Interviews

This year, 13-year-old Russian-Korean flautist Nikolai Song received ICMA’s  ‘Discovery Award’. Andrea Meuli (Musik + Theater, Zurich) and Isabel Roth (MDR, Leipzig) met the young musician for an interview.

How old were you, when you began playing the flute?
I was five years old. First I played the recorder, then I carefully changed to the Piccolo, before getting to the flute.

When did that happen?
I was eight or nine years old. Read More →

Polish flutist Lukasz Dlugosz was among the musicians having recorded a Concerto disc with compositions by Krzysztof Penderecki for Dux. This disc won in the category Contemporary music of the ICMA Awards 2016. Lukasz Dlugosz was also one of the winners to perform at the ICMA Gala Concert in San Sebastian. Jury member Maciej Chizynski (ResMusica) has made the following interview.

With whom did you study and how did your studies with different professors influence your views on music?
From an early age, I participated in master courses which complemented my education. Among others, I took part in Sir James Galway’s, Aurèle Nicolet’s and Peter-Lukas Graf’s classes. Read More →

‘Palazzetto Bru Zane’, le Centre de musique romantique française, a reçu un ‘Special Achievement Award’ des ICMA.  Rémy Franck s’est entretenu avec le directeur scientifique du ‘Palazzetto’, Alexandre Dratwicki.

Alexandre Dratwicki, pourriez-vous nous expliquer ce qui se cache derrière le nom ‘Palazzetto Bru Zane’.
C’est une fondation privée, installée à Venise, qui s’occupe de redécouvrir la musique romantique française oubliée du 19^e siècle, donc on va, en gros, de la période de Louis XVI et Marie-Antoinette avec Gluck comme compositeur célèbre, jusqu’à la Première Guerre mondiale. Read More →

At ICMA’s Gala Concert in San Sebastian, Spanish pianist Javier Perianes will represent the label he is exclusively recording for, Harmonia Mundi. Remy Franck met him for the following interview.

In Spain, if we don’t consider the composers who were also pianists, we have Alicia de Larrocha, Joaquín Achúcarro, José Iturbi…and you. Isn’t Spain a piano land?
Of course, the greatest Spanish pianist was Alicia de Larrocha. She played with all the major orchestras on the world. But there was also Rafael Orozco who made a recording of the four Rachmaninov Concertos with Edo De Waart in Rotterdam. Yet for me, it is a great honour that you are putting my name on that list. Read More →

Les ICMA (International Classical Music Awards) honorent cette année Dame Felicity Lott avec le ‘Liftetime Achievement Award’. Mozartienne accomplie, Maréchale de rêve, Felicity Lott a ravi les publics également dans l’opérette et dans le Lied. Rémy Franck s’est entretenu avec la cantatrice. Read More →

The ICMA Award 2015 in the category Contemporary music went to a Deutsche Grammophon recording featuring music by Korean composer Unsuk Chin, including the Concerto for Sheng and orchestra, performed by Wu Wei and the Seoul Philharmonic conducted by Myung-Whun Chung. The famous Chinese Sheng player Wu Wei took part in the ICMA Award Ceremony 2015 in Ankara as well as in the Gala Concert. ICMA jury members Serhan Bali, Guy Engels and Mario Vogt met the artist for an interview. Read More →

Chinese pianist Zhu Xiao Mei* won an ICMA Special Award 2015 with her Bach recordings for Accentus Music**. ICMA Jury member Nicola Catto has made the following interview with her. Read More →

Christian Tetzlaff gehört zu den neugierigsten und fleißigsten Interpreten der Klassikszene. Er ist 2015 ‘Artist of the Year’ der International Classical Music Awards (ICMA). Anlässlich der diesjährigen ICMA-Gala in Ankara sprach Andrea Meuli (Musik + Theater) mit dem deutschen Geiger.

Sie gehören zu den wenigen Klassik-Künstlern, die noch so regelmäßig CDs einspielen und mit einem breiten Repertoire präsent sein können.
Ja, das stimmt. Ich nehme mehr denn je auf. Das kommt für mich zu einem guten Zeitpunkt in meiner Karriere, und mit Ondine habe ich ein Label, das sich sehr um alle Belange wie Repertoire, Kollegen, auch Covers und Texte für die Booklets kümmert. Das ist eine wunderbare Zusammenarbeit. Read More →

Born in Moscow into a family with an established musical tradition, Alexander Sitkovetzky came to study at the Menuhin School in London. Today, he is making a career as soloist and as chamber musician as well. As part of the cpo box with the symphonies and concertos by Andrzej Panufnik, his recording of the Violin Concerto received an ICMA Award in 2015. Alexander Sitkovetzky took part in the ICMA Gala Concert in Ankara, and at this occasion, Remy Franck made the following interview. Read More →