CYPRUS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - ACROSS EUROPE, ACROSS ERAS

 

CYPRUS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

ACROSS EUROPE, ACROSS ERAS

Lefkosia: Thursday 22 April 2021

Pallas Theatre, Pafos Gate, 20:30

Larnaka: Friday 23 April 2021

Municipal Theatre, 20:30

Within the framework of the Larnaca Municipality Festival of Classical Music

Three works drawn from across Europe - east, west and central – and spanning three centuries and musical eras make up this gripping programme, directed by the distinguished Greek conductor Andreas Tselikas.

The programme opens with the symphonic poem Khirokitia by Cypriot composer Giorgos Karvellos, premiered by the CySO in November 2017. Khirokitia conjures up an image of this Neolithic settlement recalling primordial memories and historical experience of 9000 years. It is written in a tonal musical idiom, whereby the composer incorporates and develops rhythmic and melodic elements from the musical tradition of Cyprus.

The hugely popular Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Melodies) by the Spanish violin virtuoso-composer Pablo de Sarasate, encapsulates the Hungarian gypsy spirit with elegance and dazzling virtuosity. Ayșe Karaoǧlan, CySO musician in the 1st violins, is the featured soloist in this showpiece.

Τhe mixture of dramatic and comic elements, the intense energy, grandiosity and unusually large-scale form for a classical period symphony are presumably the qualities thanks to which the nickname “Jupiter” was given to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s last symphony no. 41 (1788). The nickname was most probably given by the musician, theatre director and impresario Johann Peter Salomon and first appeared in print in Edinburgh in 1819.

Giorgos Karvellos: Khirokitia, symphonic poem

Pablo de Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Melodies), op. 20

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony no. 41 in C major, K. 551 (“Jupiter”)

Soloist: Ayșe Karaoǧlan (violin)

Conductor: Andreas Tselikas

Ticket prices: €12, €7 (18-26 yrs, pensioners), €5 (under 18)

Ticket presales: · Οnline at cyso.interticket.com

· For the concert in Lefkosia, tickets will also be available at Pallas Theatre Box Office every Wednesday 16:00-19:00.

· Τickets will not be available at the theatres box office on the concert day.

Pallas Theatre, Pafos Gate (Rigainis and Arsinois corner, 1010 Lefkosia, 22 410181)

Larnaka Municipal Theatre (Leonida Kioupi, Larnaka, 24 665794

ANDREAS TSELIKAS

Conductor

Born in Athens, he studied violin with N. Bargerstock-Toufexi, music composition and conducting with Theodore Antoniou. He earned his BMus at the Hellenic-American University in music composition, and then continued his postgraduate studies in orchestral conducting and music composition at the Music University of Vienna under the guidance of L. Hager-E. Acel and H. Lauermann. He attended master-classes conducting symphony and chamber orchestras in the US, Austria and Romania.

He has conducted orchestras such as the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, Thessaloniki State SO, Greek National Opera Orchestra, Greek Radio Orchestra of Contemporary Music, Athens Municipality Chamber Orchestra, Athens Municipality SO, Chamber Orchestra of Tirana, Oradea State SO, Satu Mare State SO, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio SO, Amarante SO, and Pazardhjik State SO.

He won three times the first prize at the International Competition for Orchestral Conducting (Vienna Musikseminar, 2001, 2004, 2005) and the ‘Encouragement Award’ at the International Conducting Sibelius Competition (Helsinki, 2005).

Since 2006 he is permanent conductor of the Athens Municipality Symphony Orchestra, and from 2006-2011 has been associate conductor at the Greek National Opera.

His music is regularly performed by well-known music ensembles and recorded for “SUBWAYS” recording company.

AYŞE KARAOĞLAN

Turkish Cypriot Violinist Ayşe Karaoğlan was born in Pentayia. After completing her primary education in Lefke Primary school she went to Ankara State Conservatorium in Turkey and migrated to Australia in 1986 with her family where she continued her education.

Her academic achievements include a 1992 Graduate Diploma in Violin Performance (with High Distinction) from the Sydney Conservatorium under Prof. Charmian Gadd, and a 1989 Diploma (with Distinction) from the State Conservatorium of Music under Prof.Chris Kimber. As a student she has frequently performed as a soloist with Sydney Conservatorium Symhony Orchestra. She has also attented master classes with Valery Klimov, Igor Ozim, Alice Shonfield and Mintcho Minchev.

Her prior professional experience includes engagements as casual violinist at the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra (Sydney Opera House 1991-1995) and at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (1990-1992). In addition she has also served in that same capacity at the Australian National Ensemble (1989-1990) and at the Sydney Bach Orchestra (1987-1990).

She has been the Associate Concertmaster at the Ankara State Opera and Ballet between 2001-2007 where she has also been a member of the first violin section since 1995. She has also performed at Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 2005.

As a soloist, Ayşe Karaoglan has performed with the Philarmonia Orchestra of London in the Kypria Festival 2004, with Oxford Philarmonic Orchestra in Cyprus and London for the 50th anniversary of Republic of Cyprus in 2010 and gave numerous recitals in Turkey both as soloist and as part of a string quartet.

Since 2007, she is a member of the first violins section of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra. She also performs with the Cyprus Chamber Orchestra and is the violinist of Aeterna Piano Trio

PROGRAMME NOTES

Giorgos Karvellos (b. 1964, Larnaka)

Composer Giorgos Karvellos studied music at the Charles University in Prague (1988 – 1993). His output extends to a wide range of musical genres, from symphonic music to chamber music and music for the theatre and films.

Many of his works have been performed in Cyprus and abroad by orchestras such as the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the State Symphony Orchestra of the Ukraine and other musical ensembles. Among others, he has composed for the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation, the Cyprus Theatre Organisation, ETHAL and “Antilogos” Theatre companies. Many of his compositions have been performed in important events such as the Concert for the Bulgarian accession to the European Union (Sofia, 2007), “Cypriot Spring” in Munich, European Capital of Culture “Kosice 2013”, “Cyprus Miniatures” in Berlin, Kypria International Festival, a.o. He is a member of the Centre of Cypriot Composers.

Giorgos KARVELLOS: Khirokitia, symphonic poem

From the remains of the Neolithic Settlement of Khirokitia countless 9.000 years old anthropomorphic (human form representations) figurines slowly emerge! They rise up and come to life. They gaze at the landscape, their land. They exclaim “Have a good day…” and start to dance a simple yet majestic dance. Then, they take a look at today and ponder over yesterday. They recall primordial memories, countless experiences: survival, water, life, death, love, war, pain…

They return to the subsoil of the settlement. The ritual comes to an end. An eternal ritual in order to remember and to remind.

The settlement of Khirokitia, a monument of word heritage, has always inspired me both as a location and as idea. For me, it is a source of Cypriot consciousness, preserved and silently transmitted for thousands of years to the people of this land.

The work Khirokitia was composed in 2017 and was premiered by the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra in November of the same year. The work is written in a tonal musical idiom in which I have incorporated and developed rhythmic and melodic elements from the musical tradition of our country.

Giorgos Karvellos

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756–1791): Symphony no. 41 in C major, K. 551 (“Jupiter”)

Symphony no. 41 is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s final, largest in scale, and most profound symphony. Alongside symphonies no. 39 and 40, it was composed in the span of only nine weeks in the summer of 1778. Unfortunately, Mozart’s premature death prevented him from hearing any of his last three symphonies performed publicly during his lifetime.

Symphony no.41 is characterised by an emotional range that was by no means familiar to the classical era’s audience, and thus it is considered a forerunner of the much more dramatic masterworks of romanticism. The grandiosity and authority of the symphony, is perhaps the reason behind its nickname Jupiter, given by the German violinist and impresario Johann Peter Salomon, who also described it as ‘the highest triumph of instrumental composition’.

The “Jupiter” Symphony is distinct from Mozart's previous works, since the composer was more concerned with thematic content, mature orchestrations and compositional complexity. Even though the work varies in its intensity and emotions, all the thematic material is somehow interrelated.

The opening Allegro movement, composed in sonata form, is powerful and assertive. The two middle movements musically exploit ideas from the opening movement, with a Sarabande featuring in Andante cantabile, and the Austrian folk dance Ländler characterising the third movement. However, it is the marvellous finale that has provoked the most remarkable praise. George Grove suggested that Mozart used all his skills in writing the finale, as if he knew it was his last, stating that ‘nowhere has he achieved more’. Here, Mozart in a genius manner creates a fusion of baroque counterpoint techniques with well-balanced themes of the classical era. At the climax of the work, we hear five melodies sounding against each other, controlled supremely by the composer, allowing the audience to thoroughly enjoy every aspect of the composition.

Pablo de SARASATE (1844–1908): Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Melodies), op. 20

Pablo de Sarasate was a Spaniard composer, who was mainly known as one of the most accomplished violinists of his time. Indeed, many composers, including Antonín Dvořák and Camille Saint-Saëns, composed pieces dedicated to Sarasate, which he frequently performed to show off his legendary virtuosity.

In 1878, Sarasate composed Zigeunerweisen in order to demonstrate his skills via his own composition, characterised by dazzling virtuosic passages and exquisite elegance, and based on Hungarian folk and gypsy music, as the title indicates. According to Boris Schwarz, Sarasate’s own playing, was ‘distinguished by sweetness and purity of tone […]His technique was assured, and his intonation was precise, especially in high positions’, all of which are much demanded skills for the performance of this showpiece.

Even though Sarasate was familiar with Spanish gypsy music at an early age, it is the Hungarian form of gypsy sound that inspired him when composing Zigeunerweisen, also heavily influenced by both Johannes Brahms and Franz Liszt. The mournful melodies, the expressiveness, and vitality of the Roma melodies are all showcased in this work. Towards the end of the piece, he even uses a theme from Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody no. 13 and the characteristic Hungarian form of the csárdás with its slow beginning (‘lassú’) and faster, climactic continuation (‘friss’). Zigeunerweisen is written as a single movement piece, but it is thematically divided into four sections, characterised by various string techniques, including long spiccato runs, pizzicato, double stops, and artificial harmonics. Zigeunerweisen certainly remains an extreme challenge for the soloist; at the same time it is an exquisite delight for the audience.

Dr. Christina Michael

www.cyso.org.cy