German Polish conductor Mateusz Moleda will conduct the Orchestre de Chambre du Luxembourg at the local Philharmonie, on October 7. Moleda was significantly influenced by his mentor Marek Janowski, for whom he worked as an assistant. In October 2023, he won 1st prize and the orchestra's special prize at the prestigious Sergei Koussevitzky International Conducting Competition. Remy Franck made the following interview with him.
Mateusz Moleda
Mateusz, as a German-Polish conductor you have roots in two important musical countries. Where do you belong to, musically?
The question of my musical identity is a very complex one. I was born and raised in Germany. As a conductor, my years as Marek Janowski’s assistant naturally had a profound influence on me through “his” repertoire – that is, Schumann, Brahms, Bruckner, Wagner, and Strauss. But perhaps that is also precisely why I am extremely happy that some time ago I was able to study Polish music very intensively as part of my PhD at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Cracow. Read More →
La Fenice, Venezia
(c) Remy Franck
Protests are surging against the nomination of Italian conductor Beatrice Venezi, 35, as Music Director of Venice’s Teatro di La Fenice from October 2026, for a term running until 2030. The woman is a fried of Meloni and belongs to the far-right political wing. Read More →
Boris Papandopulo: Hrvatska misa - Kroatische Messe. Darija Auguštan (Sopran), Sonja Runje (Mezzosopran), Tomislav Mužek (Tenor), Ljubomir Puškaric (Bariton), Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Ivan Repusic; # BR Klassik 900532, Aufnahme 01.02.2025, Veröffentlichung 19.09.2025 (51'55) - Rezension von Guy Engels ** (For English please scroll down)
Gleich bei der Kyrie-Einleitung hört man, dass sich Boris Papandopulo für seine Kroatische Messe am orthodoxen Liturgiegesang orientiert hat, dem Gesang seiner eigenen Wurzeln. Read More →
Advena - Liturgies For A Broken World; Mark Buller: Fruit of Your Heart + Mass in Exile + Requiem in the Light + A Questioning; Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson; # Divine Art DDX21143, Aufnahme 02.-03.2025, Veröffentlichung 29.08.2025 (65'59) - Rezension von Guy Engels** (For English please scroll down)
Advena, der Fremdling in einer zerbrechenden Welt. So sind wohl der Albumtitel und die eingespielten Werke des amerikanischen Komponisten Mark Buller zu verstehen. Read More →
Billy Eidi has recorded an all-Liadov album with Le Palais des Dégustateurs. Remy Franck made the following interview with the French pianist (The French original version is at the end of the English one).
Billy Eidi
Why an all-Lyadov program?
I could answer: ‘out of habit’, at least for the piano. Although I have sometimes, in a program of mélodies, displayed two names, Ravel and Poulenc, Debussy and Roussel, or even a dozen in my Hommage à Cocteau (with the baritone Jean-François Gardeil), none of my piano discs has mixed composers. Monographs, always! Work on a single creator is more concentrated, more ‘one’. Not to mention, forgive me for joking, that in the days of record shops, monographic discs were easier to store in bins! But here’s a more serious reason: simply because Liadov’s music is so worth playing, and listening to, that it would be a shame not to… fill a whole disc with it! Read More →
Just a few days after 1000 rabbis as well as 14000 faculty member sent a letter to Netanyahu, asking him to immediately stop the horror of a war contradicting essential values of Judaism as they understand it, some 1,000 musicians, writers, actors and others had signed a petition demanding Israel stop the war in Gaza. Read More →
Dmitri Shostakovich: Klaviertrios Nr. 1 und Nr. 2 + Klavierquintett; Oliver Schnyder Trio (Andreas Janke, Violine, Benjamin Nyffenegger, Violoncello, Oliver Schnyder, Klavier), Julia Fischer, Violine, Nils Mönkemeyer, Viola; # Prospero Classical 199350105425; Aufnahme 06.+09.2020; Veröffentlichung 01.08.2025 (76'52) – Rezension von Uwe Krusch ** (For English please scroll down)
Die immerwährende Todesangst vor den Schergen des stalinistischen Terrorregimes konnte Shostakovich noch am ehesten in seiner Kammermusik verarbeiten, da dieses intimere Medium ihm auch den Freiraum beließ, diese Furcht auszudrücken und gleichzeitig die gewollte persönliche Ausdrucksweise in der Komposition zu realisieren. Read More →
Bach’s Horns; Johann Sebastian Bach: Messe F-Dur, BWV 233.2 + Brandenburgisches Konzert Nr. 1 F-Dur, BWV 1046.2, Alla Breve + Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd BWV 208.1 Jagdkantate, BWV 208; Solomon’s Knot, Jonathan Sells; # Prospero Classical PROSP0115; Aufnahme 07.2023, Veröffentlichung 01.08.2025 (73'41) - Rezension von Remy Franck ** (For English please scroll down)
Mit ‘Bach’s Horns’ präsentiert das britische Vokal- und Instrumentalensemble Solomon’s Knot ein Album, das drei Werke Johann Sebastian Bachs enthält, die von Hornklängen geprägt werden. Read More →
The Kennedy Center renaming play is no longer only directed at renaming the opera house after Melania Trump, now a Republican politician recently introduced a bill to rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the Donald J. Trump Center for the Performing Arts. The bill is called the Make Entertainment Great Again (MEGA) Act. Read More →
Threads of Eternity; Lili Boulanger: D’un matin de printemps + D’un soir triste + Psaume CXXIX + Vieille Prière bouddhique - Unsuk Chin: Subito Con Forza; Stephen Martin, Tenor, Rutgers Glee Club und Rutgers Kirkpatrick Choir, Brandon Williams, Rutgers Voorhees Choir, Stephanie Tubiolo, Rutgers Symphony Orchestra, Ching-Chun Lai; # Albany TROY2004; Aufnahme 05. + 11.2023, 02.2024; Veröffentlichung 25.07.2025 (34'23) – Rezension von Uwe Krusch ** (For English please scroll down)
Die letzten Werke von Lili Boulanger wie An einem Frühlingsmorgen und An einem traurigen Abend entstanden kurz vor ihrem Tod, als sie schon von Krankheit gezeichnet war. Sie zeigen eine intime und reife kompositorische Stimme. Weiterhin Farben und Harmonien auslotend kann sie beim Frühlingsmorgen mit frischem und fröhlichem Charme überzeugen, der auch impressionistische Akzente von Debussy. Als Gegensatz dazu bildet der Tod im traurigen Abend die treibende Kraft aus Schmerzen von enormer sinnlicher Vielfalt. Read More →
