Jean-François Michel (*1957) enjoys a very good reputation in Switzerland as a brilliant trumpet player and as professor of trumpet at the University of Music (Lausanne, Fribourg, Sion). As a soloist, the former principal trumpeter of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra also performs on the international stage and offers master classes. An equally central and successful field of activity for Michel is composing chamber music pieces in various styles and levels of difficulty.

Lorie is a light, modal composition in three short movements with strong references to the stirring folk music of Ireland with Celtic roots. The first movement is a jig with a lively Dorian melody, which is partly accompanied by percussive elements (rhythms are to be struck on the wood of the piano and on the edge of the mouthpiece), reminiscent of the rhythmic tapping of the dancers' shoes in an Irish reel. The slow middle movement is characterized by a simple melody in a major key and, with its legato character, offers a contrast to the two outer movements. The final movement - like a fiddle tune - with dotted rhythms and a Mixolydian melody with shifts to major and minor, is also full of energy, joy of playing and wit.

The piece, which lasts around five minutes, would be very suitable as a competition piece for the intermediate level.

Jean-François Michel: Lorie, for Bb trumpet and piano, (=Swiss Composers Series), TP332, Fr. 20.00, Edition Bim, Vuarmarens 2011

Janáček's Glagolitic Mass for soloists, choir and orchestra has a complex genesis. There are major differences between the version before the first performance in 1927 and the final printed version. Jirí Zahrádka, the editor of this new edition, solved the problem by also presenting two scores (the "September 1927" version as BA 6863; and the final version as BA 6862). The later version was taken into account as the version valid for performances. It is instrumentally richer, easier to study and shortened in some important passages.

The piano reduction presented here follows this later version. The Church Slavonic text was arranged by the Slavicist Radoslav Vecerka; the performance material is available on loan from Bärenreiterverlag.

Leoš Janáček: Mša glagolskaja, piano reduction after the Critical Complete Edition, edited by Martin Zehn, BA 6862-90, € 34.95, Bärenreiter, Kassel 2012

Underestimated among themselves: Joseph Haydn and Dmitri Shostakovich not only share the fate of having stood in the shadow of others, but also reveal astonishing similarities. Their clarity is striking. They also share a sense of humor, which in Shostakovich's case can sometimes turn into bitter sarcasm. This is not yet so strongly expressed in his early work, the Piano Trio No. 1 in C minor, composed in 1923. But it is all the more drastic in the second piano trio Opus 67 from 1944, in the last movement of which Shostakovich indulges in the piercing persistence for which he became famous (and infamous).

Nothing escapes the Huh trio. They energetically - "beauty of tone is a minor matter" - take on such rhythmically pounding passages. On the other hand, they formulate the vocabulary of Joseph Haydn in his E flat major Trio No. 29 from 1784 in a finely chiselled manner. Many people don't know what to do with Haydn's chamber music, overdoing the varied play with tempi and timbres. The Huhs are completely different: with the first powerful chord, everything takes its natural and at the same time very flexible course. Rarely have we heard such a fine attacca as in the transition from the andantino to the finale.

Transitions of a cultural nature characterize the biographies of the Huh sisters. They were born in Korea and play an important role in cultural life there, but also often give concerts in Europe. Cellist Yun-Jung and violinist Hee-Jung teach in Seoul, while pianist Seung-Yeun is a lecturer at the Zurich University of the Arts and director of the Zurich City Conservatory music school.

The CD's sound engineer, Jan Zácek, is interested in transitions of a different kind. The recording also deserves the highest praise because he so congenially designed the path from the instruments to the hard disk. Simply a great pleasure to listen to!

There is the traditional line of Norma readings, with Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland or Edita Gruberova. And there is Cecilia Bartoli, writes the German Record Critics' Jury.

Bartoli has given Norma back the bel canto part of the originally intended mezzo-soprano fach. She does this with her own art of singing: a singing "with clenched fists, so to speak, full of banging coloratura, explosive fioritura and skillfully overcoming the slightly elderly grandeur that we hear in many recordings of this work, not least because of the conventional orchestras".

This year's prize-winners also include solo motets by Antonio Vivaldi with Julia Lezhneva and Il Giardino Armonico (Decca), Scarlatti's Dove è amore è gelosia with the Schwarzenberg Court Orchestra (Naxos) and an anniversary edition with recordings by Alfred Cortot (EMI)

The German Record Critics' Award was founded in its current form in 1980 by a group of record critics who joined together in December 1988 to form an independent registered association; it continues the tradition of the first German record award of the same name, which was founded in 1963 by the Bielefeld publisher Richard Kaselowsky.
 

The agreement comes into force on September 1, 2013. The agreements enable Swiss composers and authors to also receive revenues for the use of their works on YouTube abroad.

In addition to the agreement with Suisa, YouTube has concluded agreements with over 40 other collecting societies worldwide. These include, for example, PRS for Music in the UK, Sacem in France, SGAE in Spain, SIAE in Italy, Buma Stemra in the Netherlands and, most recently, AKM/austro Mechana in Austria.

The Deutsche Orchestervereinigung e.V. (DOV) was thus unable to prevail against the Arbeitgeberverband Deutscher Bühnenverein (DBV) in the final instance.

Since 2010, the DBV had refused to continue to implement the collective agreement regulation on the transfer of wage percentages to state and municipal orchestras, which has been in force for decades. As a result, collectively agreed orchestra remuneration is currently around 8 percent below that of public sector employees.

DOV Managing Director Gerald Mertens regrets the BAG's decision and "is now calling on the German Stage Association to finally conclude new pay scales for state and municipal orchestras without delay by means of a collective agreement that makes up for all percentage increases by state and local authorities since 2010".

Unfortunately, the DOV writes in an official press release that there is now a risk of massive wage conflicts every year. .

Despite great efforts, it has not been possible to re-establish a sustainable relationship of trust within the management bodies, the canton writes further. Roger Bischofberger considers the cooperation to be so strained that he sees no possibility of successfully mastering the development tasks ahead.

The management bodies of SfG have decided to maintain confidentiality in this matter.

Roger Bischofberger, 55 years old, took over as director from Dorothea Flury in August 2011. He previously worked as a secondary school teacher for visual arts. During his time as director, he succeeded in differentiating existing courses and initiating the development of new courses.

The position of Director of the school is being advertised. Ursula Gysin, Deputy Director, and Christoph Reber, Head of Administration, will take over the co-management until Roger Bischofberger's successor takes up the post. They will be supported by Hans Georg Signer, Head of Education, during the interim period.
 

The romantic opera was written in 1820/21 for the opera house in Dresden. As it was not permitted to speak on the stage of the French Grand Opéra, but only to sing, the dialog had to be replaced by recitatives.

The recitatives were written by Hector Berlioz. They have been retranslated into German for the Bern performance. They now seamlessly connect the individual scenes as "accompagnati".

The parts reworked by Mario Venzago are based on original thematic material by Hector Berlioz. In addition to a new version of the lost opening scene between Agathe and the Hermit, the ballet music added for the Paris performance is also performed in this Bern version.

Playing with an orchestra is an important experience on the way to a career as a soloist. During rehearsals with experienced conductors and at concert performances, where their own charisma can be felt by the audience, young musicians can learn important things for their future careers.
The Ruth and Ernst Burkhalter Foundation therefore supports concerts by orchestras and event organizers throughout Switzerland, where young talents can perform as soloists. To select young musical talent, the Foundation works closely with the Swiss Youth Music Competition (SJMW) together. If a soloist from the Foundation's sponsorship is engaged for a concert, the organizer can submit an application for a deficit guarantee or the assumption of the soloist's fee. On this basis, the Ruth and Ernst Burkhalter Foundation has supported around 750 concerts with 122 former SJMW prizewinners over the past 25 years. Thanks to this commitment, significantly more young soloists have been able to perform in orchestral concerts over the past 25 years.

The musical talents supported by the foundation are published on the foundation's website: www.stiftungburkhalter.ch

Anniversary celebration at the Tonhalle Zurich
The President of the Foundation Board, Michael Eidenbenz, paid tribute at the anniversary celebration on September 15 in the small hall of the Tonhalle Zurich Ruth Burkhalter as the "heart and soul" of the Foundation and thanked her for her beneficial work. In the chamber music concert that followed, musicians from the Foundation's sponsorship program and members of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich impressed the audience with their interpretation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Quintet for Winds and Piano, KV 452 (Martin Frutiger, oboe; Carmen Berger, clarinet; Florian Abächerli, horn; Valeria Curti, bassoon; Mischa Cheung, piano) and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's String Octet, op. 20 (Aline Champion, Isabelle Weilbach-Lambelet, Daniela Müller and Patrizia Pacozzi, violin, Michel Rouilly and Julie Berthollet, viola and Christian Poltéra and Lionel Cottet, cello).
 

The grants are aimed at professional musicians and ensembles in Geneva. The total of 80,000 francs available each year is intended to support artists in decisive phases of their careers.

Individual contributions of between 15,000 and 25,000 francs are awarded. The Ministers of Culture decide on the award on the recommendation of a jury.

More info:
ge.ch/culture/nouvelles-bourses-pour-les-musiques-actuelles

The decision of the three-member jury, consisting of Thomas Doss, Franco Cesarini and Rolf Schumacher, was unanimous: The winner of the seventh Swiss Conducting Competition is David McVeigh. The 27-year-old Englishman, who lives in Bern, impressed the jury with his interpretation of Etienne Crausaz' Tales and Legends. Rodrigo Carneiro Da Silva from La Chaux-de-Fonds and Jan Müller from Ostermundigen were awarded a 2nd prize ex aequo for their equally excellent performances.
At this year's conducting competition, criteria such as: Rehearsal work, conducting technique, interpretation, orchestral contact, overall impression and musicality.

The Swiss Conductors' Competition has been organized by the Swiss Conductors' Competition Association since 1993.

www.dirigentenwettbewerb.ch
 

Riccarda Caflisch is being honored "for her virtuoso, personal interpretations as a flautist and her courageous exploration of new music". Robert Grossmann receives the prize in recognition of his many years of achievements as a composer, musicologist and instrumentalist on old plucked instruments.

Further recognition prizes go to Elisabeth Arpagaus (fine arts), Ignaz Cathomen (literature), Leza Dosch (architecture), Balser Fried (zoology), Otto Pajarola (photography), Silke Redolfi (women's history) and Reto Rigassi (literature).

Sponsorship awards of CHF 20,000 each go to Gaudens Bieri (musician), Laura Bott (visual artist), Maurus Gauthier (dancer), Ursina Giger (musician), Alessandro Ligato (photographer), Livio Russi (musician), Flurina Sarott (musician), Martin Wildhaber (musician), Lydia Wilhelm (visual artist) and Valeria Zangger (musician).

The prizes will be presented at a ceremony in the Grossratssaal in Chur on Friday, November 15, 2013 at 5:15 pm.
 

Inspired by the bestseller "Warped Passages" by physicist Lisa Randall, Spanish composer Hèctor Parra created "a chamber opera about hidden universes, the existential urge to explore, the limits of understanding and our dependencies in the real world". Randall wrote the libretto herself.

The newly founded Eunoia Ensemble is the Gare du Nord Ensemble of the 2013/14 season, presenting a series of commissions in which each concert is programmatically dedicated to a vocal.

With "From Time to Time", the Gare du Nord is also presenting a cycle of 16 concerts ranging from medieval motets to contemporary electronic music. Works from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque are juxtaposed with contemporary compositions and brought together.

The Gare du Nord pays homage to the "cradle of humanism", the cultural region on the Upper Rhine, with a mixture of concerts, readings and talks. The focus is on the humanists Erasmus of Rotterdam, Johannes Reuchlin and Beatus Rhenanus.

The Gare des Enfants has been organizing "concerts and spectacles for curious ears from the age of 5" at the Gare du Nord since 2004. In its anniversary season, the city of Basel will be the main theme of its events.

More info: www.garedunord.ch

This year, two second prizes (3,500 euros each) went to Austrian Martin Riccabona and Frenchwoman Charlotte Marchandise in the competition, which is held every three years.

In the history of the competition, the first prize has only been awarded five times. Brett Leighton (1979), Andrea Marcon (1986), Bine Katrine Bryndorf (1989), Luca Scandali (1998) and Mirko Ballico (2007) are the only ones to have won a first prize so far.

The jury consisted of Reinhard Jaud (Innsbruck), Jörg Andreas Bötticher (Basel), Pieter van Dijk (Alkmaar), Jan Willem Jansen (Toulouse), Karin Nelson (Gothenburg) and William Porter (Montreal). The program included compositions by Alessandro Poglietti, Johann Sebastian Bach, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Hans Leo Hassler and Paul Hofhaimer.

"Due to differences of opinion in the management of the orchestra, both sides have mutually agreed" to end the collaboration, the orchestra continues. Gawriloff's balance sheet is a balanced income statement for 2012/2013, the introduction of long-term planning and new fresh impulses for soloists and conductors, as well as creative program ideas.

The Board of the basel sinfonietta is taking advantage of the change in management to embark on a new organizational structure. The previous members of the Executive Board, Felix Heri (Concert Organization) and Eva Ruckstuhl (Public Relations), will continue to manage the orchestra's business in close collaboration with the Board.