From Helga Hampton
April 19, 2016
Dear Amigos,
Again I have to start a Newsletter with the sad news of the passing of a dear Amigo. Jack Hyde-Blake, long-time Amigo, dear friend and Committee member, went to bed on April 4th and did not wake up. We shall miss his sage advice, his deep and pervasive knowledge which he brought to bear in many a sticky situation, and his committed friendship. Our thoughts are with Annelies and Family.
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Even though this Newsletter will, of needs, inform about the forthcoming 25th Anniversary Celebration, I cannot, I MUST not be remiss saying a few words about our last artist, Sa Chen. This diminiutive Chinese beauty, whom we are lucky to count among OUR artists (this was her third appearance for the Amigos de Musica) gave us two evenings of music-making that can certainly be called extraordinary. Her programming alone spoke of extra special things to come; when have we ever sat spell-bound listening to the entirety of Debussy Preludes, Book 1 and 2, in one evening, and be confronted with the monstrous Sonata in B min by Liszt the next ?Well aware of the fact that this young woman is a firmly established, world-class pianist, she astounded a mesmerised full-house audience, first with an interpretation of the greatest sensitivityof the colourful world of Debussy, and the next evening it was her versatility that captivated. Easing us into our seats with a selection of Chopin Mazurkas, she certainly did not let us rest. Herrendering of the Faust story by the devilish Liszt morphed her into a fire plug ! Where does thislittle person find the power to bring all this passion and fervour out of our Yamaha? Amazing !!
No wonder that she is wanted all over the world, and lucky all those Amigos who were able to come to Os Agostos last week. We are also giving much pleasure to a growing number of walk-in aficionados of erudite music. We have full-house bookings now almost every concert evening. Antonio Farajotta, our Os Agostos host, says: I have to find a way of building an extension to the auditorium. Of course jokingly, for in my opinion we could not have a better ambience and, as all our artists say, the acoustics are perfect the way things are.
I am anxious to see what the Amigo membership thinks of our Os Agostos rebirth. And you willsoon have the opportunity to vote on this: the response to the next invitations to rejoin will be a litmus test.
But we are not yet at the end of the present season. There are two more months, two more artistsand four more concerts;
May 17 and 19, 2016 Alexander Schimpf, piano
June 21 and 23, 2016 Daria Tchaikowskaja, piano
Make your reservations asap by sending an email to reservasconcertos@gmail.com – you know that we are usually getting fully booked and it embarrasses us very much when we have to send you away because you are calling too late.
You will find an article in the May edition of the German monthly, “Entdecken Sie Algarve” about Alexander Schimpf, So we expect a good number of German bookings. His wonderful programme includes works by Brahms, Scriabin, Beethoven, Chopin, Bartok and Debussy. And as a very special feature the Portuguese premiere of a composition by the contemporary composer A. Sieber. Rich pickings from an amazing young artist, about whom critics say: “This young pianist has all the earmarks of becoming a major force in the decades to come” and “…AS could be one of the future heroes.” So don’t miss out.
The little collection box for putting your EURO 1.00, next the printed concert programmes on the Reception table, has proved to be a dandy little help – we were able to cover ¾ of the printing cost after the last concerts. Thank you !
Now to the very special additional date for you
The Amigos de Musica 25th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION Thursday, April 28, 2016 at Os Agostos
Many of you (62!) have already made a reservation for this special event, for which we shall gather at Os Agostos, starting with a reception between 17:30 and 18:00. And I deliberately give this leeway as I am happy to report that a number of local dignitaries and personages of public life, incl. consular representatives, have accepted our invitation. And they may be arriving in a more flexible timespan.
The concert with Maestro Paul Crossley will start punctually at 19:00 – there will be no interval.
If you have not yet done so, please let Cristina know that you will be attending, by sending her an
email at reservasconcertos@gmail.com
I look forward to welcoming you as usual at Os Agostos. And I am happy to include in this welcome our generous sponsors, the ladies from Quinta Properties, who take a very special interest in the Amigos activities by motivating clients to seek us out. Some of them have already joined our “club”.
Greetings,
Helga Hampton