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Tour archive

Germany tour 'Jeunehomme David Fray', May 2011

Amsterdam Sinfonietta will closed the season with a quintessentially Viennese programme featuring the young French pianist David Fray. He performed Mozart’s vivacious Piano Concerto in E flat major that was written for the young piano virtuoso Mademoiselle Jeunehomme. Amsterdam Sinfonietta also played early works by Gustav Mahler and Alban Berg in special arrangements for string orchestra. Mozart’s lively and sparkling simplicity was sharply set off against the melancholic and emotionally complex compositions of his Viennese successors.

Amsterdam Sinfonietta:
Candida Thompson artistic director and lead violin
David Fray piano

Programme
Berg Piano Sonata in B flat major, op. 1 (arr. for string orchestra)
Mozart Piano Concerto no 9 in E flat major, KV 271 ‘Jeunehomme’
Mahler Piano Quartet in A minor (arr. for string orchestra)
Mozart Symphony no 29 in A major, KV 201

Concert dates:
18 May 2011, 20.15 hrs
Amsterdam, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ

20 May 2011, 20.00 hrs
Düsseldorf, Tonhalle

23 May 2011, 20.00 hrs
Frankfurt, Alte Oper

24 May 2011, 20.00 hrs
Berlin, Konzerthaus

25 May 2011, 20.00 hrs
Cologne, Philharmonie



ECHO Tour, March 2011



In March 2011 Amsterdam Sinfonietta and Candida Thompson performed ‘Liebestod’ in six prestigious European concert halls. The tour was a resounding success. Upon the invitation of the European Concert Hall Organisation the ensemble performed a theatrical program about love and disillusionment, combining music, film and acting. The acclaimed composer Michel van der Aa created Up-close, a work for the Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta, Amsterdam Sinfonietta and film projection. The complete performance of Berg’s Lyric Suite was combined with a monologue based on love letters written by the composer himself. Pierre Audi stage-directed this monologue, performed by the actor Jeroen Willems. Wagner’s Prelude was the opening work.

‘Two dozen Amsterdamers stood on stage to perform the prelude, displaying total concentration and technical perfection and, above all, playing with all their heart and soul. The concertmaster Candy Thompson vibrated with every fibre of her being, the violas and basses particularly excelled and the audience responded with wild enthusiasm.’ Trierischer Volksfreund about the ‘Prelude to Tristan und Isolde’, from ‘Liebestod’ (Philharmonie, Luxembourg, 2011)

‘Alban Berg’s tragic love story was told in such an emotionally touching and reflective manner that it would have provided a narrative sufficient for a whole festival of its own.’ Dagens Nyheter about Lyric Suite, from ‘Liebestod’ (Konserthuset, Stockholm, 2011)

Amsterdam Sinfonietta
Candida Thompson artistic director and lead violin
Sol Gabetta cello
Jeroen Willems actor
Pierre Audi mise-en-espace

Program
Wagner Prelude from Tristan and Isolde (arr. A. Williams)
Berg Lyric Suite(arr. for string orchestra by A. Berg & T. Verbey)
performance in combination with monologues based on lyrics by A. Berg
M. van der Aa Up-close for cello, string orchestra and film projection
commissioned by the ECHO, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Performing Arts Fund NL

tourdates
Friday 11th of March 2011, Stockholm, Konserthuset
Saturday 12th of March 2011, Luxembourg, Philharmonie
Monday 14th of March 2011, Brussels, Palais des Beaux Arts
Wednesday 16th of March 2011, Amsterdam, Het Concertgebouw
Friday 18th of March 2011, London, Barbican Hall
Sunday 20th of March 2011, Hamburg, Elbphilharmonie

China Tour, August 2010



'Well, we might as well play then.' This thought must have crossed the minds of the musicians of Amsterdam Sinfonietta as they sat in the plane, after the KLM boeing 747 had already been waiting an hour and a half in Shanghai for permission to take off. So, standing in the aisles, the musicians performed the last movement of Mozart's Symphony no 29 for an audience that rose from their seats to take a better look. Their spontaneous performance, for which they later received a token of gratitude from the KLM crew members, was given an enthusiastic reception by the waiting passengers.

At the end of August, the orchestra made its China debut in the world’s largest centre for the performing arts, the National Centre of Performing Arts in Beijing. This was followed by two sold-out concerts in the Dutch Culture Centre in Shanghai. By request of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Science, the Netherlands China Arts Foundation (NCAF) presented a varied and edifying cultural programme in this specially designed Dutch Culture Centre during the Shanghai World Expo 2010, with the aim of bridging the gap between the Dutch and Chinese art worlds. Amsterdam Sinfonietta performed there with the cellist Pieter Wispelwey and gave masterclasses for Chinese conservatoire students.