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WORK OF THE WEEK – TORU TAKEMITSU: NOSTALGHIA

Toru Takemitsu

Water and mist: Nostalgia by Toru Takemitsu combines themes of loss of home and longing with these blurred images of nature. The violin concerto will be staged for the first time in Slovakia on the 8th of September under the musical direction of Daniel Raiskin. Performed by the Slovenská Filharmónia with violinist Daishin Kashimoto, this concert is in collaboration with the Japanese embassy.

 

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WORK OF THE WEEK – FAZIL SAY: SYMPHONY NO. 5

Fazıl Say

An abundance of themes but no epithet: Fazıl Say's Symphony No. 5 which, unlike his previous symphonies, has no additional title, but is dedicated to ideas surrounding humanity. Nil Venditti is conducting the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in the premiere of this three-movement work on 04 September 2022 at the Glocke in Bremen as part of the 33rd Bremen Music Festival.

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WORK OF THE WEEK – ERWIN SCHULHOFF: H.M.S. ROYAL OAKS

Work of the Week – Erwin Schulhoff: H.M.S. Royal Oaks

The story of the H.M.S. Royal Oaks, based on a true incident, forms the basis for the libretto of the jazz oratorio H.M.S. Royal Oaks by Erwin Schulhoff. The reduced version of the work was premiered on 18 August 2022, the 80th anniversary of Schulhoff's death, as part of the "Music Academy Theresienstadt" in Prague.

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WORK OF THE WEEK – STEFAN HEUCKE: CONCERTO GROSSO NR. 2 „LA NUOVA FOLLIA“

Stefan Heucke unites two orchestras of different eras on one stage, featuring instruments of the 18th century and instruments of the 20th century. This ground-breaking composition, Concerto grosso No. 2 "La nuova follia", receives its premiere at the Trinity Episcopal Church as part of the Staunton Music Festival, Virginia, with the Staunton Festival Orchestra under the musical direction of Carsten Schmidt.

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WORK OF THE WEEK – HERBERT WILLI: DSONG

Bunte Zeichnung eines Kopfes

Despite Korea and Austria being thousands of miles apart, music has created an unlikely link between the two nations: Austrian composer Herbert Willi dedicates his new composition DSONG to the basic Korean principle of connection. It receives its premiere on 14 August 2022 at the Festspielhaus Bregenz with the Orchesterakademie Bregenz and musical director Daniel Cohen.

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WORK OF THE WEEK – LUIGI NONO: IL CANTO SOSPESO

WORK OF THE WEEK – LUIGI NONO: IL CANTO SOSPESO

"Tension as total silenzio [...]" was perceived by Luigi Nono during the premiere of his secular cantata Il canto sospeso, and later penned to Paul Dessau. Alternatively, the total silence may have been speechlessness, given the nature of Nono's composition and the texts he set to music. Schott is now publishing Il canto sospeso in a new, opulently decorated facsimile edition.

 

 

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WORK OF THE WEEK – CARL ORFF: DE TEMPORUM FINE COMOEDIA

What if our world ended tomorrow? Should the extinction of his own creation occur, the biblical God does not shrink, a concept depicted multiple times in the Old Testament. Carl Orff’s “Play of the End of Times” De temporum fine comoedia embodies this existential idea in its production premiere by Romeo Castellucci on 26 July 2022 as part of the Salzburger Festspiele.

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Work of the Week – Sebastian Hilli: Hibernation

Work of the Week – Sebastian Hilli: Hibernation

Hibernation in summer? – In Sebastian Hilli's new composition Hibernation, the term "hibernation" represents not an external, but an internal "cold spell". On July 7, 2022, Hibernation will be performed in Viitasaari, Finland as part of the Time of Music Festival. The International Ensemble Modern Academy will be conducted by Alexander Sinan Binder, with video projections by Jenny Jokela.

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