To all Amigas/os
From Helga Hampton
NEWSLETTER
April, 23, 2019
Dear Amigas and Amigos,
It was good to spend the Easter week with so many of you at Os Agostos. We enjoyed, and were bowled over, by the music of the amazing Katya Apekisheva. This young pianist has a power, imagination and concentration that puts her in the highest bracket. Her account of the Schubert
Moments Musicaux was for me the most poetic and intimate, and of the Janacek she gave a thoughtful and ruminative account to which few failed to respond. A generous surprise was the encore on Tuesday, when she played with great virtuosity dances by the Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera. Great music, wonderful evenings and warm conviviality. It might interest you to know that the programme Katya chose for the Thursday recital is the one she will be playing on June 6th at the Wigmore Hall in London. And I can already promise a return of this wonderful artist to Os Agostos during the 2020/2021 concert season when she will be playing at four hands with the other Amigo favourite, Charles Owen.
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Now to the future:
1. On Tuesday, May 14th and Thursday, May 16th, 2019 we welcome back the Berlin Duo of Holger Groschopp, piano and Adele Bitter, cello. They will bring us a programme of music by Czech composers Janacek and Martinu and by Mendelssohn on Tuesday, and by Beethoven, Brahms, Duparc and Chopin on Thursday. See the full programmes online.
When you make your reservations PLEASE NOTE the following: For the concert on Tuesday, May 14th, 2019 the gates at Os Agostos will open, as usual, at 18:00, but the catering will be most unusual. This Amigo concert event was chosen by our main Sponsors, the real estate company Quinta Properties, aka QP-Savills, as the occasion to bring to our attention the impending opening of their third office. QP, as you know, has been our most important financial supporter, without whose generosity our programming and young musician sponsorship activities would have been seriously constrained. Their new office, QP Country, will operate from their own building on the Avenida in Loulé, and QP representatives will be at hand, before the concert and during the interval, to talk about their strategy and plans. The catering will be more elaborate and enhanced than usual, both pre-concert and during a prolonged interval. Don’t miss this very special occasion – and try not to arrive late!
This special event is reserved for the Tuesday concert only.
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2. On Tuesday, May 21st, 2019 we shall be celebrating the 75th Birthday of Paul Crossley.
You received and responded to my invitation and I am very proud that we will have an almost full Amigo membership as well-wishers at the Party. Thank you for the swift and enthusiastic response.
Please come to Os Agostos on 21.5. at 19:00 when we shall assemble in the auditorium to hear Paul`s recital before taking him and his partner to a full and festive buffet prepared on the terraces, where we can thank the Maestro in our very best style with bubbly and candled cake.
You will receive the full programme of the recital, and I ask you – please – to let me know a few days in advance if anything has changed in your plans. Only regrets are necessary. I will need a final head count by May 17th – to helga.hampton@btinternet.com
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3. On Saturday, June 22nd, 2019 will be our Amigo Mid-Summer Night Party !!
We plan to end the 2018/19 season with a party at Os Agostos, in cool early evening in the garden by the pool, with a festive 3-course sit-down dinner for Amigos with family and friends !! Does that sound as good to you as it did to us when we put our heads together in the planning ?
I am herewith asking you to give me your provisional availability for this occasion as final planning necessarily depends on the number of people attending. (e.g. price per person is quantity-dependent). It might interest you to know that Os Agostos, whose main “business” is big weddings, now have a famous new chef in their very active kitchen. How lucky we were to get this significant date on a Saturday!
Please let me know if and how many of you plan to join us in our beautiful venue. THIS IS NOT URGENT, but please send an email to me by end May: helga.hampton@btinternet.com
Of course you know that there will be music !!! Our sponsoree, Tiago Rosario, now a piano student at the Music Hoch-Schule in Munster, Germany, will give us a demonstration of his progress at the beginning of the party, and I can promise you a good surprise. This young man is already going places and winning prizes.
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PLEASE NOTE: Housekeeping Rules – I am compelled to repeat these more strongly than ever !!!
1. Reservations are absolutely necessary, even for all active members ! Everyone, including Amigos, who come to OA without a firm reservation will probably not get a seat, as we are usually fully booked.
2. Make your email reservations as soon as you plan to attend certain concerts. However, PLEASE don’t make them more than one month in advance – we have noticed that earlier ones tend to get forgotten and then not cancelled.
3. Cancellations are also absolutely necessary, as the liberated seats can then be sold to the public.
4. Newest Rule: Please turn your phones off during the concert ! We have had complaints about the bother of brightly lit screens, and recording a recital needs a licence or else is punishable. .
Always make your reservations by email to: reservasconcertos@gmail.com
You will receive confirmation, but please cancel as soon as you know you cannot attend.
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Finally here the reminder for a music festival further afield. The 6th Festival Internacional de Music de Marvao – FIMM – has announced the Programme for this year online. It takes place between 19th and 28th of July 2019 and tickets have been available. Many Amigos who have gone to this quaint town in the Alentejo recommend it very much for its calibre of musicians, its varied programme and, of course, for the beauty of this old town. Make your reservations as soon as possible.
For any and all questions, or good suggestions you might have, please contact me anytime via email.
Helga Hampton
President
ASSOCIAҪÃO DE AMIGOS DE MUSICA at Os Agostos
E-mail: helga.hampton@btinternet.com
web-site: http://www.amigos-de-musica.org