Articles
The Journalists' Daily | Belgian mystagogue in a church | December 2015
Belgian mystagogue in a church
15.12.2015, 11:06
It has been an exceptionally interesting, uniquely delightful concert, the one given by Brussels Virtuosi orchestra from Brussels the other day at the St Paul's Anglican Church (01/12/2015). Founded in 1981 by virtuoso flutist Marc Grauwels, who is also its artistic director and conductor, this small ensemble of flexible composition is specialized in the performance of a rare repertoire, proposes programs with exquisite, full of surprises arrangement, has made an international career and has a large discography.
Between 28/11 and 30/11, the Belgian musicians gave concerts in Serres, Kavala and Piraeus. In those concerts, they proposed an appreciated light program, mainly focused on a full of hidden grace, neglected instrumental repertoire of the transition from baroque to classic era, with an anticipated emphasis on works for flute among which there were concerts of Domenico Cimarosa, Carl Philipp and Johann Sebastian Bach.
In their performance in Athens, which was repeated twice in the same day at the same venue, they added vocal works.
Taking over a double role of soloist/conductor, at the beginning of the concert Grauwels performed minuet for flute and orchestra ("Dance of the Blessed Spirits") from the "Orpheus and Euridice" opera by Gluck, as well as the rarely performed "Concert for violin, flute and orchestra" by Domenico Cimarosa.
Soloists and orchestra performed in an absolute coordination: not just technically, at the flow of the music, but, mainly, with a mutual correspondence of inconceivable immediacy regarding the malleable forming of expressivity by the first.
The sound of the flute was exquisite, with crystal clear articulation, vocal expressivity in its melodic delivery and seductively plastic performance of the dancing rhythm of the music, while its intercourse with the violin (Jean Frederic-Molard) was delightfully playful.
All the above composed a concert of high musicality, vibrating with euphoria. The nine-member ensemble's performance was of an excitingly rich expressive palette, too.
And Greek voices
In the rest of the program, Belgian musicians accompanied soprano Vassiliki Karagianni and counter tenor Nikos Spanatis in works of vocal music.
Nikos Spanatis performed arias and operas by Vivaldi and Mozart. Sounding beautifully in the small venue of the church, his velvet, hedonically dark-colored voice enchantingly conversed with the flute at Vivaldi's aria from the "Orlando Furioso", while his elegant, gently emotional singing gave a touching performance of the aria from "Ascanio in Alba" by Mozart.
KATHIMERINI NEWSPAPER • Sunday 23 August 2015 • Gluck and Mozart in summer Aegina
KATHIMERINI NEWSPAPER • Sunday 23 August 2015
Gluck and Mozart in summer Aegina
DIMITRIOS G. KIOUSOPOULOS
Aegina. At Avra Beach, next to the archaeological site of Kolona, just after the sunset, the island’s most renowned music festival is carried out every year.
In Lilika Nakos’ novel “Mrs Do re mi”, which describes the efforts of a French-raised girl to teach the lesson of singing in a village of Crete, there is a moment where the main character says to her students “today I will speak to you about Gluck”, and instantly the whole class burst into laughter and start shouting gluck-gluck-gluck-gluck-gluck…
So, when during the afternoon of Thursday 13th August, a small truck with a loudspeaker showed up in the streets of Aegina to ballyhoo that 10th Aegina International Music Festival would present a concert with works by Gluck and Mozart that night, and the music from “Orpheus and Euridice” poured out among olive and pistachio trees, we assumed that classical music is probably no longer something comically unfamiliar in our country.
In any case, those of us who succumbed to Orpheus’ charm visited Avra Beach that night, next to the archaeological site of Kolona. It is worth going there earlier, in order to enjoy the colors of the sky during sunset and gaze at the comings and goings of ships. The sense of soft sand under the feet and the sweet plash of the waves is certainly a luxury, equivalent to that of velvet and gold of opera theaters, to say the least. The concerts are given with microphone reinforcement – the ear gets used to that, but the truth is that, generally speaking, as a country with so many outdoor concerts, we might be able to be involved in finding a better solution one day.
NAFTEMPORIKI NEWSPAPER • Friday, April 11, 2014
NAFTEMPORIKI NEWSPAPER • Friday, April 11, 2014
Religious music of ecumenical spirituality
At the Museum of Islamic Art
Through the Islamic art and the devout atmosphere of the upcoming Holy Week, the secular poetry of Dionysios Solomos and the Christian lament of the Virgin will inculcate in our hearts the universal dimension of spirituality.
In two special musical evenings entitled " Looking for the meaning of spirituality ", Benaki Museum hosts at the Museum of Islamic Art, Maira Milolidaki (soprano) and Nikos Spanatis (countertenor), on Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday, 12 and 13 April respectively, at 8 pm.
KATHIMERINI NEWSPAPER • Sunday 23 August 2015 • Gluck and Mozart in summer Aegina (2)
KATHIMERINI NEWSPAPER • Sunday 23 August 2015
Gluck and Mozart in summer Aegina
DIMITRIOS G. KIOUSOPOULOS
Aegina. At Avra Beach, next to the archaeological site of Kolona, just after the sunset, the island’s most renowned music festival is carried out every year.
In Lilika Nakos’ novel “Mrs Do re mi”, which describes the efforts of a French-raised girl to teach the lesson of singing in a village of Crete, there is a moment where the main character says to her students “today I will speak to you about Gluck”, and instantly the whole class burst into laughter and start shouting gluck-gluck-gluck-gluck-gluck…
So, when during the afternoon of Thursday 13th August, a small truck with a loudspeaker showed up in the streets of Aegina to ballyhoo that 10th Aegina International Music Festival would present a concert with works by Gluck and Mozart that night, and the music from “Orpheus and Euridice” poured out among olive and pistachio trees, we assumed that classical music is probably no longer something comically unfamiliar in our country.
In any case, those of us who succumbed to Orpheus’ charm visited Avra Beach that night, next to the archaeological site of Kolona. It is worth going there earlier, in order to enjoy the colors of the sky during sunset and gaze at the comings and goings of ships. The sense of soft sand under the feet and the sweet plash of the waves is certainly a luxury, equivalent to that of velvet and gold of opera theaters, to say the least. The concerts are given with microphone reinforcement – the ear gets used to that, but the truth is that, generally speaking, as a country with so many outdoor concerts, we might be able to be involved in finding a better solution one day.
NAFTEMPORIKI NEWSPAPER • Thursday, January 30, 2014
NAFTEMPORIKI NEWSPAPER • , Thursday, January 30, 2014
Under the musical heaven of the City of Light | gazARTE
Thursday, January 30, 2014 8:35
The magical musical sky of the City of Light will spread all of its Parisian beauty and melody of stars in a unique night, with a piano and two voices, full of French notes . Specialising in French music, the concert «Sous le Ciel de Paris», with the the mezzo-soprano Irene Karayanni, the counter tenor Nikos Spanatis and the pianist Dimitris Yiakas, will take place in Gazarte, on Friday, January 31, at 9pm.
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