CYPRUS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
PREMIERE 1
Lefkosia: Wednesday 13 October 2021
Pallas Theatre, Pafos Gate, 20:30
Larnaka: Thursday 14 October 2021
Larnaka Municipal Theatre, 20:30
Pafos: Friday 15 October 2021
Markideio Municipal Theatre, 20:30
Α musical encounter of our honourary conductor Alkis Baltas with both, the CySO and Savvas Lagou, one of its violinists and the featured soloist in Mozart’s Third Violin Concerto. Distinctive for its gracefully ornate solo writing, especially in the cadenzas, this lightly orchestrated concerto is one of the five that Mozart wrote during his lifetime, all composed in 1775 at the early age of 19.
Our concert opens with yet another classical delight: Joseph Haydn’s exquisitely vivacious and lyrical Overture in D major, written two years later in 1777.
“Triptychon” by Alkis Baltas will be receiving its Cyprus premiere in this programme. Commissioned in 1978 by a German company, it was premiered in Berlin the same year, by an orchestra consisting of members of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, under the direction of the composer. It is distinguished for its use of contrapuntal techniques within a more contemporary style.
Τhe Suite no. 2 is one of the earliest examples of Stravinsky's emerging neoclassical tendencies and ranks among his lightest and most amusing works.
Joseph Haydn: Overture in D major, Hob.la:7
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Violin concerto no. 3 in G major, K. 216
Alkis Baltas: Triptychon [Cyprus premiere]
Igor Stravinsky: Suites no. 1 & 2
Soloist: Savvas Lagou (violin)
Conductor: Alkis Baltas
Supporters: Larnaka Municipality, Pafos Municipality
Ticket prices:
Stalls Premium Seats: €18 / €14 (concession)
Stalls Regular Seats: €13 / €10 (concession)
Balcony: €8 / €6 (concession)
Season Tickets for Premiere Series
6 concerts (only for the Lefkosia concerts)
Stalls Premium Seats €90
Stalls Regular Seats €60
Balcony €42
Concessions available to: Students, soldiers, pensioners, large and five-member families on presentation of ID.
Free Entrance for people with disabilities.
Ticket presales: - Online at www.cyso.org.cy and at the box office before the concert if no restrictive measures apply.
- Pallas Theatre Box Office: every Wednesday 16:00-19:00.
Pallas Theatre, Pafos Gate (Rigainis and Arsinois corner, 1010 Lefkosia, 22 410181)
Larnaka Municipal Theatre (Leonida Kioupi, Larnaka, 24 665794)
Markideio Municipal Theatre (Andrea Geroudi 27, 8010 Pafos, 26 222286)
ALKIS BALTAS
He was born in Thessaloniki. He studied violin and theory of music at the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki. In 1974 he graduated from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with a degree in Law. He continued his musical education at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin, from where he graduated with a diploma in composition and conducting.
From 1983 to 1992 he was the Artistic Director of the Thessaloniki State Orchestra. From 1994 to 1997 he was the Artistic Director of the Greek National Opera. During the period 1997-1999 he was the Artistic Director of the Music Ensembles of the Greek Radio. From 2004 to 2008 the Municipality of Corfu assigned him the artistic direction of the Symphony Orchestra of the Municipality of Corfu. Since May 2010 he has been the Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu. From 2001 to 2019 he was the Artistic Director of the Patmos Sacred Music Festival entitled "The Holy Revelation of Music".
From 2011 to 2017 he was Artistic Director of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra of which he is currently Honorary Conductor. Since 1990 he has been the Artistic Director of the "Music College" of Thessaloniki. From 1992 to 2011 he taught orchestration and conducting at the Department of Musicology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He was the Artistic Director of the Contemporary Conservatory in Thessaloniki (1986 – 1988) and the Hellenic Conservatory in Athens (1998 - 2012).
Alkis Baltas is a member of the Greek Composers’ Union. Many of his works (chamber music, choral, orchestral, operas, etc.) have been performed in Greece and abroad. His compositions have received awards in Greek and international competitions (Italy, Spain). He has released 18 CDs which include many of his compositions.
As a conductor, he has performed with all Greek orchestras and has given many concerts abroad (Italy, France, England, Spain, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Cyprus, former Soviet Union, Turkey, USA, Argentina, Qatar, Australia, etc.).
SAVVAS LAGOU
Savvas Lagou was born in Larnaka, Cyprus, in 1991. He began violin lessons at the age of 9 at the annex of the Conservatoire of East Attica in Larnaka, from where he graduated in 2009. At the age of 19, Savvas became a student of Sorin Alexandru Horlea, who has been his major influence as a musician and violinist.
After studying with Magdalena Filipczak for a year, Savvas secured various scholarships for his Bachelor studies at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance where he enrolled in 2013. During his time at Trinity Laban he studied with Andrew Sherwood, and participated in master classes with Zsolt-Tihamer Visontay and Remus Azoitei.
In April 2014, Savvas performed as a soloist with the Somerset Youth Symphony Orchestra and in May of the same year with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra in Larnaka and Lefkosia.
Savvas continued his studies in 2016 as an MA student at the Royal Academy of Music in London under Mateja Marinkovic and Jack Liebeck, graduating with distinction. During his studies at the Academy, he also received coaching in chamber music from the Doric String Quartet and Levon Chilingirian.
Savvas is currently a full time member in the 2nd violins section of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, as well as a co-leader in the 1st violins of the newly formed Cyprus Chamber Orchestra.
He is a founding member of the Fusionia Quartet, formed in 2018, with which he has performed at the Kypria International Festival 2019. Savvas has also participated in festivals of classical and world music in Cyprus, Greece, Belgium, Italy, Romania, Slovenia and England.
PROGRAMME NOTES
Joseph Haydn (1732–1809): Overture in D major, Hob.la:7
Tonight’s concert opens with a classical delight: Joseph Haydn’s exquisitely vivacious and lyrical Overture in D major, written in 1777. This is the year we find Haydn fully preoccupied with his duties as Kapellmeister at the Esterházy court. Most of his time was spent at the magnificent castle Eszterháza in Hungary (the ‘Hungarian Versailles’) which prince Nicolaus favored over his other residences. These very long stays at Eszterháza were linked to Nicolaus’s full reorganization of the theatrical entertainment there. The prince requested a regular amusement season each year, enriched with opera, stage plays, and marionette operas; in principle, there was theatrical entertainment every evening the prince was in residence.
Sir Robbins Landon, the eminent British musicologist, suggested that this 167-measure overture served as an instrumental prologue to one of Haydn’s lost marionette operas. But this was not the only incarnation of the work. Haydn also used it as the Finale to Symphony No. 53 in the place of an earlier Capriccio (1775). However, later he went back on his decision and revised the music one final time to use it as the opening Allegro of Symphony No. 62.
Wonderfully poised between exuberance and elegance, this marvelous jewel invites us to the delights of a piquant soirée at one of the most glorious 18th-century Austro-Hungarian courtyards. Vibrant, charming, and dispersed with fast energetic passages, the overture makes an effective curtain-raiser, an ideal beginning of an exciting evening!
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791): Violin concerto no. 3 in G major, K. 216
Besides admiring Mozart as the greatest musical genius that ever lived, we think of him as an exceptionally fine piano virtuoso. Few know, however, that he was also a violinist of considerable skill who used to serve as court violinist – even as concertmaster – in his early career in Salzburg.
Although it was believed that Mozart wrote all his five violin concertos in 1775 (during which he served as concertmaster at the Salzburg court), more recent musicological research indicates that the first one might date from 1773. Remarkably, after his vast interest in the violin concerto in 1775, the composer did not return to this genre again.
The Violin Concerto no. 3 was the second that Mozart composed in 1775, and it demonstrates his extraordinary creative skill and deep knowledge of the violin even at age 19. It features three movements, each being in a different tempo, and each meant to highlight the virtuosity and proficiency of the violin soloist. Indeed, at the end of each movement, the violinist engages in demanding, elaborated cadenzas.
The first movement (Allegro) reveals its ties to the operatic world since the opening theme also appears in the aria ‘Aer tranquillo e dì sereni’ from Mozart’s opera Il rè pastore, composed four months earlier than the concerto. So operatic is the particular section that it breaks into a brief recitative for solo violin just before the return of the main theme in this sonata-form movement.
Coming across as a lyrical aria for violin, the Adagio instills a tranquil atmosphere, with its muted and pizzicato strings highlighting the beauty of the solo violin lines. The Rondeau (Rondo) finale, which re-establishes the instrumentation of the first movement, is marked by tempo and meter changes that support the character diversity of the rondo’s sections. Its theme (chorus) recurs triumphantly, replacing alternating sensational sections that include an elegiac minor passage as well as fragments of a vigorous Hungarian folksong.
Dr. Vassilis Kallis
Alkis Baltas: Triptychon [Cyprus premiere]
Τhe work was composed in Berlin in 1978 as a commission by a german company to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its foundation. Conducted by the composer himself, the work was premiered in 1978 in Berlin, by an orchestra made up of members of the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
In Greece, “Triptychon” has been performed by the Athens State Orchestra, Thessaloniki State Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra of the Greek Radio and Television. It has been recorded by the Orchestra of Colours.
The composition consists three parts:
1) In the first movement (Allegro moderato), the first theme is introduced by the flute followed by its extensive development. After a brief bridge by the solo clarinet, the second theme (Poco meno) is heard, thereby developed through contrapuntal techniques, mainly those of the passacaglia and the canon. The first theme reappears, followed by the coda, which is based on both themes.
2) The second movement (Andante) begins with the strings and continues with the wind instruments. In the middle section of the movement the technique of passacaglia is extensively used. Each instrument plays a melodic motif that is being continuously repeated. Instruments are introduced one after the other into the texture, and likewise they take off once they have completed their motif. The solo cello leads into the next section that is in fact an exposition of the first section, with the winds initiating the section and the strings following. The sections come to a quiet closure with the tutti.
3) The third movement (Allegro moderato) starts with a brief introduction that leads to the rapid first theme (Allegro). The opening melody is heard again, followed by the second theme, which has a strong rhythmic character. Both themes are thereafter combined with the opening melody and are extensively developed. The final section (Pesante) is played by the full orchestra, whereby the opening melody, performed forte takes on the character of enthusiastic, glorifying song.
Alkis Baltas
Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971): Suites no. 1 & 2
In June 1920, Stravinsky settled with his family in Paris, leaving his homeland Russia behind forever. The experience of forced emigration had a profound effect on the composer, as it triggered a change in his musical style, a conscious reaction to the lost connection to the homeland (memories, language, subconscious). Milan Kundera, the renowned Czech writer, believed that emigration erased Russia for Stravinsky. Beginning in the early 1920s and lasting for several years, Western Europe would become the actual and spiritual home for the composer. That provoked a creative orientation towards neoclassicism, the stylistic current that involved the impulse to revive (and adapt to the modernist aesthetic) the Classical musical style.
Both suites in tonight’s program, enchanting and gently satirical, display Stravinsky’s neoclassic tendencies. Their source material comes from two sets of easy piano duets intended for the composer’s two children, written between 1914–15 and 1917 in Switzerland. Suite no. 2, originated in the earlier piano duets set, was the first to be completed in 1921. Its four movements (March, Valse, Polka, and Galop) are rhythmically varied and extremely witty.
Suite no. 1, which draws its material from the 1917 set, was completed four years later. It comprises an introduction-like Andante and three delightfully ‘coloful’ national dances: Espagnola, Napolitana, and Balalaika.
Dr. Vassilis Kallis
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