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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. 

After his great success in 2019, Alessandro Crudele was again applauded last week for his four sold-out concerts with the Thüringen Philharmonie and the star countertenor Valer Sabadus.
Once again, Alessandro reaffirms himself as a flexible interpreter and at home with extremely different kinds of repertoires.

The Thüringer Allgemeine in Eisenach, titled its review: “Delight for the ears of the historically-informed performance lovers” and pointed out Crudele’s artistry:

“Was it because of the hall? Was it because of the conductor? The orchestra that we well know sounded differently, as if it had jumped to a higher level.”

The Gothaer Allgemeine also underlined the success with the audience:

“Long cheers of applause for the soloist, the conductor and the Orchestra ended this Operngala, charming in all aspects.”

This month Alessandro Crudele returns to Milan to conduct the Orchestra UniMi for his last concert of the season with the legendary pianist Gerhard Oppitz. The concert takes place on 17th October 2020 at the Sala Verdi of the Conservatory and it will be live video recorded.

The programme is inspired by German music: from Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor”, through the late-Romanticism of Brahms’ Haydn-Variations, to the contemporary music of the celebrated living composer Christian Jost, with his Ghost Song.
German pianist Gerhard Oppitz returns to Italy for the first time after several years.

After a few days, Alessandro Crudele will return to Germany to conduct the Thüringen Philharmonie: on 22nd October in Gotha and the next day in Eisenach. The programme of the Opera Gala, “von Barock bis Britten”, is dedicated to the music of castrati and features arias by Bach, Purcell, Händel, Porpora, Mozart, Fauré and Britten – performed by the star Countertenor Valer Barna-Sabadus – and it is punctuated by orchestral pieces by Cimarosa, Mozart and Fauré which will enrich the beautiful programme.

It is the second time that Crudele conducts the Thüringen Philharmonie, after the great success of his concerts in Thuringia in February 2019. In that occasion the local newspapers highly praised Crudele’s conducting:

“… and this, all the more with this charismatic conductor on the podium! It was a truly astonishing interpretation – and yet without any trace of showmanship.”
Dieter Albrecht, Thüringer Allgemeine, Gotha

“With clear gestures of his left hand he showed the musicians what he wanted. This resulted in beautiful interpretations. […] Alessandro Crudele conjured up a beautiful Mozart with historic reminiscences.”
Gottfried Meyer, Thüringer Allgemeine, Eisenach

This month Alessandro Crudele returns to the podium of the Orchestra UniMi for MITO SettembreMusica Festival, which is dedicated this year to the theme of “spirits”. For the first time since its constant participation over the years, the Orchestra UniMi performs both in Milan and Turin, the two cities of the Festival. 

The concert in Milan takes place on Monday 14th September at 4:30 pm at the Teatro Dal Verme, where Alessandro Crudele and the Orchestra UniMi have never performed before. 
The next day the concert will be repeated at the Conservatory “Giuseppe Verdi” in Turin, at 4 pm.

MITO SettembreMusica describes the programme of the concert in this way:

“HEAVENLY MUSIC”
Composers have always had a passion for depicting the sky. It is where the spirit dwells, a dancefloor for the clouds, heaven. Here are three awesome interpretations.
Aaron Jay Kernis: Musica celestis
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano concerto in E-flat Major K. 449 – with soloist Davide Cabassi
Edward Elgar: Serenade for strings op. 20

Finally, after a lot of selection and editing work, we are extremely happy to announce the worldwide launch of the LOVE Project 2020 video: a unique, extraordinary performance of the largest virtual orchestra in the world. The launch of the video will be on Saturday 8^th August at 9 PM (CET) and it will be premiered on YouTube.

The goal of LOVE Project was to bring together, even if just virtually, 1,000 musicians from all over the world, each of whom would record their own part of Mozart’s The Magic Flute Overture. We have reached and passed it – in two months, over 1,170 musicians from 75 countries have signed up!

LOVE Project 2020 is a unique project that has reached the attention of the international press, partly due to the participation in the project of a large number of musicians from the best orchestras in the world: Berliner Philharmoniker, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Teatro alla Scala, London Symphony Orchestra, as well as all the major UK symphony orchestras and many others.