Friday 27 June 2008

Tchaikowsky: Souvenir d’un lieu cher


Here is a link to a review from this performance:
July 23, 2008

David Oistrakh Festival
Estonia, Pärnu - Elisabeth Church

Paavo Järvi - conductor
Tatiana Berman - violin
St. Peterburg Festival Chamber orchestra
Neeme Jarvi Summer Academy conductors

The programme:
W.A.Mozart - Eine kleine Nachtmusik
D.Shostakovich - Chamber Symphony op. 110a in c (arr. By Stasevich)
Tchaikowsky: Souvenir d’un lieu cher, Op. 42 Meditation, Scherzo, Melodie

Benjamin Britten - Simple Symphony

An excerpt from the review: "It was the first of two concerts this month led by members of Neeme Jarvi's Summer Academy, an annual conducting master course held in conjunction with the Oistrakh Festival since 2000.Guest artist was violinist Tatiana Berman in Tchaikovsky’s “Souvenir d’un lieu cher,” which was conducted by Academy instructor Paavo Jarvi. Consecrated in 1750, St. Elizabeth Church hosts concerts each summer by the 37-year-old festival, named for legendary Russian violinist David Oistrakh, who summered in Parnu from 1955-70. This year’s festival commemorates the 100th anniversary of Oistrakh’s birth. There could have been no more fitting tribute to his memory than Russian-born Berman’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s three-part work. Originally for violin and piano (performed here in the arrangement for violin and strings by Alexandru Lascae), it was dedicated to Tchaikovsky’s “beloved place,” his patroness Nadezhda von Meck’s county estate in Poland, where he could spend time composing in the summer. Born in Moscow, Berman trained at the Yehudi Menuhin School (with Menuhin and Natalia Boyarsky) and London’s Royal College of Music (Yossi Zivoni). She plays with exquisite taste, style and precision. Here she brought every facet of the composer’s small gem to light. There were sweetness and purity of tone in the opening “Meditation,” where she climbed to a silvery high D at the end (five ledger lines above the staff). The “Scherzo” was a mini-steeplechase, with her bow bounding across the strings like an agile young filly, engaging in some beautiful dialogue at one point with SPFO concertmaster Alexander Shustin. The concluding, very familiar “Melodie” was exquisite from start to finish. There was a breathtaking moment at the return of the opening melody where she lengthened the tempo in precise sync with Jarvi and the orchestra. And why not, since Jarvi and Berman are husband and wife?"

Tuesday 10 June 2008

Concert:nova @Cincinnati Opera Kick-off Party






By Mary Ellyn Hutton

Jun 10, 2008

Cincinnati Opera Center Stage, a social group comprising young operaphiles age 40 and under, helps the Opera launch its 2008 summer festival with a kick-off party from 8 p.m. to midnight June 14 at the Contemporary Arts Center, Sixth and Walnut Streets downtown. The party will have a rain forest theme highlighting Mexican composer Daniel Catan's "Florencia en el Amazonas," tree frog, Amazonto be given its regional premiere by Cincinnati Opera July 10 and 12 at Music Hall. There will be music, dancing, a tapas buffet and full cash bar.

Special guests will be members of concert:nova, the versatile new chamber ensemble comprising members of the CSO and Cincinnati Chamber Orchestras, who will perform Brazilian and Cuban music. Learn about the group and their mission at
http://www.concertnova.com/. Cincinnati Opera young artists will also weigh in during the evening, and there will be Latin cuts for dancing by DJ/VJ Will Benson. Tickets are $10, available online at http://www.cincinnatiopera.org/, at the Cincinnati Opera box office in Music Hall, 1241 Elm St. downtown, or call (513) 241-2742. For $25, you get admission to the party and Center Stage membership for one year (application can be made online). Members enjoy discounted tickets to the Opera and invitations to special events including post-performance parties, Opera Raps, wine tastings and so on, year-round. Ticket discounts are structured according to a five-year plan whereby members are entitled to 50% off up to two Cincinnati Opera season subscriptions during the first three years, tapering to 33% in the fourth year and regular price in the fifth. Discounts for single tickets are 50% off up to two tickets per production in the first two years, 25% off in the third and fourth years and regular price in the fifth. For further information call (513) 768-5500 or contact Julie Bergantino at jhttp://jbergantino@cincinnatiopera.org
© Copyright 2008 by Music in Cincinnati