Trio Alba MEISTERKONZERTE Innsbruck

Schubert and Smetana on the 31st of January played by Trio Alba in Innsbruck.  8 pm; The Tyrolean Conservatory.

Trio Alba – the German violinist Livia Sellin, the Austro-Italian cellist Philipp Comploi and the Chinese-Austrian pianist Chengcheng Zhao met as students at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. Talented, professional and with an enviable zest for life.

And below is the rare occasion when we can offer a piece which will be performed on the day. Please enable English subtitles on the YouTube video.

Ilker Arcayürek.

The 13th of December is the right day to start getting into the festive mood. And what is better than listening to Franz Schubert’s Winter Journey (Winterreise) songs.  Again, part of MEISTERKONZERT series.  Again at 8 pm, but this time in the Tyrolean conservatory (Tiroler Landeskonservatorium)

Austrian tenor Ilker Arcayürek has emerged as one of the most exciting and versatile vocal artists in recent years – hailed by the press for his “golden tenor” (Opera Now Magazine) and quickly establishing himself “in a class of his own” (The Guardian). He is a winner of the International Art Song Competition of Germany’s Hugo Wolf Academy and was BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist. Champs Hill Records released his first solo album “Der Einsame” featuring Schubert songs and accompanied by Simon Lepper in 2017 to great critical acclaim.

 

 

 

 

Sonata for Bassoon and Violoncello B flat major K.292 (1775). A bit of music history and theory

During January 1775 the eighteen years old Wolfgang Amadeus travelled to the Bavarian capital to supervise the arrangements for his new opera ‘The pretend Garden-Girl’ (La finta giardiniera). At the court chapel, Mozart met excellent musicians, above all two bassoonists who were among the most virtuosic in then-contemporary Europe. But also the Baron von Duernitz, an enthusiastic amateur bassoonist, visited Munich at that time. Mozart was deeply impressed by the vivid bassoon scene he found in Munich.

There is no evidence that the Baron von Tuernitz asked Mozart to compose the Sonata for Bassoon and Violoncello B flat major K.292 together with three more sonatas, which went missing later on. The sonatas for bassoon could have also been an odd job for one of the professional bassoonists.

It is unclear who commissioned the Sonata for Bassoon and Violoncello, but the composition itself is impressive because of its tonal aspects: by using the violoncello as an accompanying instrument, Mozart enabled the bassoon to present its sound uniquely. But there are also sections in the sonata where the violoncello takes the lead and contributes with motifs and singable themes.

The first movement’s concept is the one of a sonata with two main themes, a bridge passage, followed by the execution and a repeated part. The dramatic principal theme and the gentle singable alongside theme remind us of Mozart’s arias from those times.

The second movement, a lyrical andante with its gentle flow and sentimental expression, emphasises the bassoon’s tonal features.

The final movement, a rondo, has esprit and a sense of humour mainly produced by small trills which are generously used and repeated as a principal theme. Similar to the first movement an excellent playing technique of the bassoonist is required when performing the rondo. Moreover, the third movement allows the bassoon to demonstrate its flexibility and versatility

Gloria Bretschneider

MEISTER KAMMER KONZERT, Innsbruck, Congress Hall – KREMERATA BALTICA and IVETA APKALNA (organ)

The 6th of November, 2018. 8 pm.

Bach, Sumera, Esenvalds, and Vasks. The orchestra Kremerata Baltica was founded in 1997 by outstanding Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer. The best players from all Baltic state will be this Autumn in Austria, Innsbruck. This will be a third concert in the MAIESTERKONZERT series.    OK, they won’t play Piazzola, but nevertheless not to be missed, for sure.

 

Rafal Blechacz in Insbruck

Rafal is singularly amazing. On Wednesday, the 24th of October this year he plays together with HR-SINFONIEORCHESTER FRANKFURT in Innsbruck.  Congress Hall,  at 20 pm. Conductor – Andres Orozco-Estrada. This is part of MEISTERKONZERT programme – we wrote about them earlier.

 

Old Music in Innsbruck

Magnificent Francesca Aspromonte – this week in Austria as Semele. A very interesting story – read more below.

Date Sat 25.08.2018
Time 20.00
Venue Tiroler Landestheater
Duration About 2 hours
Introduction 19.00

Johann Adolf Hasse: La Semele o sia La richiesta fatale (Semele oder Der verhängnisvolle Wunsch) 
Serenata. Libretto by Francesco Ricciardi 
Premiere: Autumn 1726, Naples

Semi-staged performance. Sung in Italian.

«A gripping chamber piece.» Conductor and musicologist Claudio Osele found a copy of the serenata «La Semele o sia La richiesta fatale» («Semele or The Fatal Request») by Johann Adolf Hasse in the Musikfreunde’s archive in Vienna. The composer from North Germany wrote the work after having moved to Naples, a Mecca of opera. In the South, Hasse transformed into the epitome of an Italian opera composer. «Semele» was first performed in a Neapolitan palazzo in 1726, allegedly featuring the famous castrato Farinelli. This was 17 years before Handel created his oratorio «Semele» in operatic style in London. Serenatas like Hasse’s «Semele» are also operas in their own way and were a popular form of tribute music in the baroque period to celebrate special occasions at princely courts.

Compared to operatic dramas, serenatas were usually characterised by smaller instrumentations and concentrated plots without subplots. What is more, production costs were low as they didn’t require much stage technology. The singers perform in costumes but without a set in German director Georg Quander’s production in Innsbruck. From a musical point of view, «Semele» is like an opera: Hasse’s serenata comprises duets, large ensembles, a pastoral by the Arcadian character of Semele, a lament after her death by Giove, the father of the gods, and a vengeance aria by Giunone, Giove’s jealous wife. Source

 

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