(openPR) - On 4 July, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO) returns to the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden with a new force of internationally renowned young artists. The orchestra and conductor Constantinos Carydis will accompany the violinists Baiba Skride, Lisa Batiashvili und Alina Pogostkina in a programme of violin concertos. The SWR will record the concert for ARTE and will broadcast the concertos individually throughout the year. A short film of the evening’s highlights will be shown on ARTE on 25 July, 19:15.

Each of the three soloists at this “Violin Summit” will play a concerto of her choosing: Beethoven’s concerto in D major, a true classic of the repertoire, will be performed by Latvian violinist Baiba Skride, Prokofiev’s virtuosic 2nd concerto will be performed by Georgian Lisa Batiashvili, and finally, Sibelius’ famed concerto in D minor, one of the most beautiful and challenging pieces written for violin, will feature Alina Pogostkina from Russia. Each of these concerti is a musical triumph in its own right; all three in one concert will be a true violinistic tour-de-force. The evening will culminate in the world premiere of a piece written especially for the three soloists, young French composer Nicolas Bacri’s “Capriccio for 3 Violins and Orchestra”.

All three violinists are making their debut with the MCO; the orchestra will also take the stage with young Greek conductor Constantinos Carydis for the first time. Carydis, who studied in Munich, has conducted at the Theater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich and the Stuttgart State Opera, and has made guest appearances at the Vienna State Opera, the Berlin State Opera, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Opera de Lyon, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf/Duisburg and the Athens State Opera. Following the collaboration in Baden-Baden, Mr. Carydis’ second project with the MCO will be the performance at the Athens Festival with Turkish pianist Fazil Say on 14 July 2010.

Though the collaborators for the programme are new to the orchestra, the venue is familiar and beloved: over the last nine years, the MCO has performed many concerts and operas at the famed Festspielhaus. Recent projects include a concert version of Der Freischütz under the baton of Thomas Hengelbrock and directed by Robert Wilson, and a concert programme with Fazil Say, conducted by Kristjan Järvi. The Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, which opened in 1998, has the old city train station built into the building as the box office. With 2500 seats, it is the largest opera and concert venue in Germany.

Darisuz Szymanski will give an introductory lecture to the programme with musical examples (ca. 30 minutes, one hour before the concert on the third floor).

The Violin Summit!
Sunday, 25 July, 19:15
ARTE will show a 43-minute film with the highlights of the concert from 4 July 2010 at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.

The Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO), with its unusual structure, internationality and outstanding quality, is an ensemble unique to the present time. Its organisation and method of operation make it a model for the future of the European orchestral landscape. Composed of around 40 musicians from 20 different nations, and independent of external sponsorship, the MCO plays operas and concerts all over the world, in cities as well as at exclusive festivals from the North Pole to the Red Sea. The orchestra was founded in 1997 by the musicians themselves and Claudio Abbado, and the two have been reaching milestones of European musical life together ever since.

Merit Vareschi
Communications Manager
Mahler Chamber Orchestra e.V.
Hasenheide 54 / D-10967 Berlin
Phone + 49.30.41 71 79-21
Fax +49.30.41 71 79-29
Mobile +49.160.90 96 91 03
www.mahler-chamber.eu