An evening of firsts - Martin García García and Josep Vicent plus ADDA orchestra in Cano, Chopin and Tchaikovsky

In their first concert of a new season, the ADDA Orchestra under the direction of Josep Vicent began with a first performance. Composer Ximo Cano is from nearby La Nucia and his piece Ithaca Overture opened the concert. Ximo Cano’s piece embraces minimalism, but also lyricism and spectacular use of orchestral sound. Basically an overture in the Italian style of fast-slow-fast, it begins with a complex rhythmic figure in the strings which gradually disintegrates into a climax before the central slow section imposes calm on the process. There is extensive use here of the sonorous vibraphone, with the piccolo sustaining some of the higher notes’ overtones. Momentum then reasserts itself, and the piece burns bright until its end. Ximo Cano’s style could be likened to John Adams, but here there is a complexity in this work that comes across paradoxically as simplicity. This world premiere of Ximo Cano’s Ithaca Overture thus presented a perfect opening for a new season, being positive, affirmatory and celebratory.

On seeing the rest of the program, Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, this particular concert goer felt that it might seem like a repetition of works heard hundreds of times before. How wrong can you be? What we heard was both fresh and enlightening. No matter how many times you have heard a piece of music, in performance it always has the potential to surprise anew, and both these works did just that, and to an extent that this listener, with literally thousands of concerts behind him, heard both pieces as if for the first time, so surprising were their effects.

Soloist in the Chopin concerto was Martin García García, a young man still in his 20s from Gijon. To say that his touch was delightful would be to understate the pure artistry he brought to this work. His playing was not only faultless, it reached a level of communication with the audience that one rarely witnesses. Especially in the slow movement, he engendered such a degree of concentration amongst the audience that even the most pianissimo of touches were heard, absorbed within a story that unfolded, told by fingers pressing on keys. This performance rendered a familiar work newly fresh, newly moving and completely satisfying musically. Memorable? Life-changing.

An encore of Tchaikovsky’s October followed. This is Tchaikovsky using understatement, in reflective mode as mists appear and trees colour, and then shed. For the first time I noticed in this piece the main theme of Scriabin’s Prelude And Nocturne For The Left Hand. Another first. I do hope that this first time to hear the playing of Martin García García will not be my last.

And then to Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony. It was for me personally to be the second time in performance in five months. Nothing from the past, however, could have prepared me for the surprise I felt during every moment of this performance by the ADDA Orchestra. Artistic director, Josep Vicent, had the orchestra sculpt literally every phrase. Nuances of feeling, musical details, and indeed overall structures within the work were revealed as if I had never heard the work before, so fresh was the approach, so energised and at the same time subtle was the playing.

Examples could fill a book, but particularly memorable was the way in which the main theme of the slow movement was phrased. It is far too easy, it seems, for an orchestra to rely on the overall beauty of the theme rather than pin down the transitional emotions that make it up. This performance did exactly that. The overall theme still worked fine, but it worked because its individual elements created an emotional journey that was complex and sophisticated, and made perfect sense.

The scherzo, also, provided its surprises. It again is easy to regard the whole movement as a piece of orchestration first and a piece of music second. We all expect to hear the episodic contrast between pizzicato strings, decorating woodwind, and firm brass. What we do not regularly hear in this work of the details that remind us of Slavonic dances, and variations of dynamics in the pizzicato of the strings that add shape and texture. I may have heard hundreds of performances of this work, but this was completely new, as if hearing it for the first time.

As an encore, Josep Vicent offered his audience Guridi’s Amorosa, a simple plea for people everywhere to share love for one another. The overall effect of this concert first was to underline yet again the fact that this ADDA Orchestra, created by the direction of Josep Vicent, is now among the first rank of world ensembles. Bravi!

Denia International Piano Festival Programme 2 oct Duo Bringuier-Monakh

 

Denia International Piano Festival 2025 - five concerts from great pianists from October to December

 

Ars Alta Cultural is pleased to announce details of this year’s Denia International Piano Festival. In its third year, for the first time this festival will receive generous support from the Ayuntamiento de Denia and Ars Alta have therefore been able to invite some very well-known pianists.

The festival starts on October 2 with a concert of music for four hands. Husband and wife team, Nicolas Bringuier and Olga Monakh will present a concert entitled “Along the Danube”, in which they will play two works written for four hands, the Mozart Sonata in D Major KV381 and Fanz Schubert’s Fantasy in F minor D940 and then Liszt’s Second Rhapsody. In part two, they will play three Hungarian Dances of Brahms, three Slavonic Dances of Dvorak and will finish with the spectacular arrangement of Smetana’s tone poem, The Moldau. Though we are aware that the Danube does not reach Prague, we are sure the Denia audience will overlook that and just listen to the music!

Sharing the same love for the repertoire of four hands, it was after their meeting in 2002 in the class of the great pedagogue Klaus Hellwig at the Berlin University of the Arts that the Nicolas Bringuier and Olga Monakh began to play together. United on stage as in life, they quickly made a name for themselves for their virtuosity and the originality of their programs. In 2005, they played at a reception given by the President of the Republic of Germany and have toured many countries, including concerts across China. Their extremely extensive repertoire includes most of the original works for four hands, as well as many transcriptions of symphonic works.

In the Denia Festival’s second concert on October 30, Ars Alta proudly presents Vasco Dantas from Portugal in an evening titled “From Bach to Queen”. A Gramophone review of a recent recording by Vasco Dantas praises “his unusual programming and captivating artistry”. In this Denia concert, he will offer a guided tour of three hundred years of writing for keyboard, including pieces from Bach’s Art of Fugue, Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, a Military March of Schubert, Schumann’s Arabeske, a Chopin Polonaise and favourites of Liszt, Satie and Debussy. Prokofiev’s Montagues and Capulets will follow and then, to conclude, he will play Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now. If the audience is lucky enough to receive an encore, it will surely be a Portuguese Fado.

Vasco Dantas was born in Porto in 1992 and attended London’s Royal College of Music before completing his doctorate in Münster. Since then, he has performed on all five continents is the most prestigious concert halls, receiving excellent reviews.

On November 6, in the third of this year’s International Piano Festival concerts, Ars Alta is proud to present Congyu Wang for the second time in Denia in a programme entitled “Romantic Encounter.” Singapore-born Congyu Wang trained in France and now lives in La Reunion. He will play a movement from a Concerto by Mozart and then three Chopin Nocturnes followed by the four Ballades. If that were not enough for an evening’s work, he will then play Liszt’s Rigoletto Paraphrase, which is probably as virtuosic as it gets.

He himself says that he loves to play the classical repertoire, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, and Liszt, but his repertoire goes way beyond this and includes his own compositions. He also says he tries to change his repertoire in the same way a restaurant would change its menu, and concert goers in Denia can look forward to this menu based on Chopin and Liszt. Congyu Wang is a Steinway Artist.

On November 26, in a concert entitled “La Reina”, Ars Alta Cultural is proud to present the legendary Turkish pianist, Gülsin Onay. She has many years of experience at the top of the international concert circuit, is recognised as a State Artist in Turkey and has played with many top orchestras and conductors. She is described on Wikipedia as having “long been a household name around Europe and beyond, with an international career spanning more than 80 countries, and including collaborations with many of the most esteemed artists and musical institutions of our time.” She is also famous for championing the music of Turkish composer, Ahmed Adnan Saygun and indeed she will play two of his Preludes in Denia. Alongside the Saygun, she will play a Bach Partita BWV825, the Sonata K331 of Mozart and the Chopin Sonata in B minor, op58.

Widely renowned as one of Turkey’s most acclaimed cultural exports, Gülsin Onay has been enchanting audiences around the globe for decades, starting with her first official concert when she was six years old. She has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF and now spends her time between touring and giving concerts, leading masterclasses at various venues, and sitting on the jury boards of multiple international competitions. We are very lucky to hear her play this fourth concert in the Denia International Piano Festival.

In her own words, “it is not enough to just play, but a pianist needs to create meaning, to say something with the piece. Each note that they play has to have a meaning, it cannot just be playing mechanically, that’s not enough.” She advises every pianist to “ensure that each musical phrase should be a new creation and a creation of magic.”  The audience at this fourth concert of the Festival can judge Gülsin Onay against her own personal standard, when she observes that playing the piano “is without question always such a great experience to go through, it’s such a joy for me, and I always feel so immensely thankful every day that I can still play!”

The fifth and final concert of this third Denia Internation Piano Festival on December 4 is given by a young pianist who recently won first prize at the Franz Liszt Center Piano Competition. With the title “Mastermind”, Serbian Milan Slijepčević will play a demanding and ambitious programme that promises a rich and varied musical experience, with a few fireworks at the end.

Milan Slijepčević’s concert will start with Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze op6, eighteen characteristic pieces from the composer’s early career. He will follow with a Debussy Prelude “La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune”, and then the lyrical Fifth Sonata of Scriabin. Then to finish, he will play the Second Sonata of Prokofiev.

Born in 2000, Milan Slijepčević has been described as performing the Schumann “with his customary sensitivity and mastery.” He is described as “a young pianist who has already conquered the international music scene with his virtuosity and ability to interpret works with great expressive maturity.”

Ars Alta Cultural gives priority to the promotion of young artists and in this fifth concert of the festival, our organisation is achieving its goal. Milan Slijepčević, however, is an amazing pianist and already a seasoned performer. He will certainly not disappoint and has the potential to bring this third Denia International Piano Festival to a rousing and spectacular conclusion.

Ars Alta Cultural has presented two previous festivals in Denia. In 2025, with the generous support of the Ayuntamiento de Denia, we are confident that in 2025 the Denia International Piano Festival will achieve a new level of excellence.

 

Ars Alta Cultural se complace en anunciar los detalles del Festival Internacional de Piano de Denia de este año. En su tercera edición, por primera vez este festival contará con el generoso apoyo del Ayuntamiento de Denia, lo que ha permitido a Ars Alta invitar a pianistas de gran renombre.

El festival comienza el 2 de octubre con un concierto de música a cuatro manos. El matrimonio formado por Nicolas Bringuier y Olga Monakh presentará un concierto titulado «A lo largo del Danubio», en el que interpretarán dos obras escritas para cuatro manos, la Sonata en Re mayor KV381 de Mozart y la Fantasía en Fa menor D940 de Fanz Schubert, y a continuación la Segunda Rapsodia de Liszt. En la segunda parte, interpretarán tres Danzas Húngaras de Brahms, tres Danzas Eslavas de Dvorak y terminarán con el espectacular arreglo del poema sinfónico de Smetana, El Moldava. Aunque somos conscientes de que el Danubio no llega a Praga, estamos seguros de que el público de Denia pasará por alto ese detalle y se limitará a escuchar la música.

Nicolas Bringuier y Olga Monakh, que comparten el mismo amor por el repertorio a cuatro manos, comenzaron a tocar juntos tras conocerse en 2002 en la clase del gran pedagogo Klaus Hellwig en la Universidad de las Artes de Berlín. Unidos en el escenario como en la vida, rápidamente se hicieron un nombre por su virtuosismo y la originalidad de sus programas. En 2005 tocaron en una recepción ofrecida por el presidente de la República de Alemania y han realizado giras por muchos países, incluyendo conciertos por toda China. Su amplísimo repertorio incluye la mayoría de las obras originales para cuatro manos, así como numerosas transcripciones de obras sinfónicas.

En el segundo concierto del Festival de Denia, el 30 de octubre, Ars Alta se enorgullece de presentar a Vasco Dantas, de Portugal, en una velada titulada «De Bach a Queen». Una reseña de Gramophone sobre una reciente grabación de Vasco Dantas elogia «su programación inusual y su cautivador talento artístico». En este concierto de Denia, ofrecerá un recorrido guiado por trescientos años de composición para teclado, incluyendo piezas de El Arte de la Fuga de Bach, la Sonata Claro de Luna de Beethoven, una Marcha Militar de Schubert, el Arabeske de Schumann, una Polonesa de Chopin y temas favoritos de Liszt, Satie y Debussy. A continuación, interpretará Los Montesco y los Capuleto de Prokofiev y, para concluir, Don't Stop Me Now de Queen. Si el público tiene la suerte de recibir un bis, seguramente será un fado portugués.

Vasco Dantas nació en Oporto en 1992 y estudió en el Royal College of Music de Londres antes de completar su doctorado en Münster. Desde entonces, ha actuado en los cinco continentes en las salas de conciertos más prestigiosas, recibiendo excelentes críticas.

El 6 de noviembre, en el tercer concierto del Festival Internacional de Piano de este año, Ars Alta se enorgullece de presentar a Congyu Wang por segunda vez en Denia en un programa titulado «Encuentro Romántico». Congyu Wang, nacido en Singapur, se formó en Francia y ahora vive en La Reunión. Interpretará un movimiento de un concierto de Mozart y, a continuación, tres nocturnos de Chopin, seguidos de las cuatro baladas. Por si eso no fuera suficiente para una velada, interpretará la Paráfrasis de Rigoletto de Liszt, que es probablemente lo más virtuoso que se puede tocar.

Él mismo afirma que le encanta tocar el repertorio clásico, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin y Liszt, pero su repertorio va mucho más allá e incluye sus propias composiciones. También dice que intenta cambiar su repertorio de la misma manera que un restaurante cambiaría su menú, y los asistentes al concierto en Denia pueden esperar este menú basado en Chopin y Liszt. Congyu Wang es artista Steinway.

El 26 de noviembre, en un concierto titulado «La Reina», Ars Alta Cultural se enorgullece de presentar a la legendaria pianista turca Gülsin Onay. Con muchos años de experiencia en la cima del circuito internacional de conciertos, es reconocida como Artista del Estado en Turquía y ha tocado con muchas de las mejores orquestas y directores. Según Wikipedia, «es desde hace tiempo un nombre muy conocido en Europa y fuera de ella, con una carrera internacional que abarca más de 80 países e incluye colaboraciones con muchos de los artistas e instituciones musicales más prestigiosos de nuestro tiempo». También es famosa por defender la música del compositor turco Ahmed Adnan Saygun y, de hecho, interpretará dos de sus Preludios en Denia. Junto con Saygun, interpretará una Partita BWV825 de Bach, la Sonata K331 de Mozart y la Sonata en si menor, op58, de Chopin.

Ampliamente reconocida como una de las exportaciones culturales más aclamadas de Turquía, Gülsin Onay lleva décadas cautivando al público de todo el mundo, desde su primer concierto oficial cuando tenía seis años. Ha sido embajadora de buena voluntad de UNICEF y ahora divide su tiempo entre giras y conciertos, impartiendo clases magistrales en diversos lugares y formando parte del jurado de múltiples concursos internacionales. Tenemos la gran suerte de poder escucharla tocar en este cuarto concierto del Festival Internacional de Piano de Denia.

En sus propias palabras, «no basta con tocar, un pianista debe crear significado, decir algo con la pieza. Cada nota que toca debe tener un significado, no puede limitarse a tocar mecánicamente, eso no es suficiente». Aconseja a todos los pianistas que «se aseguren de que cada frase musical sea una nueva creación y una creación mágica».  El público de este cuarto concierto del Festival podrá juzgar a Gülsin Onay según su propio criterio personal, cuando ella observa que tocar el piano «es sin duda siempre una gran experiencia, es una gran alegría para mí, ¡y cada día me siento inmensamente agradecida por poder seguir tocando!».

El quinto y último concierto de este tercer Festival Internacional de Piano de Denia, que tendrá lugar el 4 de diciembre, correrá a cargo de un joven pianista que recientemente ha ganado el primer premio en el Concurso de Piano del Centro Franz Liszt. Bajo el título «Mastermind», el serbio Milan Slijepčević interpretará un programa exigente y ambicioso que promete una experiencia musical rica y variada, con algunos fuegos artificiales al final.

El concierto de Milan Slijepčević comenzará con Davidsbündlertänze op6 de Schumann, dieciocho piezas características de la primera etapa de la carrera del compositor. A continuación, interpretará el preludio «La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune» de Debussy y la lírica Quinta Sonata de Scriabin. Para terminar, tocará la Segunda Sonata de Prokofiev.

Nacido en 2000, Milan Slijepčević ha sido descrito como un intérprete de Schumann «con su habitual sensibilidad y maestría». Se le describe como «un joven pianista que ya ha conquistado la escena musical internacional con su virtuosismo y su capacidad para interpretar obras con gran madurez expresiva».

Ars Alta Cultural da prioridad a la promoción de jóvenes artistas y, en este quinto concierto del festival, nuestra organización está logrando su objetivo. Sin embargo, Milan Slijepčević es un pianista increíble y ya un intérprete experimentado. Sin duda, no decepcionará y tiene el potencial de llevar este tercer Festival Internacional de Piano de Denia a una conclusión emocionante y espectacular.

Ars Alta Cultural ha presentado dos festivales anteriores en Denia. En 2025, con el generoso apoyo del Ayuntamiento de Denia, estamos seguros de que el Festival Internacional de Piano de Denia alcanzará un nuevo nivel de excelencia.

 

 

Edmon Levon conducts the Valencia Youth Orchestra in Coleridge-Taylor, González Gomá, Rossini and Tchaikovsky, with Ignacio Soler

 

In human affairs, enthusiasm is often associated with youth, whereas competence that approaches perfection is usually only possible in maturity. Occasionally - just occasionally - the two qualities are combined in a single and therefore memorable event. Here, it was the music making of the Valencia Youth Orchestra. It married enthusiasm and perfection in a musical evening that all involved, musicians and audience alike, will never forget.

The Valencia Youth Orchestra can recruit players up to their mid-twenties, so here we are talking about musicians who are on the verge of their careers. In this concert, they were directed by their current guest conductor, Edmon Levon, who also introduced each piece to the audience.

The performers began with a piece by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, an English composer, less well known in Spain than in the United Kingdom, where he is undergoing a revival that is reviving his music from an anonymity achieved by a hundred years of neglect. Despite playing for a US president and having packed out the Royal Albert Hall for years on end with his Hiawatha, his music must now be re-discovered. A movement from his African Suite had more than enough to spark interest in his always melodic music.

Enrique González Gomá, whose Ofrenda a Colombina followed, is a little-known composer even in his native Spain. He was a Valencian by birth, from Tavernes, born in 1899 and living until 1977. After the bravura and frenzy of an African dance, González Gomá’s piece offered a significant contrast. Quiet and reflective, even impressionistic, this music explores textures to evoke feelings. The effect was both magical and surprising.

In comparison to what proceeded it, Rossini’s Bassoon Concerto is quite a well-known work, though in over 50 years of concert going, I was hearing for the first time in performance. Ignacio Soler as soloist was both faultless in execution and as enthusiastic about the music as the orchestra he fronted. Rossini’s treatment of the form was distinctly operatic, with the bassoon often sounding like a singer delivering an opera aria in Rossini’s distinctly bravura, if sometimes rather predictable style. The quality of invention in his music, however, is undeniable, even if at times one feels as though one may have heard it before somewhere else!

The enthusiasm of the audience reaction prompted Ignacio Soler to present an encore, for which he was joined by two of the bassoons from the orchestra to play the Tango by Martinez. In this piece, a perhaps cliché tune is passed skilfully between the three players. The sonority of the bassoon trio is utterly surprising, and the ensemble suggests improvisation, even in its absence.

In the second half, the Valencia Youth Orchestra played one of the symphonies that define music. Tchaikovsky Pathetique, Symphony No. 6, is not just a staple of the orchestral repertoire, it is one of its mainstays. This is a work that not only never disappoints, but it also actually grows with repeated hearings.

It is music that, I believe, is ruined by applause between movements. The transition, especially from movements three to four, is crucial to the work’s emotional argument and all tension associated with being “right up there” one moment and “right down there” in the next is dissipated by audience intervention. Edmon Levon, I suspect, agrees with this, and when the audience applauded after the first movement, he half turned to acknowledge but in a single gesture managed to communicate that the end of the work would be more appropriate.

Tchaikovsky 6 is a mammoth work that demands real musical maturity alongside perfection of ensemble. There were one or two rhythmic stutters in the fast third movement, but nothing to detract from the experience. Personally, I found the horns of the opening of the fourth too loud, but I am splitting hairs.

The audience reaction to this great music was nothing less than ecstatic. Thus, we were treated to an encore. What to play after a work like Tchaikovsky 6 is a problem. Edmon Levon contrasted Tchaikovsky’s emotional paroxysms with Ravel’s detachment. We heard the final section of the Mother Goose suite, and its largely modal harmonies were quite surprising after the symphony’s outbursts. We had a real Valencia bash to finish, a piece that the orchestra played largely undirected, with Edmon Levon taking a seat in the stalls. At the end, the whole orchestra stood, still playing. The audience followed suit, applauding.

Carlos Santo plays Tchaikovsky in a remarkable free concert in ADDA, Alicante: En homenaje a D. Rafael Beltran

This was a free concert “En homenaje a D. Rafael Beltran. Fundador de la Sociedad de Conciertos de Alicante” who died last month at the age of 93. Carlos Santo, aged 25, paid personal homage to his memory by playing an encore of the theme from Bach’s Goldberg Variations which, he said, was a special piece for Rafal Bertran.

The evening opened with a quite superb Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture. The timing, phrasing, dynamics and togetherness of this ADDA orchestra is now outstanding. Tchaikovsky’s score is a masterpiece. He does not follow a straight dramatic path through the story, preferring to highlight certain emotional responses. There is no doubt whatsoever about the physical nature of the lovers’ relationship when one hears that beautiful flowing theme from the whole orchestra. There is also no doubt about the conflict that rages between their two families.

Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto can often be played like it’s a motion that has to be gone through. Not so in the hands of Carlos Santo. A local lad whose career was aided by concerts awarded in Alicante by the society founded by Rafael Bertran, Carlos Santo gave perhaps the most lyrical performance of this work that I have ever heard. It’s just two months ago that we heard Shunta Morimoto play it in Elche. We were quite removed from the stage on that evening, whereas last night we were in row three and central, meaning that we were perhaps just ten metres from the keyboard.

His every phrase was thought out. There was never an occasion when this pianist played one of the big chordal sections as a piece of gymnastics. Not that Shunta did either, but here we were close enough to feel involved with the process. In the “cadenza” close to the end of the first movement, there are alternate phases, slow legato juxtaposed with those with more energy. Certainly in the slow phrases, one can surely hear Scriabin’s style, or perhaps it should be said that Scriabin essentially adopted some elements of Tchaikovsky.

The selection from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet that followed we have heard several times. But no matter how many times I hear this music, I always hear something new. The viola solo was quite wonderful, as was the playing of that chord towards the end of the tomb scene, where the entire world seems to collapse. It makes musical sense to play the Death of Tybalt at the end, but for anyone who understands anything about the drama, the tomb scene cannot be followed by this music. The musical effect is of course superb. And, at risk of repeating myself, this is a great orchestra.

ADDA under Josep Vicent in Saint-Saens and Strauss, with Daniel Oyarzabal, Amanda Forsyth and Pinchas Zuckerman

Stars shine brightly and that shining can cover immense distances. Their light travels in straight lines, unless there is, as Einstein described, another immense mass nearby – perhaps another star, and then it curves. The star of Saint-Saens’s Symphony No. 3 is the organ. It is even known as the Organ Symphony, despite the fact that the organ is silent for most of the work’s duration, and the fact that the organ part is largely written to enhance the power of the orchestral tutti. It does come to the fore briefly in the slow movement, but, if it is then a star, it burns out quite quickly. Precisely why the composer also included a piano in the orchestration still baffles me, because the piano’s contribution could so easily have been achieved differently, for instance, by pizzicato in the strings.

And it’s not that this star had to shine from afar. The ADDA auditorium does not have an organ, and, occasionally, when an organ was obligato for a given piece, an electric variety was shipped in. But these were Baroque pieces with organ continuo, with none of the blazing fortés that the Saint--Saens demanded.

It is about a kilometre from the ADDA auditorium to Alicante Cathedral and it was that church’s organ which was played by Daniel Oyarzabal and relayed live in projection on the back wall of the stage. The technical feat in accomplishing this was huge. And it was a resounding success, although I did detect a slight delay in the organ part, not because of the playing, obviously, but because of the inherent latency of the electronics. The speed of light is immense, but a delay of just the smallest fraction of a second alongside tutti at near presto tempo is discernible.

Not that this shortcoming affected the quality of the performance, which was truly wonderful. Personally, I prefer the first movement punchier, but this more romantic reading made perfect and lyrical sense. It was an immense achievement for all concerned, not least for the ADDA orchestra, who had a quite superb evening.

Speaking of brilliance being a little curved when another massive source is nearby, the evening began with a beautifully played Don Quixote of Richard Strauss. Amanda Forsyth’s cello played the delusional but lovable Quixote and her husband, Pinchas Zuckerman, chipped in on the witty viola as Sancho Panza. Not only were the orchestral textures exquisite, but the storytelling came to the fore in this performance via Josep Vicent’s reading. The orchestral detail achieved by this combination of conductor and orchestra was at times breathtaking, most of all in the slower, quieter passages where the composer juxtaposed widely varied sonorities. There is perhaps not enough of a role for the viola to regard it as a soloist’s spot, but Amanda Forsyth’s cello shone out when alone and played along with the orchestral part when not otherwise engaged.

What was utterly clear in this concert was that the players who comprise the ADDA orchestra love both the music and its challenges, and they adore playing together. The sense of camaraderie and cooperation is palpable, and this shines through anything they touch to enhance the audience’s musical experience. This is surely now one of the great orchestras, a true star.

A goodbye to remember forever - Daniel Harding, Fleur Barron, Andrew Staples and the Swedish Radio Orchestra in Wagner, Jolas and Mahler in ADDA, Alicante

 

This was not the last concert in the other season, but it offered a totally valedictory theme. We heard four works, presented as three because the first two were run together seamlessly and, by hearing them together, the theme that was to dominate the evening was established.

The two works that were offered as one were by Richard Wagner. We are familiar with the opinion that the Prelude from Tristan and Isolde changed music forever. Before then, unresolved chords and “confusing” harmonies had been used by composers but usually resolved to something that felt definite. Wagner’s operatic prelude, however, is a succession of unresolved chords and “confusing” harmony. The music marks time, but also stops it, making an audience listen for every detail, of which, in this sparse music, there is a wealth. To run that directly into an orchestral version of the Liebestod marked a transition. Here is Isolde, bereft and alone, is saying goodbye to life by singing a love song. And so the valedictory theme was established.

Betsy Jolas describes how when she spoke to Simon Rattle about Ces Belles Annees, he was conducting Tristan and Isolde at the time. In 2023 and already 95 years old, she thought that this work might be her last orchestral commission, so she wrote a work whose theme was the passing of years by creating variations loosely based on Happy Birthday. The orchestral writing is confused, almost disjointed, but theoretically, not harmonically. Any harmonies are merely passing, just like the passing of time it celebrates. When the soprano enters, this evening Fleur Barron dressed in party frock and bovver boots, she is in party mood and invites the audience to join with her, to come to her birthday party, to celebrate the passing of years. At 95, Betsy Jolas chose to end the work with the orchestra in a tutti of laughter, perhaps a comment on the fact that we take life and time too seriously, perhaps commenting that in the end, nothing matters, despite the conviction and sincerity of the soprano’s words of invitation.

And then, in the second half we heard perhaps the most beautiful performance of Das Lied von der Erde imaginable. This was music-making of such a high-quality, such intensity, such attention to detail that it is hard to describe. The ADDA audience were spellbound by this largely quiet music, which, despite its juxtaposition of drinking songs alongside reflection, is eventually a valediction and an invitation to contemplate eternity.

A note on the performers is essential, especially in this work, which relies for its start on the presence of a Wagnerian tenor, one who has an instrument with the power to sing Seigfried, but with the inherent ability to communicate simply and directly. Performances of Das Lied von der Erde often fall short because of the opening, when the tenor simply cannot bring it off. Not so Andrew Staples, whose voice was not only up to the task, it shone. He managed a perfect balance of power, humour, and lyricism in words that speak a lot of drinking and having a good time, but always with the underpinning idea that the experience will not last.

Andrew Staples, surely in recognition of the fact that the main act in this work is the female voice, chose to sit at the back of the first violins when not singing, rather than take a seat centre-stage. In the alto’s final farewell, he took a seat in the stalls. Perhaps he also wanted to listen to Fleur Barron’s performance, which was nothing less than exceptional. Nominally a mezzo-soprano, she coped perfectly with the soprano-alto range of this part so that nothing interrupted the flow of this beautiful music. It was a performance that was memorable, right down to the last, barely audible, “eternally”.

Last, but certainly not least, Daniel Harding’s direction of the Swedish Radio Orchestra was both masterful and utterly transparent. He clearly has a very special relationship with the music of Gustav Mahler and both the detail that he brought out and the space that he created were utterly exquisite. It was a long goodbye, but a musical experience I would repeat many times, if time were to allow me the chance.