THE MUSIC SCENE: Martha Argerich’s Brilliant Debut with La Filarmonica
Martha Argerich
“We, who were there to listen, felt ever so lucky”
Venue: The Auditorio Nacional de Musica, Madrid
Date: May 5, 2015
Program:
>J.S. Bach, Concerto for violin in La minor, BWV 1041
>Dmitri Shostakovich, Concerto Nº 1 for the Piano, Trumpet and Strings in D minor
>Ludwig von Beethoven, Symphony Nº 4, in B flat major, op. 60
Performers:
>Orquesta Da Camera
>Alexander Janiczek, concertino director
>Martha Argerich, piano
>Mireira Farres, trumpet
La Filarmonica is understandably proud to have presented, in a brilliant concert last May 5, the great pianist Martha Argerich and the Orquesta Da Camera who bowled the public and the critics over — thunderous standing ovation — on their first presentation at the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona nearly twelve years ago.
Orquesta Da Camera: Their debut at the Palau de Musica caused quite a stir among the public and the critics alike who were simply bowled over
La Filarmonica’s program included Schostakovich’s Concerto Nº 1 for Piano, Trumpet and Strings performed with outstanding virtuosity by Martha Argerich and Mireia Farres. Legendary, spontaneous, inspired and extraordinary, Argerich is one of the most outstanding pianists on the international scene. The May 5 concert marked her debut with La Filarmonica.
Mereira Farres, OBC ‘s extraordinary trumpet soloist
Mireia Farres, for her part, is the extraordinary trumpet soloist of the Orquestra Simfonica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC) since 2004. She can rightly boast of a long career as soloist and instrumentalist. Not surprisingly, she performs with prestigious orchestras around the world, the Prague Symphony and the Chamber Orchestra of Vienna among them, and has received many honors as befits someone with such an outstanding career.
Going back to the Orquesta Da Camera, it was founded in 2013 and is composed of members of the Cuarteto Casals, the Cuarteto Quiroga and young Spanish musicians who collaborate with groups of great renown such as the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Les Arts Florissants and the Berlin Philharmonica Academy.
Alexander Janiczek: His conducting is “as elegant as it is vital”
The Orquesta played a memorable Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony and a Bach’s Violin Concert in La Menor, BWV 1041 in last May’s concert. Conducting was Concertino director Austrian-born music-maker Alexander Janiczek. This chamber musician and professor is, since 2011, Associate Artist of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. In his formative years, he was a privileged student of the legendary violinist-conductor Sandor Végh.
Says The Irish Times about him: “He’s an animated figure who bobs and wheels in communication with his players to secure playing that’s as elegant as it is vital. “ He has this unmistakable style of conducting where “tempos and phrasing [have] a delightful buoyancy and the sense of give and take between players,” thereby producing “a strong flavour of gracefully pointed chamber music-making.”
All these ingredients made La Filarmonica’s concert last May 5 a memorable experience and we, who were there to listen, felt ever so lucky.
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Images provided by La Filarmonica
