Every summer since 1994, deep in the heart of the Alps in the village of Verbier, Switzerland, the Verbier Festival has literally made the hills come alive with the Sound of Great Classical Music. Year round, the renowned Verbier Festival Academy is the crucible into which aspiring Classical Musicians enter to acquire knowledge and experience at the hands of the current Grand Masters of Classical Music. How did this all get started? here is a brief excerpt from the History Page of the Verbier Festival Website:
A success chronicle
In the early nineties, after twelve years working as an artists’ agent, Martin T:son Engstroem had an ambitious idea-to create a summer festival in the heart of the Swiss Alps, far from the major cities where most festivals take place. Verbier had the intimate atmosphere he felt was necessary to encourage musical excellence, and at the same time be open to the world. He imagined a festival with a resident youth orchestra and an academy where renowned artists would teach the next generation and audiences would have a wide choice of activities from early morning until late at night. In 1994, his vision became a reality.
With help from his friend Avi Shoshani, Secretary General of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the first season’s line-up was spectacular. Evgeny Kissin gave his first piano recital, and violinist Maxim Vengerov ended his concert with the audience gathered around him on stage - a magical moment of pure intimacy. Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Mischa Maisky, Gidon Kremer, Yefim Bronfman, Yuri Bashmet and Frans Helmerson were also present, and the Festival’s musical family began to take shape. In this idyllic setting, artists who had never played together before agreed to collaborate in programmes of original chamber music--the now-famous “Rencontres Inédites”.
The Verbier Festival Academy’s reputation also began to grow: with legends such as Isaac Stern teaching the very young David Garrett and Renaud Capuçon, long before they became household names. Music poured out from everywhere in Verbier – even from the mountain-tops – in true festival style!
In the early nineties, after twelve years working as an artists’ agent, Martin T:son Engstroem had an ambitious idea-to create a summer festival in the heart of the Swiss Alps, far from the major cities where most festivals take place. Verbier had the intimate atmosphere he felt was necessary to encourage musical excellence, and at the same time be open to the world. He imagined a festival with a resident youth orchestra and an academy where renowned artists would teach the next generation and audiences would have a wide choice of activities from early morning until late at night. In 1994, his vision became a reality.
With help from his friend Avi Shoshani, Secretary General of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the first season’s line-up was spectacular. Evgeny Kissin gave his first piano recital, and violinist Maxim Vengerov ended his concert with the audience gathered around him on stage - a magical moment of pure intimacy. Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Mischa Maisky, Gidon Kremer, Yefim Bronfman, Yuri Bashmet and Frans Helmerson were also present, and the Festival’s musical family began to take shape. In this idyllic setting, artists who had never played together before agreed to collaborate in programmes of original chamber music--the now-famous “Rencontres Inédites”.
The Verbier Festival Academy’s reputation also began to grow: with legends such as Isaac Stern teaching the very young David Garrett and Renaud Capuçon, long before they became household names. Music poured out from everywhere in Verbier – even from the mountain-tops – in true festival style!
Your Feature Musical Presentation today then is from the 2011 Verbier Festival and the recording of a live Concert Telecast of Chamber Music to open the Festival. The playbill for today's performance reads like a Who's Who of Classical Music:
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio 2, op. 66 (Yuja Wang, Leonidas Kavakos, Gautier Capuçon)
Ysaÿe: Sonata for Two Violins (Leonidas Kavakos, Joshua Bell)
Monti: Csardas (Denis Matsuev, Julian Rachlin, Roby Lakatos)
Brahms: Piano Quartet, op. 25 (Mischa Maisky, Evgeny Kissin, Vadim Repin, Yuri Bashmet)
Lutoslawski: Paganini Variations (Martha Argerich, Evgeny Kissin)
Ysaÿe: Sonata for Two Violins (Leonidas Kavakos, Joshua Bell)
Monti: Csardas (Denis Matsuev, Julian Rachlin, Roby Lakatos)
Brahms: Piano Quartet, op. 25 (Mischa Maisky, Evgeny Kissin, Vadim Repin, Yuri Bashmet)
Lutoslawski: Paganini Variations (Martha Argerich, Evgeny Kissin)
Meanwhile over on my tumblr, from Verbier Festival 2014 the final weekend opened
with a chamber concert celebrating one of those musical partnerships
that brings years of history with it. British cellist Steven Isserlis
and American violinist Joshua Bell came together with pianist Marc-Andre
Hamelin to create a starry classical supergroup. Brahms’ Trio No. 1 in B Major is one of the great works of the chamber repertoire – a miniature
that packs symphonic scope and weight into its slight frame, setting
cello and violin in an impassioned dialogue. Isserlis’s instinctual
style shares little with Bell’s polished sweetness of delivery except an
expressiveness that both arrive at by very different means. In this performance, Isserlis responded to the music’s every mercurial twitch and glance with
vivid shifts, leading us in movement and muscular tone from the fugal
Bach-inspired moments of the Allegro to its expansive moments of
lyricism. Bell’s approach to performance is more crafted, but was no
less striking in scope or depth.
Finally on this Friday, please remember to check out the freakin' fiery hot Fantasy Fuel found in the post below and in the Hottie of the Day! Thanks for the visit today, be sure to stop in for tomorrow's Saturday Evening Concert when I have another fabulous live performance lined up featuring the Music of Antonio Vivaldi presented in a whole new way. We'll see you there! Until next time as always, Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment