Latest news with #Mendelssohn
Irish Independent
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
What to watch on TV and streaming today: First Night of the Proms, Aisha and Building the Band
First Night of the Proms BBC Two, 6.45pm This year's event starts in fine style with works by Bliss, Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Wallen and Vaughan Williams. Bass-baritone Gerald Finley and violinist Lisa Batiashvili are among the performers. The final edition sees the former grocer's shop reopen its doors on the local community's busiest day of the year. Aisha RTÉ One, 9.35pm Touching drama in which a Nigerian refugee befriends an ex-con, but their relationship is soon threatened by red tape. Letitia Wright and Josh O'Connor play the central characters. The Ballad of Cable Hogue TG4, 9.35pm Sam Peckinpah's wonderful comedy-western stars Jason Robards as a prospector who, while lost in the desert, stumbles upon an underground spring. Not only does it save his life, it gives him a money-making idea, as well as a way to take revenge on his enemies. The Summer I Turned Pretty Prime Video, streaming now The third and final season (well, Belly is pretty much a full-blown adult at this juncture) kicks off with a two-episode premiere. The 11-episode season will continue weekly, wrapping up with its last instalment on September 17. ADVERTISEMENT Trainwreck: Balloon Boy Netflix, streaming now Remember Balloon Boy? Back in 2009, a man from Colorado rang the authorities claiming his homemade spaceship had blown away with his six-year-old son inside. If you don't know the story, you can probably guess the rest. Apocalypse in the Tropics Netflix, streaming now Where does governance end and doctrine begin? To put it another way, at what point do the lines blur between democratic rule and religious rule? This isn't an anatomy of what's devolving in North America right now, but rather what's already happened in South America. In her new documentary, Brazilian filmmaker Petra Costa returns with a penetrating look at how Christian evangelical movements have gained powerful influence over Brazil's political system. With remarkable access to both sitting president Lula and former president Bolsonaro — plus one of Brazil's most prominent televangelists — the film dives into the spiritual and strategic alliances shaping modern Brazil. What emerges is a tense portrait of a nation where apocalyptic beliefs mix with political ambition. Costa, known for her Oscar-nominated The Edge of Democracy, again captures a country in flux with raw honesty and clarity. One Night In Idaho Prime Video, streaming now In late 2022, a fatal stabbing attack involving four university students rocked a small Idaho town, drawing national attention. An explosion of social media sleuthing, a cross-country manhunt, a dramatic arrest, and a looming trial made this crime one of the most high-profile stories of the last decade. Foundation AppleTV+, streaming now Season 3 returns to Apple, with new episodes dropping every Friday through to September 12. Inspired by Isaac Asimov's celebrated books, the saga follows exiles fighting to restore civilisation as an empire collapses. The Crossbow Cannibal Prime Video, streaming now Keeping things super light on Prime Video this week, we also have a profile of Stephen Griffiths, who created his own deadly persona in the hope of following in the footsteps of his idol — serial killer Peter Sutcliffe. Fifteen years after Griffiths's arrest, this documentary revisits one of Britain's darkest criminal cases. Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story Disney+, streaming now National Geographic dives into (apologies) the legacy of a legendary film with this Laurent Bouzereau documentary, tracing its journey from book to enduring pop culture phenomenon. If the tween in your life has been counting down the days, they'll probably already know that Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires is also now available (be warned, it's a musical). Oppenheimer Netflix, streaming now Finally, the wait is over. Anyone who failed to catch it in the cinema back in the heady summer of 2023 can now view it on whatever device they please. Speaking of German-related drama, Brick, an atmospheric number with Danny Boyle vibes, is also available. Building The Band Netflix, streaming now
New York Times
06-07-2025
- New York Times
The Hunt for a 316-Year-Old Stradivarius Stolen in the Fog of War
As Germany devolved into chaos at the end of World War II, a rare violin from the famed shop of the Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari was plundered from a bank safe in Berlin. The instrument, crafted in 1709 during the golden age of violin-making, had been deposited there years earlier by the Mendelssohn-Bohnke family as Nazi persecution put assets owned by Jews in jeopardy. For decades after the war, the family searched to no avail for the violin, known as the Mendelssohn, placing ads in magazines and filing reports with the German authorities. The violin, valued at millions of dollars, was presumed lost or destroyed. Now, the Mendelssohn may have resurfaced. An eagle-eyed cultural property scholar, Carla Shapreau, recently came across photos from a 2018 exhibition of Stradivarius instruments in Tokyo. She spotted a violin that bore striking similarities to the Mendelssohn, though it has a different name — Stella — and creation date — 1707 instead of 1709. 'My jaw dropped,' said Shapreau, a senior fellow with the Institute of European Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, who had been searching for the instrument for more than 15 years. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Guardian
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Aurora Orchestra/Collon/Power review – Italian immersion with introspective Berlioz and extrovert Mendelssohn
So much shared, yet so utterly different. Mendelssohn wrote his Italian symphony in 1833, revising it the following year. Berlioz wrote his Harold en Italie symphony in 1834, following a stay in Rome during which the two composers had spent quality time together. Thus the Aurora Orchestra came up with the smart idea of putting the two Italian symphonies side by side. Beyond their loosely shared inspiration and form, however, the two works have little in common. Mendelssohn's is an expert and extrovert piece of symphonic writing, tight and technically impeccable. That of Berlioz, meanwhile, follows a wandering star all its own, broodingly romantic and constantly innovative, exemplified by the solo viola that depicts the melancholy of Byron's introspective hero Childe Harold. Left to themselves, these two works could have formed a well-contrasted programme of a traditional kind. But the Aurora and their conductor Nicholas Collon don't do traditional. They are above all else performance players, committed to immersing themselves and the audience in the excitement of live musical experience. It is one of the many reasons audiences love them. So in the second half, the Mendelssohn was played from memory, an Aurora speciality, the score taken at terrific tempos and with the players standing up and interacting. It was hard to resist, especially when the players then dispersed into the hall to encore the Italian symphony's breakneck final movement saltarello. Watch out for the Aurora giving the same treatment to Shostakovich's fifth symphony at the Proms this summer. Harold, meanwhile, was presented as a 'dramatic exploration'. Texts based on Berlioz's Mémoires were declaimed between movements and from amid the orchestra by actor Charlotte Ritchie. Collon and the viola soloist Lawrence Power chipped in, too. Power even whistled his idée fixe theme before wandering Byronically through the hall as he played the lonely music at the symphony's heart. It would be churlish not to be caught up in this. But it can sometimes distract. In his recording of Berlioz's symphony under Andrew Manze, Power is as poetic and nuanced a Harold violist as any on disc. But amid so much other activity, the Aurora's orchestral balance sometimes did him fewer favours. When he stood stock still to deliver Harold's skeletal arpeggios at the end of the second movement, it was a reminder that Berlioz's music provides its own theatre.
HKFP
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- HKFP
Hong Kong pianist Aristo Sham wins historic gold at prestigious Cliburn competition
Hong Kong musician Aristo Sham has become the city's first pianist to win the top prize at the prestigious Cliburn competition in the United States. The 29-year-old won the gold medal and a cash award of US$100,000 (HK$784,800) on Saturday after defeating five other finalists at the 17th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. His prize also includes three years of individualised career management, a Platoon Records live album, a promotional package covering press kits and website management, as well as performance attire sponsored by US department store chain Neiman Marcus. As part of the three-year career management programme, Sham will embark on US and international concert tours. Vitaly Starikov of Israel/Russia won the silver medal, while American pianist Evren Ozel was awarded the bronze. Sham also received the Carla and Kelly Thompson Audience Award, which came with a cash prize of US$2,500 (HK$19,700). Sham was among 28 pianists handpicked from a pool of 340 applicants from 45 countries and regions to compete in the 2025 Cliburn competition, which started on May 21 in Fort Worth, Texas. During the final round, Sham played Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25 and Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83. In a backstage interview with the competition organiser released on Sunday, Sham said the Mendelssohn piece he played was 'whimsy' and full of 'dazzling virtuosity' and 'irresistible lightness.' He added he was glad to be the first contestant to play Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1 at the Cliburn Competition. 'At the end of the second movement, it's like this overwhelming feeling that no matter what happens in the world, everything will be okay. I feel that so much with Mendelssohn, and I think that really is his music's worth,' he said. According to his profile on the Cliburn website, Sham learned piano at the age of three from his mother. He began competing and playing in concerts when he was 10 years old. He graduated from Harvard University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts and earned a master's degree in piano performance at the New England Conservatory of Music under pianist Victor Rosenbaum in 2020. He went on to study at the Ingesund School of Music in Sweden before going back to the US to acquire an artist diploma at The Juilliard School. Sham has played in concerts in Asia, Europe, and the US, including with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also performed for British royalty and former Chinese leader Hu Jintao.
Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
OAE/Andras Schiff — a glorious night of Schumann and Mendelssohn
★★★★★Judging by his platform demeanour, Andras Schiff must be the politest, most civilised pianist on the planet. On he walks, hands clutched as if in prayer, the same hands soon to be seen wafting elegantly over the keyboard; or if he's also directing an orchestra (as he was here), alerting players with crisp finger wriggles, or twists of the wrist so refined that they make the royal waves of the Queen Mother seem positively uncouth. To make matters even more civilised, this Royal Festival Hall concert surrounded Schiff only with people and objects he loves and respects. One was the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, partners over many years, so skilled in shared musical conversations. Then there was music played: Schumann and Mendelssohn,
