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The programme is designed as an allegorical picture of our modern globalised world. All three cities will have the opportunity to enjoy the Latvian composer Georgs Pelēcis’ romantic and spring-like composition Flowering Jasmine for violin, vibraphone and strings. The world-renowned Riga-born violinist Gidon Kremer and the vibraphonist Andrei Pushkarev will perform the solo parts.
The programme also features Violin concerto No.2 by the American composer Philip Glass. This American Four Seasons concerto was composed as a contemporary variation of the classical Four Seasons cycle by Antonio Vivaldi. The Danish media artist Pingo van der Brinkloev has created a special video projection to accompany the performance by Kremerata Baltica.
A special project
Several of the concerts will feature a new project entitled Confrontation between two worlds created by Gidon Kremer and the chamber orchestra in cooperation with the Russian artist and publicist Maxim Kantor. The orchestra will play the famous piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky arranged for string orchestra by Jacques Cohen against the backdrop of new paintings in the style of existential realism by Maxim Kantor.
“We decided to carry out this experiment because the current situation in the world requires unity. At a time when the threat to humanism has become all too obvious, we have to demonstrate solidarity between artists from various fields in a union of different languages in order to make a joint statement,” says Maxim Kantor in describing the origin of the idea.
Maxim Kantor. Publicity photo
“The skills and techniques may differ, and the materials may differ, but the sound created by a violin bow and the brushstroke applied to a canvas both speak about the same thing – our pain about what is happening. The modern world is very different from the time when Mussorgsky was writing his Pictures at an Exhibition. We are talking about our present-day pain, about new paintings on existence in which there is no longer any place for impressionism. This is how the project was born – as a symbol of resistance and unity, as a common artistic statement,” explains the artist.
Gidon Kremer points out that this joint venture provides an opportunity not just to speak to the audience in a special, very emotional language that combines music and visuals, but also to reflect on our times and our social attitudes. The problems arising from the contemporary confrontation of different sets of ethical values between the West and the East are the theme of the project.
Special guests
The concert in Brussels on 27 April will feature a special guest – the world-famous Riga-born cellist Mischa Maisky. Together with Kremerata Baltica he will perform works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Aleksandr Raskatov. His playing has always been characterised by youthful vitality and an outspoken romanticism.
Mischa Maisky. Publicity photo
Before the concert, on 27 April at 10:00, Gidon Kremer will also lead a master class at the Brussels Royal Conservatory.
The BOZAR Centre for Performing Arts will be the venue for a chamber music concert on the evening of 28 April. The very promising Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov and the Lithuanian cellist Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė will join Gidon Kremer on stage. They will perform compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mieczysław Weinberg, Franz Schubert, and Sergey Rachmaninov.
All of these concerts are included in the Latvian EU Council Presidency cultural programme. The final concert in this series by Kremerata Baltica will take place on 11 May in Luxembourg.
More information about the concerts:
20 April at 21:00 Milan Conservatory
24 April at 18:30 Odessa National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet
27 April at 20:00 BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts
28 April at 20:00 BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts
29 April at 20:15 Flagey Cultural Centre
