Now I understand why I was advised to sit on a chair without a backrest. I'm in the middle of the turbulent second act of the Figaro and have to constantly turn on my own axis. Around me, Susanna, the Countess and the jealous Count Almaviva are negotiating the irritating fact that it is apparently Susanna and not Cherubino who is hiding in the Countess's dressing room.

But stop! Of course I'm not sitting on stage. It's an illusion, and I owe it to the VR glasses that Jan Schmidt-Garre put on me. They catapulted me into a virtual reality. That with 360° Figaro The experienced film author and opera director realized this experiment at the intersection of art and technology as an in-house production; partners in the 200,000 euro project were the Leipzig Opera and the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute in Berlin, which developed the 360-degree camera.

The end product is overwhelming - total immersion. But it's also exhausting: when you take the glasses off after 25 minutes and the trip is over, you feel slightly dizzy. From a sober point of view, it is also not for a mass audience, if only because you would have to buy these VR glasses first. What's more, you are completely thrown back on yourself when enjoying this kind of art. Schmidt-Garre knows this. He is a realist and sees the production as a unique experiment in the field of media communication of opera. Perhaps in ten years' time people will look back on it as a pioneering achievement.

That was one of the many interesting experiences to be had at this year's Avant Première in Berlin could make. Organized by the International Music and Media Center Vienna (IMZ), the preview of new music films in the fields of classical music, ballet and jazz brings together producers, distributors and TV broadcasters from all over the world to view, show, buy and sell new releases. The majority of the more than six hundred participants come from Europe, but increasingly also from America and the Far East. Public broadcasters are facing increasing competition from private broadcasters, and for the first time, two powerful state-affiliated players of a completely different kind were also present: the China Intercontinental Communication Center and the Moscow Philharmonic Society.

Digital media have turned European classical music into a global export. Beyond the minority who have access to exclusive live performances, a new consumer class is growing up, estimated at four to five hundred million worldwide. Rob Overman, program manager at the media group Stingray. The Canadian company is now one of the big players in the international classical music market. Among other things, it has acquired the rights to the recordings of Unitel, the classical music treasure trove initiated by Leo Kirch, and purchased the associated music channel Classica.

Through its own apps and global providers such as Amazon and Comcast, Stingray now has access to half of all pay-TV households worldwide and not only provides them with Aida, Nutcracker and Beethoven's Ninth, but also with interesting minority programs. Thanks to new technologies, the business has been standardized and works according to the Netflix video-on-demand principle. Whether in Beijing, Paris or Ottawa, you can take out a subscription directly on the screen. Unnoticed by the concertgoers in the Tonhalle and Elbphilharmonie, Europe's musical high culture has thus become a premium object in a globalized media landscape. This is not without consequences for our traditional concept of music.

The material for this global market consists first and foremost of the constantly renewed large number of opera and concert recordings: the crowd-pleasing spectacle of conductors and, more recently, female conductors - dozens of times you get to see the grandiose ruler gesture when striking a fortissimo final chord - and the sharply observed love scenes on the opera stage. Juan Diego Flórez and Anna Netrebko are big hits. But there are also auteur films with a strong message. For example, the magnificent visualization of Edgar Allan Poe's story A Descent into the Maelstrom (Down into the Maelström) by the Norwegian film author Jan Vardøen to the suggestive music of Philip Glass.

The global mainstream offering is also counterpointed by the regional perspectives of smaller broadcasters such as Slovenian Television, which can draw on an astonishing wealth of its own cultural traditions. RSI television in Ticino also offers an individual touch. Instead of pure classical recordings, today they want to focus more on contemporary phenomena, which is also reflected in an original television documentary such as Un Barbiere a Lugano in which Rossini's legendary hairdresser makes an excursion into everyday life. RSI has also produced a documentary about Cecilia Bartoli, the first since 1993 about the prima donna, who is rather reserved off the stage. It came about through the conductor Diego Fasolis and is an international sales success. The Ticinesi show that it is possible to work successfully with a small budget. You just have to have the right ideas.

Jaquemet and Méndez will be able to use a studio run by the Residency Unlimited organization in Brooklyn for five months in the second half of 2019. The musician from Bern is looking for material for a third album in New York. The scholarship is endowed with CHF 15,000 each to cover travel and accommodation costs. 

The City of Bern offers two scholarships in New York each year. Two selected artists can each use an apartment and a separate studio in New York free of charge from August 1 to December 31. The Canton of Bern offers the New York scholarships under the same conditions in the other half of the year.

After generations of Bernese artists have been guests in Manhattan for their New York residencies, Jaquemet and Méndez will be working in Brooklyn for the first time. The apartment and studio will be rented through the local organization Residency Unlimited RU in consultation with the selected artists. The Brooklyn-based organization is also the local contact. The next call for applications is planned for fall 2019, for a residency in New York from August 1 to December 31, 2020.
 

Music education activities such as instrument presentations, chamber music performances and workshops in schools have increased by around 20 percent in Germany over the past two years, with over 6,000 events. In the same period, the number of children's, youth, family and school concerts rose by more than 25 percent to 2863. In contrast, the number of normal symphony concerts fell.

Overall, the situation of many orchestras has consolidated after some difficult years. At the end of 2019, the orchestras are awaiting UNESCO's decision on the inclusion of the German orchestral and theater landscape on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Bern's municipal council wants to build an urban development with a significant residential component on the Gaswerk site. The industrial wasteland is to be turned into "a vibrant district with residential areas, commercial and cultural spaces and public open spaces". The existing natural values on the site will be replaced by ecological compensation areas.

The Gaskessel is a center for young people and young artists from the city and region of Bern. In addition to the involvement of young people, it offers platforms for young cultural professionals and local artists. At the same time, international artists are also addressed.

According to the organizers, Switzerland not only has a very active and creative music scene, but also a high density of clubs and festivals, internationally networked radio stations and "an extremely lively independent label scene". "Extremely creative and original music in all genres" is currently being created in Switzerland, which would like to be presented in Groningen. Acts wishing to perform at ESNS 2020 can submit their application online from May 1 to September 1, 2019. 

ESNS attracts more than 4000 professionals from all sectors of the entertainment industry, including over 400 European festivals. Each year, ESNS hosts more than 350 concerts in the city of Groningen and offers a comprehensive and focused conference program with around 150 panels and keynotes as well as a wide range of networking opportunities.

ESNS's track record includes the acts Alice Merton, Alma, BOY, Dua Lipa, Mario Batkovic, Sigrid, Sophie Hunger and Zeal & Ardor. In addition to Swiss acts such as Crimer, Flèche Love, Long Tall Jefferson and Danitsa, the following artists were also successful in this year's line-up (January 2019): Black Midi, Flohio, Fontaines D.C., girl in red, L'impératice, Manon Meurt, Mavi Phoenix, Pip Blom, Reykjavíkurdætur, SONS and Tamino.

More info:
https://swiss-music-export.com/2019/03/01/esns-to-focus-on-switzerland-in-2020

According to common clichés, background music is supposed to increase creativity. The team tested this theory in three experiments that focused on the influence on solving creative tasks. They confronted test subjects with songs with unfamiliar lyrics, with familiar lyrics and with pure instrumental music. All impaired performance compared with a control group that was not exposed to background music. 

It was also shown that the negative effect is completely independent of whether the music arouses good feelings or whether the test subjects are used to solving tasks while listening to music in the background.

Original article:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/acp.3532

From the outside, the competition has become smaller, but the move from the foyer of Basel's Stadttheater to the comparatively small "Oekolampad" had no impact on the importance of the event. Although the space was a little cramped, especially for the musicians, the proximity to the action was more beneficial for the audience. Thirteen competition entries were to be performed in five concerts from February 20 to 24 - after one competitor withdrew his entry, twelve remained.

With his BCC, organizer Christoph Müller has developed an open format with no age or origin restrictions. A well-functioning sponsorship, or rather a typically Basel, quiet patronage, allows him to charge modest registration fees, to offer high prize money (1st place: 60,000 francs; 2nd place: 25,000; 3rd place: 15,000) and to engage all three Basel professional orchestras. The chamber orchestra, Sinfonietta and symphony orchestra will present the pieces selected for the final, the rehearsal of which - as world premieres - involves some effort. Clear rules apply with regard to the length of the compositions and instruments. A competition entry may not last longer than 20 minutes and the instrumentation depends on the orchestra's resources.

As with the first event in 2017, a youth music education program was attached to the event. A music teacher from Bäumlihof-Gymnasium invited individual composers to the school during the competition week and involved his pupils in the competition activities.

The attractive constellation of the competition attracted a large number of entries: 450 from 59 countries, with the oldest applicant born in 1929. 250 scores were ultimately submitted, from which the jury members had to select 13. The aim was to make a stylistically broad selection that would be noticeable right through to the final. The jury reflected the high standards of this competition: Michael Jarrell (jury president), Wolfgang Rihm (absent due to illness), Helmut Lachenmann, Magnus Lindberg, Andrea Scartazzini - all internationally renowned composers. In addition, one orchestra representative was present. Felix Meyer represented the Paul Sacher Foundation, which acts as an advisory partner but does not support the event financially. The spirit of Sacher resonates strongly in this project. Christoph Müller makes direct reference to this patron and enabler of contemporary music: "In the spirit of Sacher, the most exciting composers of the 21st century are to be brought to Basel today with the aim of providing inspiration for compositions. In this way, the BCC wants to help build up a repertoire of orchestral works that will still be relevant years from now".

Hosted by Patricia Moreno from SRF 2 Kultur, the final concert was conducted in a relaxed and, in terms of execution, highly concentrated manner. Five works made it to the final. The Basel Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Franck Ollu began with Manuel Martínez Burgos' composition Daivāta Sanskrit word that the composer translated as "time beyond the mind". The audience was treated to a fast, small-scale, expressive piece with martyred brass and a menacing mood. The more accessible work by the Japanese composer Takuya Imahori was quite different Con mille fiori che sbocciano così belliThe Basel Sinfonietta under Baldur Brönnimann musically depicted the blossoming and fading of eleven flowers in sun, wind and weather. Late-romantic moods alternated with spherical, poetic, colorful soundscapes, sometimes leading to a powerful forte: a great success with the audience.

Program items 3 to 5 were all performed by the Basel Symphony Orchestra under Francesc Prat. The program began with the German Benjamin Scheuer, whose piece versed knew how to combine contemporary sounds with wit and humor. He created a highly innovative piece from alienated scraps of music that had been stored in his memory for many years. Grotesquely rippling glissandi lose themselves breathlessly in the void, only to rise up again at breakneck speed. Hissing, chirping and penetrating whistling tones were part of the rich sound material and sometimes mingled threateningly with the listener's tinnitus. In the second part, a somewhat more coherent sound continuum emerged in the dialog between piano and strings.

The Swiss Thomas Mattenberger succeeded with his reductionist Labyrinth rightly until the final five - a real respite between all these intense and richly tonal works: meditative with a small range of intervals, horizontal wind sounds around which orchestral clusters were grouped, signaling tubular bells, hardly any dynamics.

The young Argentinian Alex Nante amazed with a short (one would have liked to listen a little longer) piece with a romantic-impressionistic style called Bright pictureinspired by the painting of the same name by Wassily Kandinsky. The dominant yellow of the painting could be associated with the bright forte passages. They alternated with delicate violin and harp sounds, garnished with clarinets and celesta. At the end, a large sixth stood prominently in the room like a question mark.

The jury's verdict: 1st place Scheuer, 2nd place Nante, 3rd place Imahori.

Photo: Niklaus Rüegg
From left: Takuya Imahori (3rd), Alex Nante (2nd) Benjamin Scheuer (1st)

Le Singe receives CHF 80,000 per year, PlusQ'île CHF 35,000, the Chessu CHF 40,000 and the Bourgkonzerte CHF 10,000. In addition, the municipal council has agreed to extend the contracts of 18 institutions already receiving support and granted seven of them an increase in contributions, including the Ear we are festival, the Société philharmonique and the Theater und Orchester Biel Solothurn TOBS.

The loans for the latter are subject to a mandatory referendum. In total, contracts with 22 local institutions and a total contribution of CHF 848,200 (previous period: CHF 671,100) will be concluded for the period 2020 to 2023.

For exactly three weeks, Berthold Schneider, Artistic Director of Wuppertal Opera, and Uwe Schneidewind, President of the Wuppertal Institute, are swapping roles. The role swap is not a job shadowing arrangement, where the two heads simply sit in each other's chair and observe how opera and institute operations are run. By swapping roles, the heads of both institutions want to take a fresh look at their understanding of leadership, their own work processes and even their work objectives on the basis of their experiences.

The exchange of offices is intended to motivate both institutions to reflect on their organizational culture and organizational processes, and the opera director and institute president hope that the Wechsel/Wirkung project will set a precedent and inspire imitation. Both are open to further changes of office with other institutions and companies.

The Wuppertal Institute researches and develops "models, strategies and instruments for transitions to sustainable development at regional, national and international level". According to the institution's own characterization, the focus is on resource, climate and energy challenges in their interactions with the economy and society. The analysis and induction of innovations to decouple the consumption of natural resources from the development of prosperity is a focal point of research.

ETH Zurich has launched the Alfred Escher Prize to mark the 200th anniversary of Alfred Escher's birth. In two categories, it honors imaginative pupils and high school students (category 1, 17 to 20 years) and students (category 2 to 25 years). The ETH announced that 5 projects each were selected for the final from 55 submissions. In category 2, first prize went to Silvia Lama, a 23-year-old ETH student at the Department of Management, Technology and Economics.

In the three-minute presentation, she said she wanted to use children's enthusiasm for computer games to keep them interested in playing instruments. The Italian-language game "Musa" recognizes the sounds of keyboard instruments and guides the children through the game. It was developed for Android and an Apple version is currently being developed.
 

Today, the canton of Bern has a good CHF 50 million a year at its disposal to support charitable projects in areas such as culture and sport. Hundreds of associations and institutions benefit from this every year for their charitable projects. The new Cantonal Gambling Act is intended to ensure the continued distribution of funds. It introduces certain innovations and clarifications in the areas of funding. In future, funds will also be able to flow to charitable projects in the area of youth and society. The subsidization of state tasks through net profits from lotteries and sports betting remains inadmissible.

The cantonal government has initiated the consultation on the amendment to the law by May 21, 2019. It is planned that the Grand Council will discuss the amendment to the law at first reading in the 2020 spring session. The new law must enter into force on January 1, 2021 at the latest.
 

The title of this CD with ensemble pieces by Dominique Schafer says it all: Vers une présence réelle ... Whether Schafer is referring to Georg Steiner's influential publication From the real present (1990), which once again sought to establish a metaphysics of art at the beginning of the digital age, remains to be seen. In any case, there is no need to worry about the immediate presence of sound in these compositions, which are as brilliantly and energetically formulated by ensemble proton bern.

The eponymous ensemble piece speaks volumes: a complexly ramified, microtonally shaded music with harmonically and timbrally rich textures. Schafer has split the ensemble apparatus into three trio groups, which rub against each other, merge and repel again in the context of a large-scale sound development, thereby developing the most diverse aggregate states of sound. Two solo pieces with electronic extensions embody particularly concentrated sound inventions: Cendre (2008/15) for bass flute and eight-channel electronics is actually a spatial composition that sends the thin-skinned "ash" sounds of the flute around the listener, complementing, manipulating or grounding them in a two-dimensional way. Particularly impressive: Richard Haynes' tailor-made Ringwood (2018), a highly concentrated monologue for bass clarinet and live electronics, whose dazzling multiphonics and striking individual gestures experience crystalline sharpness and microscopic differentiation - a showpiece for Haynes. Schafer's preference for low, indeed particularly low woodwinds underpins Infr-a-ction (2018), which juxtaposes the rarely heard low-pitched lupophone (a kind of bass oboe) and contraforte (an ultra-contrabassoon) with a group of six instruments. A powerful, captivating piece that marks the highlight of this CD with its choppy, dark timbres.

The detailed booklet text by Thomas Meyer, which zooms in on the music, deserves special mention - unfortunately, this is no longer a matter of course at Kairos.
 

Dominique Schafer: Vers une présence réelle ...
ensemble proton bern, conducted by Matthias Kuhn.
Kairos 0015036KAI

The literature on the most important Polish composer of the first third of the 20th century, Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937), is still rather scarce in book form. Now, with a new publication by Danuta Gwizdalanka, a comprehensive publication is available for the first time. It sheds new light on the biography of a musician who hid his homosexuality from his mother until the end of his life. As can be seen from his letters, published by Szymanowski specialist Teresa Chylińska, the 27-year-old composer confessed: "Mama is my first and my last love."

The modestly illustrated biography begins as intimately as it ends with "Life with the family" and detailed information about the widely ramified family. The chapter "The Narcissist and the Mimosa" reveals more unknown facts than, for example, the commentary on the 12 Etudes op. 33, with which Szymanowski revolutionized piano music. "The artist who craved homage", as the author writes, who suffered from "excessive ambition" and neurasthenia, was not only a chain smoker but also an alcoholic. In addition to very informative quotations and detailed insights into the psyche of the neurotic artist, one of the advantages of the book is the description of the inspiration the composer owed to his travels to the South, Paris, Vienna, Berlin and the Orient.

As if the EU country Poland did not belong to Europe, Szymanowski's stays appear separately in the chapters "In Europe" and "In Poland". While "The National Artist" is widely acknowledged, the posthumous reception of his work in the chapter "Afterlife" only takes up two printed pages. The author mentions "a specialized sanatorium in Lausanne" as the place of death, without specifying that it was the Clinique du Signal run by Dr. Dufour. A "Chronicle of life and work", together with a bibliography and index of persons, rounds off the publication, which suffers from many repetitions.

Contrary to what the advertising claims, this is not the "first biography of Szymanowski in German". The book was written in Polish and translated by Peter Oliver Loew, following Polish book publications by Stanisław Golachowski in Leipzig in 1982, in Krakow in 1983 and the anthology About Karol Szymanowski had been published in Warsaw in German translations.

Danuta Gwizdalanka: The Seducer. Karol Szymanowski and his music, translated from Polish by Peter Oliver Loew, 292 p., € 27.10, Harrasowitz, Wiesbaden 2017, ISBN 978-3-447-10888-1

In addition to the 500-page index of settings of Alexander Pushkin's texts, which Ernst Stöckl compiled for the publishing house VEB Leipzig in 1974, Georg Günther's compendium of Schiller settings is even more comprehensive with over a thousand pages. In contrast, the list of Goethe settings compiled by Willi Schuh more than 60 years ago is more modest. Nevertheless, Schiller was apparently the most frequently set German poet only in the 19th century. Goethe, Heine, Eichendorff and Rückert later "overtook" him. Even during Schiller's lifetime, however, it was said that he was "a dangerous poet for composers", as he took too many liberties with verse and his poetry appealed too much to the intellect rather than the emotions. Nevertheless, 3053 objects by Schiller are listed which have been combined with sounds in some way.

One might think that festive songs, Schiller cantatas, Schiller marches and festive overtures were also popular in Switzerland during the jubilee years, but the William Tell could be musicalized in various ways. However, the reserved attitude of the Swiss composers is striking: Hans Georg Nägeli is represented with 13 numbers, Lothar Kempter with four settings, Heinrich Sutermeister with a cantata (a composition commissioned by the 1964 Swiss National Exhibition), Hans Huber with a Tell Symphony for large orchestra (1881) and a single song for soprano, piano and horn by Paul Huber (1966). Neither Arthur Honegger, Othmar Schoeck, Peter Mieg, Albert Moeschinger nor Rudolf Kelterborn have worked with Schiller.

While searching for Arthur Honegger's name, however, I came across Otto Jägermeier (1879-1933), who is listed on page 605 with a nice work title: Marie Tell et Guillaume Stuart à Reims. Tragédie à la Potpourri en forme d'une Mélodrame après Frédéric Rellisch. Text adaptation by Joe G. Weth. Declamation with piano accompaniment and three obbligato muted cymbals. It is nice that Jägermeier's name has also found its way into this lexical treatment; he, who first appeared in the Riemann music lexicon in 1972 without ever having existed, and yet can be found in almost all relevant lexicons today! The author of the Schiller Compendium is well aware of all this; he therefore adds extensive information to the title of the work, in which even he can contribute new details, thus extending the game that Herbert Rosendorfer set in motion almost 50 years ago by another round. Incidentally, Otto Jägermeier died in Zurich in 1933 and is buried in Fluntern Cemetery, not far from James Joyce.

One of the discoveries in this book is that Jürg Kienberger's Tell incidental music from 2012 has already been mentioned and that Arnold Schönberg wrote a fantasia on The robbers for large orchestra, but the material has been lost. But the detour via Rossini's Guillaume Tell to the seven alternative titles enforced by the censors: Hofer, the Tell of the Tyrol for London 1830, Andreas Hofer German version for Berlin 1830, Le Governatore Gessler e Guglielmo Tell for Lucca 1831, Karl Smily (Karl the Bold)Russian version for St. Petersburg 1836, Guglielmo Vallace for Milan 1836, Rodolfo di Sterlinga for Rome 1840 and Carlo il Temerario for St. Petersburg in 1847. In addition, the processing of the William Tell by Julius Kapp from 1934 shows the changes that had become necessary "due to current events in Germany" in order to satisfy National Socialist ideology: "I deliberately kept the Swiss local color to a minimum and tried to humanize the struggle for freedom of a people and the fate of its leader in general," Kapp wrote about his adaptation. We also learn from him that massive interventions were made in the music.

The extensive material of over 3000 works by 1700 composers is subdivided in a user-friendly way, with an index and all available publisher's details. The only pity is that the e-book does not include a search function for names and titles; only the individual chapters can be accessed directly.

Georg Günther: Friedrich Schiller's musical history - a compendium,
1070 p., e-book Fr. 114.50, hardcover Fr. 134.00,
Published by J. G. Metzler, Stuttgart 2018,
ISBN 978-3-476-04620-8

Sina was presented with the Outstanding Achievement Award for her life's work at the Swiss Music Awards at the KKL Lucerne. She also conquered the throne of the Official Swiss Hit Parade with her new album "Emma". Andy Renggli, General Manager Switzerland at GfK Entertainment, presented her with a number 1 award for this success at the event.

"Emma" is Sina's third album after "Wiiblich" (1995) and "Ich schwöru" (2011) to reach the top of the Swiss charts. It is also her eleventh top 10 album. If you add up all the placings, Sina has dominated the rankings for 169 weeks over the course of her career.

Launched by GfK Entertainment and IFPI Switzerland, the Number 1 Award of the Official Swiss Hit Parade honors national artists who are at number one in the weekly music hit list. It was introduced in October 2016.