To all Amigos/as
From Helga Hampton
Dear Amigos,
I am / we are grateful for your continuous and unstinting support during these stressful times. I particularly thank you for bearing with me in these reshuffles of dates and names of artists. In all of these pandemic enforced pauses and cancellations I never lost focus on a RESTART of our live music activity as soon as possible. And start we did on April 20, the very day after the relaxation of the dreaded, albeit necessary, DGS rules here in the Algarve.
Maestro Constantin Sandu, a true master of the piano repertoire, never a showman, eased us back into the glories of the Beethoven sonata world with the purity of “The Tempest” on Tuesday and the lyricism of the “Waldstein” on Thursday. We also benefitted from the magisterial introduction he gave us to all the individual works programmed, in which we also learned about the diversity of works by two Romanian composers. The musical insight of this remarkable player was very rewarding.
Marta Menezes wasa true find on very short notice. This beautiful young Portuguese pianist possesses an amazing technical facility. With her two generous programmes she carried her audience with dazzling feats of virtuosity which gave her well deserved accolades for musical achievement. Yet, to me, she ought to be thanked particularly for pulling off the great feat of playing this rich and diverse programme twice in a day! Thank you, Dottoressa Marta !!!
- It might interest you to know that Marta will be playing “our” Tuesday programme at the Teatro Lethes in Faro on Wednesday, May 26, 2021 at 19:00.
Our Matinees have become very popular with the audience and I hope our artists will be able to adjust their programming in such a way that playing virtually the same programme twice a day will not be too demanding.
Our May musician, who obviously has experience with this rare tradition – matinee and evening performance – is offering us such a fare, featuring the magnificent Goldberg Variations on Tuesday.
The Georgian pianist Dudana Mazmanishvili is coming to us from Berlin for the second time on
Tuesday, May 18th and Thursday, May 20th, 2021
to play for us in matinee and evening performances the following programmes:
Tuesday: J.S. Bach – Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 and a choice of popular encore works
Thursday: Mozart – Sonata in F major, KV 494, Chopin – Sonata b minor, op. 58 and Barcarolle
Please make your reservations now by sending an email to: reservasconcertos@gmail.com with
Cristina who will confirm your reservation by sending you the full programme. And if you bring
guests, she will also inform about payment procedure.
We continue, of course, with our meticulous Safety Rules in Os Agostos, where, I am happy to say, I only had to ask visitors to put on their masks in a few isolated cases.
Please help us stay open by staying safe.
In the following I shall give you dates and names of planned recitals for the remainder of the 2020/21 membership season which ends in June.
Please do NOT make reservations for the following events until further notice.
These dates are fixed and the musicians are looking forward to coming to us. HOWEVER, there is still uncertainty and undefined ruling re flights and dislocations to Europe for artists coming from UK – Brexitania as I have been calling it. So, please be patient, I shall update you as developments happen.
- June starts with another pianist who is making a repeat appearance in the Algarve. Konstantin Lapshin is confirmed to come from London to play for us on
Tuesday, June 15th and Thursday, June 17th, 2021
Let him test the unknown diverse connections and travel rules between UK and Europe.
- This also applies to one of the artists coming to us for the final concert of the 2020/21 season,
Katya Apekisheva, whowill be performing with the violinist Pavel Fischer on
Wednesday, June 23rd and Friday, June 25th, 2021
PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE IN WEEK DAYS
Pavel will not be affected by Brexit conditions, as he will be coming from the Czech Republic.
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NEW MEMBERS: please let me briefly outline below once more the way things “work” at Os Agostos in connection with our concerts:
As a consequence of having to follow strict social distancing rules, we are limited to seating no more than 45 – 50 people in our auditorium. Our hosts, in their never-ending generosity, are offering us the additional space in the upper room adjacent to the auditorium, called “celeiro”, where there are seating possibilities for another 10 – 12 people. We think that concert performances for an audience of ca. 60 people are acceptable, and for economic reasons we offer 2 performances per concert day. That is to say, we shall have a Matinée performance from 11:00 to 12:00, and an evening performance from 19:00 to 20:20 on both concert days. The programme of Matinee and Evening is the same, except slightly abbreviated in the morning. There is limited catering, to be taken to the seats.
VERY IMPORTANT SAFETY MEASURES: For all safety measures, and reservation procedure, please see here a summary and please help us all to stay open and safe.
SAFETY CONCERNS at our venue: OS AGOSTOS for concerts 2020/21
— Matinees as well as Evening performances —
For Members as well as Guests
We continue to be concerned for everyone`s safety. So in order to comply with hygiene and
distancing regulations, and according to DGS stipulations, the following rules will apply:
Avoid congregating in the parking lot.
Masks will be worn until you are seated as well as during the performances.
There are separate entrance and exit doors for the concert hall.
Drinks and light refreshments are prepared at the entrance for you to collect and take to your seat.
And with ever improving weather conditions, you may want to take your welcome tray into the fresh air of the outdoor terraces while you wait to take your seats in the auditorium..
(Empties are removed by the OA staff.)
Seats in the auditorium are adequately spaced and the capacity is considerably reduced.
There will be no interval.
In order to avoid as much indoor mingling as possible our hosts insist that social
distancing rules be observed AT ALL TIMES, including for the use of the Restrooms !
Please avoid queues and stay masked
Concert Programmes will not be available on the night. They will be emailed to all participants
for individual printing out.
RESERVATIONS HAVE TO BE MADE !
To avoid face to face check-in procedure
Bookings must be made by email, stipulating “Matinee” or “Evening”, and all names must be given
Book as soon as possible – but right now for the May concerts only !!
For guest bookings Cristina will give payment details, either for bank transfer or multibanco.
The guest donation is still EURO 25.00 p.p.
This prepayment avoids the need to check in on the evening
and is to be paid only after Cristina has confirmed your reservation.
Gates at Os Agostos open after 10:00 or 18:00, respectively – please do not come earlier –
Concerts for Matinees begin at 11:00 and Evening performances at 19:00
Please also observe the one-way approach to the parking at OA. Do not exit the domaine
in the wrong direction !
I look forward to welcoming you again in Os Agostos, albeit still all masked.
Safe Hugs,
Helga Hampton
President
ASSOCIAҪÃO DE AMIGOS DE MUSICA at Os Agostos
E-mail: helga.hampton@gmail.com
www.amigos-de-musica.org
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