A Nefera is "a fighter in a musical field that is still rarely played by women" and doesn't just make very good hip-hop that gets you moving, makes you dance along and has a lasting effect, writes the canton. With her strong Spanish lyrics, her insistent voice and her unmistakable demands, she also stands for all those women who are afraid to speak out.

La Nefera (www.lanefera.ch) was born in the Dominican Republic and came to the canton of Basel-Landschaft at the age of ten. She studied social work and has been involved in Swiss hip-hop as a rapper and bandleader since 2008. She released her first solo album in 2016 and won the Audience Award of the Basel Pop Prize in 2018.

The current discussion draft of the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection supplements the draft of the First Act on the Adaptation of Copyright Law to the Requirements of the Digital Single Market of 15 January 2020 with regard to the implementation of the directive and includes, among other things, regulations on the responsibility of upload platforms and collective licenses.

According to Susann Eichstädt, Deputy Secretary General of the German Music Council, the draft is a step towards an urgently needed, fair balance of interests between all stakeholders involved. It marks the right path, but quick action is necessary if the deadline for implementing the EU directive is to be met in view of the challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis and the upcoming federal elections.

The German Music Council and many of its members have participated in the consultation process of the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection. The statement of the German Music Council can be found here.
 

Among the 7152 productions were 834 operas, 123 operettas, 246 musicals, 2740 drama productions, 523 ballet and dance productions, 1544 children's and youth theater productions, 294 puppet and figure theater productions, 278 revues and song recitals as well as 570 projects, performances and multi-genre projects.

Werkstatistik is published for the first time by Wissenschaftsverlag Königshausen & Neumann. It can also be purchased in bookstores under the ISBN number ISBN 978-3-8260-7061-7.

More info:
http://www.buehnenverein.de/de/presse/pressemeldungen.html?det=580

"Another word about folk songs. They are truly what the true artist, who begins to recognize the errors of his art, pays attention to like a sailor to the North Star, and from where he observes most for his profit. Only such melodies as the Swiss song are true original folk melodies, and they stir and move the whole sentient world, they are true Orpheus songs." Perhaps it was a coincidence that Beethoven became aware of these words by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752-1814) while still in Bonn around 1790 - printed in the preface to the small collection Happy songs for German men (1781) and supplemented by an eleven-bar melody with the following text underlay: "A boy has a daughter, her name is Babeli, she has a few pigtails, they are like gold, that's why he likes the dusle sic! hold." In view of this rendition of Schwyzerdütsch, which can only be understood on the surface, we can probably be glad that we are spared the other ten verses of the song in this source. In any case, the song about Babeli and Dursli, like so many folk songs, tells the story of a tragic love that ultimately drives the young man into mercenary service.

All this remained hidden from Beethoven. The irregular structure (3+3+2+3 bars) and the seemingly archaic melody alone could therefore have inspired him to develop it artistically. He first added a simple bass line to the melody and then added six easily realizable variations. The work is still taught in piano lessons today. However, the scoring of the first edition published by Simrock in Bonn in 1798 seems strange: "Clavecin, ou Harpe". While the reference to the harpsichord was still quite common (the process of renewal towards the emerging fortepiano was taking place gradually), the mention of a harp as an alternative is surprising. In 1796, Beethoven himself provided a clue to clarification in a letter to the piano maker Johann Andreas Streicher (1761-1833). After hearing the young Augsburg native Elisabeth von Kissow (1784-1868) play on a fortepiano, he wrote: "It is certain that the way of playing the Klawier is still the most uncultivated of all instruments so far, one often believes to hear only a harp, and I prefer to be happy that you are one of the few who realize and feel that one can also sing on the Klawiern as soon as you can only feeln, I hope the time will come when the harp and the klawier will be two completely different instruments." The scoring inserted by the publisher thus seems to correspond to a performance practice that was still quite common at this time.

Link to the project homepage "52 x Beethoven"

To date, the program has helped creative artists and their business partners by funding 40% of the costs. This funding percentage will now be increased by 50 percent to 90 percent for a limited period of time. Instead of 60 percent, applications now only have to include an own contribution of 10 percent of the total costs. A total funding amount of up to 67,500 euros per project is possible, writes the German Music Industry Association. In addition to production, marketing and touring, work creation, rehearsal and pre-production times can now also be funded.

The associations of the German music industry welcome the first partial program from the Neustart Kultur economic stimulus package presented by Minister of State for Culture Grütters. The Minister of State is thus partly following the recommendations of the music industry associations and the collecting societies to take into account the high degree of division of labor and the interdependence of the industry sectors with more precisely tailored funding programs.

According to Gerald Mertens, Managing Director of the German Orchestra Association, the range of courses on offer in orchestra management is becoming ever thinner. There is only one master's degree course in theater and orchestra management in Germany, in Frankfurt am Main.

According to the DOV press release, the corresponding course in cultural management at the FU Berlin was discontinued years ago. The Master's degree course in cultural and tourism management at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder) with a corresponding seminar program has now even been completely discontinued.

New training programs for future orchestra managers need to be created at universities. Otherwise, a highly complex management task between music and management will increasingly be left to lateral entrants from other professional fields, continued Mertens.
 

It is not always the great works of music history that tell of interpersonal relationships. Simple canons or impromptu musical sayings often provide an insight into the environment and everyday circumstances - although they are generally counted among the "chaff" of a composer's oeuvre. This is also the case with Beethoven. Sometimes it is about the tiresome relationship (Fettlümmel, Bankert have triumpheda three-part canon on the sister-in-law and her daughter, WoO 226), then the question of where to dine: Gentlemen where will you dine today in the ochsen or schwanen or zu den drei hacken or even in the fischrüherl (WoO 221, 1st text version). The departure of Johann Nepomuk Hummel for Stuttgart is more serious (Ars longa, vita brevisWoO 170), the Danish composer Friedrich Kuhlau's artful entry in one of the conversation booklets was subtly answered with a B-A-C-H motif (Cool, not lukewarmWoO 191).

Ignaz Schuppanzigh (1776-1830), who composed almost all of Beethoven's string quartets with his ensemble, was the recipient of such musical short messages on two occasions. And both times the text is aimed at the violinist's corpulent appearance. Beethoven, who had already nicknamed him "My Lord Falstaff", calls him in 1801 in coarse, friendly jest Praise for the fat Schuppanzigh WoO 100 even a "Lump"one "thick mule" and "inflated donkey head". It sounds somewhat milder when Schuppanzigh returns from St. Petersburg in April 1823 and begins the canon Falstafferl, let's see you WoO 184 (here the rapidly repeated and sustained notes imitate a violin). Even though Beethoven was repeatedly inspired by Schuppanzigh and his quartet comrades and, with their help, was apparently also able to try out preliminary versions in private, the artistic friendship had to endure a lot - including the famously botched premiere of the String Quartet in E flat major op. 127. However, what Schuppanzigh achieved musically has been handed down by his secundarius Karl Holz, who reported to Beethoven: "My Lord played better today than ever before - passages like the recitative from op. 132 no one can play like that. - He has what no one else can learn; he has learned nothing else."

Link to the project homepage "52 x Beethoven"

At the beginning of the 19th century, there was not only a considerable demand for new piano sonatas, but also for string quartets. Especially in Vienna, which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had still considered to be a "Clavierland" countless private ensembles came together in the first two decades. They wanted to be supplied with original works as well as arrangements of well-known operas and oratorios, but also entire symphonies and sonatas. But just as the market flourished, so it was necessary to separate the wheat from the chaff among the arrangements: Mere mechanical transcription may have quickly led to a marketable printed edition, but by no means always to a truly musically adequate arrangement. For just as every instrument has its own idiom, so too do the different genres and instrumentations. In the fall of 1802, Beethoven even felt compelled to write a new version in the Leipzig General Musical Newspaper to warn against string quintet arrangements of his Symphony in C major op. 21 and the Septet in E flat major op. 20, which had appeared without his involvement.

The urgency of the problem is also made clear by a letter dated July 13, 1802, addressed to Breitkopf & Härtel only a few months earlier, in which Beethoven thanks the publisher for its decent attitude towards such products. In addition, he talks at length about the true demands of editing: "With regard to the arranged works, I am very glad that you have rejected them; the unnatural fury that one has of wanting to transplant even piano works to violin instruments, instruments that are so opposed to each other in everything, could well be stopped; I firmly maintain that only Mozart could translate himself from the piano to other instruments, as well as Haydn - and without wanting to join both great men, I also maintain this of my piano sonatas, since not only must entire passages be completely omitted and altered. one must - still have to add, and here stands the unfortunate stumbling block, which in order to overcome one must either be the master himself, or at least have the same skill and invention - I have incorporated a single sonata of mine into a quartet by G.I. Violin instruments what I was asked for so much, and I know for sure that no one else will do it to me so easily."

The aforementioned composition is Beethoven's own arrangement of the Piano Sonata in E major op. 14/1, in which he not only transposed the work to F major, but also fundamentally altered almost all of the accompaniment models. In addition, the middle parts were individualized in accordance with the quartet movement, so that in the end a completely new, independent version was created. - If you would like to follow this almost experimental editing process in detail, we recommend the pocket score from Edition Eulenburg (ETP 297), in which both versions of the composition are printed together. An educational piece.

Here you can hear the Sonata No. 9 in E major op. 14/1 on which the string quartet is based.

Link to the project homepage "52 x Beethoven"

In some federal states in Germany, newly issued teaching regulations for the coming school year stipulate a total ban on music lessons, for example in Baden-Württemberg and Schleswig-Holstein. Other federal states, such as Rhineland-Palatinate and Berlin, have shown that there are other ways to comply with prudent hygiene concepts, explains Jan-Christian Hübsch, Deputy Managing Director of the German Orchestra Association.

Long-term negative effects from the discontinuation of all musical activities in the school environment - including music lessons and musical study groups such as choirs or orchestras - must be avoided.

In addition, any form of restriction should be measured against the principle of proportionality. In addition to the general hygiene regulations in corona times, this includes, for example, minimum room sizes, minimum safety distances and ventilation requirements.

Music has a long tradition in Baden-Baden. Not only the celebrated pianist Clara Schumann spent 10 years of her life in the charming town, but also the famous singer and pianist Pauline Viardot was drawn to Baden-Baden in 1836. The composer Johannes Brahms also spent the summer months of the 19th century in the "summer capital of Europe". In the Lichtental district, is still home to the Brahms Househis musical memorial and the only one of its kind in Germany. The former living quarters of the house are furnished as a museum and exhibits, photos and documents tell the story of the life of Johannes Brahms and his lifelong friend Clara Schumann.

Kaupo Kikkas

Schumann Quartet

The Festspielhaus Baden-Baden delights audiences every year with international concerts, musicals, operas and ballets. With its 2,500 seats, it is the second largest opera and concert hall in Europe and the largest in Germany. This summer, the festival will take place from July 18 to August 30 under the very special motto "En suite". Instead of the Festspielhaus, this extraordinary festival will take place in various venues in Baden-Baden. The venues are the Painters' Hall of the Hotel Maison Messmer, the Orangery of the Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa and the Frieder Burda Museum. Further information and tickets for the "En suite" festival can be found at www.festspielhaus.de

Art lovers can look forward to countless exhibitions on a wide variety of topics. Whether internationally renowned artists, the work of a young generation of artists, art & technology or jewelry - there is a suitable museum for every interest. Probably the best known is built by the New York star architect Richard Meier Museum Frieder Burda with selected works of classical modernism in changing exhibitions. A glass bridge connects the State Art Gallery with contemporary international art.

Baden-Baden Kur & Tourismus GmbH

Museum Frieder Burda

In Baden-Baden, award-winning Michelin-starred restaurants, cozy little inns and traditional and modern cafés in the heart of the city invite you to take a culinary break. The nearby Baden-Badener Rebland, one of the most famous Riesling growing regions in Germany, is an insider tip for gourmets and lovers of good wine. And shopping enthusiasts can enjoy exclusive shopping opportunities in the picturesque little streets of the neo-baroque, traffic-free old town. Art lovers and connoisseurs of classical music feel just as at home here as gourmets, shopping enthusiasts and wellness lovers.

It was a bombshell when Markus Hinterhäuser announced in May that the Salzburg Festival will take place this summer from August 1 to 30, 2020 with two opera premieres, three theater productions and numerous concerts and readings.

"We played through many scenarios - from a total cancellation to a single day of the festival," explains the director in conversation. "Then the infection figures in Austria developed positively. And thanks to the federal government's phased plan, from August 1, 2020, up to 1,000 visitors could be admitted to events if they presented a strict hygiene concept. Rehearsals, opera, theater, symphony orchestra performances - it was all possible again. We can now also set artistic accents. Of course we will have economic losses, but they will be bearable." Of the originally planned opera program with four new staged productions and four revivals, only Richard Strauss' Electra which will open the festival on August 1, 2020. "It was important to us to have the work of a festival founder at the 100th anniversary of the festival. All the concerts and performances that we stage in the summer are performed without an intermission. So the one-act play fits Electra also very good. The personnel on stage is manageable and there is no need for a choir - these were also reasons for this opera as a prelude." The canceled productions are to be made up for next year. With Così fan tutte an entirely new opera production was created in just a few weeks for the modified Salzburg Festival. Christof Loy, who actually Boris Godunov is the director. Joana Mallwitz, intended for the Magic fluteconducts. All events, including theater performances, readings and concerts, will be held without an intermission. There will be no catering in the foyers. As far as the minimum distance between artists is concerned, Austria is taking a different approach to Switzerland and Germany. The members of Austrian orchestras are regularly tested for coronavirus. There are no distancing requirements, which means that the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra can sit close together in the orchestra pit. "I am delighted that we are once again recognizing the basic human need for art, for theater, for music. Everyone is called upon to play their part in making this happen. I very much believe in this attempt," says Markus Hinterhäuser confidently before the start of the festival.

Andrea Zietzschmann, Director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestrais very much looking forward to the two concerts by the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Salzburg Festival on August 29 and 30, 2020 - the orchestra's first guest appearances after a five-month break.

The program of the two concerts under chief conductor Kirill Petrenko had to be changed slightly. Anton Webern's Passacaglia for orchestra and Josef Suk's Symphony in C minor op. 27 were canceled, Arnold Schönberg's Transfigured night in the version for string orchestra. In Austria too, however, the orchestra must adhere to the minimum distances prescribed in Germany - i.e. 1.5 meters for strings and 2 meters for wind instruments. A 68-piece orchestra is the maximum in the large Festspielhaus. The last few months have been characterized by crisis management for Zietzschmann. Canceling concerts, terminating contracts, securing liquidity. The orchestra members have been on short-time work since the beginning of April until the start of the season on August 28 in Berlin. She is calling for more concessions and practicable solutions from politicians in Germany. "Unfortunately, culture is not at the top of the federal government's list of priorities, and we all have to fight for that." In Germany, halls can currently only be occupied up to a maximum of 30 percent. The minimum distances for orchestral musicians prevent larger ensembles. In Berlin, choral singing is completely banned in closed rooms. She considers Austria's test model to be a good thing because it helps to establish normality. The orchestra has already been tested several times for the Berlin Philharmonic's European concert, which will be broadcast on May 1. "As the coronavirus issue will certainly keep us busy for some time to come, we need pragmatic solutions," Zietzschmann is convinced. The new season program for the Berliner Philharmoniker's concerts until the end of October will be announced in mid-August. "There will be attractive programs without a break. In order to be able to act flexibly, we are planning step by step." And there will be more concerts in order to "create more concert offerings in view of the greatly reduced number of admitted audiences."

As far as the distance between orchestral musicians is concerned, the current guidelines in Switzerland are 1.5 m (strings) and 2 m (wind instruments). However, significantly more audience members are allowed than in Germany. Including hall personnel, 1000 people are now permitted in the KKL Luzern.

Michael Haefliger had initially planned the event from August 14 to September 13, 2020. Lucerne Festival was completely canceled at the end of April. The fact that it can now take place in a much smaller version has to do with the greater opportunities that organizers in Switzerland are now granted. "We're not doing a scaled-down festival this summer, but a new festival with the theme 'Life Is Live'. We have developed a contemporary concept that takes all hygiene requirements into account and offers a compact festival experience that is concentrated over 10 days." Not much has remained of the old festival. The performances of the international guest orchestras are not possible. The Lucerne Festival Academy will not take place, nor will the pre-festival "Music for Future" and the planned 10 world premieres. The Lucerne Festival Orchestra will perform two Beethoven programs under Herbert Blomstedt with a 35-piece orchestra (soloist: Martha Argerich). Igor Levit will continue his Beethoven cycle, and Cecilia Bartoli will perform a Handel program with Les Musiciens du Prince - Monaco in addition to other chamber concerts. Open-air world music bands can be heard daily in the city and Peter Conradin Zumthor's composition Lucerne bells - con sordino. Michael Haefliger basically agrees with the Swiss government's guidelines. "If you are too rigid, you prevent a certain normalization. That's why we welcome the relaxation, but we are aware that we always have to keep an eye on the number of cases. It's a balancing act." In his opinion, the consequences of the coronavirus crisis for the classic business mean a certain amount of downsizing. "From an ecological point of view, limits are now being respected that were not previously adhered to," says Haefliger. "In the coming months, we will certainly focus heavily on our own space and try to maintain lively communication with our audience there. We must not be forgotten."

The Fondation Suisa offers a special Swiss discount for the following events:

Waves Vienna is a musical and cultural exchange platform between Western and Eastern Europe and will take place in Vienna from September 10 to 12.
Registration deadline: September 9, 2020

Link to Waves Vienna

The Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, one of the most important gatherings for up-and-coming artists, takes place in Hamburg from September 16 to 19.
Registration deadline: September 15, 2020

Link to the Reeperbahn Festival
 

And finally, the MaMA in Paris from October 14 to 16 will focus on the French music market with an emphasis on pop and rock.
Registration deadline: September 18, 2020

Link to the MaMa in Paris

Fondation Suisa is continuously monitoring the coronavirus situation. It maintains an exchange with the organizers and, if necessary, contacts the participants with relevant information on risks or measures.
 

According to the survey, never before have so many French people listened to music, regardless of style. 81 percent of respondents said they listen to music and 57 percent said they do so every day. In 2008, the figure was 34 percent and in 1973, 9 percent. The reason for this explosive growth is streaming platforms such as Spotify and Deezer.

Rock and jazz concerts, on the other hand, are being attended less and less (11% in 2018 compared to 13% in 1997). The same applies to classical music, where attendance at concerts continues to fall. Only 6% of respondents went to concerts, compared to 9% in 1997.

The study also confirms the ageing of classical concert audiences, mainly represented by the baby boom generation, who attended classical concerts most frequently, a trend already observed in previous studies. Only 15 percent of 15- to 28-year-olds went to a concert hall to listen to classical music during the year.

Every ten years or so, the French Ministry of Culture publishes a comprehensive study on the cultural practices of the French. The sixth edition was conducted from February 2018 to March 2019 with a sample of 9200 people over the age of 15.

In the two-stage selection process, the jury in Zurich - consisting of Cultural Director Peter Haerle (Chair), Uli Fussenegger (Head of New Music at the FHNW), composer Cathy van Eck, Festival Director Björn Gottstein and composer and performer Cathy Milliken - chose the "Sonic Matter" concept by Katharina Rosenberger, Julie Beauvais and Lisa Nolte. Twelve concepts that met the formal criteria had previously been reviewed and four teams were invited to present their concept in person.

The future artistic management team of "Sonic Matter" is repositioning the festival in a local and international context. In addition to the festival in Zurich, a variety of formats will allow the public to participate in the pulse of new music throughout the year. "Sonic Matter" represents a broad concept of new music, attaches great importance to the artistic process and is experimental and research-oriented. It is sponsored by a newly founded association.

The city is supporting the festival during the three-year pilot phase with a one-off contribution totaling CHF 850,000. This is divided into an initial contribution of CHF 100,000 in 2020 and operating contributions of CHF 250,000 for each of the years 2021 to 2023. The festival will be evaluated during the three-year pilot phase. After that, further support from the city in the form of annual operating contributions will be reviewed.

Erika Stucky plays an outstanding role in the music scene in Switzerland and far beyond, according to the BAK press release. Born in San Francisco (USA) in 1961, she has been working on her own sound universe since the 1980s, often in collaboration with important jazz musicians. As a singer, multi-instrumentalist and performance artist, she takes on a wide variety of artistic identities. The music of the hippie movement in her native San Francisco accompanied her across the Atlantic to the Upper Valais mountain village of Mörel, where she grew up from the age of seven.

The Swiss Music Prize "honors outstanding and innovative Swiss music creation and contributes to its promotion". The following 14 musicians will be honored in 2020: Martina Berther (Chur GR), Big Zis (Winterthur ZH), Aïsha Devi (Geneva), Christy Doran (Dublin/Lucerne), Antoine Chessex (Vevey VD), André Ducret (Fribourg im Üechtland), Dani Häusler (Unterägeri ZG), Rudolf Kelterborn (Basel), Hans Koch (Biel/Bienne BE), Francesco Piemontesi (Locarno TI), Cyrill Schläpfer (Wald AR), Nat Su (Bülach ZH), Swiss Chamber Concerts (BS, GE, TI, ZH), Emilie Zoé (Lausanne VD).

The Swiss Grand Prix Music is endowed with CHF 100,000, the Swiss Music Awards with CHF 25,000 each.