The Global Times

London - Bonhams is to offer an extensive draft of Robert Schumann's 1837 piano masterpiece Fantasiestücke Opus 12 – written in the composer's own hand – at the Fine Books and Manuscripts sale in London on Tuesday 27 November 2018. The draft, which is unknown to music scholars, is estimated at £200,000-300,000, and was taken out of Germany months before the outbreak of World War II by the distinguished German jurist Dr Moritz Sprinz.

Milan - The return of Verdi’s Attila conducted by Riccardo Chailly will open a great Season with 15 opera titles, 7 ballets (plus 2 guest productions from the Tokyo Ballet), 8 symphonic programs and 7 voice recitals. The calendar is completed by extraordinary concerts and the performances for children. On stage, the best singers, soloists, conductors and stage directors will add another memorable year to the history of La Scala.

Milano - Andrea Chénier, il capolavoro di Giordano che fu battezzato alla Scala nel 1896, vi manca dal 1985. Allora come oggi sul podio c’era Riccardo Chailly. Il maestro milanese, che nel 2018 festeggia i 40 anni dal debutto operistico con I masnadieri, ha diretto al Piermarini 18 opere coprendo un repertorio vastissimo che da Verdi spazia a Stravinskij e Prokof’ev, da Rossini a Puccini e, appunto, al verismo.

A bored young aristocrat, as a joke, spurns the maiden he later recognises as the true love of his life; but by then it is too late. After an absence of five years, John Cranko’s Onegin, a perfect example of modern “drama in dance”, returns to La Scala. Inspired by the novel in verse by Alexander Pushkin and reinterpreted with mastery and sensitivity by John Cranko, this great tale of ill-fated love is narrated through pas de deux with extraordinary expressive power, precision-sculpted characters and a splendid showcase of company numbers. The score of the ballet, orchestrated by Cranko’s trusted collaborator Kurt-Heinz Stolze, is entirely based on Tchaikovsky’s music, but contains not a single note from his opera Eugene Onegin. The arrangement and the orchestration of the pieces were conceived in relation to their dramatic expressiveness, in line with the conception of the ballet as a complete theatrical performance, where the ability to reinvent a written story and narrate it purely in dance terms reveals the wonderful freedom in Cranko’s dramatic and choreographic development.  

Tehran - Over 200 Iranian and Italian musicians will make history with two concerts, performing together on stage in Tehran and Ravenna led by Italian cultural ambassador, Riccardo Muti, on July 6 and 8, respectively. The project, instigated and curated by Italy’s Ravenna Festival in collaboration with Iran’s Roudaki Foundation, celebrates 20 years of “The Roads of Friendship” – an annual lay pilgrimage, re-establishing ancient ties to places of historical importance, slippedisc website reported. Joining Riccardo Muti on stage in both Tehran and Ravenna are the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra, musicians from Italy’s major theatres, the chorus of Piacenza’s Municipal Theatre and members of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra and Choir, including prominent Iranian maestro Shahrdad Rohani.

Téhéran - Pour la première fois depuis la révolution islamique, un concert de l'Orchestre symphonique de Téhéran a été dirigé mercredi soir par un maestro occidental, témoignant du réchauffement des liens culturels entre l'Iran et l'Europe.

«Jamais tu ne devras m’interroger ni te soucier seulement de savoir d’où je suis venu et par quel voyage, quel est mon nom ni quel est mon lignage.» Lohengrin, Acte I, scène 3

Rome - The 2016-17 Season features major co-productions with leading international theatres offering the audience the opportunity to enjoy works rarely performed. The new programme includes an absolute masterpiece of the twentieth century and great melodramas reinterpreted with a contemporary vision. These are the mail guidelines for the forthcoming events at the Teatro dell’Opera of Rome. Tristan und Isolde was the inaugural performance on 27 November 2016, on the podium Daniele Gatti. As one of the leading Italian conductor, in recent years, he has taken up, with determination, a major international career. Gatti is already very much appreciated by the roman concertgoers. The staging, a co-production with Paris’ Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Amsterdam’s De Nationale Opera, is directed by Pierre Audi.

Rome - Brahms, Čajkovskij, Stravinskij, Rostomyan, Šostakovič, Ives, Haydn, Bowie, Sollima, Beethoven, Prokof’ev, Mozart, Ravel Widmann. A programme of concerts that breaks new ground for the Teatro dell’Opera: a series of symphonic concerts, each demonstrating how musical know-how has been passed down through the years, from one era to another, from one generation to the next, from the 1800s to the 1900s and the present day. All the concerts take us on a journey of discovery, looking at the links and differences between the various musical periods and languages. An alternation of works by a classical composer, one from the last century and another from our day, providing an idea of the path followed by musical research over the past two centuries: in some cases a matter of continuity, in others a radical change in direction. The programme of concerts offer a series of mirrors of the time, showing the effect of what a philosopher such as Walter Benjamin once called “a secret pact” that binds the generations.

by Roland Petit

This year the best New Year Celebration will take place at the Teatro dell’Opera of Rome.

The date to put in your diary is Saturday, December 31, at 19.30, a special evening to be spent among red velvets curtains and scenes from famous musicals. You will be greeted by the waltzes from Die Fledermaus by Strauss Jr. with the famous choreography characterized by the subtle and corrosive humour of Roland Petit. This is the first time that Die Fledermaus is performed at the Costanzi, the stage production is from Teatro alla Scala of Milan, with schenography by Jean-Michel Wilmotte, costumes by Luisa Spinatelli and the lighting by Jean-Michel Désiré. It is directed by David Garforth. On the stage, next to the principal dancers, soloist and the Corps de Ballet of Teatro dell’Opera of Rome, maria Yakovleva and Friedemann Vogel will be the guest dancers, with the choreographic supervision by Luigi Bonino. Performances will continue until January 8, 2017. Then from the 13^th to 15^th of January it will be on stage at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.

Milano - Il Teatro alla Scala inaugura la Stagione 2016/17 con Madama Butterfly di Giacomo Puccini il 7 dicembre 2016. La tragedia giapponese nacque alla Scala nel febbraio 1904 suscitando forti contestazioni, complice una claque avversa ma anche la sorpresa del pubblico di fronte a un’opera cruda e innovativa, al passo con gli sviluppi più recenti del teatro musicale europeo.

Milan will witness the launch of a cycle of cultural initiatives dedicated to the analysis of Madama Butterfly, the masterpiece by Puccini that opens the 2016-2017 Season. These public moments of musicological and cultural reflection will precede the calendar of public events dedicated to the Premiere. The season concludes with the last and most important work for musical theatre by George Gershwin, Porgy and Bess, proposed in a new production directed by Philipp Harnoncourt and conducted by Alan Gilbert, musical director of the New York Philharmonic.

Milano - Nel giardino di una villa barocca una orchestra da camera suona i meravigliosi quartetti e quintetti di Mozart, e tutto si impregna di echi e rimandi al mondo del compositore. Come per illusione o per suggestione, dai chiaroscuri del giardino labirintico affiorano figure: sono i personaggi mozartiani, che giocano o forse si prendono gioco degli ospiti della festa coinvolgendoli nelle loro ben note schermaglie amorose. Con leggerezza e ironia questo viaggio nell’universo mozartiano ammicca al ‘700 anche nelle scenografie e nei costumi e popola il giardino di danze virtuosistiche, divertite, appassionate che si susseguono in maniera dinamica e veloce con continui cambi di atmosfera. Come in un sogno dove tutto si mescola, dove il reale e l'illusione si fondono.

Milano - Il primo 7 dicembre di Riccardo Chailly nelle vesti di Direttore Principale non poteva che essere dedicato a Verdi. Giovanna d’Arco vide la luce alla Scala il 15 febbraio 1845 e vi tornò per l’ultima volta il 23 settembre 1865, 150 anni fa; a dispetto della sua relativa rarità, è un lavoro di altissima qualità musicale come ha dimostrato il successo della ripresa in forma di concerto a Salisburgo nel 2013, supportato dalle voci di Anna Netrebko (foto) e Francesco Meli. Alla Scala gli stessi artisti, insieme a Carlos Álvarez, saranno protagonisti nella produzione di Moshe Leiser e Patrice Caurier.

Warsaw - Seong-Jin Cho of South Korea has won the career-paving 17th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, the head of the jury said Wednesday. 

Milano - Con Fresco di Luca Francesconi per cinque complessi bandistici itineranti che convergono nel centro di Milano, e poco dopo, un concerto della Filarmonica della Scala con Maderna, Berg e Webern, Milano Musica apre il 24° Festival di musica contemporanea, contributo consapevole alle offerte culturali di ExpoinCittà. Nel programma inaugurale è concentrata una sintesi delle linee che guidano Milano Musica da quasi 25 anni: l’indagine delle radici storiche su cui si fonda la ricerca contemporanea e l’apertura ad artisti ed espressioni “in fuga” dai modelli consacrati.

Iran says it will not allow Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim to perform at a Tehran concert. According to a report by German newspaper Der Spiegel cited in the London Jewish Chronicle, the Iranian culture minster is canceling the Berlin Philharmonic concert because Barenboim is an Israeli citizen. A spokesman for the ministry was quoted as saying that “Iran does not recognize the Zionist regime and will not co-operate with artists of this regime". 

The Berliner Philharmoniker are delighted to announce their new chief conductor. During an orchestra assembly last Sunday Kirill Petrenko was elected by a large majority of the members of the Berliner Philharmoniker as the Chief Conductor Designate of the orchestra and Artistic Director of the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation.

by Claudio Toscani

Before Turandot, Puccini had always created his operas around realistic and sentimental subjects, and around psychologically well-defined plots, settings and characters typical of the Italian operatic tradition.

Roma - Domani inaugurerà la Stagione Sinfonica 2015-2016 dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia con un programma che apre la strada a un progetto di ampio respiro. Antonio Pappano sul podio dell’Orchestra e del Coro di Santa Cecilia, nello spazio di un solo mese, dirigerà le nove Sinfonie di Ludwig Van Beethoven accostando il musicista tedesco alla musica contemporanea italiana e in due concerti a musicisti a lui coevi: Luigi Cherubini e Gaspare Spontini.

On stage Lucio Silla  from 26 February to 17 March A prestigious cast for Marc Minkowski who makes its debut at La Scala conducting the opera written by Mozart for Milan when he was just 16 years old.

Robert Wilson completes Monteverdi's “trilogy” with his latest opera in which a social climber uses her womanly wiles to become empress.

Conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini 

Autunno Danza 2014 - Anna Karenina di Boris Eifman al Teatro San Carlo 

(Dal 25 al 26 Ottobre 2014)

L'Accademia di Francia a Roma – Villa Medici presenta dal 16 al 30 ottobre 2014 la quarta edizione del festival Autunno in Musica. Il festival nasce nel 2011 per celebrare i legami instaurati tra Francia e Italia attraverso la storia e lo studio della musica classica. Come le precedenti edizioni, il festival si pone sotto il segno di una collaborazione dinamica con il Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française, all’origine dei quattro programmi dedicati alla musica francese dell’Ottocento, l’Accademia Filarmonica Romana e il Centre de musique baroque de Versailles. 

Live in concert in the WGBH Fraser Performance Studio, violinist Daniel Stepner and violist Anne Black get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform a work by Mozart on instruments that the composer himself owned and played.

Teatro alla Scala. Discover Romeo and Juliet By Kenneth MacMillan

Romeo and Juliet is a ballet by Sergei Prokofiev based on Shakespeare's tragic love story. Prokofiev composed the music in 1935 or 1936 for the Kirov Ballet. The incredible ballet score has inspired many great choreographers to try their hand at Shakespeare's story. 

Storms as a narrative and compositional device in Rigoletto, Idomeneo and Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Despite that fact that you can wear what you want to the opera, few people sit in their seats with raincoats and umbrellas. From what happens on stage this is surprising: opera is full of bad weather...

On 26 September the Mariinsky Theatre opens once more. The ballet season commences with Swan Lake at the historic theatre. The first opera on the playbill will be Il trovatore, to be conducted at the new theatre the same evening by maestro Valery Gergiev. The title of the ballet Swan Lake, arguably the most popular in the entire international repertoire, has for many become a synonym for the very concept of “classical ballet”.

Città del Vaticano - La Cappella Musicale Pontificia "Sistina", definita "il Coro del Papa", sarà in concerto a Mosca (Russia), nei giorni 25, 26 e 27 maggio 2014. L'iniziativa si inserisce nel progetto ecumenico portato avanti dalla Cappella Musicale Pontifica "Sistina", che ha visto, nella Solennità dei Santi Pietro e Paolo, il 29 giugno, la presenza in Vaticano del Coro anglicano di Westminster Abbey (2012) e del Coro luterano TomanerChor di Lipsia (2013). Quest'anno, nella Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano, il Coro Sinodale del Patriarcato di Mosca prenderà parte alla Celebrazione Eucaristica nella solennità dei Santi Pietro e Paolo, il 29 giugno prossimo.