Programme

Saturday 27 September 2008 at 7:30pm

London launch concert: OCMF at The Cadogan Hall

Sloane Terrace, London SW1 7DQ

Vivaldi    The Four Seasons (chamber version)
Piazzolla    The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires

‘Side A of the original vinyl, made up of Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas, is one of the best works that was ever recorded in these Pampas: a unique musical picture of Buenos Aires as the year goes by, of its streets, its buildings, its grey sky, its nostalgia, the haste one perceives when walking its crowded avenues. The life of a big city has never been so well transmitted as in Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas. After listening to that, I can die in peace.’

Astor Piazzolla, on the release of his LP En Vivo en el Regina and the live recording of The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.

Artists: Daniel, Drake, Gotlibovitch, Ketler, Kitaya, Marković, Mitchell, Nisinman, Sitkovetsky, Szymanski, Vaernes Lewis

 

Wednesday 1 October 2008 at 7:45pm

Opening concert: Souvenir della bell’Italia

Jacqueline du Pré Music Building

Vivaldi    Trio Sonata in D minor, Op.1 No.12 (La Follia)
Stravinsky    Suite Italienne
Nino Rota    Trio for clarinet, cello and piano
Tchaikovsky    Souvenir de Florence, Op.70

Souvenir de Florence ‘Worst ever: somewhere in France, all getting lost in the famous fugue. Best ever: the Oxford version, right place, right people.’

Vladimir Mendelssohn

‘What is the fatal charm of Italy? What do we find there that can be found nowhere else? I believe it is a certain permission to be human which other places, other countries, lost long ago.’

Erica Jong

Artists: Ben-Ziony, Cohen, Drake, Halevi, Kitaya, Owen, Mitchell, Mendelssohn, Sitkovetsky, Vaernes Lewis

 

Thursday 2 October 2008 at 1:00pm

‘Violino Diavolo’

Holywell Music Room

Tartini    Sonata in G minor (Devil’s Trill)
Ginastera    Pampeana No.1: rhapsody for violin and piano
Ravel    Tzigane
Paganini    Caprice No.24
Milone    Fantasie on Themes from Bizet’s Carmen

Tartini wrote the ‘Devil’s Trill’ inspired by a dream in which the Devil appeared to him and begged to be his pupil. Their lessons ended, the Devil played with frightening virtuosity and skill. Immediately Tartini woke up he wrote down the sonata, trying to recapture what he had heard in his dream. But what he wrote, he said, was ‘so inferior to what he had heard that he wanted to break his violin and abandon music forever’.

‘The apparition was so bewildering to the senses, that in order not to become delirious I covered my ears and shut my eyes.’

Heinrich Heine, on hearing Paganini

Artists: Cohen, Ketler, Kuusisto, Mendelssohn, Mitchell, Nisinman, Owen, Rowland, Sitkovetsky

 

Thursday 2 October 2008 at 7:45pm

Tango Sensation

Holywell Music Room

Marcello    Oboe Concerto in D minor
Rossini    Sonata a quattro No.1 in G major
Elgar    Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84
Piazzolla    Five Tango Sensations, for bandoneón and string quartet

The inspiration for Elgar’s quintet: a copse of bare trees, sad and sinister, associated by local legend with evil Spanish monks who practised sacreligious ceremonies under the lightning-struck branches, and whose punishment was to be cast into these static forms of longing, regret and remorse.

‘I play with violence; my bandoneón must sing and scream. I can’t conceive of pastel tones in tango.’

Astor Piazzolla

‘Last Round is a sublimated tango dance. Two quartets confront each other… The bows fly in the air as inverted legs in criss-crossed choreography, always attracting and repelling each other, always in danger of clashing, always avoiding it with the immutability that can only be acquired by transforming hot passion into pure passion.’

Osvaldo Golijov

Artists: Ben-Ziony, Cohen, Daniel, Drake, Kitaya, Kuusisto, Marković, Mendelssohn, Mitchell, Nisinman, Shehata, Sitkovetsky, Vaernes Lewis

Tickets: £17.50 concessions £15

Late-night supper for Patrons, Angels, Friends and artists at The Vaults. For bookings please contact the OCMF office (0845 652 0762 / friends@ocmf.net)

 

Friday 3 October 2008 at 1:00pm

Fandango

Holywell Music Room

Bottesini    Grand Duo Concertant for violin, double-bass and strings
Granados    Piano Quintet in G minor
Soler    Fandango
Boccherini    “Fandango” Quintet No. 4 in D major for guitar and strings, G. 448

Fandango: a style of flamenco music and dance which arose as a dance of courtship in Andalusia in the early 18th century. Soler’s dazzling piece mimics the dancers’ ever-increasing closeness, quickening and intensifying towards the end.

‘When I played the Bottesini for the first time I didn’t realise until after the performance that the bass player had had a few drinks and wasn’t completely sober... luckily the audience loved it! I think that’s because it’s a great combination of characters and voices, full of comedy and theatre.‘

Sasha Sitkovetsky

Artists: Ben-Ziony, Cohen, Ketler, Kuusisto, Marković, Mendelssohn, Mitchell, Nisinman, Shehata, Szymanski, Sitkovetsky, Vaernes Lewis

 

Friday 3 October 2008 at 7:00pm

Piazzolla in Portrait

Holywell Music Room

7:00pm: Film, concert and tango performance at the Holywell Music Room

Extracts from the film Astor Piazzolla in Portrait, BBC/Opus Arte, director Mike Dibb, 2005

A fascinating exploration of Piazzolla’s musical influence around the world and of his turbulent, complicated personal and professional life through interviews with Piazzolla himself, his family and friends, and with contributions from other performers drawn to his music including Daniel Barenboim, Yo-Yo Ma and the Kronos Quartet.

Including

• Live music by Piazzolla’s protégé Marcelo Nisinman, who will talk and answer questions from the audience
• World Premiere of 4 o’clock (am) TANGO by Marcelo Nisinman
• Tango performance with the Festival band

8:45pm (approx): Cocktails, supper and more music at The Vaults Restaurant

 

Artists: Drake, Halevi, Ketler, Mendelssohn, Nisinman, Rowland, Shehata, Vaernes Lewis

 

Saturday 4 October 2008 at 11:30am

Latin Brunch

Jacqueline du Pré Music Building

11:30am A brunch buffet will be served in the foyer (included in the ticket price)

12:15pm

Piazzolla    Histoire du Tango, for violin and guitar
Villa-Lobos    Songs from Canções típicas brasileiras
Granados    Songs from Tonadillas
Golijov    The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind,
for klezmer clarinet and string quartet (1994)

‘When I first approached Golijov’s Dreams I felt as if I were entering a secret garden. To be able to play it I had to look inside myself, to change the rules a little bit, learn a new language. It’s a very special piece, huge and fascinating.’

Chen Halevi

Brunch concerts have become a feature of the festival, an opportunity to enjoy two of life’s great pleasures – exciting music and Marianne Bruel’s delicious food.

‘I love doing this every year. It makes me very happy to sustain the musicians throughout their intense rehearsals and performances.’

Marianne Bruel – The Rose, 51 High Street

Artists: Daniel, Drake, Halevi, Kuusisto, Mendelssohn, Mitchell, Mouriz, Rowland, Sitkovetsky, Szymanski, Vaernes Lewis

 

Saturday 4 October 2008 at 7:45pm

Last Tango

The University Church of St Mary the Virgin

Vivaldi    The Four Seasons (chamber version)
Piazzolla    The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires

‘When we met for the first time, I rang at the door of his house in Punta del Este in Uruguay. There was a warning about dangerous dogs … instead the door opened and there he was, Astor Piazzolla. Since then many of ‘life’s doors’ have started to open for me. It was pure ART. And the message many times he told me: “No risk. No life.” ’

Marcelo Nisinman

‘The genius of Vivaldi and Piazzolla... these eight seasons make me want to cry, laugh and dance every time.’

Priya Mitchell

Artists: Ben-Ziony, Cohen, Ketler, Kitaya, Kuusisto, Marković, Mendelssohn, Mitchell, Nisinman, Sitkovetsky, Szymanski, Vaernes Lewis