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Archive for August, 2009

Ivor’s blog

Wednesday 19th August, 2009

Salzburg Festival Blog 25 (19 Aug)

A day away from the Salzburg Festival! Herbert Lindsberger, viola player in our Mozarteum Orchestra, Doctor of Music, and renowned chamber-music player is a leading light in Kitzbuehel's Summer Music Festival and has invited me to join an elite team of string players to play in Mendelssohn's terrific String Symphony- 'La Suisse'. We rehearse in the morning in violin virtuoso Benni Schmidt's house in Aigen. For me this is the first time in years that I can walk to work! I drive over to beautiful Kitzbuehel with Herbert, and we take a brief swim in the Schwarzsee before our warm -up...

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Ivor’s blog

Tuesday 18th August, 2009

Salzburg Festival Blog 24 (18 Aug)

I wake up late, a little tired after the exertions of the last week and enjoy an hour or two reading Gabriele d'Annunzio's 'Book of the Virgins'. There is little time left for reading in this Festival summer now, so I enjoy dipping into this slim volume of four short stories. D'Annunzio's work has been rather neglected of late, perhaps his scandalous personal life, egocentricity and not least his proto-fascist beliefs (which were well ahead of his time) have contributed to this. However he writes with flair and sophistication and one appreciates the reasons for his huge reputation (even...

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Ivor’s blog

Monday 17th August, 2009

Salzburg Festival Blog 23 (17 Aug)

I drive Sophie to the station. She has enjoyed the performances but her work in Zurich must go on. I have stage and orchestra rehearsals of Armida today. We begin at midday and we are in good enough shape to make a run of the substantial first part. The Felsenreitschule stage is extremely wide and Christof (Loy) has made full use of it with makes contact with the singers difficult at certain moments. We solved these problems two years ago and we set about solving them now! The duet at the end of Haydn's first act is particularly problematic with Annette...

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Ivor’s blog

Sunday 16th August, 2009

Salzburg Festival Blog 22 (16 Aug)

The repeat concert of the Matinee will be broadcast live, which always lends an 'edge' to a performance. I drive in with Sophie, who will attend the concert and take yet more coffee. If anything today's concert is more free despite the pressure of the live broadcast and at the end I feel we have done this powerful, subtle work of Haydn justice. It is concert-master Markus Tomasi's last performance is this year's Festival ( he has been extremely busy) and we take a beer together. I then take a quick lunch in the Salzach grill with Sophie before taking an afternoon...

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Ivor’s blog

Saturday 15th August, 2009

Salzburg Festival Blog 21 (15 Aug)

Ferragosto-Assumption of the Virgin Mary I forget that this most important of Feast Days is of course a public holiday and so am not able to buy a present for a good friend's birthday. I do however manage to have several excellent Vienese coffees in Cafe Mozart before our 11.00am Matinee. Joel had been nervous earlier in the morning after a cold, but is singing. The concert is really fine and all soloists and choir have acquited themselves with distinction. For me there is a surprisingly vigorous public response (for such a devout piece) with rhythmic clapping of a sort more...

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Ivor’s blog

Friday 14th August, 2009

Salzburg Festival Blog 20 (14 Aug)

The last rehearsal in Orchesterhaus for our Haydn programme. Joel (Prieto), our excellent tenor soloist, is not well and says he will probably save his voice. We make a run of the whole piece and then corrections. (Not too many!) Florian Birsak (brother of our viola player Rupert) and a guest does a fine job on organ continuo. After the pause we run the other piece in the programme, Haydn's sublime and haunting 'Lamentazione Symphony (N0.26). This short three-movement work, makes extensive use of plainchant material, encapsulates the 'sturm and drang' affect in a turbulent 1st movement which is followed...

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Ivor’s blog

Thursday 13th August, 2009

Salzburg Festival Blog 19 (13 Aug)

10.00 am - A 'tutti' rehearsal of the 'Stabat Mater' in our 'OrchesterHaus'. The choir is highly esteemed Arnold Schoenberg Choir from Wien. This choir is well known from it's may concerts and recordings with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and it's style of singing betray his strong musical influence. I like their strong phrasing sense and good control of 'piano' dynamics through my personal preference is for a stronger consonantal attack and on occasion more sostenuto than their default style. This is however why we rehearse and I thoroughly enjoy working with them this morning. Their Chorus Master is the hyperactive and...

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Ivor’s blog

Wednesday 12th August, 2009

Salzburg Festival Blog 18 (12 Aug)

A tough week starts now. For me this is the busiest time of the Festival, with a big Mozart Matinee programme and Haydn's 'Armida' to prepare and 'Theodora' still running. 10.00 am - We start with our soloists and Mozarteum Orchestra rehearsing Haydn's 'Stabat Mater'. A profound, extensive piece and potentially elusive. Our soloists make up a fine quartet and they are certainly an international bunch. Our soprano Sandrine Piau is from Paris, mezzo-soprano Michaela Salinger from Wien, young Joel Prieto (his 'Cosi fan tutte debut in this Festival imminent) is Costa Rican and feisty Vito Priante brings a touch of...

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Ivor’s blog

Tuesday 11th August, 2009

Salzburg Festival Blog 17 (11 Aug)

My 25th wedding anniversary. Tess Knighton (author, broadcaster, sometimes journalist and lecturer at Cambridge University) and for me most importantly, my wife and mother of our beloved son Samuel, are separated by some thousand kilometers today. This being the distance between the best Music Festival in the world and our house near Granada in Andalucia. Thank you Tess for putting up with my craziness and moods this last quarter of a century. I am a lucky...

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Ivor’s blog

Friday 7th August, 2009

Salzburg Festival Blog 16 (7 Aug)

5.00 am I continue markings for Haydn 'Stabat Mater' which begins rehearsal this weekend. Music of serene beauty from his Esterhaza years and a most extensive setting of this most celebrated text. It clearly meant a lot to Haydn as his setting runs to over 70 minutes. In fact it was not common for Austrian composers to set this Marian text in the late 18c. The tendency was to set the 'Salve regina'. All of which speculation will not get this job done (there are many discrepancies in the urtext bowings and phrasings, which I must resolve) so I press...

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