Monday, August 19, 2013
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Ellen ...
... in the first-class lounge at Heathrow, upgrade courtesy of miles with AA. Let the pampering begin!
At the party...
We said goodbye to Samuel and Daniela Mitrofan, friends from Bucharest who are with Evangelism Explosion.
At the Gala Concert...
Pawel Krymer and Shelby Sender, under Ellen's coaching, performed the first movement of Bela Bartok's Concerto for Viola brilliantly.
Zemplen Festival
As part of the Zemplen Festival, Kristin Ditlow teamed up with mezzo Maria Pantyukhova for songs by Rimski-Korsakov, A. Rubinstein, P. I. Tchaikovsky, and S. Rachmaninov. Absolutely one of the best performances of the entire festival. Thrilling.
Don Giovanni
Here are some snaps of Paolo Paroni and the opera orchestra and cast magnificently performing Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" at the castle. In only two weeks, they created an amazing production.
Local color
Weddings are very popular at the castle. Here are a young couple and a band playing for a wedding procession.
A whopping final Tune-in
At Saturday's Tune-in, Beat Rink interviewed Daniel Szabo, for many years denied permission to preach in the Reformed Church under the Communists and later made a high official of that church in Hungary. His story of suffering and forgiveness is deeply moving.
Beat also briefly interviewed my friend Brian Hysong along with several others.
Wow
In concert Friday night, Martin Helmchen accompanied Uta Runne in six of Dvorak's Biblical Songs and teamed with Reto Reichenbach on Schubert's massive Rhapsody for four hands.
Friday's Tune-in
... featured speaker Rudolf Geigy
and singer Uta Runne, singing one of the Biblical Songs by Dvorak.
Our small group
Our final meeting took place at Collegno, with Irene Postma and me:
Ellen Rose:
Tim Ralston:
Shelby Sender:
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Wednesday Night Concert Continued
The concert for Wednesday night began at 10 pm and consisted entirely of "Twenty Glances at the Infant Jesus" (1944) by Olivier Messiaen. The concert lasted two hours and was preceded by a brief introduction by Dr. Marcel Zwitser.
The performance was staggering. Martin Helmchen played all twenty movements without a substantial break, and it was a terrific interpretation. The whole performance was riveting.
Wednesday Night Concert
The concert was held in the Small Basilica, Sarospatak. This is a very interesting room. The church was nearly destroyed in WWII, and the reconstruction has taken place without the restoration of the art that doubtless decorated the walls. The plainness of the building, apart from the altar, is seen in these snaps.
Tuesday Night Concert IV
The concert second half was devoted to Mozart d-minor concerto for Piano and Orchestra, K. 466. The pianist was our contest winner, Polina Kulikova, who executed the work masterfully.
Tuesday Night Concert III
The first half concluded with several pieces for various brass ensembles followed by March Militaire by Saint-Saens.
Tuesday Night Concert II
There was another work by Peter Bannister on the program, "Breathe in me" a short cantata for orchestra, chorus, and two soloists based on a prayer of Mother Theresa. I sang in this. It was quite nice.
Tuesday night concert I
Peter Bannister reads the text for his psalm settings for 42 and 121, played in this case on viola and piano, Pavel Krymer and Peter Bannister.
Lecture on Don Giovanni
Dr. Marcel S. Zwitser delivered another lecture on Tuesday, this time on the opera, Don Giovanni. He pointed out Mozart's primary original title, The Sinner Punished. From the beginning the opera has a strongly theological component.
Mozart's piano:
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
The Kantele
This is Juulia Polonen performing Debussy Arabesque #1 on the kantele, a very refined Finnish folk instrument similar to the harp. I wish you could hear this. It is amazing, quite beautiful.
Teacher's Concert III
David Danel after playing the Mozart e minor Sonata, K. 304, with Mariann Marczi.
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