Interviews

Kristjan Järvi with Gidon Kramer and the Baltic Sea Philharmonic

Robert's interviews with the composers, singers, instrumentalists, conductors, directors and all those others who are making waves in the classical world, both the famous and those who are starting to make names for themselves.

Recent interviews with composers include Thea Musgrave on celebrating her 90th birthday and Vic Hoyland celebrating his 75th, Paul Mealor, Jonathan Dove on his new opera Marx in London, and Alex Woolf on his latest opera arising out of lockdown.

Inevitably lockdown loomed large in 2020, tenor Nicky Spence and sopranos Katherine Dain and Claire Booth all had projects which arose of the situation, and I talked to organist Edmund Aldhouse about Ely Cathedral in lockdown, and conductor Cornelius Meister about the opera house in Stuttgart under lockdown.

Cellist Adrian Bradbury talked about rediscovering the compositions of 19th century cellist Alfredo Piatti, whilst violinist Anna Ovsyanikova has been researching Belgian violinist Mathieu Crickboom (1871-1947), and conductor John Andrews has revived a number of forgotten works by Sullivan and his contemporaries, as well as Malcolm Arnold's opera The Dancing Master, and composer Terry Davies talked about re-inventing Bernard Herrmann's music for Matthew Bourne's ballet, The Red Shoes. 

Interviews are normally scheduled to publicise a particular event, but sometimes they happen simply because an artist is happy to be talked to about their career. And interesting things can happen, my interview with Rhian Lois included a fascinating talk about what its like to sing when pregnant. Politics and the state of society have, not surprisingly, cropped up more than once. Jan Vogler, the intendant of the Dresden Music Festival was concerned to use the arts to counter the atmosphere created by the anti-Islam demonstrations in Dresden, whilst both conductor Kristjan Järvi and composer Sven Helbig were both concerned with the nature of today's society and the relationship between music, the arts and society.

Pianists
 Anna Tsybuleva, Mark Bebbington, Elan Sicroff, Peter Jablonsky, Vincent Larderet, Sabine Weyer,  Nicolas Hodges, Simon Callaghan, Clare Hammond,  Christopher Glynn, Margaret Fingerhut, Lucy Parham, Llyr Williams, Alexandra Dariescu, Rebecca Omordia, Paul Berkowitz, Julian Jacobson, Dylan Perez, Stewart Goodyear, Roman Rabinovitch, Thomas Nickell, Kimiko Ishizaka, Ariel Lanyi, Christina McMaster, Nicholas McCarthy,

Instrumentalists
Trumpet Tine Thing Helseth, Clarinettist Mark van de Wiel, Violinists Anna Ovsyanikova, Rakhi Singh (Manchester Collective), Tamsin Waley-Cohen & James Baillieu, Maxim Vengerov, David Le Page, Jennifer Pike, David Irving, Hugo Ticciati, Thomas Gould, Vadim Gluzman, Madeleine Mitchell, Kyung Wha Chung, Liza Ferschtman, Pavlo Beznosiuk, Eric Silberger, Josef Spacek, Viola Rosalind Ventris, French Horn Ben Goldscheider, Anneke Scott, Guitarist Yuri Liberzon, Sean Shibe, Christoph Denoth, Recorder Jill Kemp, Double Bass Leon Bosch, Cello Adrian Bradbury, Raphael Wallfisch (2019), Raphael Wallfisch, Matthew Sharp, Leonard Elschenbroich, Matthew Barley, Percussion Colin Currie, Joby Burgess,

Choirs & Ensembles
 Chris Parsons of Eboracum Baroque, The Engegård Quartet, Sebastiano de Gennaro of 19'40, Clare Norburn of The Telling, Adam Szabo of Manchester Collective, Simon Cox & Matthew Knight of Septura, Elisa Citterio of Tafelmusik, Queen's Six, Ensemble Hesperi,  Tim Williams of Psappha, Benjamin Thiele-Long of Lumen, Matthew O'Keefe of Brixton Chamber Orchestra, Greg Beardsell of the International Youth Choir Festival, Emily Worthington & Robert Percival of Boxwood & Brass, Peter Dijkstra of the Netherlands Chamber Choir, Robert Ames of London Contemporary Orchestra, Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini, Lionel Meunier of Vox Luminis, Trio Martinu, The Tippett Quartet,

Opera companies & festivals
  Toms Ostrovskis of Riga Jurmala Festival, OperaGlass Works,  Ian Page of Classical Opera (2020), Jonathan Darbourne of The Vache Baroque Festival, Guy Johnston of Hatfield House Music Festival, Susan Moore of W11 Opera, Anthony Wilkinson (2019) of Wimbledon International Music Festival, Queen Sonja International Music Competition, Oper im Steinbruch, Austria, Ben Woodward of Fulham Opera, Michael Wilson of Buxton Festival, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Garsington at 30, Nicholas Chalmers of Nevill Holt Opera, Henry Little (2018) of Opera Rara, Guy Withers of Waterperry Opera Festival, Serge van Veggel of Opera2Day, Laurence Cummings of the London Handel Festival, Finnegan Downie Dear of Shadwell Opera, Sophie Gilpin of HeadFirst, Sholto Kynoch (2017) of Oxford Lieder Festival, Marcus Farnsworth of Southwell Music Festival, Stephen Barlow of Buxton Festival, the National Opera Studio, Nicky Creed of Garsington Opera, Clementine Lovell of Pop-Up Opera, Samir Savant of the London Handel Festival, Katya Apekisheva & Charles Owen of the London Piano Festival, Gilly French & Jeremy Gray of Bampton Classical Opera, Sholto Kynoch (2016), Ella Marchment & Leo Geyer,  Jan Vogler of Dresden Music Festival, Douglas Boyd of Garsington Opera, Ian Page of Classical Opera (part 1 and part 2), Matt Peacock of Streetwise Opera, Stefan Forsberg of Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Marios Papadopoulos of Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Helen Jamieson of Music at Paxton, Marcus Rudolf Axt of Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Henry Little (2015) of Orchestras Live, Anthony Wilkinson (2014) of Wimbledon International Music Festival,  Chris Watson of Sospiri, Jan Vogler (2014), John Metcalf of the Vale of Glamorgan Music Festival, James Clutton of Opera Holland Park, Clare Norburn of BREMF,

Composers
 Tim Benjamin, Raymond Yiu, Alastair White, David Matthews, Arash Safaian, Errollyn Wallen, Ian Venables, Joan Valent, Chris Warner, Karol Beffa, Alex Woolf, Errollyn Wallen, Vic Hoyland, Paul Mealor, Alex Hills, Bernard Hughes, Stuart Hancock, Sally Beamish, Edward Thomas, Sarah Rodgers, Dani Howard, Charlotte Bray, Gavin Higgins, Shirley Thompson, Roxanna Panufnik,  Jonathan Dove (2018), Kevin Puts,  Patrick Hawes (2018), Martin Bussey, Thea Musgrave, Moritz Eggert, Pawel Lukazewski, Dai Fujikura, Gediminas Gelgotas, Samuel Hertz, Owain Park, Marcus Paus, Tom Green, Jack White, Jonathan Dove (2017),  Melissa Parmenter, Soosan Lolavar, Elena Langer, Patrick Hawes (2017),  Nicola Lefanu, Rachel Portman, Ailie Robertson,  Sven Helbig, Samuel Bordoli, Will Todd, Augusta Read Thomas, Tarik O'Regan,  Dobrinka Tabakova, Jonathan Rathbone, B Tommy Andersson, Howard Blake, Alissa Firsova, George Benjamin, Nimrod Borenstein,

Singers
 Jamie W Hall,  Ilker Arcayürek, Katharina Konradi, Samuel Hasselhorn, Nicky Spence, Katherine Dain, Claire Booth, Brindley Sherratt, James Hall, Leonardo Capalbo, Simon Wallfisch, Bruce Ford, Clare Stewart of Apollo 5, Kitty Whately (2019), Chiara Skerah,  Marina Rebeka, Marta Fontanals-Simmons,   Angelika Kirchschlager, Chen Reiss, Bruce Sledge, Lucy Hope, Mark Padmore, Claire Rutter and Dame Anne Evans on Singing Wagner (part 1 and part 2), Albina Shagimuratova, Natalya Romaniw,  Benjamin Appl, April Fredrick, Rhian Lois, Elizabeth Llewellyn (part 1 and part 2), Ilona Domnich, Anna Devin, Robin Tritschler, Iestyn Morris, Matthew Long, John Savournin,  Kitty Whately, Nelly Miricioiou (part 1 and part 2) , Rosalind Plowright, Helen Sherman, Stephen Gadd, Kate Lindsey, Patricia Bardon, Claire Rutter (2012), Janis Kelly,

Conductors
 Rupert Gough, George Jackson, Julian Perkins,  Edmund Aldhouse (Ely Cathedral), Nicholas Collon, John Andrews, Cornelius Meister, Richard Stamp, Christophe Rousset,  Marios Papadopoulos (Oxford Philharmonic), Jan Latham Koenig, Christopher Monks, Bridget Cunningham, David Hill, John Nelson, Desmond Earley,  Jessica Cottis, Harry Bicket,  Damian Iorio,  Benjamin Zander, Stephen Barlow,  Andrew Nethsingha, Leo Duarte, JohnNelson, Adrian Sutton, Nigel Short, Suzi Digby, David Parry, David Curtis,  Louis Langree, Jonathan Berman, John Wilson, Odaline de la Martinez,  Kristjan Jarvi,  Harry Bicket,  Stuart Stratford, James Lowe, David Skinner, Rachel Young, Laurence Equilbey, Christopher Rousset,  Friedrich Haider,  Sascha Goetzel, Jacques Cohen, Oliver Zeffmann, George Jackson (2014), Harry Ogg,

Directors
  Thomas Guthrie (September 2020) Thomas Guthrie (March 2020), Stephen Medcalf, Nina Brazier (2017), Aik Karapetian, Daisy Evans, Elijah Moshinsky, Olivia Fuchs, Elena Barbalich,  Sam Brown, Nina Brazier (2015),  Paul Curran, Ian Russell, Antony McDonald,

Writers, musicologists & more
Jessica Duchen, Ellen T Harris, Dionysios Kyropoulos,

Impresarios & Record Companies
Ian Rosenblatt, Adrian Green of Convivium Records, Lizzie Holmes of Debut Opera, Timothy Wayne-Wright,

Designers
Leslie Travers,

Educators
 Truda White (MiSST)

⚫ Rosetta Cucchi of Wexford Festival
⚫ Voice trio
⚫ Andrew Chen
⚫ Dylan Perez
⚫ John Brunning
⚫ Taking RVW to Japan: Midori Komachi
⚫ Pina Napolitano
⚫ Composer Tom Coult
⚫ Gergely Madaras & Noemi Gyori
⚫ Mark Vuorinen & the Elora Singers
⚫ Helen Grime on Sheffield Chamber Music Festival
⚫ Bart Van Reyn
⚫ Korros trio
⚫ Ella Marchment
⚫ Continuo Foundation
⚫ Anna Devin
⚫ Pascal Schumacher
⚫ Cellist Amalie Stalheim
⚫ Richard Jones of Random Opera
⚫ Max Hoehn & Torsten Rasch
⚫ Eleanor Alberga
⚫ János Balázs
⚫ Dionysios Kyropoulos
⚫ Lada Valesova
⚫ Joseph Phibbs
⚫ Sven Helbig
⚫ Jan-Peter de Graaff
⚫ Glen Gabriel
⚫ Jérémie Rhorer
⚫ Zvonimir Hacko
⚫ Anna Thorvaldsdottir
⚫ Alex Paxton
⚫ Alex Groves
⚫ Cellist Clare O'Connell
⚫ Conductor Antonello Manacorda
⚫ Composer Tim Corpus
⚫ Noah Max
⚫ Simon Wynberg of ARC Ensemble
⚫ Christian Forshaw, Grace Davidson
⚫ Lucas & Irina Meachem
⚫ Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate
⚫ Composer Richard Danielpour
⚫ Composer Benjamin Woodgates
⚫ Soprano Hila Fahima
⚫ Malcolm Martineau
⚫ Dinis Sousa
⚫ Sonya Bach
⚫ composer Gráinne Mulvey & soprano Elizabeth Hilliard
⚫ Cheryl Frances-Hoad
⚫ Graham Fitkin
⚫ Luke Styles
⚫ Simon Höfele
⚫ Jack Furness

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