Records available
CD canto:). Hortus Musicus
DVD In the Mystical Land of Kaydara. Peeter Vähi
DVD Coppélia. A ballet by Léo Delibes
CD-series Great Maestros. Beethoven, Brahms. Kalle Randalu, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi
CD Quarter of a Century with Friends. Arsis, Rémi Boucher, Oliver Kuusik, Rauno Elp
Super Audio CD Maria Magdalena. Sevara Nazarkhan, Riga Dom Cathedral Boys Choir, State Choir Latvija, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra
LP Contra aut pro? Toomas Velmet, Neeme Järvi, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Arvo Pärt
GLASPERLENSPIEL MUSIC FESTIVAL 2010
A joint project of ERP and the city of Tartu
The festival Glasperlenspiel (‘The Glass Bead Game’) directed by Peeter Vähi has got its inspiration from the novel by Hermann Hesse. It is certainly a very special musical event in Estonian summer where music lovers can enjoy performers like Australian Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Süd-West Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, Tōkyō Philharmonic Chorus, Quintet of Berliner Philharmoniker, Gidon Kremer, Vadim Repin, Piotr Anderszewski, Olli Mustonen, Kristjan Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Christoph Eschenbach, etc, as well as the leading musicians of Estonia.
Festival program
● Thu July 15th at 8 pm, Tartu St John’s Church (live broadcasting by Estonian Broadcasting Corporation)
OPENING CONCERT
Tallinn Sinfonietta, Slava Grigoryan (guitar / Australia), Rémi Boucher (guitar / Canada), conductor Risto Joost
Program: Mozart, Rodrigo, Kaumann (première of Symphony), Vähi
Live broadcasting on Klassikaraadio
Slava Grigoryan has emerged in the past decade as one of the world’s most original classical guitarists. Born in Kazakhstan in 1976 and raised in Australia, Slava has been performing since he was eight and with major international orchestras since he was 15, including the London Philharmonic, BBC Concert Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed at concerts and festivals in Europe, Asia, North and South America, including a Great Guitars Tour with the legendary flamenco guitarist Paco Peña.
As a major prizewinner at the Tokyo International Classical Guitar Competition, Slava was signed by Sony Music Entertainment Australia under Sony Classical in 1995 and has since released four solo albums. His debut classical album for ABC Classics, Sonatas and Fantasies, was awarded Best Classical Album at the 2002 ARIA Awards. 2003 saw the release of 2 new albums on the ABC Classics label – Play (with Len Grigoryan) and Saffire (the Australian Guitar Quartet), which also went on to win the 2003 Best Classical Album ARIA. In 2004, Slava recorded and released another 2 collaborative CDs – Nostalgica with Saffire and Brazil with flautist Jane Rutter.
Slava has received the ‘Mo Award’ for Instrumentalist of the Year and in 2002, toured for Musica Viva with his brother, Len Grigoryan. The two enjoyed another highly successful Australia-wide tour in 2003 following the release of Play.
Conductor Risto Joost studied singing as well as choral and orchestral conducting at the Estonian Academy of Music and received further training at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In spring 2008 Risto Joost graduated from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm majoring in orchestral conducting with Prof Jorma Panula. He has attended the conducting master classes by Neeme Järvi, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Eri Klas, Paul Mägi and in early music master classes by Paul Hillier and Nigel North.
In 1999 Risto Joost founded the chamber choir Voces Musicales, in 2002, an instrumental Ensemble Voces Musicales was estabilished. Since September 2006 Risto Joost is the principal conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Tallinn Music High School and since 2008, also of the Tallinn Sinfonietta founded by him. Since autumn 2009 Risto Joost holds the position of chorus director and orchestra conductor at the Estonian National Opera and since 2010 the artistic adviser to Glasperlenspiel Festival.
He has conducted the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Tallinn Baroque Orchestra, Corelli Baroque Orchestra, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra as well as the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Estonian National Male Choir RAM, Swedish Radio Choir, State Choir Latvija, Ars Nova Copenhagen, the Netherlands Chamber Choir. Since year 2000 Risto Joost has regularly participated in the Estonian Music Days and Nyyd Festival, conducting approximately 50 première performances commissioned from various composers. In June 2007 he made his debut in the Estonian National Opera conducting Erkki-Sven Tüür’s opera Wallenberg.
Rémi Boucher, Rodrigo Concierto d’Aranjuez. Adagio, mp3, 122 sec
Slava Grigoryan & Risto Joost, Vähi The White Concerto, mov III, fragm, 112 sec, mp3
Listen to the whole concert
● Thu July 15th at 7 pm, Viljandi St Paul’s Church (in co-operation with Viljandi Early Music Festival)
Fri July 16th at 7 pm Tartu St John’s Church
European Union Chamber Orchestra, Carlo Torlontano (Alphorn / Italy)
Program: Telemann, L Mozart, W A Mozart, D’Aquila, Britten
Already the more than 4 m long alphorn played by Carlo Torlontano on the world’s stages is impressive in itself, but listening to classical music performed on it is a unique experience.
European Union Chamber Orchestra, Mozart, Symphony No 29, fragm, 88 sec, mp3
● Fry July 16th at 10 pm, Tartu St John’s Church
GUITAR NIGHT
Grigoryan Guitar Duo (Australia), Rémi Boucher (guitar / Canada)
Program: Bach, Debussy, Towner, Lovelady, Boucher, Lecuona, Domeniconi, E Grigoryan, L Grigoryan, Gnattali...
Rémi Boucher was born in 1964 in Québec, Canada. He studied the classical guitar in the Montreal Conservatory with Jean Vallières and afterwards completed his studies in Spain, in Belgium at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp and in Switzerland at the Basel Academy with O Ghiglia. He is now living in Austria. Those travels would not have been accomplished without the aid of the “Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec” and the Canada Council, which not only offered him many grants, but the Sylva Gelber Award, making Rémi Boucher the first guitarist in 30 years to have won this honor!
In addition to his many national and international prices, in less than 18 months, Rémi Boucher has conquered Europe, America and Asia winning at the unanimity the first prize of five of the most important international music competitions (Alessandria in Italy, Andrès Segovia in Palma de Mallorca in Spain, Havana in Cuba, Mauro Guiliani in Turin, and Fernando Sor in Roma).
Since that great success, he was invited by many major symphonic orchestras in all over the world, which gave him the opportunities to play up to ten of the greatest guitar concertos conducted in some cases by the famous Cuban composer Léo Brouwer. Because of the success coming out of his concerts his career expanded very fast and allowed him to play, to gives master classes and to participate as member of international juries in many of the most important competitions, music festivals and universities of the world with regularly renewed invitations.
His repertoire also includes all of the most famous guitar concertos (Rodrigo, Villa-Lobos, Tedesco, Ponce, Torroba, Brouwer, Abril, Guiliani and Vivaldi) just as well as the most interesting works for solo guitar from the Renaissance to the Modern music. Rémi Boucher is especially known for his excellent interpretation of impressionist and Spanish music that were strongly acclaimed by the critics in all over the world.
“Rémi Boucher has fire, passion, zest and poetry and he has them in spades. There is hope for the guitar when it is play like this…” (International Guitar Magazine)
Grigoryan Guitar Duo: Slava and Len Grigoryan both compose music for guitar and their effortless virtuosity and brilliant musicianship, both in the standard repertoire of the classical guitar as well as crossover material and contemporary composition, is highly regarded around the world. The brothers have recorded a new album for ABC Classics.
During the last years, the duo toured in Australia, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Australia, Europe, Russia.
Grigoryan Guitar Duo, fragm, 3 min 50 sec, mp3
● Sat July 17th at 5 pm, Pirogov Park (behind the Tartu Town Hall)
BRASS ECHO
Orchestra of Estonian Defence Forces, conductor Peeter Saan
Program: Kopetz, Vähi (première of a new work for carillon of Town Hall and military band)
In co-operation with Tartu Hanseatic Days
The Orchestra of the Estonian Defence Forces, fragm, 1 min 51 sec, mp3
● Sat July 17th at 8 pm, Tartu St John’s Church
MOONLIGHT SONATA
Kalle Randalu (piano, Estonia / Germany)
Program: Beethoven, Chopin
- Professor at Freiburg and Karlsruhe Universities of Music
- 1999, was appointed Honorary Doctor by Estonian Academy of Music
- 2001, was awarded the Order of the White Star Class IV
- 1980, graduated from Prof Bruno Lukk’s piano class at the Estonian Academy of Music
- 1980–1983, postgraduate studies with Prof Lev Vlassenko at Moscow Conservatoire
- has received accolades at numerous international competitions
- since 1988 lives and works in Germany
- is known for his highly stylish and fine-tuned interpretations of classics, especially Mozart and Beethoven
- special place in his broad and versatile repertoire is taken by Estonian and German music
- has premiered many piano works
- performances all over Europe as well as in USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Brazil and Russia
- has close collaboration with renowned orchestras and conductors of the world
- repertoire includes over 40 piano concertos
- as a superb chamber ensemble player has close ties with Mandelring Quartet and Trio di Clarone and together with many other highly acclaimed musicians in Germany belongs to the ensemble Villa Musica
- 13 LPs and over 30 CDs (Melodija, Antes, MDG)
- of the afore-mentioned, a collection of 7 CDs with all sonatas by Paul Hindemith, recorded together with Villa Musica has attracted special attention and was awarded Classical Award in Cannes, 1999 and ECHO Classics Award in Germany, 1998 and 2003
Beethoven. Moonlight Sonata, fragm, 2 min 24 sec, mp3
Download: photo of Kalle Randalu, jpg, 300 dpi, RGB, 3.5 MB
Sun July 18th at 9 pm, Tartu St John’s Church
Ensemble U: Tarmo Johannes (flute), Merje Roomere (violin), Levi-Danel Mägila (cello), Vambola Krigul (perc), Taavi Kerikmäe (piano)
Program: Stockhausen From the Seven Days
The first work of the so-called intuitive music From the Seven Days by Karlheinz Stockhausen, a 20th-century composer “with an extreme scope”, seeks to find a musical solution to the mutual influence of the spirit and the matter as well as to the conditions of their co-existence. The performance is preceded by the musicians’ 4-day fast and meditation period
Ensemble U: was founded in 2002 by Taavi Kerikmäe and Tarmo Johannes. Since then U: has been performing in numerous festivals of contemporary music like Days of New Music in Pärnu and Days of Estonian Music, NYYD festival, Days of St John’s Church in Tartu, Time of Music (Viitasaari, Finland), Baltoscandal (Rakvere), Meridian (Bucharest, Romania). The members of the ensemble are outstanding young musicians, many of them have been supplementing themselves on modern music in abroad. The ensemble works without conductor. U: has been first performer in Estonia of many masterworks of the present day’s most noted composers (Boulez, Stockhausen, Murail, Donatoni, Sciarrino, Romitelli, Xenakis, Grisey, etc). Next to that U: pays a lot of attention to performing experimental and improvisational music. The ensemble works actively to broaden the idea of different types of scores as sources of music (graphical scores, video, text, etc.). In the field of musical theatre U: has worked several times together with one of the internationally most renowned conceptual dance theatre artists in Estonia – Mart Kangro. In 2009 ensemble U: released album U: consisting of selected works by Estonian composers. International presentation of the CD took place as a virtual concert in Estonian Virtual Embassy in Second Life. In September 2009 Ensemble U: was honoured with Music Award of Estonian Cultural Endowment.
● Sun July 18th at 10 pm, Vilde (Vallikraavi Str 4)
FESTIVAL CLUB
Ensemble The Shin (Georgia), Aleksandr Chumburidze (dance, Georgia), Valts Pūce (composer, accordion, vocal / Latvia), Ilona Hanina & Kristīne Kārkle-Purina (vocal / Latvia), Normunds Šnē (oboe / Latvia), Raimonds Ozols (violin, Latvia), Valters Pūce (cello, Latvia)
Program Es arī (Me too) – classical, folk, jazz
● Mon July 19th at 6 pm, Vilde (Vallikraavi Str 4)
FESTIVAL CLUB
Steppenwolf, a film adaptation of Hermann Hesse’s novel of the same name, 1974, screenwriter Fred Haines, directors Michelangelo Antonioni and John Frankenheimer
● Mon July 19th at 9 pm, Tartu St John’s Church
SUMERA – 60
Tallinn Sinfonietta, Janne Ševtšenko (soprano), Kadri-Ann Sumera (synthesizer, piano), conductor Risto Joost, narrator Peeter Volkonski, Jüri Tallinn (video director), Siim Allas (light engineer, Theatre Vanemuine), Peeter Vähi (sound)
Sumera: chamber music, chamber opera Olivia meistriklass / Olivia’s Master Class
In co-operation with Lepo Sumera Society
Sumera, Olivia’s Master Class, live, fragm, 2 min 48 sec, mp3
● Tue July 20th at 8 pm Püssirohukelder (Lossi Str 28)
Terem Quartet (St Petersburg): Andrei Konstantinov (soprano domra), Alexei Barshtshev (alto domra), Andrei Smirnov (bayan), Mikhail Dzjudze (bass balalaika)
Program: Bach, Schubert
After the concert live DVD-recordings from Glasperlenspiel 2009 (Irina Zahharenkova, Kristjan Randalu & Tallinn Chamber Orchestra)
Terem Quartet was formed by four students of the St Petersburg Conservatory in 1986. A ‘terem’ is an old traditional Russian wooden house with tower, which brings together totally different kinds of people and different musical trends. From their first appearances Terem Quartet overthrew the Soviet era stereotype of folk music. The band could not be classified into any of existing music categories or genres. Their music has always been created as a collaborative effort. They followed the traditions of the Skomorokh ensemble style of performance of Ancient Russia. Sources confirm that folk instrumental music-making in Ancient Russia was mostly collective, unlike the Western and Oriental tradition. That is, music was always invented and performed through a collective process.
Terem’s musicians have felt and developed the most essential phenomena of the closing of the 20th cent: the idea of style diversity, dialogue thinking, and synthesis of different musical trends within one style. In each case, their versions of music, be it European classics or traditional melodies, are always provocative and unexpected for the audience. One of the first performances of Terem took place at an All-Union competition in Moscow 1986 where they were met by ovations from the audience but were left unnoticed by the Jury. Today this original ensemble playing on Russian traditional folk instruments is known almost all over the world. The quartet have performed in the Queen Elizabeth Hall and at St John’s Smith Square of London, in the Olympia Hall of Paris, in Frankfurt Alte Opera, Berlin Passion Kirche and the Kremlin of Moscow. They have taken part in numerous international festivals like Edinburgh Festival, The Stars of White Nights in St Petersburg, The Autumn of Prague, Pori Jazz, Moscow Film Festival and many others in Japan, Finland, Australia, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, Singapore, the USA and South Africa. The quartet has recorded 6 CDs. Their repertoire includes more than 100 different works from classical as well as popular music, Russian folklore and jazz which all have been arranged by the ensemble themselves.
Download: photo of Terem Quartet, jpg, 300 dpi, 4.37 MB
● Jul 15th – Sep 16th, 2010, Festival Club (Eduard Vilde, Vallikraavi Str 4): Photo exhibition Homo sapiens 2009
Download: festival-poster (pdf, 2.69 MB)
video-clip “Glasperlenspiel 2010”
See also pics from Glasperlenspiel-live
Press resonance
Special thanks: Hermann Hesse, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Lepo Sumera, Tartu City Government, Tartu St John’s Church, Estonian Defence Forces, Kass Arturi Külakino, Klassikaraadio, Jüri Sasi, Ilze Apsina, Ants Johanson, Kaie Herkel, Kaupo Kiis, Rita Hade, Kaia Lattikas, Anu Jaanson
Organizers:
Peeter Vähi – artistic director
Risto Joost – artistic advisor
Tiina Jokinen – management director
Kadri Kiis – assistant producer, accountant
Olavi Sööt – logistics
Piret Mikk – design
Tanel Klesment, Ants Viermann – sound engineer
Ahto Sooaru – marketing
Priit Reiman – festival club
Piano tuning – Ants Saluraid
Photos – John Wright, Kaupo Kikkas, archives of ERP, Peeter Vähi
See also: Glasperlenspiel-festivals; Glasperlenspiel on Facebook, Glasperlenspiel 2014, Glasperlenspiel 2013, Glasperlenspiel 2012; Glasperlenspiel 2011; Glasperlenspiel 2009; Glasperlenspiel 2008; Glasperlenspiel 2007; Glasperlenspiel 2006; Glasperlenspiel 2005; Archives: Glasperlenspiel 2003 and 2004
Press resonance
animated symbols of Glasperlenspiel
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