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| | Arts Calendar / December 29 / Concerts |
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20:00 | "Russian Winter" Arts Festival. Valery Gergiev |
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 Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Conductor Valery Gergiev. Among the most prominent conductors of his generation, Gergiev is known for high-energy performances of traditional orchestral repertoire as well as opera, especially Russian works. Valery Gergiev emerged in the 1980s as one of the most exciting new conductors, particularly of opera and ballet, and has maintained and enhanced his reputation ever since. He is also known for the rather gruff, unshaven appearance he cultivates. Born in Moscow to Ossetian parents, he showed tremendous musical talent in early childhood. Deciding while still in his teens that he wanted to become a conductor, Gergiev entered the conducting class of Ilya Musin at the Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Conservatory. In 1975 and still a student, he won the All Union Conductors' Competition in Moscow in 1975. The following year, Gergiev won the Herbert von Karajan Conductors' Competition in Berlin. In 1977, the 24-year-old Gergiev was appointed assistant conductor at the Kirov Opera under Yuri Temirkanov. He made his debut the next year, conducting Prokofiev's immense opera War and Peace. This and other exciting opera performances marked the arrival of an extraordinary conductor. In 1981, Gergiev became director of the Armenian State Orchestra, conducting widely throughout the Soviet Union. He was appointed music director of the Kirov in 1988, when Temirkanov left to take over the Leningrad Philharmonic. Starting his tenure at the Kirov with immense energy and enthusiasm, Gergiev developed the company's orchestra to the point that it rivaled the famed Philharmonic. As director of the Mariinsky Theater (the historic home of the Kirov Opera and Ballet companies), he organized a successful annual Stars of the White Nights festival in St. Petersburg. The Mariinsky label, founded in 2009, which features Gergiev 's performances with the theatre orchestra, includes operas from both the Russian and traditional repertoires.
Tchaikovsky Concert Hall  |
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19:00 | December Nights Festival: Le Poème Harmonique (France) & Intrada (Russia) |
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 Le Poème Harmonique (France) & Intrada (Russia) will perform Michel-Richard de Lalande, Leçons de Ténèbres du Vendredi, Miserere; Saint Marc Antoine Charpentier, Deux méditations pour le carême, Tristis est anima mea, Tenebrae fact?e sunt. Falso bordone. Versets en répons, In te Domine speravi. Intrada is a Russian vocal ensemble "of a new generation". Founded in 2006 by Ekaterina Antonenko, the group has performed throughout Russia’s most prestigious concert venues, such as the Moscow and St. -Petersburg Philharmonic, the Mariinski Concert Hall, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Moscow International House of Music and the Moscow Kremlin. Intrada enjoys performing early music in collaboration with leading European artists – «The Tallis Scholars» and Peter Phillips, «Il Giardino Armonico» and Giovanni Antonini, «Le Poème Harmonique» and Vincent Dumestre, Frieder Bernius, Peter Neumann. Le Poème Harmonique is a musical ensemble founded in 1998 by Vincent Dumestre to recreate and promote early music, in particular that of the 17th century. Using rare instruments such as the theorbo, the lirone, the tiorbino and the arpa tripla, Le Poème Harmonique aims to recapture the poetry of early music, particularly of the late renaissance and early baroque era. The early 17th-century French and Italian madrigal is a special interest. Le Poème Harmonique also teaches singers in collaboration with the Centre de Musique Baroque (Center for Baroque Music) at Versailles. The group's recordings with the French Alpha record label of Jean-Paul Combet contributed to the critical and commercial establishment of the label, and included the 1st and 100th releases of the label's primary 'Ut Pictura Musica' series.
Pushkin Fine Arts Museum |
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 Zap Mama (Belgium) together with Terr Maitz (Russia) will bring you unforgettable evening with so special New Year's eve atmosphere. Zap Mama is the music act of Belgian artist Marie Daulne. Zap Mama sings polyphonic and Afro-Pop music; a harmonic music with a mixture of infused African vocal techniques, Urban, Hip-Hop with emphasis on voice. The worldwide success of Zap Mama, and an ensemble of female polyphonic singers, inspired influences in American Hip Hop, Nu-Soul, Jazz and elements of Pop. The evolving musical compositions created a diverse band of singers and musicians for Zap Mama. "The voice is an instrument itself," says Daulne. "It's the original instrument. The primary instrument. The most soulful instrument, the human voice. Singing songs in French and English with African World Music Roots." Therr Maitz is an electronic project from Moscow, Russia. Formed in 2004 by Anton Belyaev, it became an indie pop band with full line-up in 2011 and began touring with noteworthy participation in such music festivals as Usadba Jazz, MIGZ, Bosco Fresh Fest 2.0, and Red Rocks. Their first album Sweet Oldies was released in 2010, and the second full-length studio work Unicorn is due on September 2, 2014. Genrewise, Therr Maitz mixes a bunch of subgenres of downtempo electronic music, such as trip-hop and acid jazz, as well as different forms of dance music, including breakbeat, house, disco, and funk.
MMDM Svetlanov Hall |
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