Interviews

The International Classical Music Awards (ICMA), often referred to as the ‘Oscars of classical music’ and among the most prestigious worldwide, announced their 2025 winners on January 14th.The award in the Symphonic Music category was claimed by conductor Cristian Măcelaru and the Orchestre National de France for the album featuring the two Romanian Rhapsodies and the first three symphonies by George Enescu, an album released by Deutsche Grammophon. Interview by ICMA Jury member Cristina Comandașu from Radio Romania Muzical.

What does this award mean to you and how do you feel about receiving it?
I am, above all, very happy for the opportunity to produce this album with Enescu’s music. This is music I have loved all my life and I have always wanted to bring it into a brighter spotlight by recording the three symphonies and the two rhapsodies. Read More →

Polish conductor Łukasz Borowicz is among the musicians honored at this year’s International Classical music Awards with the album Urlicht featuring Samuel Hasselhorn and the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra. Jakub Puchalski from the ICMA Jury member Polskie Radio Chopin made the following interview with him.

Seeing your many CDs, one can trace an idea behind them. A discovery or rediscovery of interesting, beautiful repertoire, often once well-known but later forgotten. The same one can say about your concert programs. You must be extremely hungry for new music.
My interest in unknown music started very early. Since the childhood, once I started to collect CDs. It was at elementary school in my early years. And after getting to know the standard repertoire, I started my own research to discover new composers, new pieces, new performers. Read More →

The jury of the International Classical Music Award (ICMA) presented a Lifetime Achievement Award three years ago, an Award for Mozart’s Complete Symphonies with the Danish National Chamber in 2015 and a Special Achievement Award this year to Adam Fischer, who will also conduct the ICMA Gala Concert 2025 at Tonhalle Düsseldorf on 19 March.  Máté Ur from ICMA Jury member Papageno  (Hungary) also talked with him about Haydn, the essence of true-to-the-time performance, remakes and the eternal restlessness.

In several interviews, you have said that you are not overly concerned about the prizes, but rather look to the future. What motivates you?
I’m certainly happy to be recognized for my work, but it’s very foreign to me to give my mind a rest or to settle down. I often find myself listening to my older recordings and just getting angry with myself that I should have done certain things differently, but once I let go of them, I can’t change them. In the 80s and 90s I recorded all the Haydn symphonies, and when I listen to them I get the same feeling. Read More →

The South Korean composer Unsuk Chin, whose music was featured in a recent edition of the Berliner Philharmoniker, winner in the ICMA category Contemporary Music, talks about the reasons for her art and her sources of inspiration. The interview was made by Maggie S. Lorelli for Musica, the Italian member of the ICMA jury.

Firmly rooted in Western musical culture, she has always maintained a link with the musical tradition of her country of origin, also drawing inspiration from other musical latitudes and from extra-musical artistic and cultural universes. Read More →

The ICMA – International Classical Music Awards – has named Austrian composer Christoph Ehrenfellner Composer of the Year 2025. Ursula Magnes, who represents Radio Klassik Stephansdom on the ICMA jury, asked the « rebel against intolerance » (according to the international jury) a few questions.

What was your first composition?
My opus 1 was « Amores », Ovid’s love poems for string quartet and voice. I sang the premiere in 2005 myself, improvising spontaneously and painting my own stage sets. My mother sat at a light lever at the time and we put on a fully staged performance, so to speak. People were thrilled. A first attempt and an immediate kick into the world of creation! Read More →

The recording Il Concerto Caccini by Nicolas Achten and his ensemble Scherzi Musicali for the Belgian label Ricercar follows the musical footsteps of the Caccini family. Giulio Caccini, of course, but also his daughters Francesca and Settimia. This album won the Early Music prize at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) 2025. Here ois an interview with Nicolas Achten, done by the Belgian ICMA Jury member Crescendo.

Giulio Caccini is not the best-known figure of his time. What led you to devote this double disc to him?
Like many singers, I discovered Giulio Caccini through his Amarilli, mia bella, found in one of the volumes of the Arie Antiche. I must have been 12, and it was love at first sight. Read More →

Pianist Oliver Triendl wins an ICMA Special Achievement Award in 2025, the jury considering that: “Oliver Triendl is one of the most questioning pianists of our time. He constantly searches the archives for neglected compositions of great value and has thus enriched the catalogs of various labels with unmissable recordings. Over 150 recordings prove his commitment as an advocate for rarely performed classical and romantic repertoire as well as his support of contemporary composers.” Here is an interview made by Monica Isăcescu Lup from ICMA Jury Member Radio România Muzical.

The ICMA jury’s reasoning is based on the argument that you are one of the most inquiring pianists of our time. You have not chosen the comfortable path of well-known scores, but are a constant explorer in the archives, searching for valuable but rarely performed works. My first question is: what was the starting point of your explorations? What was the first discovery that led you down this path of discovering unknown works?
First of all, I feel very honored to receive this award. And it’s absolutely true that I have tried to follow this forgotten or unknown path. But it doesn’t mean that I don’t care about Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Bach or Beethoven. But for me it’s a very important part of my life to dedicate my time, my work and my enthusiasm to these kinds of pieces and composers. Read More →

Conductor Marin Alsop won a prize at the International Classical Music Awards with a Naxos album devoted to works by John Adams (Naxos), a composer with whom she regularly collaborates. The conductor is at the helm of the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien. Pierre-Jean Tribot of Crescendo, member of the ICMA Jury, interviewed her.

You recorded this John Adams album in Vienna with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. When we think of Vienna, we naturally think of Beethoven or Mahler. Is there a Beethovenian or Mahlerian dimension to the music of John Adams?
The ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien is an extraordinarily versatile orchestra, playing the most avant-garde new music one day and the classics the next. For me, Adams is both unique and respectful of tradition. For my first season in Baltimore, I paired living composers with Beethoven, and John was my first contact. He asked for the most minimalist of Beethoven’s symphonies: Symphony No. 7! Read More →

ICMA Special Achievement Award winner Sylvain Cambreling has dedicated 50 years to symphonic music and opera, with a particular interest in contemporary music. ResMusica’s Nathalie Filloux met him to discuss the issues of our time.

You defend the great symphonic and operatic repertoire as well as contemporary music, both of which appeal to audiences that are still much divided. Do you see a rapprochement between the audiences for Mozart and Gounod and those for Georges Aperghis or Gérard Grisey?
It’s hard to talk about a rapprochement between audiences, but I would say there is a difference. Some audiences are ready to listen to everything, others are not; some are curious, others are not; some only appreciate today’s music, sometimes more out of snobbery than real interest. It’s not impossible to go from baroque to contemporary, since this is more an intellectual than a musical domain. Read More →