PHILHARMONIE

We know why you cough

Call us obsessed but it’s time to bring up the topic of coughing again. Last December Andreas Wagener, Professor for Economics, esp. Social Policy at the Leibniz University of Hannover, published a paper that couldn’t go unnoticed in the world of concert halls. The paper states that all the coughing you hear when attending a classical concert is not just a physiological phenomenon but also to a certain degree a willful action. More

Argerich, un portrait intime

Ce mercredi (27.02.) sort en Suisse Romande le premier long métrage de Stéphanie Argerich, fille de deux grands pianistes: Martha Argerich et Stephen Kovacevich. Le film dresse un portrait intime de sa famille tout en questionnant la relation mère-filles. La réalisatrice nous fait ainsi partager quelques instants de la vie quotidienne et hors normes de ces deux phénomènes de la scène musicale.

Un film que nous n’avons pas encore pu voir mais qui fait déjà beaucoup parler de lui…

“Un documentaire peu banal sur sa mère argentine Martha, l’une des plus grandes pianistes classiques. Une réussite artistique et intime totale, loin de tous les docucul hagiographiques, qui nous parlent d’héritage, des mystères insondables de la famille, de la parenté et des frontières floues entre les cultures, les langues et les genres.” LES INROCKS

“A warm, loving portrait of the relationship between the celebrated pianist Martha Argerich and her youngest daughter, this affectionate documentary invites viewers into the intimacy of their home without any restrictions.” SCREEN DAILY

Stéphanie Argerich vient également de recevoir le FIPA D’OR et la Mention Spéciale Prix Michel Mitrani à Biarritz.

Le film sortira un peu plus tard en Suisse allemande (04.04.13) et sera ensuite diffusé en octobre 2013 sur Arte. En attendant, nous vous invitons à regarder la bande-annonce

Pour plus d’informations sur le film: http://www.argerich.ch/

Eve

Four soloists, one matinée

Haoxing Liang (photo: Eric Chenal)

Prior to their “OPL – Matinées” concert on March 3rd Markus Brönnimann, Hélène Boulègue, Haoxing Liang and Niall Brown sat down for a multilingual interview. Among other things they discussed whether Mozart liked the flute and who is going to steal the show. More

The Queen of improvisation

Gabriela Montero – photo (c) Sheila Rock

Gabriela Montero is a terrific pianist, no doubt about that. She gave her first public performance at the age of five and made her concerto debut at the age of eight. Meanwhile, she’s been playing with the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphonic, th Chicago Symphony or the Philharmonia Orchestra, collaborated with Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. After one of her concerts, the New York Times wrote: ““Montero’s playing had everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power…soulful lyricism…unsentimental expressivity.”

But what in my opinion best caracterizes her, is the natural and spontanous way she connects with her public through her amazing improvisations.

Here is an example of what I mean:

[youttube QUqhPoA5bIY 480 320]

Watching ther videos and listening to her albums makes definitely looking forward to attending her concert in the very intimate ambiance of  Philharmonie Luxembourg’s Salle de Musique de Chambre. Curious to see whether she’ll manage to make the Luxemburgish public sing like she did it with the public in Cologne.

Didier

The Queen of improvisation

Gabriela Montero – photo (c) Sheila Rock

Gabriela Montero is a terrific pianist, no doubt about that. She gave her first public performance at the age of five and made her concerto debut at the age of eight. Meanwhile, she’s been playing with the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphonic, th Chicago Symphony or the Philharmonia Orchestra, collaborated with Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. After one of her concerts, the New York Times wrote: ““Montero’s playing had everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power…soulful lyricism…unsentimental expressivity.”

But what in my opinion best caracterizes her, is the natural and spontanous way she connects with her public through her amazing improvisations.

Here is an example of what I mean:

[youttube QUqhPoA5bIY 480 320]

Watching ther videos and listening to her albums makes definitely looking forward to attending her concert in the very intimate ambiance of  Philharmonie Luxembourg’s Salle de Musique de Chambre. Curious to see whether she’ll manage to make the Luxemburgish public sing like she did it with the public in Cologne.

Didier

La belle voix rauque de Gianmaria Testa

Voici  quelques photos du concert du chanteur italien Gianmaria Testa hier soir à la Philharmonie. Merci beaucoup à Gianmaria Testa, Giancarlo Bianchetti, Nicola Negrini et Philippe Garcia … et bien sûr aussi à notre photographe François Zuidberg. More

La belle voix rauque de Gianmaria Testa

Voici  quelques photos du concert du chanteur italien Gianmaria Testa hier soir à la Philharmonie. Merci beaucoup à Gianmaria Testa, Giancarlo Bianchetti, Nicola Negrini et Philippe Garcia … et bien sûr aussi à notre photographe François Zuidberg. More

Le corps face à l’orgue

photo: Patrice Nin

En novembre dernier, Bernard Foccroulle, organiste et directeur du festival d’Art Lyrique d’Aix en Provence, expliquait sur sudouest.fr vouloir «que la musique aille à la rencontre de nouveaux publics». Et pour cela, quel meilleur moyen que de faire se rencontrer différentes disciplines? More

Opera – Behind the scenes

Grand Théâtre – photo (c) Eric Chenal

Tomorrow night is the premiere of Il Segreto di Susanna and La Voix humaine at the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. You’ll have the possibility to see these two operas tomorrow and Saturday in Luxembourg, before it moves on to Paris’ Opéra Comique for five more nights in March. Our photographer Eric Chenal was at the dress rehearsal and grants you a little peak behind the scenes. More

The various shapes of concert halls

Grand Auditorium – Philharmonie Lxuembourg – photo (c) Wade Zimmerman

To date the acoustics of Concertgebouw’s Main Hall in Amsterdam are unmatched.

Since its opening in 1888, physicists, architects, engineers and even psychologists have tried to uncover its secrets.

Over 100 years have passed and concert halls have taken on various shapes.

James