Former Berlin Philharmonic concertmaster Thomas Brandis has died

Thomas Brandis, who served as a long-time first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic, has died at the age of 81. Born in Hamburg in 1935, Brandis trained as a violinist in Hamburg and later in London with Max Rostal. After winning the first of the International ARD Competition he was concertmaster in Hamburg, moving later to Berlin to play with the Berlin Philharmonic. He became concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic at age 26, and served in the position until 1983. In 1976 he founded the Brandis-Quartet, which has performed virtually in all major festivals in Europe, Japan and the Americas. Thomas Brandis has recorded for EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, Teldec, Orfeo and Harmonia Mundi. Thomas Brandis was a professor of violin at the Berlin University of the Arts until 2002, and was a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Musikhochschule in Lübeck. He died on 30 March 2017 at the age of 81. WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: Beethoven Missa Solemnis Sanctus Benedictus Antal Dorati Thomas Brandis Violin 

Rainer Kussmaul died 27 March 2017...German Grammy Award-winning violinist and conductor.

Born 3 June 1946 in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. 
 The German violinist and conductor, Rainer Kussmaul, a son of a musical family. He received his first violin lessons from his father and then studied with Riccardo Odnoposoff. He was a prize-holder at numerous international violin competitions. Rainer Kussmaul known worldwide as a soloist and as a member of the Stuttgart Piano Trio, formed in 1968. In 1995 he founded the Berliner Barock Solisten, together with R. Orlovsky. His violin was made by Antonio Stradivari in 1724. Between his concert tours with renowned orchestras and conductors, he recorded for radio, television and CD. Rainer Kussmaul was a successful teacher, giving master classes in many countries, and has been the director of the violin class at the Carl Flesch Academy in Baden-Baden since 1987 and the chairman of the L. Spohr competition Freiburg. He has been a professor at the Freiburg Music Conservatory since 1977, with the exception of the period from 1993 to 1998 when he was given leave of absence to enable him to take up the position of 1st Concert Master of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. (Bach-Cantatas Bio).

VIDEO: Vivaldi :Winter (From The four Seasons ) Violin：Rainer Kussmaul Berlin Baroque Soloists 

Roberta Knie, leading Wagnerian soprano and Philadelphia voice coach has died.

Roberta Knie (13 March 1938 – 16 March 2017) was an American dramatic soprano who had a prominent opera career in the United States and Europe that spanned from the mid-1960s through the early 1980s. Possessing a strong and clear timbre, Knie became particularly known for her interpretations of the works of Richard Wagner.
WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: Wagner: Tristan und Isolde - Act I. (excerpt) Lyric Opera of Chicago Franz-Paul Decker, conductor

 

Louis Frémaux (13 August 1921 – 20 March 2017) was a French conductor.

Frémaux was born in Aire-sur-la-Lys, France and came from an artistic background; his father was a painter, and his wife was a music teacher. He studied music at the conservatoire in Valenciennes, but his studies were interrupted by the Second World War, when he joined the French Resistance; at the end of the war he was commissioned in the French Foreign Legion and was posted to Vietnam in 1945-46. He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1947, studied under Louis Fourestier and Jacques Chailley, and graduated in 1952 with a first prize in conducting. Frémaux worked with the orchestra of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, after having been released from the French Foreign Legion (to which he had been recalled for service in Algeria) at the request of Prince Rainier. For ten years he helped build the reputation of the Monte Carlo orchestra, as well as conducting opera premieres there. He was the first music director of the Orchestre Philharmonique Rhône-Alpes (later the Orchestre National de Lyon), from 1969 to 1971. WIKIPEDIA VIDEO: Beethoven Symphony No 7; Sydney Symphony Orchestra; Louis Fremaux

Fiora Corradetti Contino, Opera Maestra, Dies at 91

The American conductor, Fiora Contino, was born into an eminent musical family. Her father, Ferruccio Corradetti, was a leading baritone at La Scala and other principal European opera houses. She graduated from Oberlin College with a Bachelor of Music degree in piano. She furthered her musical training in Europe studying conducting at the Conservatoire Americain in Fontainebleau and the Ecole Normale in Paris with renowned pedagogue Nadia Boulanger, and at the Akademie Vienna with Hans Swarowsky. She then earned a Master's Degree, with distinction, and a Doctorate of Music in conducting from Indiana University School of Music. She was awarded the 1960 Premier Prix Hors Concours, cum laude from the Conservatoire in the field of conducting. Fiora Corradetti Contino, who founded her first opera company when she was only 27 and became an accomplished maestra who conducted for 50 years, until she was 81, died on March 5, 2017 in Carmel, Ind. She was 91. more at BACH CANTATAS

A major operatic loss: Kurt Moll dies at 78

The death has been announced of Kurt Moll, one of the finest German singers of the late 20th century. He joined Cologne Opera in 1958 and made the city his home. Soon he was appearing in the major international houses. His US debut was in San Francisco in 1974, followed fours years later by the Met. He sang Baron Ochs in seven commercial recordings of Der Rosenkavalier, practically owning the role. He gave his final stage performance at Bayreuth on July 31, 2006 and died in Cologne yesterday, March 6. - See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2017/03/a-great-german-bass-has-died-at-78/#sthash.hgc9qtq0.QqB2muD2.dpuf

  Kurt Moll (11 April 1938 – 5 March 2017)...
was a German operatic bass singer who enjoyed an international career and was widely recorded.His voice was notable for its range, a true infra-bass (or oktavist bass, lower than basso profondo), including full, resonant low and very-low notes with relaxed vibrato; also for its unusual combination of extreme range and a purring, contrabassoon-like timbre. Although he had a powerful voice he never performed Wagner's parts Hagen, Hans Sachs, nor Wotan. His interpretations tended to be restrained and intelligent, even in roles like Osmin in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier. WIKIPEDIA

Conductor Alberto Zedda dies at age 89

The death is reported of Alberto Zedda, on 6 March 2017. The long-standing conductor of the Rossini Festival at Pesaro and an international authority on Handel, Bellini and Donizetti. As a young man, he was thrown out of La Scala by Herbert von Karajan. He went on to conduct at all the major Italian opera houses, including La Scala, as well as Covent Garden,Vienna, Paris, the Mariinsky, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He was an irrepressible enthusiast for Rossini and worked closely with Claudio Abbado on the new editions. Zedda died in Pesaro. - See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2017/03/an-italian-maestro-dies-at-89/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#sthash.4I2IUTQv.dpuf WIKIPEDIA
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Pianist Eva Maria Zuk has died

Eva Maria Zuk (24 December 1945 - 27 February 2017) was a Polish-Mexican piano concertist. She was raised in Venezuela and New York City. She began music studies with her mother at the age of 4.
WIKIPEDIA
 VIDEO: Concierto realizado el 08 de marzo de 2012 en San Pedro Muse de Arte. Puebla, México. Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de Puebla. Director huésped: Miguel Salmon del Real Solista: Eva María Zuk
 

Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, has died at age 93.

Stanisław Skrowaczewski (October 3, 1923 – February 21, 2017) was a Polish-American classical conductor and composer. Skrowaczewski was born in Lwów (then in Poland, now in Ukraine). As a child, he studied piano and violin; displaying talent on the piano at an early age, he made his public debut playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor. A hand injury ended his piano career. After World War II, Skrowaczewski graduated from the Academy of Music in Kraków (in the composition class of Roman Palester and conducting class of Walerian Bierdiajew) and soon, in 1946, became the music director of the Wrocław Philharmonic, then the Katowice Philharmonic, the Kraków Philharmonic and finally the Warsaw National Orchestra. He studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. In 1956 he won the Santa Cecilia Competition for Conductors. At the invitation of George Szell, Skrowaczewski conducted the Cleveland Orchestra. In 1960 he was appointed music director of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (later renamed the Minnesota Orchestra under his tenure in 1968), a position he held until 1979 when he became conductor laureate. In 1981 the American Composers Forum commissioned the Clarinet Concerto which Skrowaczewski wrote for Minnesota Orchestra principal clarinetist Joe Longo, who premiered it in 1981.WIKIPEDIA

Nicolai Gedda has died, aged 91

....on January 8, 2017...of the great Swedish tenor, one of the most lasting ornaments of the opera stage. He was a fixture of the international opera calendar from 1952 to his retirement in 2003. - See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2017/02/nicolai-gedda-has-died-aged-91/#sthash.c284BAQP.dpuf Nicolai Gedda (born Harry Gustaf Nikolai Gädda) (11 July 1925 – 8 January 2017) was a Swedish operatic tenor. Debuting in 1952, Gedda had a long and successful career in opera until the age of 77 in June 2003, when he made his final operatic recording. Skilled at languages, he performed operas in French, Russian, German, Italian, English, Czech, and Swedish; as well as one in Latin. In January 1958, he created the part of Anatol in the world premiere of the American opera Vanessa at the Metropolitan Opera. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is one of the most widely recorded opera singers in history...over 200. His singing is best known for its beauty of tone, vocal control, and musical perception. WIKIPEDIA VIDEO...Nicolai and Tania Gedda in Lippen schweigen, The Merry Widow

Matilde Capuis, (1 January 1913 – 31 January 2017)

Matilde Margherita Mary Capuis was an Italian organist, pianist, music educator and composer. She was born in Naples and studied in Venice with Gabriele Bianchi and at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory in Florence.

 After completing her studies, she took a position at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi of Turin where she became chair of theory and then composition. For many years she performed in a duo with cellist Hugh Attilio Scabia.

 Capuis died on 31 January 2017 at the age of 104.

  WIKIPEDIA

Gervase Alan de Peyer (11 April 1926 – 4 February 2017) was an English clarinetist and conductor.

De Peyer was born in London and attended Bedales School. He was awarded a scholarship to the Royal College of Music where he studied clarinet with Frederick Thurston and piano with Arthur Alexander. Towards the end of World War II, when he was aged 18, he joined the Royal Marines Band Service. De Peyer returned to the Royal College of Music after the war and subsequently studied in Paris with Louis Cahuzac.

  WIKIPEDIA

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Walter Hautzig (Hebrew: ולטר האוציג‎‎; September 28, 1921 – January 30, 2017) was a pianist born in Vienna, Austria.

Walter Hautzig, Pianist Whose Talent Helped Him Flee Nazis, Dies at 95 Mr. Hautzig, who settled in the United States, went on to perform around the world as a good-will ambassador. The Austrian-born American pianist and teacher, Walter Hautzig, studied at Public and High School in Vienna, and the Vienna Academy of Music. He left Austria after the rise of the Nazis to power, and went to Jerusalem and studied at the Conservatory there. In 1939 he came to the U.S.A., continued his musical education at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with Harry Kaufmann and Mieczysław Munz... graduating with honours. He also studied privately in New York with Artur Schnabel. In 1943 he won the Town Hall Endowment Award in New York. WIKIPEDIA VIDEO: My grandfather's incredible story and life (so far) condensed into 9 minutes...ENJOY! *Winner of a silver key in the Scholastic Art & Writing Competition* Animated, narrated, and edited by Molly DeVries Music composed by Frederic Chopin, performed by Walter Hautzig

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Roberta Peters (May 4, 1930 – January 18, 2017) was an American coloratura soprano.

One of the most prominent American singers to achieve lasting fame and success in opera, Peters is noted for her 35-year association with the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York, among the longest such associations between a singer and a company in opera. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1998.

  WIKIPEDIA NYTimes Obit

VIDEO: The outstanding American soprano Roberta Peters (Bronx born, Roberta Peterman) in a series of clips from some of her most memorable operatic performances.

Anton Nanut (13 September 1932 – 13 January 2017) was a Slovenian conductor.

From 1981 to 1999 Nanut served as the chief conductor of the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra. He was a professor of conducting at the Ljubljana Academy of Music and the artistic leader of the Slovene Octet in its most productive years. Nanut collaborated with over 200 orchestras and had made over 200 recordings with a variety of labels. Among the concerts that he valued most was a concert with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra in the Carnegie Hall, his concerts with Staatskapelle Dresden, with the Berlin RIAS and with Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. He was a chief conductor of the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra and has conducted nearly all the Italian symphony orchestras (especially Orchestra Di Padova e del Veneto).
  WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: Anton Nanut: Ljubljana Radio Symphony Orchestra - Pjotr Iljitsch Tschaikowski: 1812 Overture, Op. 49 

"Robert" Stuart Hamilton,(September 28, 1929 – January 1, 2017)

"Robert" Stuart Hamilton, CM, Hon. LL.D, A.R.C.T. (September 28, 1929 – January 1, 2017) was an award-winning Canadian pianist, operatic vocal coach, radio broadcaster, artistic director, and producer based in Toronto. Perhaps best known as the longtime quiz master for CBC Radio’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, he taught opera repertoire and diction at the University of Toronto. Hamilton has also received international acclaim as a panelist for the Metropolitan Opera Quiz from New York.
  WIKIPEDIA

Georges Prêtre ( 14 August 1924 – 4 January 2017) was a French orchestral and opera conductor.

Prêtre was born in Waziers (Nord), and attended the Douai Conservatory and then studied harmony under Maurice Duruflé and conducting under André Cluytens among others at the Conservatoire de Paris. Amongst his early musical interests were jazz and trumpet. After graduating, he conducted in a number of small French opera houses sometimes under the pseudonym Georges Dherain. His conducting debut was at the Opéra de Marseille in 1946. He also conducted at the opera houses in Lille and Toulouse. His Paris debut was at the Opéra-Comique in Richard Strauss's Capriccio. He was director of the Opéra-Comique 1955–1959. He conducted at the Lyric Opera of Chicago 1959–1971. He was conductor, 1959, and music director 1970–1971, at the Paris Opéra. He was principal conductor of the Vienna Symphony 1986–1991. WIKIPEDIA VIDEO: Georges Prêtre conducts Ravel's Boléro Rai National Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai) at his first symphonic concert. Turin, 1994

 

Death of British pianist Anthony Goldstone

Anthony Goldstone was born in Liverpool, England, on July 25, 1944. He studied music at the Royal Manchester College of Music, where his most important piano teacher was Derrick Wyndham. He had later studies with Maria Curcio. Goldstone debuted in Manchester in 1965 with the RMCM Orchestra under John Barbirolli. Two years later Goldstone won prizes at international piano competitions in Munich and Vienna. Goldstone's London debut was at Wigmore Hall in 1969. In 1973 Goldstone was made a fellow at the RMCM, and by this time he was busy touring both as a soloist and duo pianist. At the 1976 London Promenade Concerts, he appeared at the popular Last Night concert in a performance of Britten's Diversions for piano, left hand, which was broadcast over the BBC. The Piano at the Carnival In 1978 Goldstone founded the Musicians of the Royal Exchange and has since served as the ensemble's director and pianist.

Miriam Pirazzini (21 August 1918 – 26 December 2016) was a well-known Italian mezzo-soprano.

She made her formal debut in Rome, in 1944, as Laura Adorno in La Gioconda. For the next twenty years, she was one of Italy's foremost mezzo-sopranos. Pirazzini was born in Castelfranco Veneto, Treviso, Veneto in 1918. Opposite Maria Callas, Pirazzini appeared as Amneris in Aïda, at Rovigo (1948), Reggio Calabria (1951) and the Verona Arena (directed by G.W. Pabst, 1953); in the oratorio San Giovanni Battista at Perugia (1949); as Azucena in Il trovatore at the Teatro dell'Opera, Rome (1953); and Néris in Médée in Venice (1953), as well as on the first studio recording of Cherubini's masterpiece. She was also the Adalgisa (replacing the indisposed Fedora Barbieri) in the infamous Norma at Rome in 1958, when the performance was cancelled after Callas sang Act I and felt unable to continue; she kept the role partnering Anita Cerquetti, who replaced Callas for the remaining performances. WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: Miriam Pirazzini sings "Stride la vampa" from Il Trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) Orchestra -Sinfonica della RAI Roma