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| | Arts Calendar / December 18 / Concerts |
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20:00 | Alexander von Schlippenbach and Monk's Casino (Germany) |
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One of Europe's premier free jazz bandleaders, pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach's music mixes free and contemporary classical elements, with his slashing solos often the link between the two in his compositions. Schlippenbach formed The Globe Unity Orchestra in 1966 to perform the piece "Globe Unity" which had been commissioned by the Berliner Jazztage. He remained involved with the orchestra into the '80s. Schlippenbach began taking lessons at eight, and studied at the Staatliche Hochschule for Musik in Cologne with composers Bernd Alois Zimmermann and Rudolf Petzold. He played with Gunther Hampel in 1963, and was in Manfred Schoof's quintet from 1964 to 1967. Schlippenbach began heading various bands after 1967, among them 1970 trio with Evan Parker and Paul Lovens and a duo with Sven-Ake Johansson which they co-formed in 1976. Schlippenbach has also given many solos performances. In the late '80s, he formed the Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra which has featured a number ofesteemed European avant-garde jazz musicians including Evan Parker, Paul Lovens, KennyWheeler, Misha Mengelberg and Aki Takase. During the 90's duo works with Tony Oxley, Sam Rivers and Aki Takase. Now Alexander von Schlippenbach performs with Monk's Casino quartet including Axel Doerner (trumpet), Rudi Mahall (bass clarinet), Jan Roder (bass), Uli Jennessen (drums).
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19:00 | Jil Aigrot: Edith Piaf (France) |
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 From the city of Cannes in the south of France, Jil Aigrot began studying voice at an early age and specializing in the art of the French song. As a musical theater performer in her formative years she was particularly interested in Light Opera by composters like Bizet and Offenbach. But as a concert singer, Jil's reputation grew in France with appearances on French TV in popular shows. As a result of this exposure, she appeared as a singer in an episode of Remington Steel with Pierce Brosnan. Roles as an actress/singer followed in the lamed Dell'Arte Cie in Nice. She appeared in shows like La Rue, Brel est Vivant, Il habite aux Marquises at the Avignon Festival, Les Inchantees, Sur La Butte and a special tribute to Jacques Brel staged by the city of Cannes. As the singer Jil Aigrot was discovered by Ginou Richer, Edith Piaf's close friend and personal secretary. Shortly after meeting, in 2006, Jil Aigrot was chosen to be the singing voice of the great Edith Piaf in Olivier Dahan's award-winning film, "La Vie En Rose". Reviews of her work as an interpreter of the work of Piaf in the movie and on the concert stage have resulted in worldwide acclaim. Her CD Words of Love released on LML Music is a tribute to the singing and the songs of Edith Piaf. The 90 minute show will consist of two distinct 45 minute performances with one intermission. The first part of the show will take the audience to Montmarte, Paris's most famous artistic neighborhood. The second part will be devoted to the "music hall" period of Edith Piaf's career during which Piaf sang her most famous hits. On stage video production will include never before seen images of Piaf's life. Jil Aigrot will interpret the most successful selections of Edith Piaf and will be accompanied on stage by four musicians: pianist, accordionist, percussionist and bassist. The show is sung in French. The lyrics are translated into English and projected on screens for a better understanding of songs Edith Piaf of different audience. Edith Piaf was one of the most popular French singers of the 1940s and '50s, internationally famous for her husky, mournful voice and her songs of loneliness and despair. Her great fame came after World War II, with her song La Vie en Rose becoming an international standard. More info
MMDM Svetlanov Hall  |
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19:00 | Moscow State Symphony Orchestra |
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Performer - Moscow State Symphony Orchestra. Soloist - Darius Mažintas (piano, Lithuania). The Ukrainian orchestral conductor Natalia Ponomarchuk working with the Ukrainian State Symphony Orchestra conducts. In program: Weber's Overture to the opera "Der Freischütz", Mendelssohn's Concerto #1 for piano and orchestra, and Mozart's Symphony #41. The orchestra, founded in 1943, has been acclaimed as one of the greatest orchestras from a cultural tradition rich with extraordinary symphonic ensembles. Since Pavel Kogan assumed the positions of Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra in 1989, the orchestra has steadily expanded its repertoire beyond the classics of Russian and Western symphonic literature to include contemporary compositions from both Russia and abroad. The Moscow State Symphony Orchestra also performs regularly at major Russian and European festivals including the Moscow Autumn Festival, the Russian Winter Festival, St. Petersburg White Nights, the Moscow Stars Festival, Prague Spring, and festivals in Helsinki, Dubrovnik, Munich, Flanders, Saint-Requier, and elsewhere. Darius Mažintas, a Lithuanian pianist and politician, who was been Vice Minister for Culture since March 2013 to September 2014, studied at the National M.K. Čiurlionis School of Art beginning in 1988. In 2000 he graduated from the Balys Dvarionas School of Music and from 2005 to 2006 he pursued further studies at Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Como, Italy. In 2010 he completed a Candidate of Sciences degree at Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. As a concert pianist, he has taken part in the Arthur Rubinstein competition in France (2003), the International Stasys Vainiūnas competition in Lithuania (2000) and the Konzerteum in Greece (1998), represented Lithuania with cellist Gleb Pyšniakas at the International Holland Music Sessions for young musicians in the Netherlands in 2009, and performed in several countries, for example in 2011 in Bratislava with the Slovak Philharmonic.
Tchaikovsky Concert Hall |
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