Interviews

Iranian-American harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani (Tehran, 1984) won an ICMA 2023 in the Category Baroque Instrumental with his CD Bach: Italian Concerto – French Overture (Hyperion). Eduardo Torrico from the Spanish magazine Scherzo, member of the ICMA Jury, made the following interview with the artist.

Mahan Esfahani never leaves anyone indifferent. Neither when he plays music nor when he speaks. A student of Musicology and History at Stanford University, it was precisely there where he received his first harpsichord lessons from Elaine Thornburgh. From there he went to Boston to further his musical training with Peter Watchorn. He completed it in Prague, under the auspices of the historical Czech harpsichordist Zuzana Ruzickova. Read More →

The repertoire for the viola is limited. But it is growing – also thanks to Sào Soulez Larivière. The viola virtuoso, born in 1998, loves to arrange works for his instrument and experiment with the contemporary. His musical brilliance and versatility have already earned him several awards. This year he is the recipient of the ICMA Young Artist Award. In February, he took time for an interview with ICMA jury member Frauke Adrians (Das Orchester) in his current hometown of Berlin.

Dear Sào Soulez Larivière – you here in Berlin? I thought you would have been in Kronberg long ago.
At the moment I am in both places! Last year I completed my bachelor’s degree in Berlin at the HfM Hanns Eisler with Tabea Zimmermann, and now I’m sort of commuting between Berlin and Kronberg Academy, where I’m currently doing my master’s degree. There, too, I continue my lessons with Tabea Zimmermann. Read More →

« A cellistic high-flyer with fine creative ability who has phenomenal command of his instrument »: this is how music critic Norbert Hornig described the young cellist Gabriel Schwabe five years ago. Schwabe, born in Berlin in 1988, has maintained his flying height and consolidated his excellent reputation – also thanks to the highly acclaimed albums he has recorded on the Naxos label. He has been under contract there since 2015. At the ICMA awards on April 21 in Wroclaw, he will represent Naxos, ICMA Label of the Year. Frauke Adrians, of the magazine ‘das Orchester’, ICMA jury member, talked to Gabriel Schwabe.

Gabriel Schwabe, on your latest CD you play ballads by Shostakovich and Prokofiev, among others. Do you feel particularly at home in this music?
I have a natural affinity for the 20th century – there’s a repertoire there that I have the easiest access to. But that doesn’t mean I’m locked into it. In general, I’m also very comfortable with anything romantic. Read More →

German violinist Tassilo Probst and American pianist Maxim Lando, both 20 years old, won in the ICMA Chamber Music category with their CD ‘Into Madness’. Pizzicato’s Remy Franck made the following interview with the two musicians, the youngest ever to win in a category in which the competition is always particularly fierce.

First, let us talk about your musical origins. Can you share some information about how you both got started in music?
ML: My parents are both musicians and run a music school in New York. I spent every day there surrounded by music and musicians from the time I was born, so it was pretty natural that I would either love it or hate it. I loved music right from the beginning and would listen obsessively to various recordings. Read More →

The online platform Classeek keeps on growing. 5 years after its launch, it proudly undertook a whole series of developments including concerts of young talents broadcasted online. In January it has announced a new partnership with the International Classical Music Awards. Jury member Pierre-Jean Tribot from the Belgian Crescendo Magazine made the following interview with Catarina Amon, founder and CEO of Classeek. Read More →

ICMA has voted Swedish clarinetist and conductor Martin Fröst as their 2022 Artist of the Year Award for his innovative global career, his impressive discography, and his philanthropy. Alexandra Ivanoff from the Hungarian Jury member Papageno has an interview with the musician which you can read with this link.

Julian Kainrath is the very talented violinist from South Tyrol (he was born in Merano) who won the Discovery Award in the ICMA 2022 edition: he is not even 17 years old! He will play on April 21st at the Philharmonie in Luxembourg with the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Adam Fischer (who will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award): his programme includes the virtuoso Introduction et Rondo capriccioso by Saint-Saëns. But on February 28th Julian played in Milan, with the pianist Luigi Carroccia, for the season of the Società dei Concerti: a concert that showcased the truly promising talent of this musician, whom Nicola Cattò (Musica, Italy) met for an interesting interview.

You were born in a borderland, among different languages (Italian, German and the Spanish of your Bolivian mother’s side) and cultures that are sometimes far apart. How did you live this fact? An enrichment or a difficulty?
It’s true, my mother is South American and I speak Spanish with her; my father is from Bolzano, on the border between Austria and Italy, and I speak German with him, while my parents use Italian with each other! For this reason, I am of the opinion that any approach to other cultures enriches artists, musicians. Read More →

The luxembourgish conductor Pierre Cao is winner of a Special Achievement Award  in this year’s International Classical Music Awards. Guy Engels (radio 100,7/Luxembourg, member of the jury) had the opportunity to talk with Pierre Cao.

Pierre Cao, you came to music relatively late, after you had already taken a different path professionally.
I was never meant to be a musician. After finisning my normal school, I worked in a washing machine factory. It was only when I spent a longer time in a sanatorium in Switzerland for health reasons that I decided to make music. My parents agreed, although it wasn’t easy for them because they didn’t have the financial means.
I also had a hard time in this new world for a long time. Read More →

The Warner boxed set of the complete official recordings of the legendary conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler has won an International Classical Music Award in the Historical category. This award was the occasion for Pierre-Jean Tribot (Crescendo/Belgium, member of the jury) to make the following interview with Stéphane Topakian, the main editor of this set and a great connoisseur of the maestro’s art.

For many years now, many live recordings of Furtwängler have been released. As a result, we have lost sight of the importance of his official legacy, which seemed to have been forgotten by the regular re-releases of Universal and Warner? So how can we consider these official recordings in their contribution to our knowledge of his art? Moreover, one has the impression that Furtwängler, the epitome of the conductor, gave his all in concert. Listening to the recordings, isn’t this impression wrong?
Furtwängler considered the live experience of the concert as irreplaceable. The live recordings that can result from it are of course unique moments, but do they alone represent Furtwängler’s vision of this or that work? Certainly not. Read More →