Pharos International Chamber Music Festival
Photos courtesy of The Pharos Trust
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| Country and Region | Cyprus — Paphos |
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| Type of Festival | Music |
| Location of Festival | Kouklia, Paphos, Cyprus |
| Festival Address Information | Mailing address: |
| Festival Description | Growing steadily over the years, the International Pharos Chamber Music Festival is considered nowadays one of the most renowned festivals of its kind in the eastern-Mediterranean region. The Festival, which has established itself as the highlight of the Pharos Arts Foundation’s Concert and Recital series, has achieved to make chamber music more accessible, with performances of the highest standard, stimulating programmes and affordable tickets. Guided by a visionary spirit and dedicated to artistic excellence and innovation, the Festival attracts over 1.500 visitors every year. The Festival maintains also a strong tradition of community service, with educational concerts organised for primary education students of the surrounding areas. In May 2010, the Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary! |
| Festival Dates | May 29 - June 4, 2010 |
| Festival Links |
Festival Story:
Enjoy world-class chamber music performances in the unique atmosphere of historic Kouklia, part of the Aphrodite Cultural Route in Cyprus. Every year during May - June, the International Pharos Chamber Music Festival brings some of the world’s most accomplished soloists and ensembles together in Cyprus for an intensive week of music-making. The Festival was established in 2001 and has an international reputation for the quality of its performances and its unique location. In 2007 the festival was extended to the capital of Cyprus—with the first three concerts held in Nicosia and the remaining four concerts at Kouklia. The artists are renowned soloists and chamber musicians—the audiences were treated to seven concerts with a varied program ranging from Bach and Mozart to Brahms, Schumann and Mendelssohn, as well as works by lesser known contemporary composers such as Alfvén, Arensky and Aho.
Festival Events:
THE ARTISTS 2010:
- Violin: Alexander Sitkovetsky, Hrachya Avanesyan, Lena Neudauer, Levon Chilingirian
- Viola: Philip Dukes, Razvan Popovici, Diemut Poppen
- Cello: Natalia Gutman, Alexander Chaushian, Oleg Kogan
- Double-bass: Nabil Shehata
- Piano: Ashley Wass, Konstantin Lifschitz, Αλέξανδρος Καπέλης
- Horn: Radovan Vlatkovic
- Clarinet: Charles Neidich
- Bassoon: Amy Harman
- Mezzo-soprano: Zandra McMaster
PROGRAMMING 2010:
- Saturday, May 29
- Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
- Five Mazurkas (Poems by Louis Pomey / arr. Pauline Viardot)
Zandra McMaster (mezzo-soprano), Ashley Wass (piano) - Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
- Allegro for piano 4 hands, in A minor, D. 947 “Lebensstürme” (1828)
Performers — Ashley Wass (piano), Alexandros Kapelis (piano) - Antón García Abril (b.1933)
- Canciones del Jardín Secreto
Performers — Zandra McMaster (mezzo-soprano), Ashley Wass (piano), Hrachya Avanesyan (violin), Oleg Kogan (cello)
—interval - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
- Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50 (1882)
Performers — Hrachya Avanesyan (violin), Alexander Chaushian (cello), Konstantin Lifschitz (piano)
- Sunday, May 30
- Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
- Clarinet Quintet in B flat major, Op. 34 (1815)
Performers — Charles Neidich (clarinet), Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Hrachya
Avanesyan (violin),Philip Dukes (viola), Oleg Kogan (cello) - Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
- Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 63 (1847)
Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Alexander Chaushian (cello), Ashley Wass (piano)
—interval - Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales) for clarinet, viola & piano, Op. 132 (1853)
Performers — Charles Neidich (clarinet), Diemut Poppen (viola), Konstatin Lifschitz (piano) - Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
- String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111 (1890)
Performers — Hrachya Avanesyan (violin), Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Diemut Poppen (viola), Razvan Popovici (viola), Oleg Kogan (cello)
- Tuesday, June 1
- Antón García Abril (b. 1933)
- 3 Canciones de Valldemossa & 3 Canciones Xacobeas
Performers — Zandra McMaster (mezzo-soprano), Ashley Wass (piano) - Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
- Adagio & Allegro for horn & piano in A flat major, Op. 70 (1849)
Performers — Radovan Vlatkovic (horn), Konstantin Lifschitz (piano) - Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
- Zwei Gesange Op. 91 (1864 – 1884)
Performers — Zandra McMaster (mezzo-soprano), Diemut Poppen (viola), Ashley Wass (piano)
—interval - Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
- Octet for clarinet, horn, bassoon & strings in F major, D. 803 (1824)
Performers — Levon Chilingirian (violin), Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Philip Dukes (viola), Oleg Kogan (cello), Radovan Vlatkovic (horn), Charles Neidich (clarinet), Amy Harman (bassoon), Nabil Shehata (double-bass)
- Wednesday, June 2
- Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
- Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20
Performer — Alexandros Kapelis - Four Mazurkas Op. 17 (1832-3)
Performer — Konstantin Lifschitz - Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49 (1841)
Ashley Wass
—interval - Scherzo No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31 (1837)
Ashley Wass - Polonaise in C sharp minor, Op. 26, No. 1
- Nocturne in F sharp minor, Op. 48, No. 2
Performer — Alexandros Kapelis - Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52 (1842)
Performer — Konstantin Lifschitz
- Thursday, June 3
- Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
- String Sextet No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 18 (1860)
Performers — Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Lena Neudauer (violin), Philip Dukes (viola), Razvan Popovici (viola), Natalia Gutman (cello), Alexander Chaushian (cello) - Xavier Montsalvatge (1912-2002)
- Madrigal on a Popular Theme “El Cant dels ocells” (1991)
Performers — Zandra McMaster (mezzo-soprano), Alexander Chaushian (cello), Ashley Wass (piano) - Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
- Chanson perpétuelle, for voice, piano & string quartet, Op. 37 (1898)
Performers — Zandra McMaster (mezzo-soprano), Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Lena Neudauer (violin), Razvan Popovici (viola), Alexander Chaushian (cello), Alexandros Kapelis
—interval - Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
- Quintet for piano, violin, viola, cello & double-bass in A major, D. 667 “Trout” (1819)
Performers — Konstantin Lifschitz (piano), Levon Chilingirian (violin), Diemut Poppen (viola), Natalia Gutman (cello), Nabil Shehata (double-bass)
- Friday, June 4
- Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
- Duo for Cello and Double-bass in D major (1824)
Performers — Alexander Chaushian (cello), Nabil Shehata (double-bass) - Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
- Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44 (1842)
Performers — Levon Chilingirian (violin), Lena Neudauer (violin), Philip Dukes (viola), Alexander Chaushian (cello), Alexandros Kapelis (piano)
—interval - Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
- Septet in E-flat major, Op. 20 (1800)
Performers — Levon Chilingirian (violin), Diemut Poppen (viola), Natalia Gutman (cello), Nabil Shehata (double-bass), Radovan Vlatkovic (horn), Amy Harman (bassoon), Charles Neidich (clarinet)
Practical Info:
Venue:
- Royal Manor House, Kouklia, Paphos
All concerts start at 8:30pm - About the venue
Contributing to its magic is the Festival’s unique setting, the surrounding of the magnificent ancient town of Palaipaphos. All concerts will take place at the Gothic Hall of The Royal Manor House at Kouklia, one of the finest surviving monuments of Frankish architecture on the island and an unparalleled venue for intimate chamber music performances. The building also houses an archaeological museum, which records the rich history of human activity in the region from about 2800 BC to the present day. The Royal Manor House, which is part of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation’s “Aphrodite’s Cultural Route”, is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Palaipaphos, or Old Paphos, was a city-kingdom of Cyprus and one of the most celebrated pilgrimage centres of the ancient Greek world. It was the site of a famous sanctuary of Aphrodite, the oldest remains of which date back to the 12th century BC. Join us in a leisurely exploration of the history and cultural heritage of the western region of Cyprus.
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