Sir Simon Rattle News

Opera Australia is pleased to announce that internationally renowned tenor, Jonas Kaufmann, will perform a second concert in Sydney on Sunday 17 August at Sydney Opera House. This performance will follow Jonas Kaufmann's two other concerts in Sydney and Melbourne.

Four-time Grammy winner and preeminent jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves recently released her first album in five years, Beautiful Life, to rave reviews. Beautiful Life, which made its debut in February of this year, is an emotionally charged volcanic journey covering the spectrum from jazz to soul. Ms. Reeves will share her passion for this album in her one-night performance at Harris Center for the Arts in Folsom June 16.

Each of Wolfgang Amade Mozart's vast number of compositions is considered a musical gem. Join Music Director Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as they celebrate Mozart's extensive catalog of masterpieces during the BNY Mellon Grand Classics Mozart Festival, a two-week exploration of the five pillars of Mozart's music - symphony, concerto, chamber music, opera and sacred music.

Each of Wolfgang Amade Mozart's vast number of compositions is considered a musical gem. Join Music Director Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as they celebrate Mozart's extensive catalog of masterpieces during the BNY Mellon Grand Classics Mozart Festival, a two-week exploration of the five pillars of Mozart's music - symphony, concerto, chamber music, opera and sacred music.

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts concludes the 2013-14 Composer Portraits series with the music of Australian composer, Liza Lim, featuring International Contemporary Ensemble: Karina Cannellakis, conductor, Tony Arnold, soprano, Gareth Flowers, trumpet, Ross Karre, percussion, and Michael Nicolas, cello. The show is tonight, April 10, 2014 at 8:00 p.m. at the Miller Theatre.

Friends and collaborators violinist/violist Pinchas Zukerman and pianistYefim Bronfman perform in recital at Walt Disney Concert Hall, tonight, April 4, at8 pm. As part of their eight-city duo tour, the music powerhouses perform Schubert's Sonatina in A minor, D. 385, Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30, No. 2, and Brahms' Viola Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 120, No. 1, which is the composer's own adaptation of a work he originally composed with the clarinet in mind. The performance is part of the LA Phil's 2013/14 Colburn Celebrity Recitals series.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will present the fourth annual Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival (PJLIF) on June 20-22, 2014. PJLIF will consist of three days of free jazz and jazz-influenced musical performances on outdoor stages throughout downtown Pittsburgh's Cultural District. PJLIF attracts more than 20,000 attendees from around the country. The Festival features local, emerging, and national and international musicians in a variety of performance settings, including outdoor performance stages and indoor performance locations within local restaurants, coffee shops and galleries.

Friends and collaborators violinist/violist Pinchas Zukerman and pianistYefim Bronfman perform in recital at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Friday, April 4, at8 pm. As part of their eight-city duo tour, the music powerhouses perform Schubert's Sonatina in A minor, D. 385, Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30, No. 2, and Brahms' Viola Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 120, No. 1, which is the composer's own adaptation of a work he originally composed with the clarinet in mind. The performance is part of the LA Phil's 2013/14 Colburn Celebrity Recitals series.

Arts will take centre-stage across the BBC with a new topical strand taking audiences to music and arts events across the UK; a new digital offering; closer engagement with artists and institutions; more distinctive arts content across all the BBC's outlets; and stronger leadership for the arts.

CSO Music Director Riccardo Muti returns to Chicago in March for two weeks of CSO programs that continue the cycle of Schubert's symphonic works which began at the start of the 2013/14 season. Concerts with Maestro Muti take place today, March 20-22 and 26-29, 2014. The first week's program includes Schubert's Symphony No. 9, the 'Great' C Major and Schumann's Piano Concerto featuring pianist Mitsuko Uchida.

CSO Music Director Riccardo Muti returns to Chicago in March for two weeks of CSO programs that continue the cycle of Schubert's symphonic works which began at the start of the 2013/14 season. Concerts with Maestro Muti take place on March 20-22 and 26-29, 2014. The first week's program includes Schubert's Symphony No. 9, the “Great” C Major and Schumann's Piano Concerto featuring pianist Mitsuko Uchida.

2014 sees Cape Town Opera celebrating its fifteenth year as South Africa's premiere opera company. From its home in Southern Africa to countries including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Israel, the United States and Australia, Cape Town Opera has thrilled audiences across the globe. Acclaimed for the vibrant vocalism and high-octane stage performances of its artists, Cape Town Opera's soloists and chorus continue to win the hearts of local and international critics and opera-lovers while proudly flying the South African flag and showcasing this country's wealth of talent. Michael Williams, Cape Town Opera's Managing Director reflects on this young company's history, 'Our survival would not have been possible without the support of our sponsors and especially the National Lotteries Distribution Trust fund, the audience, our talented singers and staff members. Equally important are the valuable collaborations we've forged with international opera companies. However we not only have to think more globally, we have to become more entrepreneurial in the way we run the company; it is after all a business, and that means balancing high quality with low overheads to survive.'

The Scharoun Ensemble, a leading chamber music octet made up of members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, will play a program of Mozart, Dvorak and Beethoven on Thursday, March 13, at 7:30 p.m. at Jorgensen. Glenn Stanley, a music historian in the UConn Music Department, will discuss musical points of interest at 6:45 p.m.

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts concludes the 2013-14 Composer Portraits series with the music of Australian composer, Liza Lim, featuring International Contemporary Ensemble: Karina Cannellakis, conductor, Tony Arnold, soprano, Gareth Flowers, trumpet, Ross Karre, percussion, and Michael Nicolas, cello. The show is on Thursday, April 10, 2014 at 8:00 p.m. at the Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street). Tickets are $20-$30 and for Students with valid ID they are $12-$18.

This April, Lorin Maazel conducts the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in two concerts of works by Richard Strauss at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. On Friday, April 11 at 8:00 p.m., the orchestra performs Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30, and Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28, and is joined by pianist Emanuel Ax for Burleske. The following evening, Saturday, April 12 at 8:00 p.m., soprano Karita Mattila sings the composer's Four Last Songs. Also on the program is Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40, and the Der Rosenkavalier Suite. The Munich Philharmonic Orchestra last performed at Carnegie Hall in 2002.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra welcomes back revered conductor, and former CSO Creative Director, Rafael Fru?hbeck de Burgos for his second engagement of the 2013- 14 season. Tonight, February 28 and March 1 at historic Music Hall, Maestro Fru?hbeck de Burgos will conduct one of the most epic works in orchestral and choral repertoire-Verdi's Requiem. The piece pulls together massive forces of orchestra, chorus and soloists for an impassioned and dramatic blockbuster of human emotion. Perhaps best known for the famous 'Dies irae' movement, prevalent in pop culture in movies, advertisements and television, Verdi's masterpiece depicts a journey from terror and darkness to joy and light.

Sarah Chang, one of the world's greatest violinists, will perform a recital at Mayo Performing Arts Center tonight, February 22, 2014 at 8 pm. Tickets are $29-69.

Renowned bass John Relyea, who is performing in the Metropolitan Opera's current production of Rusalka with Renée Fleming; rising young soprano Lori Guilbeau, a 2010 George London Award winner; and pianist Warren Jones will share the stage for the second event in the season's George London Foundation Recital Series on Sunday, March 9, 2014, at 4:30 PM at The Morgan Library & Museum. The series presents pairs of outstanding opera singers, many of whom were winners of a George London prize early in their careers or are recent George London Award recipients. (Watch Lori Guilbeau's George London Award-winning performance of 'Einsam in trüben Tagen' from Wagner's Lohengrin here, available in the George London Foundation website's Media Library.)

Due to the sudden death of guest vocalist Alexei Mochalov's wife, tonight's February 7 program of Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica at the Harris Theater has been changed. Mieczyslaw Weinberg's Concertino, Op. 42 and Benjamin Britten's Young Apollo, Op. 16 replaces the previously scheduled Antiformalist Rayok by Dmitri Shostakovich and Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op. 10. With the addition of Concertino, Op. 42, audience members will have the extraordinary opportunity to hear two works featuring violinist Gidon Kremer. Kremer also leads Kremerata Baltica in Weinberg's Symphony No.10 for strings, Op.98, appearing onstage in three of the evening's four works.

Due to the sudden death of guest vocalist Alexei Mochalov's wife, the Friday, February 7 program of Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica at the Harris Theater has been changed. Mieczyslaw Weinberg's Concertino, Op. 42 and Benjamin Britten's Young Apollo, Op. 16 replaces the previously scheduled Antiformalist Rayok by Dmitri Shostakovich and Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op. 10. With the addition of Concertino, Op. 42, audience members will have the extraordinary opportunity to hear two works featuring violinist Gidon Kremer. Kremer also leads Kremerata Baltica in Weinberg's Symphony No.10 for strings, Op.98, appearing onstage in three of the evening's four works.