Bilkent Symphony Orchestra of Ankara, which will host the ICMA Award ceremony and Gala concert on 28 March, 2015, has performed the Ankara premiere of Mahler’s 8^th Symphony. The performance on 30 April was the closing concert of the 30^th Ankara International Music Festival. The Bilkent Symphony, conducted by music director Isin Metin shared the big stage of the Congresium Hall in Ankara with choruses from Poland and Portugal and a distinguished line of soloists, some 400 players and singers in total. Read More →

In the category Historical Recordings, Russian label Melodiya won an Award for  ‘Les Ballets Russes’ (cat. 1001990) with  Stravinsky’s The Firebird, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring, played by Moscow Philharmonic, Moscow State Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra under conductors Dmitrij Kitajenko, Pierre Boulez and Vladimir Fedoseyev. While at the Award Ceremony in Milan (18 March ’13), Dimitrij Kitajenko was given a trophy, Vladimir Fedoseyev received his trophy at the beginning of a concert with the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra on 10 April at the Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatory. The trophy was presented by Andrey Krichevskiy, CEO of Melodiya.

John Axelrod, who conducted the ICMA Gala Concerts 2012 and 2013 is to spearhead a multi-year exploration of the relationship between Brahms and the woman he loved, Clara Schumann, as depicted in their music. « If you listen to the Brahms symphonies, » says Axelrod, “each of them seems to inhabit a completely different, though connected, character. Then, if you listen to the songs of Clara Schumann, they also fall clearly into a very similar four moods. I believe that Clara’s own personality is in those songs, and so if that is true, it is also possible to think of the four Brahms symphonies as portraits of Clara – four different aspects of her. » Read More →

ICMA’s Award Ceremony and Gala Concert will take place on Saturday 12 April in Warsaw and be part of the 18^th Beethoven Easter Festival. Preparation for this  event started already during this year’s edition of one of the musically richest festivals in Europe. Jury President Remy Franck and Board Member Martin Hoffmeister met the Festival’s General Director Elzbieta Penderecka and her team as well as Cornelia Much from the Festival’s Honorary Committee and Andrzej Sulek, the orchestra manager of Sinfonia Iuventus, the orchestra which will play during the Gala Concert. Read More →

Just some days after his participation at the ICMA Gala Concert in Milan, Nicolas Altstaedt, ICMA-winner 2013 in the category Chamber Music, delivered a thrilling performance of Lutoslawski’s Cello Concerto with the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Fedoseyev at Warsaw’s 17^th Beethoven Festival. Our photo shows Nicolas Altstaedt at a reception at the Russian Embassy in Warsaw, together with the Russian Ambassador’s wife, Mrs. Alekseeva, ICMA Board member Martin Hoffmeister (MDR Figaro), ICMA President Remy Franck (Pizzicato) and Mrs. Elzbieta Penderecka, Director General of the Beethoven Festival.

At the ICMA Gala in Milan, the Jury communicated the winner of the ‘Recording of the Year’ Award for 2013. This highest honor goes to the Querstand Box with all nine Bruckner Symphonies played by the Gewandhaus Orchestra from Leipzig conducted by Maestro Herbert Blomstedt. The ‘Recording of the Year is chosen by the Jury among all the winner in the CD and DVD categories.