Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Latest Highlights

- Tour to Ferrara, Lugano, Turin, Frankfurt and Dijon with András Schiff between 9 and 22 April.

- May concerts in Dijon and Vienna with Sir Roger Norrington and Michelle Breedt.

- Release of a ‘deluxe’ CD/DVD box set of the COE’s performance at last year’s Styriarte of Die Verkaufte Braut by Smetana.

- Welcome to a new COE member, violinist Lily Francis!

Die Verkaufte Braut DVD and CD Box set is out!

The Styriarte Festival has recently released a DVD/CD ‘deluxe’ box set edition of the COE’s performance at last year’s Styriarte of The Bartered Bride by Smetana. This semi-staged production, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and staged by his son, Philip Harnoncourt, was performed in the Helmut-List Halle in Graz with internationally-renowned singers including Dorothea Röschman, Elisabeth Kulman, Markus Schäfer, Kurt Streit, Ruben Drole and the Arnold Schoenberg Choir. The performance itself has received enthusiastic reviews from the Süddeutsche Zeitung (“Even for the first 6 minutes, it is worth travelling all the way to Graz”), Die Welt (“The overture is electrifying”), and a journalist from Vienna entitled one of his articles “When Harnoncourt creates a miracle”. The box set, consisting of three CDs and one DVD, can be purchased directly on the Styriarte’s website as well as on Amazon.

April Tour with András Schiff

The Chamber Orchestra of Europe and András Schiff travelled together between 9 and 22 April to Ferrara (Teatro Communale, 12), Lugano (Palazzo dei Congressi, 14), Turin (Auditorio Lingotto, 16), Frankfurt (Alte Oper, 18) and Dijon (Auditorium de l’Opéra, 20), performing Haydn’s Symphony No. 49 ‘Passione’ (replaced with Haydn’s Keyboard Concerto in D in Turin), Schubert’s Symphony No.2 and Schumann’s Piano Concerto.

The concerts received an enthusiastic response from the press. Two German newspapers (Frankfurter Neue Presse and Giessener Allgemeine Zeitung) referred to the performance of the Adagio of Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No.49 as “magic” (20/04/2012). According to Occhi Aperti, there was a “special feeling” between the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Andras Schiff, enabling him to reach “universality” and “unity” (15/04/2012). In the second movement of Schubert’s symphony, the soloists from the wind section were praised in many reviews for their “gracefulness” (Res Musica, 24/04/2012), their “flexibility as well as their sensitivity” (Offenbach-Post, 20/04/2012). Le Bien Public (Dijon) praised the “beautiful clarity, the balance”, “the round tones, the sustained musical phrasing of the first oboe” (23/04/2012). In the same issue, Le Bien Public noted that Andras Schiff’s interpretation of Schumann’s Piano Concerto was precise, clear, almost Bach-like instead of the usually more romantic and “foggy” way. For Res Musica, this was a real “rediscovery” (24/04/2012). Many critics also commented that Andras Schiff conducted the Haydn and Schubert Symphonies without music or baton, noting that “Simplicity is his credo” (Giessener Allgemeine Zeitung, 20/04/2012).

During the preliminary rehearsal period in Ferrara Violinist Jana Ozolina, from Latvia, joined the COE Academy programme and three soloists from the COE, Clara Andrada de la Calle (Flute), William conway (Cello) and Clive Williamson (Piano) gave a concert at Ferrara’s Torrione San Giovanni Jazz Club on 11 April, performing works by Toru Takemitsu (Voice), Jonathan Harvey (Tombeau de Messiaen), Lyell Cresswell (Variations on a theme by Charles Ives) and George Crumb (Vox Balaenae for three masked musicians).

Violinist Jana Ozolina, from Latvia, joined the COE Academy programme in Ferrara, and on 21 April the COE and Dijon Opera presented a family workshop led by the internationally acclaimed animateur Richard McNicol.

Family Workshop in Dijon

On 21 April, Richard McNicol and several players from the Chamber Orchestra of Europe presented a Family Workshop at the Opera de Dijon. The COE musicians included Clara Andrada de la Calle (flute), Henriette Scheytt (violin), Joe Rappaport (violin), Luise Buchberger (cello) and Lutz Schumacher (double-bass).

The intergenerational workshop was attended by 50 people, with children as young as 4, parents and grandparents. Many children had brought their own instruments, which included trumpets, double-basses, cellos, violins, an oboe, a French horn and even an accordion! The standard of musical understanding and ability was very wide ranging. Richard started the workshop in silence, introducing sound with games on tone chimes. He developed musical ideas along with Henriette and Clara using improvisatory techniques, with the participants playing a variety of percussion instruments combined with the instruments that they had brought with them.  This exercise immediately put everyone at ease with the focus on sound production, learning how to play together, and particularly, how to listen to each other. Richard continued the workshop by discussing short pieces of chamber music by Purcell, Haydn, Josef Strauss and Berio performed by the COE musicians. The participants took inspiration from these examples and worked in small groups, each consisting of parents and children and led by one COE musician, aiming to create their own composition with dance that was performed by everyone together at the end of the session.

The afternoon ended with Henriette, Joe and Lutz performing some jazz pieces: "Leonardo" (no.17, by Berio, see above) with two of the more advanced violin students who had taken part in the workshop, and "Bach at the Double" for two violins and double bass by Professor Teddy Bor.

We were delighted to be able to work with Richard McNicol, who, for the past 28 years has initiated and led hundreds of education projects and concerts throughout the world. Richard held the position of Music Animateur to the London Symphony Orchestra from 1993 to 2006, where he developed and led their Discovery education programme and conducted / introduced many of their education concerts. He has published a large body of educational material for primary and secondary schools. In 2002 Richard was invited by Sir Simon Rattle to create an education programme for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The ensuing and enormously influential programme Zukunft continues to have a significant impact both within the city and throughout Germany.

Concerts in Dijon and Vienna: Sir Roger Norrington, Michelle Breedt

This month, the Orchestra will perform three concerts with conductor Sir Roger Norrington and mezzo-soprano Michelle Breedt, one at the Opera de Dijon (9 May) and two at Vienna’s Konzerthaus (11 and 12 May), as part of the Vienna Spring Festival. The programme includes Haydn’s Symphonies No. 94 “Surprise” and No. 92 “Oxford” and five Schubert songs arranged for voice and orchestra by Reger, namely “Gretchen am Spinnrade”, “Gesange des Harfners” from Wilheim Meister (“Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergibt”, “An die Türen will ich schleichen”, “Wer nie sein Brot mit Tränen ass”) and “Erlkönig”.

The Chamber Orchestra of Europe has a strong and important relationship with Sir Roger Norrington. Our  first concerts together were in 1990 and 1991 as part of the Orchestra’s residency at the Kammermusiksaal in Berlin, in performances of Haydn’s Creation and Seasons. The radio recordings from these first concerts have been released on CD on the Profil label to great critical acclaim.

Welcome to Lily!

We are delighted that violinist (and violist) Lily Francis has joined the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. She shared her enthusiasm with us, saying: "I'm absolutely thrilled to be the newest member of COE, and I'm looking forward to taking part in the amazing projects that are coming up this season.  When I first heard the Orchestra play in Vienna I was convinced that I understood what COE was about, and I immediately knew that I wanted to play with them.  I've found out in the past year that COE is an orchestra full of utterly unique musical voices, and it's an incredible feeling to know that I have been accepted into the ranks of such distinguished peers- I can only hope to make them proud!  "

Lily Francis is quickly establishing herself as one of the leading violinist/violists today. As one of the top prizewinners at the 2009 ARD Music Competition (Violin) in Munich, she has performed with several of the leading orchestras in Germany, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Chamber Orchestra and the Munich Radio Orchestra. Lily is a consummate chamber musician and, as the newest member of the critically-acclaimed Aronowitz Ensemble, she performs throughout the UK, including appearances at Wigmore Hall and Aldeburgh. She is also the violist of the Vertigo String Quartet, with whom she recorded the soundtrack to Michael Hollinger’s award-winning play Opus. This season sees her performing as a returning artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, as a concertmaster of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra in Austria, teaching students at Mit Musik Miteinander in Kronberg, Germany, and performing with the Aronowitzes at the Concertgebouw. Lily also takes part in numerous international festivals such as the Lockenhaus Festival, Ittinger Pfingstkonzerte and International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove. Lily has collaborated with many of the leading musicians of our time, including Mitsuko Uchida, Andras Schiff, Gidon Kremer, Arnold Steinhardt, Kim Kashkashian, and Peter Wiley, as well as several artists of other disciplines.

Lily plays an 1846 Pierre Silvestre violin and a 2004 Marco Coppiardi viola.

Ben Gilmore wins Second Prize at Yampolsky Competition

We are thrilled that our youngest member, Benjamin Marquise Gilmore (24), won the second prize at the world-renowned Yampolsky Violin Competition, held from 15 to 22 April in Moscow.

The competition is named in honour of the outstanding musician and teacher Abram Yampolsky, who was the founder of the legendary violin school and brought up a generation of brilliant violinists, including Leonid Kogan, Julian Sitkovetsky, Edward Grach, Igor Bezrodny, Mark Lubotsky, Michael Fikhtengolts, Zarius Shikhmurzaeva and Valentin Zhuk. The International Yampolsky Violin Competition was initiated by Abram Yampolsky’s most outstanding student, Edward Grach, now Head of the Violin Chair and Professor at the Moscow Conservatory and soloist of the Moscow State Philharmonic. The International Yampolsky Violin Competition was first held in provincial cities of Russia but soon became a significant event in Russia’s cultural life. Since its fourth occurrence, the competition (both auditions and concerts) has been held in Moscow.

The competition consists of three rounds. Ben performed Bach’s A minor Sonata no. 2, Paganini’s Caprice no.15 and Ysaye’s 4th sonata in the first round; Mozart’s G major Concerto no. 3, Schumann’s A minor Sonata no. 1 op. 105, Mendelssohn’s “Rondo Capriccioso” arranged by Yampolsky and Kreisler’s “Viennese Caprice” in the second round; and Vivaldi’s “Spring” (from the Four Seasons, with a chamber orchestra without a conductor) and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto op. 64 in E minor in the third and final round. Ben also received a special prize for the best Bach interpretation.