Wendelin Bitzan

Wendelin Bitzan

Summer Solstice Stuff

Two events to come on the following weekend. I will be presenting some of my »Vokalsalat« pieces in an event named Slam The Library, part of the Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften at Berlin Technical University – Saturday, June 24, poetry slam starting at 10pm in the Volkswagen Library. The following day, the Chamber Choir of the Berlin University of the Arts will perform motets by Josquin, Schütz, and Reger in a choral concert at St Mary’s Cathedral, Gransee – Sunday, June 25, 5pm, with free admission. Come around, it’s gonna be quite a treat!

Some Music for Organ

It’s an organ transplantation! I felt that my music could use a bit of ecclesiastical reverberation, so I arranged my keyboard piece November Lament for the queen of instruments. If you are an organist aiming to enlarge your repertoire with an affective secular composition, please find the sheet music here.

Medtner Society Inaugural Concert

This Sunday, May 21, will see the first Berlin Medtner Concert Day take place at Logenhaus Wilmersdorf, serving as the inaugural concert of the freshly founded International Medtner Society. In two recitals starting at 11am and 6pm, six devoted musicians will introduce themselves with piano sonatas, skazki, and Goethe songs. Looking forward to the performances of Anna Warnecke, Luisa Splett, Irina Chistiakova, Darya Dadykina, Vasily Gvozdetsky, and Evgeny Nikiforov—and also to adding some introductory words and remarks based on my latest research. The concerts are nearly fully booked, so hurry up to snatch one of the last tickets. For details see the Facebook event page.

Storm in a Teacup

German classical music journalism has approached a state of mud-wrestling these days. Alban Gerhardt is attacked by Christine Lemke-Matwey for his political engagement, Laura Wikert‘s criticism of David Garrett earns her a mini shitstorm from his groupies, Norbert Schläbitz condemns traditional musicology, Hartmut Welscher and Tobias Ruderer settle up with Deutsche Grammophon‘s marketing policy, Igor Levit defends his unjustly harassed colleagues in an angry rant, and Alphonse Sauer seriously speaks of »journalist fascism«. Feuilletonistic trifle at its best! I feel very well entertained.

Medtner in Vienna and Moscow

This Saturday I will be giving a talk on Nikolai Medtner’s Sonata-Skazka, Op. 25 No. 1, in the framework of the MAEK symposium at Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien. The programme features presentations by PhD students from Austria, Romania, and the US. I’d be delighted to have your physical support and inquiring remarks on narrativity, cyclicity, and hybrid form in Medtner! Meet me on April 29, 3:30 pm @ Neuer Konzertsaal, Rennweg 8, 1030 Vienna.

If I weren’t travelling to Vienna, I’d most certainly be in Moscow over the weekend. Students of the Royal College of Music London will present Medtner’s complete piano sonatas on two consecutive evenings. If you have the chance, come to Moscow Conservatory‘s Rachmaninov Hall on April 29–30, 7pm, and listen to the performances of Dinara Klinton, Emily Hooker, Varvara Tarasova, Natsumi Ikenaga, Su Ton Chen, Poom Prommachart, Mario Ahijado, Adam Taylor, and professor Dina Parakhina.