This Bernd Feuchtner can be given the surprising title Opera of the 20th century in 100 masterpieces He was a music journalist for twenty years, then dramaturge, opera director, lecturer at various universities and is now a freelance author. With Pfitzner's Rose from the love garden (1901) and Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande (1902), he continues with Isaac Albéniz' Merlin before moving on to Puccini's Madama Butterfly (1904), each time with introductory basic data on libretto, duration, roles, premiere, venues and language.

He consistently adheres to the rule of including only one work by each of the 94 composers and 6 female composers in the overview of the century, with Ethel Smyth with The Wreckers from 1906 was the only opera composer to be included before 1975. Thea Musgrave, Adriana Hölszky, Meredith Monk, Olga Neuwirth and Kaija Saariaho followed with their masterpieces up to 2000. Othmar Schoeck is the only Swiss composer to be included with his Penthesilea (1927), between King Roger by Szymanowski and The miracle of Heliane by Korngold. The author adds that James Joyce was an admirer of Schoeck's "colorful orchestral cantata Buried alive" was.

Here one does not encounter a dry recounting of the plot and performance numbers, but a very personal experience, assessment and classification. Feuchtner has a pronounced talent for narrating opera plots attractively or summarizing them concisely, but also for establishing references to the cultural environment of the time or explaining reception difficulties. With Krzysztof Penderecki's opera The devils of Loudon the path of Poland's gradual liberation as a satellite of the Soviet Union is shown, which began in 1956 with the founding of the Warsaw Autumn Festival. Feuchtner also draws on his own experiences as a dramaturge and describes his first impressions of a work, but also his disappointments.

Theodor W. Adorno is described as the most influential music theorist of the 20th century, but his misjudgments regarding Sibelius, Britten and Shostakovich are not concealed either. In four material-rich digressions, Feuchtner places opera in the context of contemporary political events: "The path of the Verists into the arms of Mussolini", "Political opera in the USA", "Opera in Latin America", "Berlin, capital of the GDR". In the extensive introduction, he writes: "Far more than ten thousand operas were composed in the 20th century. I was able to get to know hundreds of them as a journalist [...] and in theater practice." And this has resulted in this opera book, which is well worth reading in every respect.

Bernd Feuchtner: The opera of the 20th century in 100 masterpieces, 688 p., richly illustrated, € 39.80, Wolke, Hochheim 2020, ISBN 978-3-95593-250-3

Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881) was an early talent. The Air varié No. 3 he wrote at the age of 13: "I make an air varié every day like a loaf of bread!" The introduction to the piece for violin and string quartet or string orchestra has dramatic dotted ascents and double-stroke sighs. The simple theme is developed five times in different rhythms and in double stops and is interrupted by powerful four-bar tutti. A coda brings the piece to a brilliant close.

This version for violin and piano is nice study material for young violinists with mostly acceptable fingerings; the piano only has a supporting function. The preface deals with biography and work and is stimulating, the critical report leaves the interpreter free to make his own decisions. In recent months, the Swiss publisher Kunzelmann has commendably published a number of other pieces for violin and orchestra by Henri Vieuxtemps as piano reductions.

In his later life, Vieuxtemps gave concerts in America, Europe and Russia, he was a talented teacher (Ysaïe, Hubay) and (still) a diligent composer. In addition to his violin concertos and string quartets, he also wrote for violin and piano.

The selection booklet Henri Vieuxtemps repertoire pieces that stand out for me are the 3 Romances sans paroles: Chant d'amour, Désespoir and Souvenirwhich last between three and four minutes. Their title character is clearly expressed and is reinforced by rich pianistic rhythms and surprising harmonic twists. The other longer pieces are peppered with virtuosity, in which the piano is also involved. The third Morceau de salon is amusing: La Chassein which the G string has to be tuned up to b and the notated notes sound a third higher. The preface describes Vieuxtemps' life and achievements and characterizes the works contained in the booklet. Friedemann Eichhorn has provided the violin part with fingerings and bowings. In the piano part, the solo part has been left as it was in the first and early editions.

Henri Vieuxtemps: Air varié No. 3, edition for violin and piano, first edition, edited by Olaf Adler, GM-1954a, Fr. 14.00, Edition Kunzelmann, Adliswil

Henri Vieuxtemps Repertoire. The most beautiful pieces for violin and piano, edited by Wolfgang Birtel and Friedemann Eichhorn, ED 22603, € 28.00, Schott, Mainz et al.

Half an apocalypse has passed since the last album by the strangely named trio from Lausanne. During these eleven years, the tastes of Honey for Petzi have obviously undergone a comprehensive revision. Back then, Sami Benhadj Djilali, Philippe Oberson and Christian Pahud still relied entirely on the power of a conventional line-up of guitar, bass, drums and three voices. They used this to knit post-rock sound patterns that were peppered with petard-like syncopations and intricate jumps and pleased the pioneering producer Steve Albini from Chicago so much that he produced an album for them (Heal All Monsters, 2001). The band released eight LPs in the course of their first creative phase and achieved international fame.

The first track on their joyful comeback album shows that Honey for Petzi's minds have been fermenting in the years of silence. Ecoute takes a few old elements - rhythmic feints, repetitive guitar patterns - and gives them a completely new sound palette. The conventional drums are now joined by mbira-like percussion, which was probably generated by a computer, and other "prepared" sounds can also be made out. The guitar has clearly been fitted with softer strings than in the past, and the feisty bass has a melody-carrying function. Added to this is a relaxed vocal melody in unusually high registers, and even more unusual for the Petzis: they sing in French.

The warmth of the detailed production of Ecoute is typical of the conciliatory, even cheerful mood of the subsequent tracks. Neither the new, electronic ingredients nor the significantly less jagged pace detract from the band's traditional qualities or even their dynamics - on the contrary: the finely spun complexity of the patterns now comes into its own. "We picked up where we left off with General Thoughts and Tastes stopped," reads the PR text. "It was an album that already contained more 'pop' formats than we had done before." If by "pop" you mean smart, light-footed, electronic bands like Hot Chip, then fine. Otherwise Observations + Descriptions in all its dazzling diversity of ideas is miles away from the usual pop schemes. It has many highlights, perhaps the dreamy Infini with its spherical guitar patterns. Wonderful.

Honey for Petzi: Observations + Descriptions. Two Gentlemen TWOGTL 093

In March 2021, I reviewed the new edition of the first horn concerto op. 11 by Richard Strauss (SMZ 3/2021), and it is a pleasure to now have before me the new edition of the second horn concerto from 1942 in the Urtext and in an equally luxurious edition. According to the publisher, the piano reduction has been simplified, in contrast to the Boosey & Hawkes edition, which is a breakneck ride for accompanists.

Sixty years of rich creativity had passed since the composition of Opus 11, and the second concerto, after the last opera Capriccio belongs together with the oboe concerto, the Metamorphosesand the Four last songs to the works of the last years of the composer's life. The principal horn of the Bavarian State Opera, Josef Suttner, who played the horn parts in the Strauss operas under the composer's direction, had requested a second concerto for his instrument. For the world premiere at the Salzburg Festival under Karl Böhm's direction in August 1943, however, the festival management chose Gottfried von Freiberg, principal horn of the Vienna Philharmonic, to replace the sixty-year-old Suttner.

All these stories, some from the rumor mill of the Festival, about Richard Strauss' premature departure from Salzburg after a rehearsal of the Horn Concerto and the first performance of the work in Switzerland with soloist Hans Will and conductor Hermann Scherchen in Winterthur in 1944, which necessitated an adventurous procurement of sheet music, are told by the editor Hans Pizka in his extremely exciting preface.

Rather as a curiosity, the editor, himself a former student of Gottfried von Freiberg, includes a horn part with the names of the valve fingerings for the double horn commonly used today, comparing it with the Viennese F horn presumably played at the premiere: a Sisyphean task for interested horn players who want to work their way through such hieroglyphics. The second horn concerto, which Richard Strauss himself described as "wrist work", has established itself in the horn world as the central solo work for this instrument.

Richard Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 2 in E flat major, edited by Hans Pizka, piano reduction, HN 1255, € 23.00, G. Henle, Munich

Due to the stress caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the Music Council writes, mental and psychosomatic disorders have increased significantly, as numerous recent studies have shown. Music can have a positive effect on body, mind and soul and therefore create a connection between people without words - especially in professional music therapy dealing with the emotional suffering of refugees.

However, although the German Rectors' Conference has now recognized music therapy as a "minor subject", thus underlining its relevance, training capacity for music therapy is very limited: Currently, only seven universities in Germany offer a music therapy course with a Bachelor's or Master's degree.

With the lockdown in spring 2020, Anicia Kohler's structures also collapsed. Which is why the Bernese pianist set herself some homework, as she explains in the foreword to the volume accompanying her new album Songs from the roof writes: "In normal times, my life is characterized by encounters with a wide variety of people." She sorely missed this exchange, which inspired the artist to have 27 conversations - for example with a farmer, a mayor and an opera singer. She subsequently documented these conversations both in writing and musically.

The 150-page booklet with the title Up the walls to the roof and the record are two releases that complement each other wonderfully, but also work on their own. At this point, we will focus on the record, released on the new Basel label "Clap Your Hands", which saxophonist Sarah Chaksad and producer Patrik Zosso recently founded. The nine pieces for grand piano, sampled pianos and household noises are based on solitary jazz. While the opener Maybe different comes across as a study in contemplation and melancholy, the subsequent Concession as a sparkling and at the same time sustained search for openness. According to Anicia Kohler, the songs are all about the golden rules of living together. She doesn't reveal what these are in detail, but she does hint that the record is about listening, courage and respect.

Consequently, the music on Songs from the roof not only emphatically harmonious, but also open-minded, curious and always looking for a viable path. Although tracks like More, More are able to extend their claws, the majority of the music exudes an atmosphere of commitment and reconciliation. That the Songs from the roof sound both mature and relaxed, fits perfectly into the sound puzzle created by Anicia Kohler.

Anicia Kohler: Songs from the roof. 9 pieces for grand piano, sampled pianos and household noises. Clap Your Hands CYH 0003B

id.: Die Wände hoch aufs Dach. 27 conversations about nature, art and being at home (book), 150 p., CYH, ISBN 978-3-033-08988-4

The Inselschulhaus is located in one of Basel's most socially deprived neighborhoods. The proportion of foreigners and the number of welfare recipients are among the highest in the canton. An exciting class music project began here eight years ago. In the second and third year of primary school, learning to play a string instrument is on the curriculum three times a week. Six years ago, Dorothee Mariani, cellist and head of class music-making, founded the Orchesterschule Insel association to offer the children the opportunity to gain musical experience in an orchestra with professionals. The association has expanded beyond its traditional school premises and now has around 50 children making music. They receive instrument-specific group lessons on Friday afternoons under the guidance of professional musicians. They rehearse together on Saturday mornings: "The lessons are free and the children receive an instrument free of charge, which they can take home with them to practise. In return, regular rehearsal attendance and appropriate preparation are required," writes the musician on the website. There are four performance levels. An important principle of the lessons is that the advanced students help the beginners to learn. In addition to classical string repertoire, the orchestra school plays folk music from the children's various countries of origin.

The performance of the children's opera The three puzzles proves that instrumental learning in heterogeneous groups at elementary school can be a valid alternative to conventional instrumental lessons at music schools. The instrumental lessons integrated into the timetable reach children who would never go to a music school, for social reasons, but above all for financial reasons. Working in an orchestra with professional guidance, as offered at the orchestra school, seems to motivate the children enormously. Around 100 children and young people from the Insel Orchestra School, the Basel Girls' and Boys' Choir, the Insel Primary School, music schools and some members of the Basel Symphony Orchestra took part in this successful performance. The 20 most advanced string players from the orchestra school were joined by groups of instruments from various music schools in Basel, including flutes, guitars, wind instruments and percussion. It was a wonderful experience to see the many younger and older children sitting at the podium for an hour and a half, concentrating and attentively following the conductor's signals. The remaining children from the orchestra school played, sang and danced on stage together with the young, outstanding singing professionals, or they helped out backstage. At the performance on May 13, 11-year-old Yannick Köllner played the leading role of Lasso. He attends the Liestal music school and his teacher was also on stage as a soloist. With a beautiful, intonation-sure voice, he moved confidently and mastered the rhythmic pitfalls of his extensive role without any problems. - Chapeau!

Under the clear direction of Stefano Mariani, Detlev Glanert's varied, colorfully orchestrated and rhythmically demanding score was interpreted convincingly. Despite adverse spatial and acoustic conditions - the Stadt-Casino is not suitable as a theater space - an entertaining evening of opera was achieved. Maria Riccarda Wesseling's direction focuses on movement, humor and symbolism. The characters are brought out theatrically and vividly. Little Lasso's loveless parental home is personified in his hysterical mother (Christina Campsall), who aggressively wields her vacuum cleaner, while the adult world hides behind uniform and threatening masks. Lasso escapes from his staid world and dreams of being a princess at the royal court. However, his dreams are not that easy to realize. On the run, he is almost killed by his mother's poisoned cake and at court he meets a dotty king (Robert Koller) and all sorts of bizarre characters. The princess (Sophia Schwendimann) is brittle and protects herself with an oversized crinoline. He can only win her over if he asks her three riddles that she cannot solve. This plan works. The king thinks the riddles are all just silly and no one at court knows the answers. He is allowed to spend a night with the princess without touching her. During this innocent pyjama party together, she blossoms, the royal court goes under and the young couple go out into life together with the gallows bird (Akinobu Ono), a good friend.

Antoine Gilliéron - So how can we train today very high-level young musicians who are also artists capable of positively impacting society beyond their musical practice? This article intends to highlight good practices in our Hautes Écoles of Music on this subject.

The ideas listed above in relation to social and civic responsibility are explored in this seminal article in their interactions with historically central concepts for music education, namely artistic excellence, imagination and creativity as well as musical heritage.

Based on the particular ethnomusicological notion of musicking (see insert), the latter provides dynamic responses to the needs of society. The role of musician being therefore defined as a creator in society, this vision is supported on the one hand by an immersion in the artistic milieu and on the other hand by a sustained practical experience within the city with the intention of guaranteeing a transition to professional life capable of responding to the problems encountered by the communities.

Thus, a change of paradigm is recognized by all the parties involved as necessary to restore the conceptual foundation of the musical space of higher education. The aim is to support and strengthen professional musical practices in this sense by paying attention to this change of paradigm and to the interdependent relationships that it reveals between the vision, artisanship and art of a musician and their commitment to and for society. Maintaining this flow of energy between artistry and imagination on the one hand, and pertinence and social commitment on the other, is a central and growing challenge for the HEMs of our country.

" L'HEMU prend ses quartiers " is a project of mediation aimed at ensuring that the students in the Master of Education carry out a work of democratization of music in the popular neighbourhoods of Lausanne.

"Les concerts du cœur" supported by HEM Genève - Neuchâtel aims to bring music into the EMS, hospitals and prisons by offering free concerts to the local population.

À Lugano, an initiative of the school of music aims to offer free courses to Ukrainian refugee students and especially students of Russian and Ukrainian nationality.

On the Bâle side, the presence of the Haute École in society is manifested in various projects such as musical mediation in museums, health and educational institutions and even fundraising to help Ukraine in humanitarian aid.

" Music in context " à Berne allows structurer les curriculums via l'organization des majors et minors autour de la question centrale de la médiation culturelle et des formats de concerts innovants.

Lucerne, Zurich and Kalaidos also propose such initiatives which, without a shadow of a doubt, contribute enormously to social cohesion, to the revival of the role of musicians in society and to the broadening of professional perspectives for music students.

The essence of music does not lie in the musical works, but in the participation in the presentation of these works and in social action. Music is therefore not just a name but a verb: to make music. Faire de la musique, c'est prendre part, sous toutes ses formes, à une performance musicale, et le sens du musicking réside ainsi dans les relations qui s'établissent entre les participant.es (y compris le public) par la performance. Music is part of this iconic and gestural process, which consists of giving and receiving information about the relationships that unite the living world. It is in fact a ritual through which the participants not only learn, but also directly experience the way in which they position themselves or should position themselves in relation to human beings and the rest of the world. These ideal relationships are often extremely complex, too complex to be expressed in words, but they are expressed effortlessly through musical performance, allowing the participants to explore, affirm and celebrate them. Music is therefore just as important for our humanity as participation in acts of speech, and all human beings are capable of taking part in it, not only by understanding the existing gestures, but also by creating their own.

An arrangement of Mozart's Horn Quintet K. 407 as a trio for violin, horn and piano is only justified as a program addition to the famous Horn Trio op. 40 by Johannes Brahms, although original alternatives to the combination are available: Lennox Berkeley, Don Banks, Charles Koechlin and others. Apart from the fact that a transcription of the Mozart quintet for trio by Carl Ernst Nauman (1832-1910) is already available from the Breitkopf publishing house.

The special, dark sound mixture of the original, horn, violin, 2 violas, violoncello, clearly speaks for the original version.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Trio in E flat after the Horn Quintet KV 407, for violin, horn and piano arranged by Michael Töpel, EM 2157, € 24.00, Edition Merseburger, Kassel

The Taurus Award honors personalities, initiatives, artists, politicians and institutions for their outstanding services and achievements to and for Europe and the people of Europe. In recent years, these have included tenors Thomas Hampson, René Pape, Piotr Beczala and soprano Nina Stemme, the European Union Youth Orchestra, the Vienna State Opera and conductor Simone Young.

The evening will be hosted by the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich under the baton of its music director Paavo Järvi. Performers will include cellist Sol Gabetta, Wagner and Strauss interpreter Camilla Nylund, bass-baritone Bryn Terfel and violinist Nigel Kennedy.

The Taurus Award honors personalities, initiatives, artists, politicians and institutions for their outstanding services and achievements to and for Europe and the people of Europe. In recent years, these have included tenors Thomas Hampson, René Pape, Piotr Beczala and soprano Nina Stemme, the European Union Youth Orchestra, the Vienna State Opera and conductor Simone Young.

The evening will be hosted by the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich under the baton of its music director Paavo Järvi. Performers will include cellist Sol Gabetta, Wagner and Strauss interpreter Camilla Nylund, bass-baritone Bryn Terfel and violinist Nigel Kennedy.

The modern cultural center in Lugano, home to the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana (OSI), provides the setting for the staging and visualization of well-known works. The OSI has granted the Argentinian cellist and Swiss by choice, who can also be heard at the festival as a performer, carte blanche for "the Festival Presenza". It is planned to run for several years.

Curator Balthazar Soulier stages the works programmed by artistic director Sol Gabetta. Well-known cello concertos are combined with less frequently performed pieces. The aim is to break with familiar concert sequences and create a theatrical dimension.

"We are convinced that even small adjustments to the classical 'concert ritual' and the program can have a big impact," Sol Gabetta is quoted as saying in the press release of 22 May. "As far as the repertoire is concerned, I will be reviving cello pieces from the 19th century with the OSI. These include works that were inspired by popular opera arias, which have unfortunately fallen into oblivion and are hardly ever played today. I won't be performing as a classical soloist, but will be fully integrated into the orchestra and become part of a new musical experience."

https://www.osi.swiss/presenza
 

Photo: Kaupo Kikkas

The Orchestra della Svizzera italiana in front of the LAC cultural center in Lugano

Virtual reality (VR) is now set to bring the experience of live cultural shows from the stage to the home for the first time. A project consortium is currently developing a VR application that transmits stage content live and three-dimensionally into virtual event spaces that can be visited by interested people as avatars.

In addition to Chemnitz University of Technology, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS from Erlangen, Die Etagen GmbH from Osnabrück, YOUSE GmbH Berlin and point omega AG from Heidelberg are also involved in the research project.

Homepage of the project: www.socialstagevr.de