In its eleventh year running, the Red Sea Classical Music Festival is presenting three days of the world’s richest and most revered classical music on one stage. Renowned conductor Maestro Valery Gergiev, initiator of the festival, will present this spectacular musical event along with the orchestra and chorus of the Marinsky Opera House. The concert will take place from January 5 – 7, 2012, on the recently renovated stage at the Hangar 6 of Eilat Port, a venue containing about 2,400 seats.
The pianist Danil Trifonov, considered one of the biggest talents of classical music and one of the most sought after pianists in the field of classical music in the world, will be performing in the festival on January 7, 2012. The international competition-winning pianist, only twenty years old, was born in Nizhny Novgorod and before his fifth birthday had already begun cultivating his musical mind. After graduating from the Gnesin School of Music in Moscow he moved to the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Sergei Babayan. Between 2006 – 2009 he studied in addition composition and has since written piano music for numerous symphonies.
Trifonov is one of the world’s freshest and most brilliant names of today’s piano generation. In the last year he has won medals in three of the world’s most prestigious music competitions as well as being honored with best musical performance and the Audience Favorite award in the International Chopin competition in Warsaw and the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master competition in Tel Aviv.
Festival Artistic Director, Maestro Valery Gergiev is considered one of the world’s most distinguished and sought after conductors. His charismatic personality and creative, original execution has mesmerized music fans around the world. Since being appointed artistic director of the Marinsky Opera in St. Petersburg in 1988, Maestro Gergiev has led the Opera House to immense international recognition and distinction.
Concert Program:
Thursday, 5/1/12, at 21:30.
Hector Berlioz (1803 – 1869) – “Requiem”, Opus 5.
Conductor: Valery Gergiev
“If they had threatened to kill all but one my works, I would ask for mercy and compassion for my Requiem” declared Berlioz, a French composer best known for his contribution to modern orchestra. Indeed it is a stunningly beautiful and unusual orchestration renowned for the deep emotional impact it evokes in its listeners. Berlioz has been considered one of the great musicians of all time, alongside Beethoven and Ravel, and was the first to publish a book that taught the art of orchestration.
Friday, 6/1/12 at 21:00
Sergei Prokofiev (1891 – 1953) – “The Fiery Angel”, an opera of five acts, Opus 37
Conductor: Valery Gergiev
In the opera “The Fiery Angel”, Prokofiev subjects the audience to a supernatural world of mystery and sensitivity. The plot is an adaptation of Valerie Briusov’s 1907 novel in which Dante is visited by an eight-year-old angel. After teaching the angel how to sustain a life of purity he falls in love with her, desperate for a relationship transcending the physical world. Outraged with himself at tainting her purity he disappears into a ball of fire, promising to return in human form. The masterpiece is a philosophical and emotional discovery of life and love beyond the physical realm; a permeating journey profoundly expressed though music.
Saturday, 7/1/12 at 14:30
Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918) – “Pelleas et Melisande”, an opera of five acts
Conductor: Valery Gergiev
Prince Golaud meets and falls in love with a mystery woman whom he discovers lost in a forest. He marries her, upon bringing her back to his palace, she fall in love with his brother Pelleas. This arouses Golaud’s jealousy as he goes to extraordinary lengths to discover more about Pelleas and Melisande’s secret relationship. The love triangle culminates in Goulad’s rage and murder of his brother, followed by the heartbreaking death of his true love Melisande after giving birth to a daughter. The opera is shrouded in Debussy’s unique musical interpretation, each act encapsulating the intensity of a clandestine love.
Saturday, 7/1/12 at 20:30
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827), Symphony No.9 in D minor, Opus 125
Conductor: Valery Gergiev
This is the premier of the ninth and final symphony of the musical genius Beethoven, marking a turning point in the history of traditional classical symphony. This opus has been electrifying audiences since its debut and, to this day, is considered one of the world’s grandest masterpieces. The music of the last chapter has become one of the most recognized and beloved musical creations on earth, adopted by the Olympic Committee between 1956 and 1968, the European Council and has becomes Japan’s yearly anthem for the opening of the season. This extraordinary symphony has long been a challenge to execute even for the world’s most impressive conductors, and continues to be one of the audience’s most esteemed pieces.
Chamber Concerts: Musical Consultant Ilan Rechtman, musical director of The Tel Aviv Museum.
This series of chamber concerts marks 60 years of diplomatic ties between Israel and Japan. The festival will be hosting six leading Japanese musicians in their respective fields to play alongside Israeli musicians. Concerts will take place in the hotels of Eilat.
Opening concert:
Thursday, 5/1/12, at 17:00.
Herod’s Palace Hotel, Pavilion Hall
Antonio Vivaldi, “The Four Seasons
Four violins Concerto Op. 8, “The Four Seasons”. Concerto for four violin in B minor Op. 3 No. 10 RV 580.
Sergei Ostrovsky, violin (Israel), Tamaki Kawasubo, biolin (Japan), Arnaud Sussmann, violin (Israel), Mayu Kishima, violin (Japan).
Concert no. 1
Friday,6/1/12, at 10:00
Isrotel King Solomon Hotel
Ludwig Van Beethoven, Piano Trio Cycle
Allegretto in B flat major, Trio Op. 1 No. 1 in E-flat major, Trio Op. 1 No. 2 in G major
Yoko Kikuchi, piano (Japan), Sergei Ostrovsky, violin (Israel), Hikaru Sato, cello (Japan)
Concert no. 2
Friday, 6/1/12, at 12:30
Isrotel King Solomon Hotel
Ludvig Van Beethoven, Piano Trio Cycle
Trio Op. 1 no. 3 in C minor, Trio Op. 70 no. 2 in E-flat major
Ilan Rechtman, piano (Israel), Mayu Kishima, violin (Japan), Kyril Zlotnivov, cello (Israel)
Concert no. 3
Saturday, 7/1/12, at 10:00
Isrotel King Solomon Hotel
Ludwig Van Beethoven, Piano Trio Cycle
Allegretto in E-flat major Hess 48, Kakadu Variations Op. 121a, Trio Op. 70 no. 1 in D major, “Ghost”
Inon Bar Natan, piano (Israel), Tamaki Kawakubo, violin (Japan), Kaori Yamagami, cello (Japan)
Concert no. 4
Saturday, 7/1/12, at 12:30
Isrotel King Solomon Hotel
Ludwig Van Beethoven, Piano Trio Cycle
Trio WoO 38 in E-flat major, 14 variations on an original theme Op. 44, Trio Op. 97 in B-flat major, “Archduke”
Hisako Kawamura, piano (Japan, Arnaud Sussmann, violin (Israel), Iris Regev, cello (Israel)
In addition to the chamber concerts there will be two more special performances, Comic opera by G.B. Pergolesi “La Serva Padrona” on Friday at 14:30 at the Herod’s Palace Hotel, and a choreographic poem for piano and four accompanying dancers by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky called “The Seasons”, choreographed by Vera Arbuzova on Friday at 18:00 at the same location.
Pre-concert lectures will take place in the Istrotel King Solomon Hotel by the lecturer Alon Klivnov. The lectures are open to the public and are free of charge. The complete schedule may be found on the event website. Tickets may be ordered through Castel, or call 03-6045000. In Eilat, call 08-6370004.
