Ineichen is not only a musician but also a qualified ski instructor and is therefore professionally at home in both domains of her new position. She has taken office as the successor to Rosie Bitterli Mucha, who has taken over the management of the project planning company for the New Lucerne Theater.

The Culture and Sport Department is the competence center of the City of Lucerne for the promotion and support of its partners in the cultural and sports sector. It promotes events, projects and offers in these areas and is responsible for the extensive contribution system.

The tender in the wording:

"Classical concert life has come to a standstill and musicians have been unable to perform and earn a living for months. The Peter Mieg Foundation, which is dedicated to the work of the composer who lived from 1906 to 1990, wants to set an example and support musicians in these difficult COVID-19 times.

Are you interested in practicing a chamber music work by Peter Mieg (solo or quintet) and publishing your interpretation online in the form of a video or audio?

Please send us an email with your CV and an indication of which work you would like to rehearse/play. We will provide you with the sheet music and, depending on the instrumentation and difficulty, make you a fee proposal. Information under www.petermieg.ch, e-mail for the attention of the President of the Board of Trustees, Markus Hediger, to stiftung@petermieg.ch."

Like the large Swiss publishing houses, "SRG is subjecting itself to market logic" and making large-scale savings on cultural reporting in all parts of the country, writes the SSM.

In French-speaking Switzerland, the redesign of cultural radio station Espace 2 was completed in spring 2020. The former cultural station now broadcasts a music program. Audio and video contributions can increasingly be found online.

According to SSM, the cultural broadcaster Rete Due in Italian-speaking Switzerland is facing the same fate. The Lyra project that has been launched envisages a radical reorientation of the cultural offering. Word contributions are to be significantly reduced and background programs eliminated.

At SRF Kultur, too, there is no end to the cutbacks in the cultural sector; other programs are being cut (Nachtflug, fiori musicali), have to realign themselves (Kulturplatz, Kontext) and receive less funding (Kulturplatz, DOK, Sternstunden etc.).

The SSM calls on the SRG to stop the cultural clear-cutting, to respect the concession and to better involve staff in the transformation process.

Original article:
http://www.ssm-site.ch/ohne-kultur-wirds-still-ssm-besorgt-ueber-srg-weiten-abbau-in-der-kulturberichterstattung/

Until 1937, the manuscripts belonged to Emma Frankenbacher, a citizen of Jewish origin, whose legal successor the Foundation was able to locate in Argentina. She had been forced to sell the manuscripts in 1937 and died in Theresienstadt after being deported in 1942. After restitution, the Klassik Stiftung Weimar acquired the two manuscripts with the support of the Thuringian State Chancellery and the Society of Friends of the Goethe and Schiller Archive. The manuscripts are now legally part of the Liszt collection of the Goethe and Schiller Archive.

The music manuscripts include a copy of the score of his 1st Piano Concerto in E flat major, extensively revised by Liszt. It is regarded as the final version of the composition and served as the engraver's model for the first edition (Vienna, Haslinger 1857). The second manuscript - a copy of the "Festlied zu Schillers Jubelfeier" - contains a dedication in Liszt's own hand.

More info:
https://blog.klassik-stiftung.de/nur-drei-wochen-ueberlebte-sie-ihre-verschleppung/

With a 31% drop in turnover, the cultural and creative industries are one of the biggest losers in Europe. Only air traffic has been hit even harder. Performing arts (down 90%) and music (down 76%) are the hardest hit; visual arts, architecture, advertising, books, press and audiovisual fell by 20% to 40% compared to 2019. Central and Eastern Europe were hit the hardest (minus 36% in Lithuania to minus 44% in Bulgaria and Estonia).

EY sees three challenges: Firstly, massive public funding and promotion of private investment in cultural and creative enterprises is now required. Secondly, the promotion of the EU's diversified cultural offer must be stimulated by a solid legal framework. Thirdly, the potential of the cultural and creative industries must be harnessed to drive forward Europe's social and ecological transformation.

Link to the study:
https://www.france-creative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/6_panorama_icc_europe_2021.pdf

According to a newsletter from the Swiss Music Schools Association (VMS), music teachers were surveyed in a sub-project in August and September 2020 about teaching during the lockdown. 1462 music teachers took part in the survey.

The initial evaluations show that only 14 percent of large group lessons were fully replaced by a form of distance learning during the lockdown, which is not surprising given the technological limitations of the interaction (latency of data transmission).

However, 80 percent of one-to-one lessons for children and young people were replaced in full by distance learning, 17 percent to a reduced extent and only 3 percent of lessons took place to a greatly reduced extent or not at all.

In turn, distance learning was well received by the learners. Around 80 percent of music teachers stated that over three quarters of learners regularly took part in distance learning. According to the music teachers, 44 percent of learners who took individual lessons practiced more than at normal times. However, the practice times of learners in group courses were significantly lower than before the pandemic-related restrictions due to the high number of canceled lessons.

Original article:
https://www.verband-musikschulen.ch/de/newsletter/newsletter_01_2021_Forschung

Born in Moscow in 1978, Fichtenholz succeeded Sophie de Lint in Zurich. He was previously opera director at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe and artistic director of the Karlsruhe International Handel Festival. Slipped Disc assumes that Fichtenholz has not found the connection to younger members of the ensemble. 

Zurich Opera House is currently effectively closed. Due to the coronavirus crisis, there will be no more performances with an audience until at least the end of February 2021. Instead, it is making some productions, including Bellini's "I Capuleti e I Montecchi" and Gluck's "Orphée et Euridice", available online.

Original article:
https://slippedisc.com/2021/01/exclusive-zurich-loses-artistic-director/

When it became clear at the beginning of December that concerts with an audience would not be allowed to take place until further notice, the organizers quickly decided on a livestream. Postponing was not an option. Nobody wanted to know about canceling either, because that would have meant months of intensive preparation work would have been in vain. "Music has to happen," emphasized artistic director Michal Lewkowicz, demanding a great deal of flexibility from the organization team and the performers at short notice. Of course, the planned program could not be carried out one-to-one. Many musicians were unable to travel due to quarantine regulations or illness. Out of seven concerts and two family performances, four concerts remained, all of which took place on January 24, and the audience discussion was postponed. The programs had to be rearranged and several works by Dvořák, Janáček, Martinů, Ullmann, Pavel Haas, Gideon Klein, Marcelo Nisinman and Krištof Mařatka had to be cancelled altogether. Osvaldo Golijov's new additions to the program are Lullaby & Doina for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, violoncello and double bass - a rewarding re-listening to this original composer, whose The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blindfor clarinet and string quartet (Festival 2015) and song cycle Ayre(CH premiere, 2018 festival) are still vividly remembered. There was also Janáček's Sonata for Violin and Piano, which was one of the highlights of the festival in the interpretation by Ilya Gringolts and Benedek Horváth.

The picture direction was one of the plus points of the broadcast. The sound quality was also flawless, but there was a strange feeling of sterility and artificiality, probably due to the lack of ambient noise. It would have been nice to do without the forced bows at the end of the performances. The writer was annoyed by the frequent "loading jams" caused by an overloaded Internet, which significantly reduced the listening pleasure (it is advisable to listen to the concerts later, which usually alleviates the problem).

Despite everything, the festival lived up to its principle of providing a diverse program accessible to all, even under these difficult conditions. Or as Michal Lewkowicz puts it: "There are people who come to the concert because they like to hear great music; others because they like to hear great artists. Then there are people who are really interested in these key topics. I want to offer all of that." The festival is not limited to Jewish works. The current program naturally includes the Czech composers Janáček and Dvořák. There are also no stylistic or chronological blinkers. What is played is what belongs to the theme and meets high quality standards.

Presenter Moritz Weber was able to announce some new artists and many familiar ones from previous festivals and present lots of informative bonus material.

Menachem Wiesenberg suggests in his Klezmer Suite a bridge between folk klezmer and classical music. The world premiere of the new version for clarinet, viola, double bass and piano was performed under the direction of the stupendous clarinettist Chen Halevi. In the three Yiddish songs by Viktor Ullmann, composed in 1944 in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, soprano Aurea Marston impressively succeeded in placing her voluminous voice at the service of the folk songs and at the same time combining them with emotional depth. Cornelia Lenzin lent her accompaniment a sensitive profile. The two musicians also left a lasting impression in the two complex songs by the writer and musician Max Brod, Death and paradise based on texts by his friend Franz Kafka, made a strong impression. The winner of the second composition competition, Eleni Ralli, outlines in her 5 Mysterious Scenes for solo violin Character types in the field of tension between stability and instability. Ilya Gringolts unfolded a highly differentiated sound spectrum. The Concertino for flute (Matvey Demin), viola (Silvia Simionescu) and double bass (Ute Grewel) by Erwin Schulhoff turned into a virtuoso and lively firework display. For the performance of Antonín Dvořák's Nocturne B major op. 40 for string orchestra, Ilya Gringolts brought some of his students on stage - the promotion of young talent is also part of the festival concept.

Last but not least, an exquisite jazz concert was on the program. The Basel-based Vein Trio combined Bohemian sounds with their personal musical language. Themes, for example from Dvořák's 9th Symphony and Smetana's piano piece Pensée fugitive as well as, appropriately, from the Bohemian Rhapsody by the rock group Queen, were quoted, transferred into jazz harmonies and varied in skillful improvisations.

Mizmorim has defied Corona in 2021 and will hopefully be back in analog form in a year's time. The concerts are available until January 27 on www.mizmorimfestival.com to listen to.

Sabine Poyé Morel was born in Tours, France, and studied flute with Isabelle Ory-Grangeponte and at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in the class of Pierre-Yves Artaud.

Poyé Morel has won flute competitions in Bucharest and Bayreuth and was a prizewinner at the Syrinx International Competition in Riva del Garda and Geneva. She was a member of the Orchestre Français des Jeunes under the direction of Marek Janowski and was appointed solo flutist of the Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Lorraine in 1998. She has been principal flute of the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich since 2002.

According to the German Music Council, the renewed lockdown since the beginning of November 2020 has led to a standstill in the music industry, partly due to the de facto ban on work for numerous players in the music sector. After the bridging aid announced by the federal government initially excluded large parts of the professional music industry and solo freelancers in particular due to its strict application regulations, the federal government has now announced improvements.

This includes doubling the flat-rate operating allowance for solo freelancers as part of the new start aid to 50% of their 2019 reference turnover, as the German Music Council has also called for. However, the complex application process and delays in payment remain problematic. Of the estimated €15 billion in economic aid, only €1.2 billion has been paid out so far.

The criteria for Bridging Aid II were changed retroactively to the detriment of many companies, as EU state aid law had not been sufficiently taken into account in the original version. There may also be subsequent corrections for large companies for the November and December aid. These retroactive changes to the application regulations mean that some companies are threatened with substantial repayments.

According to the Federal Council's press release, the representatives of the cultural sector were able to inform the head of the FDHA about the specific problems facing the industry. The overall economic measures to cushion the economic consequences of the pandemic, which are also available to the cultural sector, were also discussed. In addition to the Federal Office of Culture (FOC) and the Pro Helvetia cultural foundation, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), the Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) were also represented at the discussion.

In the last revision of the Covid-19 Act in December 2020, the instrument of loss compensation, which was initially limited to cultural enterprises, was extended to cultural professionals. At the same time, the income and asset limits up to which cultural workers are entitled to emergency aid were increased. The extension of short-time work compensation to fixed-term employment contracts is another measure that is particularly important for the cultural sector.

According to the Federal Council, it is unfortunately not currently possible to give a binding outlook on the reopening of cultural institutions or the reopening of cultural events. A gradual reopening would depend on numerous variables, such as progress in vaccination coverage, the spread of the new Covid mutations and compliance with sanitary measures. The Federal Council is constantly evaluating the epidemiological situation. If restrictions can be relaxed in the coming months, this will probably be done in stages and depending on the type and size of the event.

The Federal Council has made funds amounting to CHF 280 million available to finance the package of measures to cushion the economic impact on the cultural sector in 2020. On September 25, Parliament approved the continuation of the measures under the Covid-19 Act and allocated funds of CHF 130 million for 2021.

Original article:
https://www.admin.ch/gov/de/start/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-82101.html

So-called concept albums rarely do well. They often suffocate under the ballast of the ambitions of artists who suffer from an inflationary idea of the depth of their insights. But there are exceptions, and this multi-media concept album on the subject of "Neuhausen am Rheinfall" is a particularly fine exception. The project began with the idea for a casual collaboration between two regulars at Schaffhausen's TapTab music club, namely Jürg Odermatt from the guitar band Papst & Abstinenzler and David Moore aka electronica tinkerers Kneubühler and Herr Mehr. The result is a charming testimony to the love-hate relationship with growing up in the provinces in the form of a "package", which includes not only a sound carrier, but also a booklet with music, texts, photos, collages and drawings by artist friends.

As a sophisticated (Schaffhausen German) lyricist, Odermatt is interested in the details in passing, for example the local trolleybus route that starts at one cemetery and ends at another - and that the discotheque where he himself once dared to take his first dance steps was called Terminus. Other pieces are dedicated to an iron bridge or the last man to be hanged on the gallows on the hill, or the Hotel Schweizerhof, where Empress Sissi once stayed. The sounds that accompany these descriptions sound just as laconic and gently ironic as the project title. They consist of cinematic, beat- and bass-driven sound collages, which occasionally also feature a fierce disco groove or a catchy tune (Trolleybus, Chaltfront). The images, which are partly documentary and partly metaphorical, deepen our understanding of the subject matter - and Odermatt's essay Childhood in the backwater is the cherry on top of what is indeed a delicious coupe.

There are numerous radio recordings of Ursula Bagdasarjanz from the 1960s. She was "one of the best violinists of her time in Switzerland" and "did not need to shy away from comparison with the international competition of the time. She also rendered outstanding services to the Swiss contemporary heritage and left behind two remarkable textbooks on violin technique." (SMZ 10/2006, P. 44) 

In 2006, some of these radio recordings were published on four CDs by the Dübendorf Association of Swiss Musicians (VSM). The association, which campaigned for the promotion of unknown musicians, was dissolved in 2008.

VDE Gallo also released these recordings in 2008. These include Bagdasarjanz's reference recordings of Othmar Schoeck's compositions for violin. Another CD was added in 2011. It includes her Sept poésies pour Violon et Piano to be heard. The violinist was later honored several times by Radio SRF and especially in America, which is documented on her website.
Recently, the Sept poésies to the holdings of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Library. About the on the platform Shining a light: 21st Century Music from Underrepresented Composers published Short portrait of the violinist you can listen to the pieces, view a sheet music page and - probably particularly suitable for American music fans - borrow the sheet music.

On Shining a light the library portrays lesser-known composers and their music from the 21st century.

Esther Roth was born in Zurich in 1953 and now lives in Gontenschwil. She has not only made a name for herself as a musician and composer, but also as a performer, painter and fashion designer. According to the press release, her composition with the simple title "String Quartet" convinced the jury "with its personal language and high level of craftsmanship". The balance created between the compositional idea, the reference to Beethoven, the chosen form and its development were expressed "in delicate and restrained poetry".

The jury consisted of Michael Jarrell, Beat Furrer and Giorgio Battistelli. In addition to Roth's work, they judged the composition "Beethoven for ever" by composer and conductor Michel Tabachnik to be particularly noteworthy. Esther Roth's work will be premiered by the Sine Nomine Quartet on the occasion of the SPB concert on May 9, 2021 at 5.00 pm in the Pasquart Church.
 

Robert Schumann famously found it extremely difficult to put his own string quartets on paper after Beethoven and Schubert's significant contribution to the genre. He attempted to do so several times, as the four-part string unit fascinated him immensely. However, as a pianist who had not studied a string instrument, the established standards seemed too high to him for a long time, the goal too ambitious. Clara Schumann's motivation and Felix Mendelssohn's example, who took up the challenge with his own works, finally led in 1842 to the triumvirate of Opus 41, which was composed almost in a frenzy and within a very short space of time. In it - as in the symphonies - Schumann shows the compositional way out of the state of shock triggered by Beethoven among his contemporaries and the generation of composers that immediately followed. The aesthetic orientation towards the core of High Romanticism, which leaves formal, harmonic and structural constraints further and further behind, opens up the renaissance for the string quartet that Mendelssohn had already boldly embarked upon before 1826.

The manuscript version presented here in a new edition by Breitkopf & Härtel provides a glimpse into Schumann's compositional workshop. In the course of the first rehearsal of the three works by the quartet of violinist Ferdinand David, which took the incomprehensibly short time of five days until the premiere in a private setting, Schumann intervened in the score in numerous places in order to correct various imbalances that had proved unsatisfactory in the course of the work. He also improved the playability, avoiding uncomfortable double stops, bowings, phrasing and playing techniques. Noteworthy in the A minor quartet are the original use of mutes in the introductory Andante espressivo, later deleted doubled semiquavers in the following Scherzo, ornamentation suggestions in the Adagio and a shortening in the Presto. Schumann shortened considerably more in the variation movement of the second quartet, the F major quartet, and a repeat is also omitted in the Scherzo. Interesting in Opus 41/3 is a deleted additional bar at the beginning of the introduction to the first movement, which had delayed the entry of the first violin. A pizzicato in the cello in the notorious, tricky secondary theme of the first movement was also omitted. Typically for a pianist, Schumann writes impossibly long slurs, but in this edition they serve as a good model for intelligent phrasing and merely require a more practicable division that keeps the composer's instructions in mind.

Overall, however, it is surprising how few deviations there are. In Beethoven's case, the changes made in collaboration with the Schuppanzigh Quartet were much more extensive. From today's perspective, it is difficult to understand why Schumann had to insist several times with his publisher that a score be published alongside the parts to make it easier to work through the complex and multi-layered works. The quartets, which were unfortunately only composed in this one year, remain a great challenge for any ensemble even today.

Robert Schumann: String Quartets op. 41 no. 1-3, manuscript version, edited by Nick Pfefferkorn; set of parts, EB 32032, € 37.90; study score, PB 32032, € 23.50; Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden