Year: 2021

This month, Alessandro Crudele comes back on the podium for a double appointment with the Orchesterzentrum|NRW, a joint institution of the four state colleges of music in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) and the first inter-college training center in Europe for future orchestral musicians. He will conduct Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, the world’s most famous musical fairy tale.  

The first concert will be held at the Orchesterzentrum NRW’s Konzerthaus in Dortmund on Saturday 27^th, November with Tilmann Böttcher as narrator. The second one, on Sunday 28^th, will take place in the Alfried Krupp Saal of the Philarmonie Essen with the famous Götz Alsmann as narrator, who “will lend his individual charming and humorous touch to the well-known story”, as the Theater website promises.

Keen to nurture young musicians, Crudele has devoted his time to working with young artists since the very beginning of his career; and collaboration with youth orchestras is still one of his priorities. From 2003 to 2006, Alessandro was a regular guest of the Orchestra dell’Accademia del Teatro alla Scala, and in 2014/2015 he conducted the Jeune Orchestre International de Monte-Carlo, an orchestra that includes some of the best young musicians from across Europe. 

These concerts with the Orchesterzentrum|NRW consolidates Alessandro Crudele’s commitment with youth orchestras. The Orchesterzentrum|NRW offers the master’s degree Programme “Orchestra Playing”, in which students are provided over the course of four semesters with practical and targeted preparation for a career in renowned orchestras. With numerous public chamber and symphonic concerts, the Orchesterzentrum|NRW provides concertgoers and music-lovers with the opportunity to experience the musical results of the training courses, to follow the progress of the young musicians and to take advantage of an excellent and varied range of concerts, mostly free of charge.

From October 3rd to 5th, Alessandro Crudele will conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Henry Wood Hall for his discographic debut.

He will record three representative pieces by Ottorino Respighi: from his famous masterpiece Pines of Rome to the lesser-known Suite from the Ballet Belkis, Queen of Sheba, passing through the Brazilian Impressions.

About the album Alessandro says:

“My intention is to try to encapsulate all Respighi’s different souls on one CD (which is obviously impossible). So, we have the evocative and epic soul with the Pines of Rome, the more impressionistic one with the Brazilian impressions, and the more mythological one with Belkis, Queen of Sheba.”

The choice of pieces also reflects three different periods of composition: “The Pines is his first real masterpiece, the Brazilian Impressions stem from a period of full maturity and Belkis belongs to the end of his production.”

This recording marks the beginning of an exciting collaboration between Alessandro Crudele and LINN Records. It will be followed, next year, by his second recording with music by Britten and Elgar, this time conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra. Various other projects will be announced in the next future.

On September 24th, Alessandro Crudele returns to the podium of the prestigious Teatro Dal Verme in Milan during the most important Italian festival, MITO SettembreMusica. The programme, entitled “Conversing with Beethoven”, will see Beethoven’s Coriolano Overture, along with his Symphony No. 2. 

Between these two pieces, Alessandro Crudele will conduct the Italian premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s Absence, written by the Finnish composer in 2020. The composer’s programme note for Absence explains how the work grew from reading Beethoven’s conversation books, combining notes from acquaintances engaging with the deaf composer and personal jottings acting as aides’ memoires. Lindberg says: “What I could do was to bring up some Beethovenian quotes, as you do when politely asking about an idea which your much more experienced colleague has raised. What does this quote actually mean and how can it be interpreted?”

Lindberg ‘converses’ with Beethoven through three quotes: the eleventh bar of the slow movement in the Piano Sonata “Les Adieux” op. 81a, the astonishing sequence at the end of the first movement of the Second Symphony with the rising chromatic bass line covering the entire octave, and the opening chord of the Finale of the Ninth Symphony. As the composer says, “The utterly modern ‘dissonances’ speak for themselves and the conversation is happening in the music. As it should.”

Absence’s world premiere has been given on October 8th, 2020 in Rotterdam with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Lahav Shani, followed by a tour in Cologne for the German premiere. Marin Alsop conducted the US premiere with the Dallas Symphony in November 2020, while Kirill Karabits gave the UK premiere with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra the same month. 

This important premiere confirms Alessandro Crudele’s deep interest and dedication in contemporary music. The concert, with the Orchestra UniMi, will take place at 4:30 pm. More info here.

July marks Alessandro Crudele’s coming back to the podium for his debut at Rossini in Wildbad – Belcanto Opera Festival. The concert – “for fine ears and with a somewhat experimental character”, as written on the programme – will take place on Friday 23rd 2021 in Sommerberg, Wildbad, in the middle of a forest.

Crudele will conduct the Krakow Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra in a programme that explores Rossini’s pieces with a “forest” sound: Introduction from Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo; Coro dei cacciatori (Hunter’s scene) from Sigismondo; Introduction from La donna del lago; Récitatif et Romance de Mathilde “Sombre foret” from Guillaume Tell. 
Beethoven’s Pastorale will be played as closing piece and belated homage to the Jubilee Year 2020.

Despite the difficult times due to the pandemic, Rossini in Wildbad will safety welcome the audience in highly unusual venues for music in Bad Wildbad, all of them chosen for their suitability for the special requirements of the repertoire. Sommerberg, where Crudele’s concert will take place, is surrounded by tall trees in a clearing on the mountain and it is ideally suited for a musical experience.

Alessandro Crudele’s jump-in with the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen in its New Year’s Concert on January 18th was a great success, and well received by the critics. 
The performance given at the Reutlingen Stadthalle was broadcast live and got more than 5.000 views.

The German press was enthusiastic about the concert.

Christoph B. Ströhle wrote on the Reutlingen General-Anzeiger:

“Das Mozart-Hornkonzert erwies sich, […] als Balsam für die coronageschundene Seele. Das Orchester und Alessandro Crudele gaben dem Solisten hier jeglichen Raum, sich zu entfalten”
“Mozart’s Horn Concerto proved to be […] a balm for the corona-afflicted soul. The Orchestra and Alessandro Crudele gave the soloist every space to unfold.”

And also:

“Die Württembergische Philharmonie hatte sich schon bei der Tschechischen Suite […], beweglich gezeigt”
“The Württembergische Philharmonie had already shown itself to be flexible in the Czech Suite”

Regarding the Dances of Galanta:

“Temperamentgeladen präsentierte sich hier das Orchester, mit einem ersten glutvollen Einsatz der Celli.”
“The orchestra presented itself full of temperament here, with first a glowing entry of the cellos.”

“Nach so mancher Rubato- und Stretta-Entwicklung fand das Ganze ein in tänzerischen Kontrasten ausgelebtes, klangmäßig noch einmal alle Register ziehendes überzeugendes Ende.”
“After many Rubato and Stretta-developments, the whole thing came to a convincing end, lived out in dance contrasts and once again pulling out all the registers in terms of sound.”

Susanne Eckstein wrote on the Südwest Presse:

“Alessandro Crudele überzeugte durch ein elegant bewegtes Dirigat.”
“Alessandro Crudele was convincing with his elegantly moving conducting.”

“Mit Zoltán Kodálys „Tänzen aus Galánta“ zeigte das Orchester, dass es seine leidenschaftliche Spielfreude nicht verloren hat. Es steigerte unter der Stabführung von Alessandro Crudele die zwischen spannungsreicher Ruhe, ausdrucksvollen Bläsersoli und wilder Ekstase wechselnden ungarischen Tänze zu einem orchestralen Fest der Rhythmen und Farben, gekrönt von einem furiosen Finale.”
“With Zoltán Kodály’s “Dances of Galánta”, the orchestra showed that it has not lost passion for playing. Under the baton of Alessandro Crudele, the Hungarian dances, which alternate between suspenseful calm, expressive wind solos and wild ecstasy, became an orchestral feast of shimmering rhythms and colors, crowned by a furious finale.”

Last but not least, Achim Stricker wrote on the Schwäbisches Tagblatt:

“Crudele dirigierte mit großzügigem Schwung und elegantem Kapellmeister-Gestus, gelassen humorvoll.”
“Crudele conducted with generous impetuous and an elegant gesture, calmly humorous.”

On January 18th, Alessandro Crudele will conduct the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen in its New Year’s Concert, which will be live streamed at 8:15 pm CET from the Reutlingen Stadthalle. His debut with this orchestra was scheduled for 2022, but now he will step in at very short notice for Jamie Phillips. 

The programme features Dvořák’s Czech Suite, Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 – with the star horn player Felix Klieser – and Kodály’s Dances of Galánta.

The concert streaming is free, and everyone can access it here: https://www.ims-cms.net/pub/27320/WPR/. 

Alessandro Crudele’s engagement with German orchestras steadily grows, in spite of these difficult times for live music due to the pandemic.