional categories, such as melody and metre, completely. Jonathan Nott, an accomplished advocate of modernity, will be conducting Atmosphères on 30 Aug at Festival Grafenegg/A with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester.
Morton Feldman’s artistic thinking was greatly influenced by John Cage. It was at his New York house on Grand Street that Feldman met many of the artists who would later become extraordinarily important to his work, notably Philip Guston and also Mark Rothko, whose 14 pictures in a Houston chapel moved Feldman deeply, inspiring him to write Rothko Chapel. Personal connections play an important role in the work, Feldman writing the soprano melody on the day of Igor Stravinsky’s funeral service in New York, for instance. Rothko Chapel (1971) for soprano, alto, mixed choir and instruments will be performed at the Salzburger Festspiele on 7 Aug with Sylvain Cambreling conducting Klangforum Wien. Crippled Symmetry for flute, percussion and piano (and also celeste), which was written 12 years later, will be performed on 28 Aug in San Sebastian/E with ensemble recherche.
Wolkenturm Grafenegg/A
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struments which constantly gives rise to new musical dialogues. Dirkjan Horringa and La Pellegrina will be performing this spiritual work on 1 Aug in Bechyne Castle in the Czech Republic. WEBERN / PERNES
Edited songs
Josef Bohuslav Foerster FOERSTER
Great spiritual power Josef Bohuslav Foerster (1859–1951), a contemporary of Janácek, was a composer who embodied a great spiritual power, as well as a vast mental and emotional range. His Concerto for violin and orchestra Op. 88 (1910–11) resembles an extended symphonic poem with solo violin. Foerster stuck largely to the sound language of the late romantic era, and while the solo part here is clearly integrated into the orchestra, there is a distinct use of solo orchestral in-
Represented by several works in the UE catalogue and a composer in his own right, Thomas Pernes has edited Anton Webern’s Vier Lieder für Gesang und Klavier Op. 12 (1915–17) for soprano and chamber ensemble (2008/09), offering a new perspective on these rare miniatures. Performance material is available now. On the subject of adaptations, Nikolaus Harnoncourt will be taking on Webern’s edition of Schubert’s Deutsche Tänze this summer. Opening the first concert of the Salzburger Festspiele, he will conduct the Wiener Philharmoniker on 26 and 28 Jul. Salzburg will also witness some first-class chamber music on 9 Aug: Mark Steinberg (vln) and Mitsuko Uchida (pno) are to perform Vier Stücke, while Clemens Hagen and Uchida will play Drei kleine Stücke. Passacaglia has aroused the interest of Christoph von Dohnányi, who will conduct Webern’s Op.1 on 14 and 15 Jun in Hamburg/D (NDR-Orchestra).
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KUHMO FESTIVAL
UE in Kuhmo The Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, the largest in Finland, takes place for the 40th time this summer, presenting around 300 works in over 70 concerts from 12–25 Jul. The main theme this year is “fairytales and stories”, and the festival will also be making a journey following the path of the Orient Express, from London all the way eastwards until it finally reaches New York. The Kuhmo journey also makes an extended stop in Vienna, and UE composers are well represented during the course of the concerts. Anton Webern is honoured with a concert on 18 Jul, with performances of his Drei Kleine Stücke Op. 11. for cello and piano, his Four Pieces for violin and piano Op. 7 and the Six Bagatelles Op. 9 for string quartet.
On 19 July the ‘secret voice’ in Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite can be heard, sung by the soprano Salome Haller with the Enescu Quartet. Berg hid references to both himself and to the secret subject of his desires, Hanna-Fuchs Robettin, in the work. See our edition UE 70017 edited by George Perle for more details. Four songs from Gustav Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn are also performed in the same concerts, with Jussi Myllys accompanied by Valeria Resjan. In addition to works by Webern, Schönberg, Mahler and Berg, lesser-known music by Karol Szymanowski (La Berceuse d’Aitacho Enia for violin and piano) and Erwin Schulhoff (Concertino) can also be heard. For a full list of concerts, see www.kuhmofestival.fi
Kuhmo/FIN
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kuhmo festival
KRENEK
Scenes from the West In the 1950s, Ernst Krenek composed several works for young audiences, such as his ‘four impressions for orchestra’ Scenes from the West Op. 134 which were written between 1952 and 1953. These have been newly included in the UE catalogue and re-printed – orchestral material is available now. His piano song Die Nachtigall Op. 68 is based on a poem by Karl Kraus. Krenek also arranged the work for coloratura soprano and ensemble the same year in which he composed it (1931). The latest performances are planned for 3–5 Jul in the Gasteig, Munich/D. Musicians from the Münchner Philharmoniker will be performing under Michael Tilson-Thomas, with Laura Claycomb as soloist. Krenek’s song cycle Reisebuch aus den österreichischen
Alpen can be heard on 28 Jul at the Sommerliche Musiktage festival in Hitzacker/D with Jan Kobow as vocalist, accompanied by Burkhard Kehring at the piano.
SCHNITTKE
Juggler of styles In his Faust cantata “Seid nüchtern und wachet ...”, Alfred Schnittke proves himself to be a virtuoso juggler of musical styles, but also no stranger to irony. Faust’s unpleasant end is highlighted by a bizarre sound effect paired with an exhilarating tango. Schnittke, however, always addresses his listeners directly on an emotional level. His Faust opera evolved from the cantata and therefore has considerable parallels with it. The cantata will be performed three times in Munich/D. Andrey Boreyko leads the Münchner Philharmoniker with soloist Marjana Prudenskaja (5–7 Jun).
Hans Heinsheimer (UE), Gladys and Ernst Krenek
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krenek / schnittke
WEILL / BRECHT
Bob Wilson’s Threepenny Opera Theatre-maker Robert Wilson delighted the international press and Berlin audiences in 2007 with his idiosyncratic production of The Threepenny Opera (Kurt Weill / Bertolt Brecht). The dense, visual production, supported by the ensemble’s unbeatable acting, made for a unique aesthetic experience. Founded by Bertolt Brecht and Helene Weigl in 1949, the Berliner Ensemble chose to celebrate the 80th anniversary of The Threepenny Opera with this production. The Bergen International Festival has now invited the show to give a guest performance in Norway. Four performances are scheduled between 30 May and 2 Jun.
Kurt Weill The Threepenny Opera Berliner Ensemble 2007
The critical edition of The Threepenny Opera has now been published in UE’s new study score series. As well as providing a detailed introduction to the work, this contains a wealth of directions for performance, the interludes and all of the spoken text. The study score UE 34304 is available from music stores and from the UE web shop: www.universaledition.com
H.K. Gruber and Klangforum Wien will be heading off on tour in June with a concert version of The Threepenny Opera. The star-studded cast features Ian Bostridge as Macheath, H. K. Gruber as Peachum, Hannah Schwarz as Mrs. Peachum, Dorothea Röschmann as Polly, Angelika Kirchschlager as Jenny and Florian Boesch as Tiger Brown. The tour kicks off on 11 Jun in Hamburg before heading to London, Paris and Vienna.
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weill / brecht
MARCEL POOT (1901–1988)
„one hit wonder“ The orchestral works of Belgian composer Marcel Poot are probably the strongest works in his oeuvre. His greatest success was his short piece Ouverure Joyeuse (1934) for orchestra, which rather put the rest of his compositions in the shade and marked him out as a “one hit wonder”. The recipe for this hit is intriguing nonetheless: rapid alternation between ebullient passages with a vital motricity and lyrical moments. The piece was last performed in Maastricht/NL on 29 Mar.
The Staatsorchester Stuttgart performs the orchestral version of the Monologe in Stuttgart (12 & 13 July, Christian Gerhaher, bar., Manfred Honeck) and Schwäbisch Gmünd (18 July, Konrad Jarnot, bar., Timo Handschuh). Martin’s Concerto for 7 wind instruments, timpani, percussion and strings from 1949 will be performed three times this summer by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Seiji Ozawa (22 June, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris; 19 June, Musikverein Vienna; 21 June, Konzerthaus Vienna).
MARTIN
Austrian Monologues Thomas Quasthoff sings the music of Frank Martin this summer, with a performance of 6 Monologe aus Jedermann at the Salzburg Festival on 18 Aug, accompanied by Lars Vogt (and again at the Lucernce Festival on 20 Aug). The monologues have, as the baritone Dietrich Henschel puts it, “a broad palette of expressive values, ranging from drastic expressionism to lyric intimacy.”
Frank Martin
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poot / martin
KARL HEINZ FÜSSL (1924–1992)
Emotional spontaneity The Carinthian Summer, Carinthia’s biggest music festival, celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2009. The anniversary programme features Bilder der Jahreszeit by Austrian composer Karl Heinz Füssl, whose creativity is mainly directed towards a freely handled dodecaphony. This is characterised by the emotional spontaneity which continually springs from his works, despite their structural rigour. Füssl himself: “the things that become fashionable regularly provoke me to violent counter-reaction.” His four songs for high voice and string orchestra adapted from Hölderlin is performed by the Ensemble Kreativ under Guido Mancusi with soloist Ursula Langmayr on the 21 Jul in Ossiach/A.
JOSEF M. HAUER (1883–1959)
Schönberg’s rival king Josef Matthias Hauer is one of those composers who was never really understood by his contemporaries. His reputation has been affected by his bitter fight to be recognised as “originator and (despite many
poor imitations!) unfortunately still the only connoisseur and master of twelve-tone music”. He even became really aggressive towards his rival Arnold Schönberg when the question of the origins of twelve-tone music arose. Today, this rivalry seems absurd, as the two different methods of composition cannot be reduced to a single definition. The Ensemble Kreativ performs Hauer’s Kammermusik [Chamber Music] on the 20 July, also as part of the Carinthian Summer.
ALFREDO CASELLA (1883–1947)
Harmonic meeting point Alfredo Casella’s Scarlattiana (1926) is a divertimento for piano and 32 instruments based on 88 themes from 545 piano sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti. Casella wrote in his memoirs, “it is absolutely possible to find a harmonic meeting point between the 18th and 20th centuries”. Working with Scarlatti’s ideas, Casella managed to fuse the two composers’ personalities into one another and turn them into a style, “led by internal impulses”. The Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria will enchant audiences with this work on 8 May in the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria/E, under the direction of Christian Arming with Andrea Lucchesini at the piano.
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füssl / hauer / casella
SZYMANOWSKI
King Roger “He was a real genius,” says Polish pianist Pjotr Anderszewski, summing up the reverence for his countryman Karol Szymanowski. Three celebrated new productions of his opera King Roger stand as a reminder of Szymanowski’s genuine understanding of theatre. The Paris Opera is to stage King Roger on 18 June as the final première of the Mortier era. It will be directed by young Polish star Krzysztof Warlikowski and conducted by Kazushi Ono (until 2 July). The Bregenz Festival will be showcasing Szymanowski’s only opera in a production by artistic director David Pountney (23, 26 July, 1, 3 Aug) with Mark Elder conducting. www.bregenzerfestspiele.com The Oper Bonn also has König Roger in its concert calendar (5, 14 and 24 June, conductor: Stefan Blunier). Some remarkable concerts can be heard as part of the focus on Szymanowski in Bregenz: Paul Daniel is to conduct the Symphony No. 3 and Stabat Mater (27 July, Wiener Symphoniker) and Gérard Korsten the Violin Concerto No. 1 (soloist: Patricia Kopatchinskaja). Christian Tetzlaff will also be performing the same piece in Vienna under Pierre Boulez with the Wiener Philharmoniker (12 June).
La Berceuse d'Aitacho Enia for violin and piano can be heard on 20 July at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival/FIN. Mythes (also for violin and piano) will be performed in Schwetzingen/D on 5 June. The Concert Overture can be heard in Munich/D. Vladimir Fedoseyev will conduct the BR-Orchester (25–26, 28 June). Stabat Mater receives a second outing at the London BBC Proms (Aug 23, BBC SO).
David Pountney
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szymanowski
BARTÓK
Chasing motifs “In my more recent works, I have been using more counterpoint than I used to,” said Béla Bartók in an interview in 1928. “That way, I can avoid the 19th century formulae that were generally homophonic. I am studying Mozart.” Counterpoint techniques play an important role in many of his later works, such as the fugue in Musik für Saiteninstrumente, Schlagzeug und Celesta. Pierre Boulez will be presenting the piece several times with the Berliner Philharmoniker (4–6 June in Berlin; 5 July at the Festival d'Aix en Provence). Der wunderbare Mandarin is partly a response to Bartók’s interest in Igor Stravinsky. He admired the way in which, in Sacre du Printemps, he “makes these chasing motivic complexes fit into each other
by balancing the weight ratios with extreme precision”. Bartók’s pantomime will be performed by Dennis Russell Davies and the Concertgebouworkest at the Holland Festival (19–20 June) and by Pascal Rophé with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège (5–6 June). The Kammerorchester Basel is taking the Romanian Folk Dances on tour. Winfried Toll will be conducting the piece between 13 June and 31 Aug in Ludwigsburg, Elmau and Montreux, among other venues. Zoltán Kocsis, a celebrated conductor and pianist, is to present the Dance Suite with the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra (7 June, Budapest). Pierre-Laurent Aimard will take on the Piano Concerto No. 1 in Vienna on 10 June with Jonathan Nott conducting his Bamberger Symphoniker.
Béla Bartók Der wunderbare Mandarin Koblenz 2003
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bartók
John Rea’s version of Wozzeck for 21 instruments has its German première on 14 June at the Staatstheater Meiningen. www.das-meininger-theater.de Eberhard Kloke has arranged a whole series of Alban Berg’s works for smaller orchestras: his version of the concert aria Der Wein for soprano (or tenor) and chamber orchestra can be heard in Austria for the first time on 8 June at the Vienna Musikverein, with Peter Keuschnig and the Ensemble Kontrapunkte. The soloist will be Gabriele Fontana. www.musikverein.at
Alban Berg BERG / KLOKE
New music for stage and concert Owing to their lavish orchestration, many of Alban Berg’s works have always been restricted to large opera houses and large orchestras. UE has published a series of reduced versions, on condition that the specific orchestral sound, which is of such importance to Berg, was retained. These new versions are successfully winning over new venues and, with them, new audiences.
With Der Wein, Kloke slowly moved chronologically towards a grander scheme: his years spent working on the opera Lulu have resulted in a fascinating new perspective with a new version of the third act (world première in autumn 2010) and an ensemble version of the entire opera. While completing the new version of the third act, Kloke extracted and transcribed symphonic pieces from the opera: the LuluBruchstücke for soprano, mezzo soprano, tenor, baritone and chamber orchestra.
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berg / kloke
SCHÖNBERG
Extreme states of mind An evening of instrumental theatre at the Theater Heilbronn (27–28 June and 2–3 July) will focus on people’s attitude to life during the era of social upheaval between 1900 and 1914 – and therefore on composer Arnold Schönberg, who was able to describe this phase of re-evaluation and uncertainty in music like no other. Christian Marten-Molnár will be staging Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht (1899) and Pierrot lunaire (1912) – works that both reflect extreme states of the human mind in music. Ruben Gazarin will conduct the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn. The Hertfordshire County Youth Orchestra and choir have taken on an ambitious project for 2009: under their principle conductor, Peter Stark, they are set to perform Schönberg’s Gurre-Lieder in a coproduction with the London Philharmonic Choir and London Symphony Chorus in London’s Westminster Central Hall on 29 Aug.
Hans Rott
HANS ROTT (1858–1884)
Originator of the new symphony The works by Viennese composer Hans Rott, who died in a psychiatric clinic aged 26, are some of the most interesting musical discoveries of the 1990s. Gustav Mahler regarded his fellow student at the Vienna Konservatorium, who was two years his senior, as the “originator of the new symphony”. His Pastorales Vorspiel for orchestra (1880) is a great, highly detailed crescendo comprising a prelude and fugue. One passage of bird song and sustained notes, in particular, is strongly reminiscent of the nature scene in Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. The Beethovenorchester Bonn will be performing the piece under Stefan Blunier on 12 June in Bonn/D.
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schönberg / rott
SCHREKER
Die Gezeichneten – reduced version Like those of Alban Berg (p. 33), Franz Schreker’s operas have only ever been performed in large venues up until now, due to their lavish orchestration. Die Gezeichneten, perhaps Schreker’s most exciting work and a drama of love and uninhibited sexual desire, is currently being prepared as a reduced version by George Stelluto. The opera will be able to be performed in medium and small concert halls as of spring 2011. Die Gezeichneten, which premièred in Frankfurt in 1918, was inspired by Alexander Zemlinsky, who requested a “tragedy of being ugly” (his Der Zwerg followed in 1922). By setting the opera in the Renaissance period, Schreker – who always wrote his own libretto – camouflaged contemporary references to turn-of-the-century Vienna
and to the ideas of Oscar Wilde, Arnold Schönberg, Frank Wedekind, Karl Kraus and Sigmund Freud. ZEMLINSKY
A Florentine Tragedy Alexander Zemlinsky’s scoring of Oscar Wilde’s tragic love story – A Florentine Tragedy – is one of the most exciting one-act operas in the history of 20th century music. Commissioned by UE and the Alexander Zemlinsky Fund, musicologist and conductor Antony Beaumont has been working on a critical new edition of the opera for several years. The work is scheduled for completion in 2010 and the new orchestral material will be available internationally as of 2010/2011.
Alexander Zemlinsky A Florentine Tragedy Theater Ulm 2002
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schreker / zemlinsky
FRANZ SCHMIDT (1862–1939)
Apocalyptic horrors Franz Schmidt’s thrilling scoring of The Book of Revelation – Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (1935–1937) – for soloists, mixed choir, organ and orchestra can easily be described as the greatest oratorio of modern times. Schmidt scored the imagery-rich text of Revelation for a large choir and orchestra with some theatrical effects. The apocalyptic horrors are reflected in the musical composition to a certain extent, using skilfully interwoven chromatics. The Bavarian Radio Choir and SO will be performing the work under Manfred Honeck on 18–19 June in Munich and on 21 June in Ottobeuren Basilica/D. Christian Arming will be taking the piece back to Tokyo after a long absence, with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra (10–11 July).
JOSEF SUK (1874–1935)
The events of a summer’s day Between 1907 and 1909, Josef Suk worked on a symphonic piece, Ein Sommermärchen Op. 29, describing
the possible events of a summer’s day based on a series of impressions. He was inspired by nature’s power over mankind. This magnificent late-romantic and entertaining piece contains large intervals, extreme rhythmic contrasts, exotic sounds and powerful hymns. It can be heard on 7 June at the Philharmonie Berlin, performed by the Deutsches SO under Mikko Franck.
FREDERICK DELIUS (1862–1934)
Joy and exhilaration On 27 July The Song of the High Hills by Frederick Delius will receive a rare London performance at the 2009 BBC Proms (BBC Philharmonic and BBC Singers, cond. Sir Charles Mackerras). Deploying a wordless chorus, the work was composed in 1911 and conveys the impression made upon the composer by a still summer night in Norway. “I have tried to express the joy and exhilaration one feels in the mountains, and also the loneliness and melancholy of the higher solitudes, and the grandeur of the wide, far distances. The voices represent Man in Nature – an episode which becomes fainter and then disappears altogether."
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schmidt / suk / delius
JANÁČEK
Cunning Little Renarde Children across France are being offered an impressive production of Leoš Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen, in the new version for children by Alexander Krampe and Ronny Dietrich. Following Paris and Besançon, the production by Charlotte Nessi now comes to Lille (6, 7, 8 10 June). The joint-production between Ensemble Justiniana, Opéra National de Paris and the Théâtre musical de Besançon is conducted by Denis Comtet. A clear, functional stage (by Gérard Champion) is enhanced by elegant and versatile video imagery by Samuel Hercule and Mike Guermyet. tinyurl.com/justiniana www.opera-lille.fr
The Festival de Saint-Denis plays host to a performance by the Orchestre de Paris of Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass. Pierre Boulez makes a rare appearance conducting a sacred work, and is joined by the soloists Melanie Diener, Anna Stéphany, Simon O'Neill and Peter Fried, and the Choeur de l'orchestre de Paris (25 June, Basilique Cathédrale, Saint-Denis). tinyurl.com/janacekstdenis Pierre Boulez returns to the podium with Janáček at the Lucerne Festival this year (29 Aug), conducting Sinfonietta with the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra in a programme alongside Alban Berg’s Chamber Concerto. Janáček’s operas continue in various German productions this summer, including both Stein Winge’s Katya Kabanova and his The Makropulos Case in Düsseldorf and Calixto Bieito’s Jenufa in Weimar.
Leoš Janáček Cunning Little Vixen Städtische Bühnen Münster 2009
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janáček
2009 50th 75th 75th 80th 150th 90th 50th 200th 50th 50th 80th 75th 100th 75th 75th 100th 90th 50th
Anniv. of Death Birthday Anniv. of Death Birthday Anniversary Anniversary Anniv. of Death Anniv. of Death Anniv. of Death Anniv. of Death Anniversary Birthday Anniversary Anniversary Anniv. of Death Anniversary Anniversary Anniv. of Death
George Antheil † 12 February 1959 Sir Harrison Birtwistle * 15 July 1934 Frederick Delius † 10 June 1934 Edison W. Denisow * 06 April 1929 Joseph Bohuslav Foerster * 30 Dec 1859 Roman Haubenstock-Ramati * 27 Feb 1919 Josef Matthias Hauer † 22 September 1959 Joseph Haydn † 31 May 1809 Bohuslav Martinu † 28 August 1959 Ennio Porrino † 25 September 1959 Henri Pousseur * 23 June 1929 Bernard Rands * 02 March 1934 Karl Scheit * 21 April 1909 Alfred Schnittke * 24 November 1934 Franz Schreker † 21 March 1934 Alfred Uhl * 05 June 1909 Roman Vlad * 29 December 1919 Eric Zeisl † 18 February 1959
Anniv. of Death Anniv. of Death Anniversary Birthday Birthday Birthday Anniversary Anniversary Birthday Anniversary Anniversary Anniversary Anniv. of Death
Hugo Alfvén † 08 May 1960 Alban Berg † 24 December 1935 Luciano Berio * 24 October 1925 Pierre Boulez * 26 March 1925 Paul-Heinz Dittrich * 04 December 1930 Cristóbal Halffter * 24 March 1930 Rolf Liebermann * 14 September 1910 Gustav Mahler * 07 July 1860 Arvo Pärt * 11 September 1935 Ennio Porrino * 20 January 1910 Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek * 04 May 1860 Toru Takemitsu * 08 October 1930 Egon Wellesz * 21 October 1885
2010 50th 75th 85th 85th 80th 80th 100th 150th 75th 100th 150th 80th 125th
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anniversaries
2011 75th 75th 100th 85th 75th 85th 80th 75th 85th 200th 100th 75th 75th 50th 50th 125th 50th 25th 75th
Birthday Birthday Anniversary Birthday Birthday Birthday Anniversary Birthday Birthday Anniversary Anniv. of Death Birthday Anniv. of Death Birthday Birthday Birthday Birthday Anniv. of Death Birthday
Gilbert Amy * 29 August 1936 Sir Richard Rodney Bennett * 29 March 1936 Paul Burkhard * 21 December 1911 Francis Burt * 28 April 1926 Cornelius Cardew * 07 May 1936 Friedrich Cerha * 17 February 1926 Mauricio Kagel * 24 December 1931 Ladislav Kupkovic * 17 March 1936 György Kurtág * 19 February 1926 Franz Liszt * 22 October 1811 Gustav Mahler † 18 May 1911 Steve Reich * 03 October 1936 Ottorino Respighi † 18 April 1936 David Sawer * 14 September 1961 Daniel Schnyder * 12 March 1961 Othmar Schoeck * 01 September 1886 Mauricio Sotelo * 02 October 1961 Alexandre Tansman † 15 November 1986 Hans Zender * 22 November 1936
Anniversary Birthday Anniv. of Death Anniv. of Death Birthday Birthday Birthday Anniv. of Death Birthday Birthday Birthday Birthday
Kurt Atterberg * 12 December 1887 David Bedford * 04 August 1937 Hanns Eisler † 06 September 1962 Morton Feldman † 03 September 1987 Silvia Fómina * 1962 Peter Kolman * 29 May 1937 Richard Meale * 24 August 1932 Caspar Neher † 30 June 1962 Gösta Neuwirth * 06 January 1937 Bo Nilsson * 01 May 1937 Wolfgang Rihm * 13 March 1952 Rodion K. Schtschedrin * 16 December 1932
2012 125th 75th 50th 25th 50th 75th 80th 50th 75th 75th 60th 80th
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anniversaries
JAY SCHWARTZ Narcissus & Echo chamber opera for countertenor, viola, percussion and organ Munich Opera Festival Charles Maxwell, CT, Lila Brown, vla, c. Jay Schwartz, dir. Christiane Pohle, set. Raimund Orfeo Voigt 2, 3 and 4 July 2009 · Allerheiligen Hofkirche Munich
GEORG FRIEDRICH HAAS Traum in des Sommers Nacht for orchestra Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, c. Riccardo Chailly 28 August 2009 · Leipzig/D GEORGES LENTZ Guyuhmgan (new version 2008) for orchestra Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg c. Emmanuel Krivine 2 July 2009 · Luxembourg DAVID SAWER The Source for soprano, mezzo soprano and tubular bells Claire Booth, S, Susan Bickley, MS, Owen Gunnell, perc 1 April 2009 · King’s Place London
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world premières
A CELEBRATION OF SONG An Art Song Festival from Mahler to Webern for (high) voice and piano UE 33936 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Sonatas and Partitas BWV 1001–1006, ed. by Dagmar Glüxam UT 50255 MIKE CORNICK Clever Cat at the Seaside Pupil & teacher duets to enhance the early stages of learning for piano 4 hands with CD UE 21464 RICHARD FILZ Airdrummers of Tombalesi for choir SATB vocal score UE 34186 Beam Me Up! for choir SATB vocal score UE 34187 New Karl Scheit Guitar Edition SANTIAGO DE MURCIA Suite en ré mineur for guitar ed. by Olaf van Gonnissen, Thomas Müller-Pering and Johannes Monno UE 34481 JAMES RAE Blue Baroque Saxophone for alto or tenor saxophone and piano UE 21465 NIKOS SKALKOTTAS Sonate A/K 69 for violin solo UE 21467
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new releases
2008 MUSIC EDITION PRIZE
Complete Edition of Alban Berg Alban Berg Gesamtausgabe Musikalischer Nachlass, vol. 2, “Kompositionen aus der Studienzeit”, part 2 (UE 18172b) published by Universal Edition, has been awarded the Deutsche Musikeditionspreis 2008 in the category ‘Scientific Editions / Complete Editions’. The jury recognised the outstanding publishing achievement of this Complete Edition and the high quality of its production. This Prize has been awarded annually since 1991 by the German Music Publishers Association.
JOSEPH HAYDN
Sonatas for piano Editors: Christa Landon and Ulrich Leisinger; Notes on interpretation: Robert D. Levin Fingerings: Oswald Jonas Vol. 1 / 2 UT 50256 / UT 50257 Revision of the legendary Haydn Edition When Christa Landon presented the first printed version of her edition of Joseph Haydn's Piano Sonatas, Haydn's sonata oeuvre was still overshadowed by the works of
Mozart and Beethoven. Since then, Haydn's sonatas have progressed from the teaching rooms to the concert halls and Landon's edition has played a crucial role in that process. The Haydn anniversary in 2009 is a welcome occasion to thoroughly revise this 'legendary' edition for, over the course of more than forty years, new sources have come to light and questions of authenticity have been resolved, not least because the editorial principles for 18th-century music have changed considerably. The new edition comprises all works of the previous Wiener Urtext edition plus the Sonata Hob. XVI:16 edited by Landon, along with the Sonata in F major which was rediscovered in Bozen a few years ago and attributed to Joseph Haydn. The new edition is published in four volumes, the content of each volume being compatible with the volumes of the previous edition. Volumes 1 and 2 contain the early sonatas. In the Notes on Interpretation, Robert D. Levin explains important aspects of Haydn's performance practice.
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new releases
BÉLA BARTÓK Der wunderbare Mandarin, Piano Concerto No. 1 and 2, Herzogs Blaubarts Burg (extracts), Musik für Streichinstrumente, Schlagzeug und Orchester City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, c. Simon Rattle, Peter Donohoe, pno, Anne Sofie von Otter, MS, Willard White, B EMI 4 CDs 2150372 ALBAN BERG Chamber Concerto EIC, c. Pierre Boulez, Mitsuko Uchida, pno, Christian Tetzlaff, vln Decca CD 478 0316 HARRISON BIRTWISTLE Chronometer restauration: Lieven Bertels, Simon Gibson, EMI Abbey Road Studios Sound and Music London SAM 0801 MORTON FELDMAN 5 Pianos Amy Briggs, Helena Bugallo, Benjamin Engeli, Amy Williams, Stefan Wirth, pno WERGO CD WER 670822 MORTON FELDMAN For Bunita Marcus Steffen Schleiermacher, pno MDG CD 613 1522-2 JOSEPH BOHUSLAV FOERSTER Symphony No. 4 Sinfonieorchester Osnabrück, c. Hermann Bäumer MDG CD 632 1492-2 LEOS JANÁČEK Sinfonietta, Glagolitic Mass City of Birmingham SO & Chorus, c. Simon Rattle, Felicity Palmer, MS, Ameral Gunson, S, John Mitchinson, T, Malcolm King, B EMI Classics CD 5099923760622 MAURICIO KAGEL Kantrimiusik Nieuw Ensemble, c. Ed Spanjaard, Angela Tunstall, Susan Bickley, Alan Belk, voc Winter & Winter/Edel CD 025091015023 ERNST KRENEK Symphony No. 1 Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, c. John Axelrod Nimbus Records CD NI 5808 DDD GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 2 Philadelphia Orchestra & Singers, c. Christoph Eschenbach, Simona Saturova, S, Yvonne Naef, MS Ondine 2 CDs 1134-2D FRANK MARTIN Polyptyque, Passacaille, Konzert für Cembalo und kleines Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur, c. Jac van Steen, Rudolf Scheidegger, hpsd MDG/Codaex SACD 606231539643
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new on cd
BÉLA BARTÓK, PIERRE BOULEZ, KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN Kurtág’s Ghosts Marino Formenti, pno KAIROS CD 0012902KAI
LUKE BEDFORD Upon St. George’s Hill Estonian National SO, c. Tõnu Kaljuste NMC Songbook NMC D 150
W. RIHM La musique creuse le ciel, Über Schrift DSO Berlin, c. Peter Rundel, Grau Schumacher Piano Duo NEOS CD 10915
W. RIHM „CONCERTO“, Sotto voce 1 + 2 Lucerne SO, c. Jonathan Nott, c. John Axelrod, Arditti Quartet, N. Hodges, pno KAIROS CD 0012952KAI
ARVO PÄRT Hymn to a Great City, Da pacem domine Michael McHale, pno, Callino Quartett Louth Contemporary Music Society LCMS CD 901 WOLFGANG RIHM Goethe-Lieder Christoph Prégardien, T, Siegfried Mauser, pno CAvi CD 8553115 DAVID SAWER The Source Claire Booth, S, Susan Bickley, MS, Owen Gunnell, tubular bells NMC Songbook CD NMC D 150 FRANZ SCHREKER Der Geburtstag der Infantin, Valse Lente, Festwalzer und Walzerintermezzo, Der Wind, Ein Tanzspiel Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, c. John Axelrod Nimbus Records CD NI 5753 DDD FRANZ SCHREKER Intermezzo, Scherzo Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, c. John Axelrod Nimbus Records CD NI 5808 DDD KAROL SZYMANOWSKI Concerto No. 1 for violin and orchestra Warsaw Philh. Orchestra, c. Antoni Wit Sony CD 886974399926
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new on cd
Mauricio Sotelo (born 1961) Worklist “A Roberto –” for flute 2008–2009 Al fuego, el mar for piano and 4 orchestral groups (25’) 1993–1994/1997–1998 Animales celestes Educational work für 1, 2, 3 or 4 cellos 1996 (variable duration 4–12’) Appassionato – en un silencio ardiente for flute and ensemble (10’) 2002 Arde el alba for soprano, cantaor and orchestra (24’) 2008 Argo (Argos) for alto or tenor saxophone (22’) 1997 Fragments of Argos: Cantabile amoroso for (soprano, alto or tenor) saxophone (6’) 1997 Liebeslied I for alto saxophone (8’) 1997 Liebeslied II for tenor saxophone (9’) 1997 Artemis for string quartet (23’) 2004 Audéeis for voice (cantaor) and string quartet (ca 20’) 2004 Cantes Antiguos for voice (cantaor or alto), tape and piano (9’) 2003 Cena de las Cenizas – Abendmahl der Aschen for orchestra (25’) 1999–2000 Chalan for percussion and orchestra (18’) 2003 Como el oscuro pez del fondo for alto flute and percussion (12’) 1988/2001 Como llora el agua ... for guitar (12’) 2008 Como llora el viento ... for guitar and orchestra (23’) 2007 Cripta – música para Luigi Nono 2004–2008 for cantaor, mixed choir, instrumental ensemble and tape (64’) Cuaderno de danzas for violin and ensemble (20’) 2004 De amore for cello (9’) 1995 De amore – Una maschera di cenere chamber opera (100’) 1996–1999 De imaginum, signorum, et idearum compositione I 1995/1996 for ensemble (14’) De magia for alto or tenor saxophone, percussion and piano (14’) 1995 De oscura llama for voice (cantaor), ensemble and tape (50’) 2008 De Vinculis: ge-BURT for violin (12’) 2001 2002 De Vinculis: Gong for percussion (14’) Degli Eroici Furori for string quartet (17’) 2001–2002 Del amor oscuro for voice (cantaor), ensemble and tape (50’) 2004–2008 Del aura al suspirar for contrabass (or alto) flute + tape (12’) 1998–2001 Dulcinea Children’s opera (50’) 2004–2006 basend on Don Quijote by Miguel de Cervantes El rayo de tiniebla for voice (cantaor), mixed choir and 2008 orchestra (20–25’) Elegía: fragmento for flute and orchestra (18’) 1999/2003
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sotelo worklist
Epitafio for voice (cantaor) or alto and percussion (8’) 1997 Estremecido por el viento for violin (4–5’) 2003 Frammenti de l'infinito for orchestra and tape (12’) 1998 Lorca-Nono: Dialogo del Amargo Green Aurora dancing over the night side of the earth for piano (10’) 2006 Interludien zu Lorcas "Canciones populares" for flute, percussion, 1998 guitar, viola and double bass (15’) Lecturas del libro de Job Sieben Sätze for speaker, flute 1998/2000 and string orchestra (16’) Memoriae for cello and double bass (12’) 1994 Muros de dolor ... I for tenor saxophone (4’26’’) 2005 Muros de dolor ... II for bass flute 2005 Muros de dolor ... III for orchestra (14’) 2006/2007 Muros de dolor ... IV: Soleá de Utrera for voice (cantaor), 2007 saxophone and percussion (10’) Night for percussion and ensemble (25’) 2007 Posesión del Ángel for cantaor or baritone, instruments and 1997/2001 tape (50’) Raíz del aire for voice (cantaor) and ensemble (18’) 2006 Rinconete y Cortadillo for electronics (40’) 2002 Si después de morir ... for voice (cantaor or alto), flute, 1999–2000 tape and orchestra (18’) Sonetos del amor oscuro – Cripta sonora para 2003–2004/2005 Luigi Nono — Nono Projecto for 2 cantaores, mixed choir, instrumental ensemble and tape (64’) Su un oceano di scampanellii for piano (24’) 1994–1995 Supernova – Santa Marina la Real for organ (12’) 2008 Tamquam centrum circuli for flute, harpsichord and orchestra (18’) 1997/2006 Tisra for piano trio (12’) 2006 Trama, il flauto di marsia for flute (22’) 1996 Venta Varga for piano trio (3’) 2007 Wall of light black for saxophone and chamber ensemble (16’) 2003/2006 Wall of light red for saxophone and ensemble (17’) 2003–2004 Wall of light sky for ensemble and tape (12’) 2006 More information available at: www.universaledition.com/sotelo
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sotelo worklist
UNIVERSAL EDITION Austria: Boesendorferstr. 12, A-1010 Vienna, Austria (Musikverein) tel +43-1-337 23 - 0, fax +43-1-337 23 - 400 UK: 48 Great Marlborough Street, London W1F 7BB tel +44-20-7292-9171, fax +44-20-7292-9173 USA: European American Music Distributors LLC 254 West 31st Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10001-2813 tel +1-212-461-6940, fax +1-212-810-4565 www.universaledition.com, promotion@universaledition.com Chief Editors: Angelika Dworak and Eric Marinitsch Contributors: Eric Marinitsch, Wolfgang Schaufler, Jonathan Irons, Angelika Dworak, Daniela Burgstaller, Kieran Morris, Rebecca Dawson, Kerstin Schwager and Marion Dürr Design: Egger & Lerch, Vienna/Austria Photo credits: Internationale Gustav Mahler Gesellschaft, www.karlkreuzer.de, Eric Marinitsch (7), www.lifepr.de, UE Archiv (7), Ben Ealovega, Opera North / Alastair Muir, www.guardian.co.uk, www.ultrasonic.it, Harrison Parrott / Tanja Ahola, www.grafenegg.at, Kuhmo Festival / Caj Bremer, Hans Heinsheimer Foundation, Berliner Ensemble / Lesely LeslieSpinks, Eric Schaal, Bregenzer Festspiele / Carlos de Mello, Theater der Stadt Koblenz / Helke Stiebel, Theater Ulm / Hans Botzenhardt, Städtische Bühnen Münster / Michael Hörnschemeyer, Münchner Opernfestspiele; CDs: KAIROS (2), NMC, NEOS. DVR: 0836702