10th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival

Growing steadily over the years, the International Pharos Chamber Music Festival is considered nowadays one of the most renowned festivals of its kind in the eastern-Mediterranean region. The Festival, which has established itself as the highlight of the Pharos Arts Foundation's Concert and Recital series, has achieved to make chamber music more accessible, with performances of the highest standard, stimulating programmes and affordable tickets. Guided by a visionary spirit and dedicated to artistic excellence and innovation, the Festival attracts over 1.500 visitors every year.

In May 2010, the Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary!

The Tenth International Pharos Chamber Music Festival will feature 18 internationally renowned musicians including the legendary cellist Natalia Gutman, clarinettist Charles Neidich, the outstanding pianist Konstantin Lifshitz, and one of the most sought-after singers of our time, the brilliant mezzo-soprano Zandra McMaster. All artists will join forces for six concerts throughout an intensive week of music-making that will encompass an astonishing array of instrumental combinations for violin, viola, cello, double-base, piano, clarinet, horn, bassoon and voice. There is some mouthwatering music to look forward to, including Schumann's Fairy Tales, Schubert's Octet and Beethoven's Septet.

Festival concerts take place in the intimate Gothic Hall of the Royal Manor House at Kouklia in Palaipaphos, which is one the finest surviving monuments of Frankish architecture on the island.

The Artists
Violin: Alexander Sitkovetsky, Hrachya Avanesyan, Maria Kagan, Levon Chilingirian
Viola: Philip Dukes, Diemut Poppen, Razvan Popovici
Cello: Natalia Gutman, Oleg Kogan, Alexander Chaushian,
Double-bass: Nabil Shehata
Piano: Konstantin Lifshitz, Alexandros Kapelis, Ashley Wass,
Horn: Radovan Vlatkovic
Clarinet: Charles Neidich
Bassoon: Amy Harman
Mezzo-soprano: Zandra McMaster

The Programme:

Saturday 29 May

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Five Mazurkas (Poems by Louis Pomey / arr. Pauline Viardot)
Plainte d’amour, La Fête, Faibles Coeur, Berceuse, La Danse
Zandra McMaster (mezzo-soprano), Ashley Wass (piano)

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Allegro for piano 4 hands, in A minor, D. 947 "Lebensstürme" (1828)
Ashley Wass (piano), Alexandros Kapelis (piano)

Antón García Abril (b.1933)
Canciones del Jardín Secreto
Zandra McMaster (mezzo-soprano), Ashley Wass (piano), Hrachya Avanesyan (violin), Oleg Kogan (cello)

Interval

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50 (1882)
Hrachya Avanesyan (violin), Alexander Chaushian (cello), Konstantin Lifshitz (piano)

Sunday 30 May

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Clarinet Quintet in B flat major, Op. 34 (1815)
Charles Neidich (clarinet), Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Hrachya Avanesyan (violin), Philip Dukes (viola), Oleg Kogan (cello)

Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856)
Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 63 (1847)
Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Alexander Chaushian (cello), Ashley Wass (piano)

Interval

Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856)
Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales) for clarinet, viola & piano, Op. 132 (1853)
Charles Neidich (clarinet), Diemut Poppen (viola), Konstatin Lifshitz (piano)

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111 (1890)
Hrachya Avanesyan (violin), Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Diemut Poppen (viola), Razvan Popovici (viola), Oleg Kogan (cello)

Tuesday 1 June

Antón García Abril (b. 1933)
3 Canciones de Valldemossa & 3 Canciones Xacobeas
Zandra McMaster (mezzo-soprano), Ashley Wass (piano)

Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856)
Adagio & Allegro for horn & piano in A flat major, Op. 70 (1849)
Radovan Vlatkovic (horn), Konstantin Lifshitz (piano)

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Zwei Gesange Op.91 (1864 – 1884)
Gestillte sehnssucht, Geistliches Wiegenlied
Zandra McMaster (mezzo-soprano), Diemut Poppen (viola), Ashley Wass (piano)

Interval

Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)
Octet for clarinet, horn, bassoon & strings in F major, D. 803 (1824)
Levon Chilingirian (violin), Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Philip Dukes (viola), Oleg Kogan (cello), Radovan Vlatkovic (horn), Charles Neidich (clarinet), Amy Harman (bassoon), Nabil Shehata (double-bass)

Wednesday 2 June

Celebrating Chopin

Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49
Scherzo No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31
Ashley Wass (piano)

Mazurka No. 10 in B flat major, Op. 17, No. 1
Mazurka No. 11 in E minor, Op. 17, No. 2
Mazurka No. 12 in A flat major, Op. 17, No. 3
Mazurka No. 13 in A minor, Op. 17, No. 4
Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52
Konstantin Lifshitz (piano)

Polonaise No. 1 in C sharp minor, Op. 26, No. 1
Nocturne in F sharp minor, Op. 42, No. 2
Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 10
Alexandros Kapelis (piano)

Thursday 3 June

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
String Sextet No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 18 (1820)
Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Maria Kagan (violin), Philip Dukes (viola), Razvan Popovici (viola), Natalia Gutman (cello), Alexander Chaushian (cello)

Xavier Montsalvatge (1912-2002)
El Cant dels ocells (Madrigal on a Popular Theme)
Zandra McMaster (mezzo-soprano), Alexander Chaushian (cello), Ashley Wass (piano)

Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
Chanson perpétuelle, for soprano, piano & string quartet, Op. 37 (1898)
Zandra McMaster (mezzo-soprano), Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Maria Kagan (violin), Razvan Popovici (viola), Alexander Chaushian (cello), Alexandros Kapelis (piano)

Interval

Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)
Quintet for piano, violin, viola, cello & double bass in A major, D. 667 "Trout" (1819)
Konstantin Lifshitz (piano), Levon Chilingirian (violin), Diemut Poppen (viola), Natalia Gutman (cello), Nabil Shehata (double-bass)

Friday 4 June

Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)
Duo for Cello and Double Bass in D major (1824)
Alexander Chaushian (cello), Nabil Shehata (double-bass)

Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856)
Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44 (1842)
Levon Chilingirian (violin), Maria Kagan (violin), Philip Dukes (viola), Alexander Chaushian (cello), Alexandros Kapelis (piano)

Interval

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Septet in E-flat major, Op. 20 (1800)
Levon Chilingirian (violin), Diemut Poppen (viola), Natalia Gutman (cello), Nabil Shehata (double-bass), Radovan Vlatkovic (horn), Amy Harman (bassoon), Charles Neidich (clarinet)