It's all about the classical music composers and their works from the last 400 years and much more about music. Hier erfahren Sie alles über die klassischen Komponisten und ihre Meisterwerke der letzten vierhundert Jahre und vieles mehr über Klassische Musik.
– and the wedding photos are ridiculously glamorous
Lang Lang and Gina Alice Redlinger. Picture: Social Media
By Kyle Macdonald, ClassicFM London
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The two love-birds tied the knot in Paris, and the photos were just beautiful.
Twitter was overflowing with good wishes over the weekend, as keyboard superstar Lang Lang announced his marriage to fellow pianist Gina Alice Redlinger. And the photos of their nuptials were a virtuoso display all on their own.
Chinese media reported that the couple's ceremony took place at a hotel in Paris, followed by a banquet for guests at the Palace of Versailles. And the snaps they shared were just as romantic and Parisian as you would hope.
Who is Lang Lang's wife?
24-year-old Gina Alice Redlinger has been performing as a concert pianist since the age of 8, initially learning with German pianist Irina Edelstein. She went on to study music in Hamburg and now has performed around the world. Gina Alice is also a composer.
Gina Alice and Lang Lang met in Berlin. Here she is with the spectacular Busoni transcription of Bach's Chaconne:
Our congratulations to the happy couple. We wish them many, many years of happy duets together.
はああああ〜〜〜〜〜〜ランランと結婚して、ヴェルサイユ宮殿で結婚式なんて最高すぎる本当に絵になる２人いつまでも見ていたい。ランラン 、アリスさん、心からおめでとうございます
Marriage with Lang Lang, Palace of Versailles weddingwhat a ultimate dream #郎朗结婚#LangLang
Chinese pianist #LangLang and his half-German, half-Korean bride #GinaAlice held their wedding banquet at the Palace of #Versailles in #France. They studied with the same teacher and have cooperated many times. They performed an impromptu piano duet at their reception.
Emperor Naruhito is a keen violist. Picture: Getty Images
By Sofia Rizzi, ClassicFM London
2K
Emperor Naruhito of Japan is a keen violist and has just been gifted a very unusual viola by US President Donald Trump.
The newly-crowned Emperor of Japan, Emperor Naruhito, is not only the leader of a country, he's also a dedicated viola player.
Ruling as the head of the Imperial Family isn't the only thing Naruhito has kept in the family – he also keeps the musical talent going for another generation. Naruhito's father, former Emperor Akihito, is a cellist, and his mother Empress Michiko is a violinist.
The new emperor only recently began his reign on 1 May following his father's abdication, but he has already made public appearances playing the viola. In 2013 he played on a viola made from debris wood from the 2011 tsunami.
Emperor Naruhito played on a violin made from driftwood debris from the 2011 tsunami. Picture: Getty
During President Donald Trump's visit to Japan to welcome the new Emperor to his post, he gifted Naruhito with an American viola, made in 1938 by Ivan W. Allison of West Virginia.
The instrument was sold by Joe Joyner of Little Rock, Arkansas. In a Facebook post, Joe wrote:
“On April 30 I heard a news story that Japan's Emperor Akihito was stepping down and that his son, Naruhito, would be taking his place. 24 hours later I received a call from the U.S. State Department seeking an American made viola to give as a diplomatic gift. Shortly after this call, I began seeing news stories about Japan's new Emperor Naruhito being a violist.
“Nearly a month later, I can now say that last week I sold the Emperor's new viola, an instrument made in 1938 by Ivan W. Allison of Charleston, West Virginia. The instrument was presented to Emperor Naruhito by President Donald Trump today.
Madonna at Eurovision Song Contest 2019 - Grand Final. Picture: Getty
By Rosie Pentreath, ClassicFM London
We asked Classic FM presenter and soprano, Catherine Bott, if Madonna’s Eurovision half-time performance was good or bad from a professional singer's point of view. Her take on the vocals is pretty controversial...
Reviews of Madonna’s Eurovision performance last night are mixed at best.
After the Queen Of Pop’s performance of ‘Like A Prayer’ and her new single ‘Future’, the majority opinion seems to come down on the side of Madonna’s performance having been poor, with people believing she sang flat and missed the mark on everything from costume and pitching to political message.
Indeed, on first listen we can’t help noticing that Madge opted for some unusual pitches to hang her well known hit 'Like A Prayer' on. The notes she uses in lines like “I hear you call my name” and “you know I’ll take you there” are much lower than the ear expects.
But, was Madonna’s Eurovision performance actually bad?
We’ve recruited Classic FM presenter and pro soprano, Catherine Bott, to help us unpack the controversial half-time set.
“I was interested to see the Madonna show because I'd seen reports that she sang flat/out of tune throughout her big number,” Catherine says.
“Not so – those constant tell-tale upward flicks in pitch before important notes told me that creative and deliberate use was being made of pitch modification software which in itself was perfectly fine, and her actual voice had more depth and texture than I was expecting”.
That’s what Catherine had to say about the version of the performance Madonna has posted on her YouTube channel, at least: a tick for the quality of Madonna’s voice itself and unsteady pitching saved only by auto-tune added after the fact.
“I didn't do the Eurovision experience on Saturday night,” Catherine explains and on searching for the video a day later, she had come across the edited version. “It had clearly been auto-tuned to within an inch of its life," she laughs in retrospect.
“I have just played the original clip and there are none of those synthetic grace notes. This is Madonna au naturale and very badly tuned indeed.” You can watch the original version of Madonna's performance above.
Madonna & Qauvo perform at Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Grand Final. Picture: Getty
In the interest of full disclosure, Catherine admits to not really “getting” Madonna because of “all those visuals not backed up by a voice of substance or interest”.
“For me the ‘horror’ of her performance was its banality. She clearly still thinks she's being transgressive – with all those robed, chanting figures, the gas-masks, our heroine prostrating herself like a Bride of Christ before revealing the traditional corset – but the production only achieved maximum tastelessness”.
Ouch, our Catherine doesn’t mince words.
Why was Madonna’s Eurovision performance so controversial?
In spite of Eurovision having a strict “non-political” stance, Madonna highlighted ongoing Israeli-Palestinian tensions in her performance by dressing backing performers up in Israeli and Palestinian flags and flashing the words ‘WAKE UP’ over the stage at the end of her performance.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and local public broadcaster, KAN, were by all accounts caught by surprise by the political message and claimed it “was not part of the rehearsal”. EBU released a statement confirming “The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and Madonna has been made aware of this.”
This all comes after activists had called for Madonna to boycott this year's Eurovisiondue to its being held in Israel at a time of ongoing conflict with Palestine.
As well as being off-key and a poor performer, Madonna managed to violate the EBU’s principle of non-political engagement by adding the Israeli and Palestinian flags to the back of two dancers backs. What a waste of money she was #Eurovision2019
Madonna's outfit, featuring a cloak, leather armour, fishnet tights and eye-patch, added to the attention-grabbing spectacle.
“Sorry”, our experienced soprano says, “but [Madonna’s performance] came across like the Lower Sixth Drama Soc's ‘controversial’ end of term show. She really should have grown out of trying to shock people by now.”
“Kudos to her for doing all those stairs with trip-hazard flowing robes and an eye-patch, though.” Amen to that.
本当に絵になる２人
