Julian Bream: Classical guitarist dies aged 87.

Julian Alexander Bream, CBE (15 July 1933 – 14 August 2020), was an English virtuoso classical guitarist and lutenist. One of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century, he played a significant role in improving the public perception of the classical guitar as a respectable instrument.



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Leon Fleisher, renowned concert pianist, dies at 92

Yahoo news Leon Fleisher (July 23, 1928 – August 2, 2020) was an American classical pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He was one of the most renowned pianists and pedagogues in the world. Music correspondent Elijah Ho called him "one of the most refined and transcendent musicians the United States has ever produced". WIKIPEDIA

Ennio Morricone; 10 November 1928 – 6 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor,

Morricone composed over 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as over 100 classical works. He started as a talented football player for A.S. Roma but quickly left the sport to follow his passion for music. His score to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) is considered one of the most influential soundtracks in history and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. His filmography includes over 70 award-winning films, including all Sergio Leone films (since A Fistful of Dollars), all Giuseppe Tornatore films (since Cinema Paradiso), The Battle of Algiers, Dario Argento's Animal Trilogy, 1900, Exorcist II, Days of Heaven, several major films in French cinema, in particular the comedy trilogy La Cage aux Folles I, II, III and Le Professionnel, as well as The Thing, The Mission, The Untouchables, Mission to Mars, Bugsy, Disclosure, In the Line of Fire, Bulworth, Ripley's Game and The Hateful Eight. WIKIPEDIA

Ida Haendel, CBE (15 December 1928 – 30 June 2020)

Polish-born British violinist. Haendel was a child prodigy. Her career spans over seven decades. She became an influential teacher. Haendel's highly emotive performances have inspired a generation of new violinists, including Anne-Sophie Mutter and Maxim Vengerov. In August 2012 she was Honorary Artist at the Cambridge International String Festival. She is a regular adjudicator for violin competitions, including the Sibelius, the Carl Flesch, the Benjamin Britten, and the International Violin Competition. She has returned to her native Poland to judge the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Poznań on a number of occasions, and was Honorary Chairwoman in 2011.


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Vera Lynn, singer and 'forces' sweetheart', dies aged 103

Dame Vera Margaret Lynn CH DBE OStJ (née Welch; born 20 March 1917) a British singer of traditional popular music, songwriter and actress, whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during the Second World War. She is widely known as "the Forces' Sweetheart", and gave outdoor concerts for the troops in Egypt, India, and Burma during the war as part of Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). The songs most associated with her are "We'll Meet Again", "The White Cliffs of Dover", "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" and "There'll Always Be an England". WIKIPEDIA

RIP French coloratura soprano Mady Mesplé, aged 89.

Mady Mesplé (7 March 1931 – 30 May 2020) was a French opera singer, considered the leading high coloratura soprano of her generation in France, and sometimes heralded as the successor to Mado Robin. She made her debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 1956, as Zémire in Grétry's Zémire et Azor. The same year saw her debut at the Opéra-Comique as Lakmé. Her Palais Garnier debut took place in 1958, as Constance in Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites. Full consecration came at that opera house, in 1960, when she took over from Joan Sutherland in a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor. Other Italian roles included Amina in La sonnambula, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Norina in Don Pasquale and Gilda in Rigoletto. She also sang a few German roles with success, notably the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, and a much-acclaimed Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos in Aix-en-Provence in 1966. WIKIPEDIA

Renowned Italian soprano Mirella Freni dies at age 84

Mirella Freni (Italian: [miˈrɛlːa ˈfreːni] ; born Mirella Fregni on 27 February 1935) is an Italian soprano whose repertoire includes Verdi, Puccini, Mozart and Tchaikovsky. Freni was married for many years to the Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov, with whom she performed and recorded. Freni died Sunday, 9 FEB 2020 at her home in Modena, Italy, from a degenerative muscular disease and a series of stokes, according to her manager, Jack Mastroianni of IMG Artists.

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Pianist Peter Serkin dies, age 72

Peter Adolf Serkin (July 24, 1947 – February 1, 2020) was an American classical pianist. He taught at the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, Yale University, and Bard College. He was the son of pianist Rudolf Serkin, and grandson of the influential violinist Adolf Busch, whose daughter Irene was Peter's mother. Peter was given the middle name Adolf in honor of his grandfather. In 1958, at age 11, Serkin began studying at the Curtis Institute of Music, where his teachers included the Polish pianist Mieczysław Horszowski, the American virtuoso Lee Luvisi, as well as his own father. He graduated in 1965. He also studied with Ernst Oster, flutist Marcel Moyse, and Karl Ulrich Schnabel.

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Othmar Mága (10 June 1929 – 28 January 2020) was a German conductor

Maga was a conductor known internationally, with symphony orchestras including the Odense Symphony Orchestra in Denmark and the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Korea. Among his many recordings are several rarely played concertos for instruments such as horn and double bass, including works of the 20th century.

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RIP BARRY TUCKWELL

Barry Emmanuel Tuckwell AC, OBE (5 March 1931 – 16 January 2020) was an Australian horn player who spent most of his professional life in the United Kingdom and the United States. He is generally considered to have been one of the world's leading horn players. WIKIPEDIA BIO

Peter Schreier (29 July 1935 – 25 December 2019) was a German tenor

Peter Schreier (29 July 1935 – 25 December 2019) was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century. Schreier made many recordings, especially of Bach's works as both a singer and a conductor, even simultaneously. He recorded many lieder including the song cycles by Schubert and Schumann. He was known for intelligent understanding of texts and their musical expression with intensity. Schreier received awards including the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, Léonie Sonning Music Prize.

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