No. 34 - Its Gran Canaria Magazine

34
GET TO KNOW GRAN CANARIA I CONOCE GRAN CANARIA EDICIÓN 34
40 years of Music Festival
January and February are the dates set for another year of the Canary International Music Festival
Sir Andrew Davis
Joshua Bell
This January marks four decades since the Canary
International Music Festival was first held. The
CIMF is most important classical music event on
the islands, and this year boasts the presence of
great orchestras, outstanding conductors, soloists
and chamber musicians. It is the only festival of its
kind to be held in Europe in the middle of winter
and is attended by hordes of music enthusiasts
from all over the world who combine attending
concerts with basking in the archipelago’s privileged
climate. Works of all styles feature on this
year’s event in Gran Canaria, the main venues for
which are the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium, the Pérez
Galdós Theatre and the Guiniguada Theatre, between
the 10th January and the 9th February.
In 1985, the world of classical music enthusiastically
celebrated the tercentenary of three composers
essential to the history of this musical genre: Bach,
Handel and Scarlatti. Coincidentally, mainland Europe
declared that year as the "European Year of
Music". The first Canary Music Festival began that
very year, rounding off a long-standing aspiration
that added an international touch to the archipelago’s
musical offerings, as well as a cultural complement
to the standard sun and beach tourism model.
To mention all the stars and orchestras that have
played on the stages of Gran Canaria over the decades
is to allude to all the great figures of the musical
firmament of the end of the last century and
into the present. They include conductors such as
Carlo Maria Giulini, Sergiu Celibidache, Georg Solti,
Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim,
John Eliot Gardiner, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gustavo
Dudamel. The list of soloists is also endless: Alfredo
Kraus, Maria Joâo Pires, Vladimir Ashkenazi, Plácido
Domingo, Yo-Yo Ma, plus many more.
Opening night
The first concert of this the 40th edition will be
held on 11th January at the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium,
beginning with the bars of "La Mañana"; the
2nd movement of the work inspired by the legendary
Peer Gynt by Norwegian composer Edward
Grieg. It will be conducted by an orchestra
making its debut at the Festival, namely The Bergen
Philharmonic (Norway), one of the oldest active
orchestras in the world, founded in 1765. The
orchestra will be conducted by a veteran maestro
who is also making his debut at the CIMF, Sir
Andrew Davis, one of the most relevant British
conductors from the end of the 20th century and
the beginning of the 21st century. In addition to
these famous figures, Russian pianist Alexandra
Dovgan, a star in her speciality despite being only
16 years old, will also be making her debut at the
CIMF.
It would be impossible to include all the formations
and soloist performers at this 40th anniversary
of the CIMF, so we refer readers to the official
festival website for more detailed information on
the programmes and dates.
General programme
London Symphony Orchestra
One of the main new features this year is the
participation of three female conductors. Mexican
conductor Alondra de la Parra is visiting the
Festival for the first time to take up the baton of
the Tenerife Symphonic Orchestra and will perform
a 20th century repertoire. Kristiina Poska,
a conductor from Estonia, will take the baton
of the London Philharmonic Orchestra to stage
Ludwig van Beethoven's Leonora III Overture and
Florence Price's Violin Concerto No. 2. The British
ensemble will premiere one of the three commissioned
works by Canarian composers to be presented
at this year's CIMF. It will also be the world
premiere of the concerto for piano and orchestra,
"Tajogaite", written and performed by pianist
Gustavo Díaz Jerez, in memory of the La Palma
Volcano.
www.festivaldecanarias.com
The trio of female conductors is completed by German
violinist Julia Fischer, who will conduct the
London orchestra Saint Martin in the Fields Academy
in a recital of Beethoven and Franz Schubert.
Also taking part will be the Spanish National Orchestra
led by its Principal Conductor, David
Afkhan, for a version of Anton Bruckner's 8th
Symphony, as well as the Gran Canaria Philharmonic
Orchestra and the Lithuanian National
Choir, with Karel Mark Chichon at the baton, for
a performance of Gustav Mahler's 2nd Symphony.
Also noteworthy is the presence of the Bremen
Philharmonic Orchestra, which will be conducted
by Tarmo Peltokoski, who is only 23 years old, and
will feature the voice of soprano Chen Reiss. The
Milan Scala Philharmonic will close the festival
under the baton of the Korean maestro Myung-
Whun Chung with a programme entirely dedicated
to Mahler.
Leading solo artists
Top solo artists include Russian-British-Israeli Evgeny
Kissin, an international piano "legend" who
only offers 25 recitals a year. He will be performing
at the CIMF for the first time, and will be offering
a repertoire including Beethoven, Brahms, Rachmaninov
and Prokofiev. Another of the top international
pianists starring this year include Spaniard
Javier Perianes with the same programme
he performed a few months ago at the Salzburg
Festival and which made him one of the world's
greatest pianists.
The programme also includes five extraordinary
concerts, including a tribute to the famous French
musician Gabriel Fauré on the 100th anniversary
of his death. The performance will be given by a
quintet composed of Joshua Bell (violin), Irene
Duval (violin), Seteven Isserlis (cello), Tim Ridout
(viola) and Jeremy Denk (piano).