29 Years of Great Music
To all Amigos/as
From Helga Hampton
NEWSLETTER
Dear Amigos, February 25, 2020
Welcome to the second half of our 2019/20 concert season which we kicked off with two extraordinary concert evenings last week. You may remember that the originally planned Beethoven Trio extravaganza had to be cancelled when the violinist, Yura Lee, fell ill.
Juho Pohjonen on piano and Jakob Koranyi on cello were up to the task of putting together a duo programme for us on very short notice. They were fittingly greeted by full-house audiences for their two performances. The programme these amazing musicians brought was of the greatest variety. From Baroque solo piano Rameau on Tuesday and the glorious cello Bach Suite No. 3 on Thursday as introductions, there was an obligatory Beethoven Sonata, a Chopin Ballade and then the pianistically acrobatic Scriabin, followed by the great Shostakovich Cello Sonata in D min as Grand Finale. All captivatingly played after a lucid and helpful verbal introduction by the individual soloist.
HOWEVER, it transpires that these two outstanding musical events may be mainly remembered for the contemporary works – both Portugal premières! – we were offered on each day. The Swedish composer Anders Hillborg’s Duo for Cello and piano of 2013 in the interpretation of two world-class players became a visual and auditory sensation and it brought the house down on Tuesday.
Thursday`s Sonata for cello and piano of 2019 by Joonas Pohjonen, composer brother of Juho, received an equally passionate reception. How we had our musical horizons widened !!!
Juho and Jakob had accepted our invitation to stay a week at Os Agostos – near the piano!! – to work on and rehearse a programme which they are now taking to Los Angeles. It might interest you that their LA performance, incl. the Hillborg Duo, will be video-recorded on March 15, 2020 and a live streaming will be available. Let me know if you are interested in having the appropriate link thereof.
J & J, while here, enjoyed the very best Algarve spring sunshine – as Scandinavians both, they thrived in it and were socially entertained by Amigos Cornelia and Philipe Castan, who took them out for a sightseeing drive and Sunday lunch, and by Marie Huber and Renate Greineder who joined me in taking our Maestros to a beach lunch. Thank you all very much !
PLEASE NOTE: Any members are always welcome to “invite” our artists during their stay. This personal attention and interest in their work is much appreciated by our musicians, hence the many “repeat” artists who love to come to the Amigos, to Os Agostos, to the Algarve.
More, and very special thanks go to Amiga Anneli Lindroos who generously underwrote these February concerts. THANK YOU, Anneli, and we are all very sorry that you could not be present for these extraordinary musical Amigo events you had made possible.
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While in the thanking mode: our main sponsors, the real estate company, QP SAVILLS, with their faithful and generous annual financial support, deserve special thanks for making a less stressful execution of our planning and organisation possible. We are, for example, finding that our budget is often stretched now-a-days mainly by the ever increasing flight cost of our artists within Europe, one of our operational expenses. THANK YOU, ladies !!!
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March concerts:
Tuesday, March 24th, 2020 and Thursday, March 26th, 2020 at 19:00 Os Agostos
Pierre-Andre Doucet, pianist and writer, is a leading voice among Canada`s newest generation of artists. As part of his Europe tour, we are lucky to have him come to the Algarve. He is bringing a programme of compositions by Schubert, Lili Boulanger, Debussy, Liszt, Glinka and a couple of other surprises.
At this point in my Newsletters I usually urge you to make your reservations a.s.a.p, which many of you do. Today let me ask you also to please, confirm all early reservations you may have made.
Please also notify Cristina if you have to cancel a reservation at least a week before the event or even at the last moment. We have waiting lists ! No shows or late cancellation in February meant that ten people on the waiting list missed out attending the Tuesday concert – ten empty seats meaning several disappointed Amigos or a loss of revenue from guests who could have attended !
Generally, always inform Cristina by sending an email to: reservasconcertos@gmail.com
Musical events elsewhere for your information:
March 5th, 2020 at 19:00 at Teatro Lethes in Faro, the Orchestra do Sul will be giving an evening of Beethoven and the Vienna School.
March 17th, 2020 at NOS Cinemas will be the streaming of the opera “Fidelio” from ROH Covent Garden in London with Jonas Kaufmann. Not to be missed! ROH Tickets go for thousands of pounds !
March 21st, 2020 at 21:30 at Teatro das Figuras in Faro, the Ballet “Romeo and Juliet”
Looking forward to seeing you next month. And, please, mark Sunday, June 28th 2019 in your agendas for the Amigos Summer Extra Event at Teatro Lethes when Tiago Rosario will give us another example of his progress.
PLEASE NOTE: I changed my email address to: helga.hampton@gmail.com / delete the old one, please.
Hugs,
Helga Hampton
President
ASSOCIAҪÃO DE AMIGOS DE MUSICA at Os Agostos
E-mail: helga.hampton@gmail.com
www: http://www.amigos-de-musica.org