Bravo!

Congratulations are in order for the soprano Maria Luigia Borsi, after her triumphant performance as Desdemona in Verdi's 'Otello' at the Salzburg Festival in her only appearance in the role on August the 21st. One critic from 'Le Monde' Newspaper said of her Ave Maria "...it was a moment where time stood still; her tone a mysterious beauty..." [translation]. 'Mostly Opera' website also commented on her outstanding performance saying "...she was simply superb, with excellent floating high notes and pianissimi, and deservedly received the biggest ovation..." She is next appearing in 'La Rondine' at the Teatro del Giglio Lucca in mid September.

Louis Langrée's final performances at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York were a huge success. The New York Times reported: "Strauss scored ‘Metamorphosen’ not for string orchestra, but for “23 solo strings” — chamber music, in other words. Louis Langrée, the conductor, drew from his Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra players (including standing violin and viola sections) a clear, articulate account of a work whose contrapuntal textures frequently result in murk. Mr. Langrée’s lively pace rejected morbidity and brought a gracious lift to passages that echo the more opulent Strauss of ‘Rosenkavalier’."

Congratulations to Alan Oke who has been voted the best singer of 2008 by Kultur Magazin for the role of Aschenbach in 'Death in Venice' at the Bregenz Festival.

Jian Wang made a triumphant debut at the BBC Proms performing the first three of Bach's Solo Cello Suites. There was a enthusiastic response and the Times reported: "Just as the Olympic torch was being extinguished in Beijing, the Chinese cellist Jian Wang was setting up for a solo Olympiad of his own. This was his Proms debut, and a lone chair was spotlit under the vast dome for a late-night performance of three of Bach's Cello Suites. Bourées bounced along the bow, courantes were high-stepping and highly-strung. There was a touch of the Romantic, too, as flowing dynamics shaped the silken phrasing of an allemande or the slow, sad steps of a sarabande. This was a refreshingly individual, dogma-free performance: cool and patrician at one moment, heart-warming at another."

Congratulations to Askonas Holt artists Ailyn Perez and Stephen Costello, who get married in Philadelphia on 6th September. All our best wishes to the happy couple!

Over this past weekend Ian Bostridge has completed his recordings for EMI of the great Schubert cycles with three of the world's most distinguished pianists. Having recorded Winterreise with Leif Ove Andsnes and "Die Schoene Muellerin" with Mitsuko Uchida, he has now recorded "Schwanengesang" with Antonio Pappano, following their accalimed EMI recital of the lieder of Hugo Wolf. Over recent months Ian Bostridge and Antonio Pappano have appeared in recital at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, the Aldeburgh Festival and at Glasgow City Halls and they collaborate further in the Royal Opera's performances of "Don Giovanni" in September and October. In addition, Ian Bostridge will perform Schubert's "Winterreise" at the Salzburg Festival this week with Mitsuko Uchida. Please click here for the related story on the EMI Classics web-site.

Bravo to the Belcea Quartet who have just performed a series of concerts at the Delft Chamber Music Festival, Festival de Valloires, Edinburgh International Festival and in Geneva, playing the Bartok Quartets which were recently released to critical acclaim on EMI. The Edinburgh concerts will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 2nd and 3rd September in the Lunchtime Concert. Times reviewer Geoff Brown commented: "Watching the Belceas attack Bartók was its own education and joy. They didn't simply play this music: they lunged at it with passion and paprika, bringing out all the Hungarian flavour and the 57 varieties of tone, attack and dynamics that Bartók's notes need. What splendid advocates of this repertoire they are." These concerts lead up to a mammoth day on 20th September at the Wigmore Hall where the Quartet will play all six Bartok quartets in three concerts on one day. For more details please click here.

Many congratulations to Xuefei Yang and Natalie Clein following their fantastic duo debut at the Dubrovnik Festival. The intimacy of the Rector's Palace was the perfect setting for a wonderful programme of duo pieces by Villa-Lobos, Piazzolla and De Falla, along with the Kodaly Cello Sonata from Natalie and Spanish and Chinese inspired pieces by Fei. The duo will continue their partnership with further recitals planned in the UK, Europe and Far East'.

Congratulations to Sergey Khachatryan who gave a stunning recital last Saturday. the Dayli Gazette wrote: "23-year old Armenian violinist Sergey Khachatryan, who turned out to be a real powerhouse in the Violin Concerto... was spectacular. He's a very intelligent and musical player... Khachatryan’s tone was rich and his technique was amazingly clear, clean and effortless. Even the double stops and harmonics were perfectly in tune. When he wasn’t playing, which wasn't often, he exuded a calm stillness. He didn’t move about much or bend his knees. But his face was expressive...The crowd exploded after the long first movement with huge applause. After Khachatryan whizzed through the final movement without dropping a note, it erupted into great cheers and gave him a standing ovation and many curtain calls." Please find the full concert review here.