Leading musicians in the world of chamber music are making their way to Cyprus over the next couple of weeks
THE two best chamber music ensembles of France, one of the world’s foremost cellists and a world premiere of a violin concerto by Cypriot composer Andreas Moustoukis are some of the highlights of the Fifth International Pharos Chamber Music Festival that starts on Tuesday in Nicosia.
“It is like having a full meal instead of just a snack,” says Roland Melia, music director of the Pharos Trust, the institution responsible for this musical feast.
“With a lot of good wine, of course,” adds Garo Keheyan, the trust’s founder and director, and also the main initiator of the event. “The idea behind it is to have an intense period of music-making over a short period of time. Such an experience is very different from having one concert a month. You find a different type of energy and I believe that music does have a power to transform, excite, and create a special buzz so I wanted to do something in Cyprus along exactly these lines.”
The concerts will take place twice a week and the programme also includes a Cyprus premiere of Shostakovich Symphony Number 14 performed by the Moscow Virtuosi, works by Janacek and Dvorak played by the prominent Czech Skampa Quartet and one of the most renown British baroque ensemble Florrilegium interpreting four Bach’s pieces. And all this goes without even mentioning the Pharos Trust Soloists, led by Levon Chilingirian, who will play Haydn, Bacherini, Bach and Tausky.
“I think we have a big variety,” comments Melia. “We present music from the Renaissance till contemporary and you get a chance to compare a lot of different styles. Also bringing groups from different countries gives us a chance to ask them to play something from their own country, which I find very interesting. If a Czech quartet plays Janacek there is something more authentic about it. And with the Moscow Virtuosi playing Schostakovich, the chances are one of its members had a teacher who participated in the premiere of the piece.”
The artists who are coming to perform during the festival are really the best in Europe. Some of them are even the best in the world. Was it very difficult to persuade them to come to the island?
“Not really,” answers Keheyan. “Usually, musicians who have been here have had such a wonderful experience that when they go away, they spread the word. They often tell me they find it very rewarding because they have a very good interaction with the local community which is something they can’t usually experience.”
“Nowadays, it is enough for us to just pick up the phone and call,” confirms Melia. “Everybody wants to come here. The musicians talk to each other. People are actually now asking us for the opportunity. We are overwhelmed with choice.”
The trust has a waiting list of artists who want to perform at the festival and its programme is planned well in advance.
“We are working now on a programme of the festival in 2007,” says Keheyan. “We have to work like that because often when we speak to an agent or an artist we want to bring, they open their diary and say: ‘on May 13, 2008 I will be in Istanbul or Vienna’. This is the way it works and we have to adjust ourselves accordingly.”
And is it worth it to pour such a lot of effort and, often, personal resources into organising this event?
“We have this opportunity to create this festival in Cyprus,” answers Melia. “And we hope the government will understand it can turn into a big resource for the country because people will know that there is such a high quality event taking place in a beautiful place, and there is nothing like this in the entire region, very little to compare to what we are already doing, and nothing like what we envision.”
“We want to create a difference,” adds Keheyan. “And Cyprus is a small country so it is possible to make things happen. Also chamber music is such an intimate, intense, exciting form of expression. You listen to a symphony and it can be very powerful but you listen to chamber music and it is often the most thorough expression of an artist.”
Programme
May 10 — Trio Vanderer (Brachms, Saint-Saens and Copland) at PASYDY
May 13 – Skampa Quartet (Prokofiev, Janacek and Dvorak) at the Royal Manor House in Kouklia, Paphos
May 14 – Skampa Quartet at PASYDY
May 17 – Peter Bruns (cello) and Roglit Ishay (piano) at PASYDY (Bach, Brahms and Schumann)
May 20 – Ysaye Quartet (Beethoven Faure and Schumann) at PASYDY
May 23 – The Pharos Soloists (Haydn, Bacherini, Bach and Tausky) at the Royal Manor House in Kouklia, Paphos
May 24 – The Pharos Soloists at PASYDY
May 27 – Florilegium (Bach) at the Royal Manor House in Kouklia, Paphos
May 28 – Florilegium at PASYDY
June 6 – Moscow Virtuosi (Kancheli, Schostakovich and Moustoukis at Strovolos Municipal Theatre
All concerts start at 8.30pm. Tickets are £10. Tel: 22 663871, fax: 22 663538, email: [email protected]
