June 2018 Turnage Coraline takes the stage After a sell-out run by The Royal Opera in London, Mark-Anthony Turnage’s new opera for family audiences travels on to Freiburg, Lille, Stockholm and Melbourne. Neil Gaiman’s dark fantasy Coraline has found by Coraline’s Other Mother and Father is sinister in its a successful new guise as an opera for family controlling possessiveness.” The Guardian audiences, composed by Mark-Anthony Turnage “The question for the composer is how dark to go. to a libretto by Rory Mullarkey. The Royal Opera’s Using just 16 musicians, Turnage finds endless resource, staging in March at the Barbican Theatre, especially in his ever piquant combinations of wind conducted by Sian Edwards, attracted capacity instruments. He is good at catching the busyness of audiences and is set to travel to Theater Freiburg humdrum suburban life in music that is entertainingly this month, Opéra de Lille in November, and frothy, and there are some spooky sounds emanating Folkoperan (Stockholm) and Victorian Opera from the other world beyond… In bringing it to life, The (Melbourne) in future seasons, performed with Royal Opera has not put a foot wrong… Aletta Collins, German, French and Swedish singing translations. the director, has delivered on all the story’s creepy Turnage was drawn to Neil Gaiman’s novella special effects. The runaway hand in the final scene because of its imagination, mystery and lively gets a gasp of delighted horror.” Financial Times characterisation: “The idea of a seductive alternative reality that is increasingly scary is very “Turnage’s opera captures interesting psychologically, allowing me to explore situations, ideas and emotions through my music. the spooky essence of Neil Also, crucially, this is an important story in having Gaiman’s Coraline…” a female lead – for me Coraline is a fantastic The Observer role model.” Photo: Royal Opera House/Stephen Cummiskey “Terrific performances and special effects ensure children “Young and old alike were gripped every witch way by Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Coraline at the Barbican Theatre in London, staged by The Royal Opera. in the audience love Mark-Anthony Turnage’s take on the Mark-Anthony Turnage’s vivid fairy-tale opera... cult novella... Coraline’s exploration of her parents’ new Numerous accompanied children were present when I marvellous in their way... an extremely skilful score.” of Turnage’s Testament for soprano and orchestra, home takes her into a parallel world beyond a bricked-up attended, but plenty of unaccompanied adults too... a Sunday Times setting Ukrainian poetry by Taras Shevchenko, is doorway in her parents’ drawing room. The Other World real, moment-by-moment engagement with characters conducted by Kiril Karabits in November with the seemingly offers limitless comfort and enjoyment, but its and drama... There’s more than a tincture of middle- In addition to international performances of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, travelling on inhabitants mysteriously have buttons sewn over their period Stravinsky in Turnage’s writing. But the Coraline, next season brings a new production the following month for performances by the eyes, and it soon becomes apparent that the love offered reminiscences (superbly off-beam chording) are of Anna Nicole in Nuremburg. The world premiere Staatskapelle Weimar. Other summer festivals with Bernstein highlights Kashperova include those most closely associated with the maestro. The Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Russian returns presents The Big Bernstein concert and a recreation of Bernstein’s momentous 1989 Boosey & Hawkes performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony has announced the following the fall of the Berlin wall. The Pacific publishing of works by summer Music Festival celebrates the centennial of its the forgotten Russian founder in July with an all-Bernstein programme composer Leokadiya festivals and Halil conducted by Valery Gergiev in Kashperova (1872– Sapporo, Hiroshima and Tokyo. 1940). Known to date Keck) Photo: José Maria Mora (Archive Photo: © Alfred Eisenstaedt Photo: © Alfred only as Stravinsky’s 2019 is the bicentenary of the birth of Jacques piano teacher in This summer accelerates the festivities for the “Music can name Offenbach and the year also celebrates the 20th St Petersburg, Leonard Bernstein centennial, with the birthday the unnameable and anniversary of the Offenbach Edition Keck (OEK), Kashperova is being itself celebrated on 25 August. American events published by Boosey & Hawkes, which has done reappraised as a are led by the Tanglewood Festival, which had communicate the so much to expand the performed repertoire by composer, including such a close relationship with the composer and the composer with award-winning editions. unknowable.” Leonard Bernstein her Symphony in conductor across half a century, from the time he The research by Jean-Christophe Keck, widely B minor which was attended the inaugural 1940 class as a protégé of regarded as the world’s leading expert on Bernstein at 100 programming continues into broadcast by the BBC Serge Koussevitzky to his final concerts in 1990 Offenbach’s music, has seen many forgotten the 2018/19 season with events including for the first time on with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and stageworks and orchestral scores performed a new staging by Barry Kosky of Candide at International Women’s Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. anew, and this is set to continue in the run-up the Komische Oper in Berlin – in the Royal Photo: The Russian National Museum of Music Day in March. to 2019. The birthday celebration sees a host of National Theatre version – and concert Known primarily as a pedagogue and pianist, conducting talent sharing the Tanglewood podium performances by the London Symphony Two years after the success of Orpheus in the Leokadiya Kashperova was also active in St including Andris Nelsons, Christoph Eschenbach, Orchestra under Marin Alsop and by the Underworld, Offenbach composed the three-act Petersburg as a composer of Romantic songs, Keith Lockhart, Michael Tilson Thomas and John Seoul Philharmonic. An intriguing site specific opéra-bouffe Barkouf to a libretto by Scribe and chamber music and symphonic works. She had Williams, with performers including Audra concert will see Chichester Psalms return to Boisseaux. This bitter-sweet satire, with a dog in studied composition with Nikolay Solovyov and McDonald, Midori, Yo-Yo Ma, Susan Graham and Chichester Cathedral in the UK on 24 November, the lead role, receives its first performance using piano with Anton Rubinstein and was a favoured Thomas Hampson. In addition the Boston part of the city’s extended tribute to Bernstein. the new OEK edition in December at the Opéra interpreter of virtuosic new works by Glazunov and Symphony Orchestra will be augmented by This month sees the publication of Famous national du Rhin. The autumn also sees a new her friend Balakirev. She travelled internationally, players from numerous orchestras around the Father Girl, the new ‘memoir of growing up production of Le Roi Carotte at the Staatsoper playing twice at London’s Aeolian Hall in 1907, world with which Bernstein maintained close Bernstein’ by the composer/conductor’s eldest Hannover following its successful Lyon revival where she attracted positive reviews, as well as associations. daughter Jamie (Harper Collins 0062641352). in 2015, the first French staging of Les Fées performing her own piano concerto in Berlin. In Europe, Bernstein is the most performed The broadcaster and filmmaker mines the du Rhin in Tours, and further performances of Stefan Herheim’s recent production of Kashperova’s compositions have come to light composer at the BBC Proms with eight major emotional depths of her childhood and invites Barbe-Bleu at the Komische Oper in Berlin. thanks to the scholarly endeavours of Dr Graham works including On the Town with the London us into her family’s private world. Griffiths, whose book Stravinsky’s Piano: Genesis Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Wilson For full details of centennial events visit For full information visit of a Musical Language (CUP, 2013) explores the on the birthday itself. Other highlights include two leonardbernstein.com/at100. www.offenbach-edition.de. creative impact of Kashperova’s teaching upon her concert performances of West Side Story with the piano pupil, Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky’s generally John Wilson Orchestra, Antonio Pappano disparaging remarks about his piano teacher led conducting Symphony No.1: Jeremiah with the Dr Griffiths to question the teacher-student Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Marin Alsop relationship, revealing that Kashperova was in fact conducting Symphony No.2: The Age of Anxiety Inside this issue… a highly talented and successful pianist-composer. with the Baltimore Symphony and pianist Her career fell foul of politics when she married an Jean-Yves Thibaudet. exiled Bolshevik revolutionary and they were 25 August is also a celebration day at the forced to flee Petrograd in the wake of the Russian Grafenegg Festival in Austria, with a Bernstein Revolution. Hommage concert featuring the Tonkünstler Music planned for the new publishing programme Orchestra conducted by Yutaka Sado providing includes Kashperova’s Symphony in B minor a survey of the composer’s oeuvre. Australia’s Dean Van der Aa MacMillan Einem (1905), two substantial cello sonatas and a birthday tribute is provided by the Queensland Interview on new US premieres of Reviews of new Centenary staging selection of piano works, song cycles and Orchestra in Brisbane with an all-Bernstein Cello Concerto for Sunken Garden Saxophone Concerto in Vienna of Visit choral works. programme conducted by Alondra de la Parra. Alban Gerhardt and Violin Concerto for Amy Dickson of the Old Lady Dean Cello Concerto unveiled Brett Dean introduces his new concerto for cellist Alban Gerhardt, It’s familiar ground but there are also dangers What are the shape and soundworld of the to avoid, such as knowing what will be difficult concerto? with first performances over the coming months in Sydney, Berlin to play which could either inhibit or over-excite! It’s cast in a single movement and, while there and Amsterdam.