Brown / Sing-Akademie: Bach, Bax, Britten — Zurich, 2014-12-19

My first reaction in writing this short review was to use a title such as “Bach’s Christmas Oratorio — How Not To” — but let me start properly: This year’s Christmas concert in the Tonhalle Zurich (on Friday, 2014-12-19) was given by the Zürcher Sing-Akademie (Zurich Singing Academy), the professional choir, founded in 2011, following the footsteps of the Schweizer Kammerchor (Swiss Chamber Choir)…

Yuja Wang, Lionel Bringuier / TOZ — Tonhalle Zurich, 2014-09-11

(…) Lionel Bringuier (*1986) takes over from David Zinman (*1936) who has directed the orchestra for 19 years — more than twice as long as any director after the first two, Friedrich Hegar (from the foundation 1868 up till 1906) and Volkmar Andreae (1906 – 1949). Zinman has led the orchestra into a new and successful international and recording career — for him, this was the crowning of his career, while for Bringuier this is the second direction (after 3 years in Valladolid / Spain), and likely the first highlight in a promising career…