Ensemble Het Collectief & Katrien Baerts

The 19th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival will open on Tuesday 14 May 2019 at the Pharos Arts Foundation’s recital venue, The Shoe Factory, in Nicosia with a concert by the renowned Belgian ensemble Het Collectief and the celebrated soprano Katrien Baerts | Soprano, who has been described as “Breathtaking” and “astoundingly beautiful” (Place de l' Opera), with “a voice and interpretation that are nothing less than a revelation” (Trouw) and “hair-raising feats of vocal agility” (The Telegraph). Their programme consists of an amazing blend of French chamber and vocal repertoire by Ravel, Debussy, Dutilleux and Philippe Gaubert interspersed with pieces by the Finnish Kaija Saariaho who is one of the foremost composers on the planet and one of the leading creative figures of her generation.

ENSEMBLE HET COLLECTIEF

The chamber music ensemble Het Collectief was founded in 1998 in Brussels. Working consistently from a solid nucleus of five musicians, the ensemble has created an intriguing and idiosyncratic sound, achieved by an unfamiliar mix of strings, wind instruments and piano.
In its repertoire, Het Collectief returns to the Second Viennese School, the roots of modernism. Starting from this solid basis, it explores the important repertoire of the 20th century, as well as the very latest experimental trends, while it also creates a furore with daring crossovers between the contemporary and the classical repertoire and with adaptations of ancient music. Next to the many concert venues in Belgium, Het Collectief regularly brings its productions to important concert halls all over the world, including The Netherlands, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Poland, UK, Hong Kong, Peru and Brazil.

KATRIEN BAERTS / soprano

Described as “Breathtaking” and “astoundingly beautiful” (Place de l' Opera), with “voice and interpretation which are nothing less than a revelation” (Trouw) and “hair-raising feats of vocal agility” (The Telegraph), Belgian soprano Katrien Baerts has been noted for her powerful and sensual voice as well as for her profound and heartfelt interpretation.
Baerts made her debut at the National Opera in Amsterdam in a new production of Berg’s Lulu, and made her first appearance in Tokyo in Kris Defoort’s House of the Sleeping Beauties. She has performed several world premieres at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, including Clara in Loevendie's opera The Rise of Spinoza and in the title role of Zuidam's Suster Bertken. In Jakarta, Indonesia, Katrien Baerts created the title role in Prabowo's dance-opera Gandari. Further roles include Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen, Amina in Bellini’s La sonnambula, Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Miss Wordsworth in Britten’s Albert Herring, Stimme des Falken and Hüter der Schwelle in Richard Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten and Amore and Valletto in Monteverdi’s L'Incoronazione di Poppea.
Her concert repertoire includes Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Bach's St. John Passion and Cantate BWV 202, Brahms’ Requiem, Mahler's 4th Symphony, Britten’s Les Illuminations and Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre, with orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Katrien Baerts has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Richard Egarr, Vladimir Jurowski, Oliver Knussen, Reinbert de Leeuw, Emilio Pomárico and Bas Wiegers. Her debut at the Barbican Centre in London was enthusiastically received by the press.
Recent and forthcoming engagements include a re-invitation to the Salzburger Festspiele with Klangforum Wien performing the role of Sie in Beat Furrer’s Begehren, her debut as Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with Holland Opera, Claude Vivier’s Lonely Child with the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Köln, Beethoven's Incidental Music for Goethe's Egmont with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège and Dutilleux's Le temps l’horloge with the Brussels Philharmonic.

PROGRAMME:

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Chansons Madécasses for Cello, Piano & Soprano (1925)
Kaija Saariaho (b.1952): Cendres (1998)
Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013): Sonatine for Flute & Piano (1943)
Kaija Saariaho (b.1952): Die Aussicht for Cello, Piano & Soprano (1998)

Interval

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Le Balcon from Cinq poèmes de Baudelaire (1887)
Kaija Saariaho (b.1952): Oi kuu for Bass-Flute & Cello (1990)
Philippe Gaubert (1879-1941): Trois Aquarelles for Flute, Cello & Piano (1921)

Tickets:
€15 / €10 Concessions & members of the Pharos Arts Foundation,
Box Office: Directly from the Foundation’s website www.pharosartsfoundation.org/Tickets_online.htm or Tel. +35722663871 / (Monday - Friday 10:00am-3:00pm)