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to the Grand Hall.
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In association with Consulate General of Switzerland in Hong Kong
Supported by Mr. Kuang-Hsiang Lin
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PROGRAMME
DEBUSSY / KEREN
Fireworks - Prelude for Piano (Asia Premiere)
MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 Allegro molto appassionato Andante Allegretto non troppo - Allegro molto vivace Viktoria Mullova, violin
15-minute Intermission
GERSHWIN / KEREN Variations on themes from Porgy and Bess (HK Premiere) Mara Miribung, cello BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93 Allegro vivace e con brio Allegretto scherzando Tempo di Menuetto Allegro vivace MUSIC IN WORDS A dialogue with David Greilsammer Prof. Daniel Chua, moderator (Chairperson, Department of Music, HKU)
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BIOGRAPHY GENEVA CAMERATA Audacious, innovative, and adventurous, the Geneva Camerata (GECA) is composed of the most brilliant and creative soloists of the young generation. Praised by the press as one of the world's most captivating ensembles, GECA performs music of all periods and styles, from baroque and classical to contemporary, electronic, jazz, rock, and world music. In addition, the Geneva Camerata creates eclectic multidisciplinary projects, bringing together music, dance, theatre, video, circus, and visual arts. Led by conductor David Greilsammer, GECA collaborates regularly with today's most prestigious soloists, such as Emmanuel Pahud, Gautier Capuçon, Steven Isserlis, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Christian Tetzlaff, Nemanja Radulovi , Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Andreas Scholl, Anne Sofie von Otter, Thomas Hampson, Véronique Gens, Avi Avital, and Francesco Tristano. The orchestra has also performed with many celebrated jazz artists, such as Richard Galliano, Didier Lockwood, Tigran Hamasyan, Jacky Terrasson, and Shai Maestro. During the 2018-19 season, GECA performs with soprano Patricia Petibon, violinists Viktoria Mullova and Gil Shaham, cellists Nicolas Altstaedt and Pieter Wispelwey, jazz saxophonist Émile Parisien, accordionist Vincent Peirani, actress Isabelle Adjani, rock singer Aubrey Logan, Illusionist Philippe Beau, stage director and choreographer Yoann Bourgeois, as well as dancer Juan Kruz Diaz de Garaio Esnaola. As part of its recent touring, the Geneva Camerata has given concerts at the Berliner Philharmonie, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Kings Place in London, Montreux Jazz Festival, Rheingau Festival, Istanbul Music Festival, NCPA in Beijing, Oriental Art Center in Shanghai, and Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico. Hailed by the international press, the orchestra's debut album, Sounds of Transformation was released by Sony Classical in 2018. This audacious disc, recorded with jazz pianist Yaron Herman, presents a fascinating journey between classical and jazz. This season, the GECA will embark on two tours to Asia and South America, in addition to making its debut at the prestigious Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The orchestra will also present on tour 'Dance of the Sun', an innovative choreographic show in which the musicians play by memory and dance simultaneously.
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DAVID GREILSAMMER, Music and Artistic Director Known for his eclectic and fascinating programmes, conductor and pianist David Greilsammer is recognised as one of today's most audacious classical artists. The New York Times has recently awarded two of David Greilsammer's albums as Recording of the Year, in addition to selecting his solo recital 'Scarlatti:Cage:Sonatas' as one of the ten most important musical events of the year. Known as a unique interpreter of both baroque and contemporary music, David Greilsammer is also celebrated for his Mozart performances. He has performed in Paris all of Mozart's piano sonatas in a one-day 'marathon' and in © Julien Mignot recent years, he has played and conducted in Geneva all of Mozart's twenty-seven piano concertos, in one season. David Greilsammer has released four recordings on the Naïve label and three prize-winning albums on the Sony Classical label. Since 2013, David Greilsammer serves as Music and Artistic Director of the Geneva Camerata (GECA). With this adventurous ensemble, he gives over thirty-five concerts per season, including international tours that have taken him and the ensemble to venues such as the Berliner Philharmonie, Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Kings Place in London, NCPA in Beijing, Oriental Art Center in Shanghai, and Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico. David Greilsammer and GECA regularly collaborate with dancers, choreographers, actors, visual artists, as well as jazz, world, rock, and folk musicians. David Greilsammer has recently performed as guest conductor/soloist with the BBC Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, Hamburg Symphony, Milano La Verdi Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Mexico National Symphony Orchestra, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony. He has also given solo recitals at the Wigmore Hall in London, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Verbier Festival, Salle Flagey in Brussels, Mostly Mozart Festival in New York, and Kennedy Center in Washington.
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BIOGRAPHY VIKTORIA MULLOVA, violin One of the world's greatest violin virtuosos, Viktoria Mullova's musical horizons continue to expand. She has journeyed into the world of jazz and world music, she works regularly with period ensembles such as Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Il Giardino Armonico, Accademia Bizantina, and Venice Baroque as well as appearing each season with top international orchestras and conductors. Highlights of her 2017-18 season include the world premiere of Dusapin's 'At swim - Two birds' with Matthew Barley and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (Markus Stenz) and further performances with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale RAI (Henrik Nánási), Gewandhausorchester (Dima Sloboudeniouk), and Orchestre National de France © Henry Fair (Pascal Rophé). She tours Europe with Paavo Järvi and the Deutschekammerphilharmonie Bremen playing Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2, the Estonian Festival Orchestra for Brahms & Sibelius Violin Concertos and visits Asia with Geneva Camerata. With Matthew Barley, Paul Clarvis and João Luís Nogueira Pinto, Viktoria performs 'Stradivarius in Rio' in various locations. Her most recent project, 'Stradivarius in Rio' takes her to South America in which she explores the music of Brazil. A CD of the same name has been enthusiastically received and she is presenting the project in concerts throughout Europe. As well as her own projects, she has also commissioned works from composers such as Pascal Dusapin, Fraser Trainer, Thomas Larcher, and Dai Fujikura. Viktoria either plays on her 'Jules Falk' 1723 Stradivarius or a Guadagnini violin.
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MARA MIRIBUNG, cello Born in the midst of the Italian Alps, Mara Miribung began studying the cello at the Conservatorio di Bolzano. After completing her music degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with Raphael Wallfisch, she moved to Vienna where she participated in many different projects, ranging from solo performances to chamber music concerts. Mara Miribung's passion for historically informed performance practice led her towards completing a Master's Degree in Early Music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, studying baroque cello with Christophe Coin and Petr Skalka. A passionate chamber musician, she has given concerts with many groups all over Europe, South America, and Asia. In addition, she has collaborated with numerous orchestras, including Kammerorchester Basel, Geneva Camerata, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Camerata Varabile, Lautten Compagney Berlin, and Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa. An eclectic and curious artist, she has also participated in various musical theatre plays, such as Inferno in 2017, and The Girl from the Fog Machine Factory in 2018. Mara Miribung is based in Basel, Switzerland.
Biographies provided by the artists
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PROGRAMME NOTES
Fireworks – Prelude for Piano
CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918) / JONATHAN KEREN (1978-)
New arrangement for orchestra
This year, the entire world marks the 100th anniversary of the passing away of one of the greatest composers of history, Claude Debussy. At the start of the 20th century, this ingenious and unique composer invented a completely new musical language, while continuing, at the same time, to develop the extraordinary legacy of the French tradition. The piece you will hear tonight was written in 1909, as part of a collection of twenty-four Preludes for piano solo. Fireworks is a revolutionary piece in many ways, but first and foremost in its audacious harmonic and rhythmical exploration: indeed, Debussy decided
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to completely detach himself from the traditional harmonic rules and rhythmic structures, offering us a piece that is almost completely abstract. However, even in this abstraction, we can still recognize Debussy's personal language: a dreamy atmosphere, elegance, and clarity in every chord, as well as shiny and brilliant colours. This piece was composed as a tribute to the celebration of France's Independence Day – listen carefully and you will hear the blasting explosions of the imaginary fireworks, and, at the very end of the piece, a little fragment from the 'Marseillaise', France's national anthem.
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
Allegro molto appassionato Andante Allegretto non troppo - Allegro molto vivace One of the greatest masterpieces of the German Romantic era, Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor was originally composed for one of the most famous violinists of the time, Ferdinand David. This renowned soloist did not only give the world premiere of this concerto in Leipzig in 1845, but also followed the entire compositional process, by frequently visiting his friend Mendelssohn and closely working with him - offering him precious advice on how to make the piece even more impressive, captivating, and attractive. From its very first measures, the piece surprises the listener:Â instead of the traditional introduction that was usually played by the orchestra in every concerto
of the time, the composer presents here the soloist from the very beginning of the piece. After just a few seconds, we already hear the soloist playing one of the most beautiful and moving melodies ever composed in music history. The second movement is a refined, gracious, and intimate Andante in which the soloist plays as if it was a human voice, singing a simple and melancholic song. Inspired by folk music and popular dances, the last movement demands breath-taking virtuosity from the soloist, offering the audience a vigorous, witty, and thrilling conclusion to one of the most popular works of all time.
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PROGRAMME NOTES
Variations on themes from Porgy and Bess
GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898-1937) / JONATHAN KEREN (1978-) The Israeli composer, violinist, and arranger Jonathan Keren has been hailed by The New York Times as one of the most important voices of today's musical world. His works have been performed by the greatest orchestras, ensembles, and soloists around the world, and recorded for prestigious labels. Always interested in jazz and folk music, Jonathan Keren was commissioned by the Geneva Camerata to compose a new piece inspired by musical themes from George Gershwin's
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Porgy and Bess. Gershwin's ingenious opera, written in 1934, combined for the first time in history classical orchestral music, opera, jazz, Gospel Spirituals, and African-American folk songs. In his new composition, Jonathan Keren uses selected themes from Gershwin's opera in order to create, with tremendous imagination and refinement, a new piece for solo cello and orchestra. Tonight's performance will mark the piece's Hong Kong Premiere.
Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93 LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Allegro vivace e con brio Allegretto scherzando Tempo di Menuetto Allegro vivace
Beethoven started composing his Eighth Symphony in summer 1812, at a time when he was almost completely deaf. However, despite his deafness, Beethoven astonishingly conducted in 1814 the premiere in Vienna! Somewhat shorter than his other symphonies, this piece is among the most joyous, luminous, and festive that Beethoven ever wrote. The first movement is a radiant Allegro, full of spirit, liveliness, and brilliance. The second movement sounds very much like a comic scene from an opera, with various funny characters appearing at different moments. We can certainly hear in this music the influence of another great composer who lived at the same period, Rossini. The third movement is a minuet, a
kind of dance that was very popular in the Baroque and Classical era, however, during Beethoven's time, the minuet was not very much in fashion anymore – it had been replaced by the waltz. The minuet composed for this symphony is indeed not a traditional one: it is filled with many rhythmic and harmonic surprises. In the fourth movement we can certainly hear the influence of Beethoven's teacher, Joseph Haydn, who had died just a few years before the composition of this piece. This movement, which seems to have been inspired by German folk dances, ends with tremendous excitement, demanding extraordinary virtuosity from each musician of the orchestra.
Programme notes by David Greilsammer
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G E N E VA C A M E R ATA
David Greilsammer, Music and Artistic Director Violin Timoti Fregni, concertmaster Gemma Longoni, concertmaster Simone Roggen, concertmaster Diego Castelli Joanna Huszcza Sara Meloni Yumi Onda Stephanie Park Katharina Paul Viola Avishai Chameides Francesca Piccioni Elia Portabales Cello Ira Givol Mara Miribung Céline Barricault Double Bass Jérémy Bruyère Julie Stalder
Flute Roy Amotz Ory Schneor Oboe Marie Tetzlaff Sergio Simón Álvarez Clarinet Miquel Ramos Salvadó Jordi Cornudella Bassoon Povilas Bingelis Fabio Gianolla Horn Stéphane Mooser Merav Goldman Trumpet David Rodeschini Michael Dallmann Percussion Marion Frétigny
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THANK YOU for your continued support throughout the year. From the epic 8-part Beethoven sonata cycle to Handel’s Messiah Sing-Along. From the eclectic Makrokosmos Quartet to Jeremy Denk’s notes of profundity. We hope you have enjoyed our programmes and can’t wait to see you next season!
Grand Hall, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre The University of Hong Kong
Angela Hewitt
BACH ODYSSEY Well-Tempered Clavier Book I and Book II
21, 23 SEP
“The outstanding Bach pianist of her generation” - The Sunday Times
$280 single concert $400 both concerts Tickets at URBTIX starting 18 JULY
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2018 Fall Season Highlights www.muse.hku.hk
13 OCT Juilliard String Quartet Works by Beethoven, Lembit Beecher, and Dvořåk
4 NOV Chiao Yuan-Pu Listen Between the Lines Lecture-Recital II
9 NOV Jan Lisiecki Piano Recital Works by Chopin, Schumann, Ravel, and Rachmaninov
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