From Helga Hampton
NEWSLETTER May 29th, 2017
Dear Amigos,
Let me squeeze in a May Newsletter before this hectic month comes to an end. We just got back from an amazing trip to China, so I am a bit behind, timewise. Sorry !
However, we made it back in time to hear our May artist, Bernd Glemser, and what a musical welcome it was ! This masterful virtuoso had selected – what looked at first sight like a very classical Classical programme – but turned out to be extraordinary, not often heard, pieces by the 3Bs and then treated us to a special delicatessen from the Debussy and Chopin fare. And how I enjoyed the beautiful Haydn, too! This was Bernd Glemser´s first visit to the Amigos, but certainly not the last – if I have any say. What a coup, enticing pianists of this calibre to entertain us! In all due fairness I have to add that “our artists” love coming here; the welcome they get and the appreciation they feel from the knowledgeable Amigos make these, what seem like Hausmusik Evenings, refreshing and out of the ordinary for them who are used to huge concert halls and anonymous organisers.
And let me take this opportunity to give a special thanks to Amigos Leonor and Johannes Griesler who generously hosted Bernd during his stay, and to other Amigos, as well as our QP sponsors, who contributed time and expense to his entertainment. Thank you all!
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And now we are in the run-up to the Grand Finale of the 2016/17 season: On June 20th and 22nd Alissa Firsova, piano, Tim Hugh, cello and Andrew Marriner, clarinet are offering us the following programme – read it and smack your lips:
Tuesday, June 20th: Mozart´s Kegelstatt Trio, Brahms´ Sonata for clarinet and piano, op 120,
Mahler´s Adagietto for solo piano, and Grieg´s cello and clarinet sonata, op 36.
Thursday, June 22nd: Beethoven´s clarinet trio, op 11, Glinka/Balakirev “The Skylark” for piano solo, Debussy First Rhapsody for clarinet and piano, Rachmaninov Elegy for cello and piano,
Brahms´ clarinet trio, op 114, and Giamperi´s Carnival in Venice for clarinet and piano.
Do I need to say more to make you reach immediately for your computer to send an email to:
reservasconcertos@gmail.com or phone Cristina on 914 797 980? Please do so asap.
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I have some news from our erstwhile protégée, Ana Beatriz Ferreira which I want to share with you. She is transferring to the University of Cardiff for her PhD studies, which will be fully funded and come with an additional stipend. She will thus be near her fiancé, Sam, and able to meet her favourite teachers in London and also afford lessons somewhere else. Her summer plans include attending Masterclasses with Boris Petrushansky in Imola, Italy, as well as giving a solo recital in Vila Vicosa on August 25th, 2017. For details visit the website of: https://www.facebook.com/171403909732842/photos/pcb.707914822748412/707914766081751/?type=3&theater
Our hosts in Os Agostos are very busy this year in their “main” business: great weddings and conferences with hundreds of people, and yet they are always still generously available to receive the Amigos on two evenings per month and to lavish their attention and welcome on us. Aren´t those pre-concert receptions on their Grand Terrace very special? I´d like to take this opportunity to thank Maria and Antonio Farrajota for their hospitality and friendship in all our names.
There is some new news in connection with our venue and our hosts that will be of great interest to
you: They are opening a new restaurant next week in the immediate vicinity of Os Agostos. The Os Agostos chef will be in charge and for us this is a fantastic opportunity to partake in his and his team´s excellent cuisine after the concerts. All details will be announced within the next 14 days and, of course, you will be among the first to receive them.
In my next Newsletter – the final one of the 2016/17 concert season – you will also find the formal
Invitation to Rejoin the Amigos de Musica which I shall take great pleasure in passing on to you. As you know the next membership year starts in September and we shall kick off with the AGM on September 19th preceding the first concert by the Swedish Haga Duo.
In the hope of welcoming you all back “in the fold”, let me mention here that we find ourselves in the fortuitous position of eventually sending”Invitations to Join as New Members” to a number of interested music lovers. This waiting list will, of course, be activated only as soon as we can ascertain how many places are left for active membership.
And last, but never least, our thanks to “QP” (that is the way Quinta Properties are now calling themselves) for their unstinting generosity in underwriting our Young Musicians Sponsorship, which we are in the process of dedicating to a new protégé following the five year support of “our” Ana Beatriz Ferreira. Ladies, you are always welcome guests of the Amigos.
Hugs, see you at Os Agostos,
Helga Hampton
PS: I am always available for all questions or suggestions: helga.hampton@btinternet.com