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HomeNewsArchivesCLASSICAL LINEUP FOR THE 45TH CASALS FESTIVAL

CLASSICAL LINEUP FOR THE 45TH CASALS FESTIVAL

April 4, 2001– Plans are falling into place for Puerto Rico's annual fortnight of classical music immersion, the Casals Festival. This year's 45th annual fest, set for June 2-16, is to feature Germany's Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Poland's Sinfonietta Cracovia and the Russian chamber ensemble Moscow Soloists as visiting heavy hitters.
Among the expected guest artists is a violinist familiar to Virgin Islands classical music audiences, Chee-Yun.
Transforming last year's innovation into this year's tradition, the Birch Forum on St. Thomas has arranged for one of the visiting groups – in this case, the Moscow Soloists – to repeat its San Juan concert at the Reichhold Center for the Arts, tentatively on June 7, as an official part of the festival program.
The Bamberg orchestra was founded in 1946 by members of the German Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague and musicians from Karlsbad and Schlesien who came to Bamberg as refugees from World War II. It was the first German orchestra to be invited to perform in France following the war.
The Sinfonietta is formally known as the Orchestra of the Capital and Royal Metropolitan City of Kraków. It was founded under the guidance and patronage of Kraków native Elzbieta Penderecka, who has served as manager of the Casals Festival assisting her husband, Krzysztof Penderecki, festival artistic director.
The Moscow Soloists was created in its current form in 1992 by Yuri Bashmet, considered by many to be the world's leading violist today. Bashmet first formed an ensemble to perform under his direction in 1986. After several years of touring, the musicians all emigrated from Russia; Bahmet stayed – and reconstituted the ensemble with new top graduates of the Moscow Conservatory, all of them then under the age of 30.
Here's how the Casals Fest program stands at the moment, according to Ricardo J. Charaf, the Birch Forum Board member who serves as liaison between that organization and the festival administration. Charaf emphasizes that this is a "working" schedule that has not yet been finalized but adds, "It is very close to a finished product."
Major performances take place in the Festival Hall of the Luis A. Ferre Center for the Performing Arts (Centro de Belas Artes) in San Juan's Santurce section. All of the others cited here are scheduled for the center's smaller Drama Hall.
Saturday, June 2 – Festival Hall, 8 p.m. – the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra (George Manahan, conductor), the San Juan Philharmonic Choir and the San Juan Children's Choir will perform a concert version of Boito's opera "Mefistofele." Soloists: Oksana Krovystka as Margherita/Elena, Dean Peterson as Mefistofele, Allan Glassman as Faust, Josepha Gayer as Marta/Pantalis, Jonathan Green as Wagner/Nero.
Tuesday, June 5 – Drama Hall, 8 p.m. – the chamber ensemble Moscow Soloists (Yuri Bashmet, viola soloist and conductor) will perform Telemann's Concerto in G Major for Viola and Orchestra; Brahms' Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115; and the Schubert/Mahler "Death and the Maiden."
Wednesday, June 6 – Drama Hall, 8 p.m. – Moscow Soloists (Yuri Bashmet, viola soloist and conductor; with soloists Elena Revish, violin; Nikolai Solonovich, cello) will perform Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante in A Major for Violin, Viola, Cello and Orchestra (unfinished); Shostakovich's Symphony for Viola and Strings ("The Thirteenth"); and Tchaikovsky's Serenade in C Major for Strings, Op. 48.
Friday, June 8 – Drama Hall, 8 p.m. – the ensemble of Yuri Bashmet, viola; Arto Noras, cello; J. Chee-Yun, violin; Michel Lethiec, clarinet; Lydia Wong, piano; and Erick Ruske, French horn, will perform J.S. Bach's Sonata No. 1 in G Major, BWV. 1027; Brahms' Horn Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 40; the Poulenc Sonata for Clarinet and Piano; and the Penderecki Sextet.
Saturday, June 9 – Drama Hall, 8 p.m. – from Krakow, Poland, the Sinfonietta Cracovia (Krzysztof Penderecki, conductor) with soloist Barry Douglas, piano, will perform Wagner's "Siegfried Idyll," Beethoven's Concerto No. 4 in G Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 58; and Tchaikovsky's "Souvenir de Florence."
Sunday, June 10 – Drama Hall, 5 p.m. – the Sinfonietta Cracovia from Krakow, Poland (John Neal Axelrod, conductor), with soloists J. Chee-Yun, first violin, and Robert Kabara, second violin, will perform Stravinsky's Concerto in D Major for Strings and Orchestra; the J.S. Bach Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins and String Orchestra, BWV. 1043; Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream Suite," Op. 61 (suite); and Stravinsky's "Pulcinella" (suite).
Wednesday, June 13 – Drama Hall, 8 p.m. – Berlin's Petersen Quartet (Conrad Muck, first violin; Daniel Bell, second violin; Friedermann Weigle, viola; Jonas Krejci, cello) will perform Beethoven's String Quartet in B-flat Major, No. 6, Op. 18; Schulhoff's "Five Pieces for String Quartet"; and Ravel's String Quartet in F Major.
Thursday, June 14 – Festival Hall, 8 p.m. – the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra (Carl St. Clair, conductor), with soloist John Nakamatsu, piano, will perform Ravel's Alborada del gracioso and his Concerto in G Major for Piano and Orchestra, and the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14.
Friday, June 15 – Festival Hall, 8 p.m. – the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra (Jonathan Nott, conductor) with soloist Susan Anthony, vocalist, will perform Richard Strauss's "Four Last songs" and "Alpine Symphony," Op. 64.
Saturday, Jun 16 – Festival Hall, 8 p.m. – the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra (Helmuth Rilling, conductor), the San Juan Philharmonic Choir (Carmen Acevedo Lucio, director), and soloists Leticia Scherrer, soprano, and Kay Stiegermann, baritone, will perform Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45.
Prices will be announced and tickets will go on sale probably in late April, after the schedule has been formally announced, according to a staff member at Corporación de las Artes Musicales, which presents the festival. At that time, Virgin Islands residents will be able to purchase tickets by telephone using a Visa or MasterCard charge card. The number to call, (787) 725-7334, offers an English-language option. Hours of service are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There is a service charge of $1 per ticket for callers.
Charaf said he expects tickets for the Reichhold concert to go on sale in late April as well, at the theater box office and other local outlets.
Attending any Festival Casals performance in San Juan will entail an overnight trip for V.I. residents. Several small hotels are located within walking distance of the Centro de Bellas Artes. Any travel agent can help with airline flights and overnight accommodations.

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