22nd INTERNATIONAL PHAROS CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL
26 May – 2 June 2023
Royal Manor House, Kouklia / 8:30pm
CYPRUS
The International Pharos Chamber Music Festival stands out as one of the most distinguished music events in Europe, renowned for its outstanding performances, fascinating programme and captivating ambiance. With an unwavering commitment to artistic excellence, the Pharos Festival was the pioneering force in bringing chamber music to Cyprus, elevating the island to a prominent place on the global cultural stage. Its exceptional concerts have attracted music lovers from far and wide, who flock to the Festival to bask in its unique and uplifting musical atmosphere. For over two decades, the Festival has hosted a multitude of memorable concerts, featuring many of the world's most celebrated soloists. Furthermore, the Festival has remained true to its roots of community service, by promoting access to chamber music for all and extending invaluable educational opportunities to students from across Cyprus. The Festival is one of the most anticipated events in the international music calendar, and it is held annually in The Royal Manor House of Kouklia, one of the finest surviving monuments of Frankish architecture in Cyprus and a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is transformed into an atmospheric chamber music hall.
THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL:
The 22nd International Pharos Chamber Music Festival, featuring six concerts, on 26, 27, 28, 31 May and 1 & 2 June 2023 at the Royal Manor House in Kouklia, offers a stunning array of chamber music repertoire, performed by 20 of the world's leading and most celebrated artists. Many of these soloists are visiting our island for the very first time, bringing with them a fresh and unique perspective on each concert, that will leave audiences mesmerized.
Among the distinguished guest artists are two piano virtuosos who will leave the audience feeling enchanted: the magnificent Alexander Kobrin, making his Cyprus debut, whose exceptional skills have placed him at the forefront of the performing musicians of our times, and earned him the First Prize in such prestigious piano competitions as the Van Cliburn, the Busoni, and the Hamamatsu, and François-Frédéric Guy, making a triumphant return after eight years, whose mesmerizing interpretations have earned him international acclaim as a soloist and an orchestral conductor from the piano.
The Festival will also proudly present two exceptional violinists for the first time: the impressive Andrey Baranov, winner of over twenty international competitions including the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition, whose electrifying performances have captivated audiences around the globe, and Elly Suh, one of today's foremost Paganini interpreters, whose spellbinding artistry, creative vision, and interpretative originality bring fresh life to concert stages everywhere. The Festival will also welcome back the spectacular first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic Daishin Kashimoto.
The International Pharos Chamber Music Festival will have the honour to host once again the legendary cellist Mischa Maisky, whose exceptional playing has been hailed by none other than Mstislav Rostropovich himself, who aptly described it as "a combination of poetry and exquisite delicacy with great temperament and brilliant technique". Joining Maisky will be his incredibly talented daughter, Lily Maisky, who is widely regarded as one of the most versatile and charismatic young pianists of our time. But that's not all – the Festival is thrilled to welcome back two outstanding cellists who will grace our stage with their performances: Boris Andrianov, a prize-winner in some of the world's most prestigious competitions such as the International Tchaikovsky Competition and the Shostakovich Classica Nova Competition in Hannover, and Jing Zhao, celebrated for her deep musicality and virtuosity, and First Prize-Winner of the prestigious ARD International Competition. Along with them, the astounding double-bassist Uxía Martínez Botana – described as one of the world’s top 10 bass players, and recognised internationally for her great intensity and exceptional technique.
The Pharos Festival is delighted to present four exceptionally gifted ladies who will make their debut on our stage this year, showcasing their rare talents to our wonderful audience: the charismatic young flutist Ana Ferraz; the principal oboist of the legendary Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra and one of the leading oboists in the world Céline Moinet; and the brilliant clarinettist Clara Riccucci, whose debut as a soloist with the Lucerne Orchestra under the baton of Michael Sanderling marked the beginning of a thrilling and multi-dimensional career. They will be joined by one of the world’s most exciting marimbists, Ria Ideta, whose supreme mastery of the marimba promise to transport audiences to new heights of musical ecstasy.
This year’s Festival will also be supported by two new violists: Daniel Weissmann – the famous director of the Liège Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and one of the most praised musicians on the international scene; and Samuel Barsegian – the chief conductor and artistic director of the Lisbon Chamber Orchestra. As always, as the Festival will welcome the exceptional soloists who form the core, and the backbone, of the event each year: the unparalleled violinist Boris Brovtsyn and cellist Alexander Chaushian, as well as violists Diemut Poppen and David Abrahamyan.
With this extraordinary line-up of world-class musicians, the 22nd International Pharos Chamber Music Festival promises to be an unforgettable experience that will leave a lasting impression on the hearts and minds of all those who attend.
Piano: Alexander Kobrin, François-Frédéric Guy, Lily Maisky
Violin: Andrey Baranov, Daishin Kashimoto, Elly Suh, Boris Brovtsyn
Viola: Daniel Weissmann, Diemut Poppen, David Abrahamyan, Samuel Barsegian
Cello: Mischa Maisky, Boris Andrianov, Jing Zhao, Alexander Chaushian
Double-Bass: Uxía Martínez Botana
Flute: Ana Ferraz
Oboe: Céline Moinet
Clarinet: Clara Riccucci
Marimba: Ria Ideta
26, 27, 28, 31 May and 1 & 2 June 2023 @ Royal Manor House, Kouklia: Six concerts with 20 of the world's leading and most celebrated artists in a stunning array of chamber music repertoire.
**Concerts start at 8.30pm
The Royal Manor House, Kouklia is one of the finest surviving monuments of Frankish architecture in Cyprus. The building also houses an archaeological museum, which records the rich history of human activity in the region from about 2800 BC to the present day. Palaipaphos, or Old Paphos, was a city-kingdom of Cyprus and one of the most celebrated pilgrimage centres of the ancient Greek world. It was the site of a famous sanctuary of Aphrodite, the oldest remains of which date back to the 12th century BC. The Royal Manor House is a UNESCO World Heritage site. During the International Pharos Chamber Music Festival, the Royal Manor House is transformed into an intimate chamber music hall for an unparalleled series of concerts.
INFORMATION & TICKETS:
Information & Box Office: Pharos Arts Foundation www.pharosartsfoundation.org & Tel. 22-663871 (Monday - Friday 10:00am-2:00pm)
Tickets: €20 / €15 (Concessions, Members of the Pharos Arts Foundation)
Offer: Buy tickets for all six concerts at the price of five!
the 2023 PROGRAMME:
FRIDAY 26 MAY
W.A Mozart: Flute Quartet No.4 in A major, K.298
Ana Ferraz / flute, Elly Suh / violin, David Abrahamyan / viola, Boris Andrianov / cello
Johannes Brahms: Viola Sonata No.2 in E-flat major, Op.120 No.2
Diemut Poppen / viola, François-Frédéric Guy / piano
Gioachino Rossini: Sonata a quattro No.3 in C major for 2 Violins, Cello & Double-Bass
Andrey Baranov / violin, Elly Suh / violin, Alexander Chaushian / cello, Uxía Martínez Botana / double-bass
Ernest Chausson: Concerto in D, for Piano, Violin & String Quartet, Op.21
François-Frédéric Guy / piano, Daishin Kashimoto / violin, Andrey Baranov / violin, Elly Suh / violin, Samuel Barsegian / viola, Boris Andrianov / cello
SATURDAY 27 MAY
Luigi Boccherini: Flute Sextet in C major, Op.16 No.6
Ana Ferraz / flute, Daishin Kashimoto / violin, Andrey Baranov / violin, Samuel Barsegian / viola, Boris Andrianov / cello, Alexander Chaushian / cello
Sergei Prokofiev: Quintet in G minor, Op.39 for Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola & Double-Bass
Céline Moinet / oboe, Clara Riccucci / clarinet, Andrey Baranov / violin, Samuel Barsegian / viola, Uxía Martínez Botana / double-bass
Johannes Brahms: Piano Trio No.3 in C minor, Op.101
Lily Maisky / piano, Daishin Kashimoto / violin, Mischa Maisky / cello
Antonín Dvořák: Piano Quintet No.2 in A major, Op.81
Lily Maisky / piano, Daishin Kashimoto / violin, Elly Suh / violin, David Abrahamyan / viola, Mischa Maisky / cello
SUNDAY 28 MAY
Johannes Brahms: Piano Quartet in G minor, Op.25
François-Frédéric Guy / piano, Daishin Kashimoto / violin, Diemut Poppen / viola, Alexander Chaushian / cello
Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet Suite for Marimba, Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Cello & Double-Bass
Ria Ideta / marimba, Ana Ferraz / flute, Clara Riccucci / clarinet, Daishin Kashimoto / violin, David Abrahamyan / viola, Boris Andrianov / cello, Uxía Martínez Botana / double-bass
George Gershwin: Porgy & Bess Suite for Marimba, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, two Cellos & Double-Bass
Ria Ideta / marimba, Clara Riccucci / clarinet, Daishin Kashimoto / violin, David Abrahamyan / viola, Boris Andrianov / cello, Alexander Chaushian / cello, Uxía Martínez Botana / double-bass
Eric Sammut: Zapping Trio for Marimba, Clarinet & Double-Bass
Ria Ideta / marimba, Clara Riccucci / clarinet, Uxía Martínez Botana / double-bass
Maurice Ravel: Ma mère l'Oye for Marimba & Piano
Ria Ideta / marimba, Lily Maisky / piano
Felix Mendelssohn: String Octet in E-flat major, Op.20
Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Elly Suh / violin, Andrey Baranov / violin, Daishin Kashimoto / violin, David Abrahamyan / viola, Samuel Barsegian / viola, Boris Andrianov / cello, Alexander Chaushian / cello
WEDNESDAY 31 MAY
César Franck: Piano Quintet in F minor
Alexander Kobrin / piano, Daishin Kashimoto / violin, Elly Suh / violin, Diemut Poppen / viola, Jing Zhao / cello
Benjamin Britten: Phantasy Quartet, Op.2 for Oboe & String Trio
Céline Moinet / oboe, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Diemut Poppen / viola, Alexander Chaushian / cello
Dmitri Shostakovich: Quintet for Piano & Strings in G minor, Op.57
Alexander Kobrin / piano, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Elly Suh / violin, David Abrahamyan / viola, Alexander Chaushian / cello
THURSDAY 1 JUNE
Théodore Dubois: Quintet for Oboe, Violin, Viola, Cello & Piano in F major
Céline Moinet / oboe, Elly Suh / violin, David Abrahamyan / viola, Jing Zhao / cello, Alexander Kobrin / piano
Arnold Schönberg: Verklärte Nacht String Sextet, Op.4
Daishin Kashimoto / violin, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Diemut Poppen / viola, Daniel Weissmann / viola, Jing Zhao / cello, Alexander Chaushian / cello
Robert Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op.44
Alexander Kobrin / piano, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Daishin Kashimoto / violin, Diemut Poppen / viola, Jing Zhao / cello
FRIDAY 2 JUNE
Ottorino Respighi: Piano Quintet in F minor
Alexander Kobrin / piano, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Daishin Kashimoto / violin, Daniel Weissmann / viola Alexander Chaushian / cello
Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata for two Violins in C major, Op.56
Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Daishin Kashimoto / violin
Giacomo Puccini: Crisantemi for String Quartet
Daishin Kashimoto / violin, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Diemut Poppen / viola, Alexander Chaushian / cello
Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op.115
Clara Riccucci / clarinet, Daishin Kashimoto / violin, Boris Brovtsyn / violin, Diemut Poppen / viola, Alexander Chaushian / cello
meet the artists:
ALEXANDER KOBRIN piano
Heralded by the BBC as the “Van Cliburn of today”, Alexander Kobrin has placed himself at the forefront of the performing musicians of our times. Kobrin is the legendary First Prize winner of such prestigious piano competitions as the Van Cliburn (2005), the Busoni (1999), the Hamamatsu (2003), and the Glasgow (1998). Throughout his career, he has been an active guest soloist with the world’s leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Deutsche Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony, Birmingham Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of conductors such as Mikhail Pletnev, Mikhail Jurovsky, Sir Mark Elder, Vassiliy Sinaisky, James Conlon, Vassiliy Petrenko to name but a few. Alexander Kobrin has appeared in recital at major halls worldwide, including Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, the Louvre Auditorium, la Salle Gaveau and Salle Cortot in Paris, Munich’s Herkulessaal and Berlin’s Philharmonic Hall, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire, and Sala Verdi in Milan, amongst others, and he has participated in festivals such as La Roque d'Antheron, Ravinia Festival, Beethoven Easter Festival, Busoni Festival, Klavier-Festival Ruhr. Kobrin’s rich discography includes albums on the Harmonia Mundi, Quartz, and Centaur labels.
FRANÇOIS-FRÉDERIC GUY piano
Regarded as one of the most fascinating pianists of his generation, François-Frédéric Guy is pursuing an outstanding international career as a soloist and as an orchestral conductor from the piano. He regularly appears with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Vienna Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, Philharmonia Orchestra, NDR, Elbphilharmonie, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, under the baton of important conductors such as Philippe Jordan, Kent Nagano, Daniel Harding and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Solo recitals have taken him to the most prestigious halls around the world, and to festivals such as the Chopin Festival Warsaw, the Beethovenfest Bonn, the Cheltenham Festival, the Piano Festival in La Roque d'Anthéron. Like few others, François-Frédéric Guy vividly realises the compositional architecture of great works, particularly the music of Beethoven. His performances of the cycle of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas have already been celebrated worldwide. He is also closely associated with many contemporary composers, including Tristan Murail, Ivan Fedele, Marc Monnet, and Hugues Dufourt. His impressive discography includes the complete recording of the Beethoven sonatas for the Zig-Zag Territoires label, and the complete recording of the Beethoven piano concertos under his overall direction with the Sinfonia Varsovia.
LILY MAISKY piano
Lily Maisky was born in Paris and raised in Brussels where she is still based. She began her piano studies at the age of 4 with Lyl Tiempo and Alan Weiss, and she was a pupil at the “Purcell School of Music” from 2001 until 2005. Lily has extensively toured around the world, and she has had the privilege of performing concertos under the batons of maestros including Leonard Slatkin, Thomas Sanderling, Gerd Albrecht, Gabor Takacs-Nagy, Daniel Raiskin, Alberto Veronesi, to name but a few. She has also performed in such prestigious venues as the Royal Festival Hall in London, Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Munich’s Prinzregententheater, Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle and Elbphilharmonie, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Venezia's La Fenice, Bonn's BeethovenHalle, Tokyo's Suntory Hall, Rome's Teatro Olimpico, Moscow Conservatory, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Seoul’s Performing Arts Center, among many others. She has been invited to renowned festivals such as the Verbier Festival, Progetto Martha Argerich, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Gstaad Festival, Bergamo-Brescia, Miyazaki Festival and the Beijing Piano Festival, amongst others. Lily Maisky enjoys playing chamber music and forms a regular duo with her father Mischa Maisky, as well as the Maisky Trio, with her brother. She has released several recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, EMI and Belgian label Avanti Classics, has been frequently broadcasted on radio and television worldwide, and featured in several documentaries.
ANDREY BARANOV violin
One of the most successful musicians of his generation, violinist Andrey Baranov enjoys an exclusive career as an outstanding soloist and a sought-after ensemble partner, performing on main stages and festivals around the globe. He is the winner of the Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition in 2012, the Benjamin Britten and Henri Marteau International Violin Competitions, and a prize-winner in more than twenty other international competitions, including Indianapolis, Seoul, Sendai, David Oistrakh, and the Moscow Paganini Competition. Ever since his debut in 2005 at the Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic Grand Hall with the Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko, Baranov went on to perform with such renowned orchestras as the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Luxembourg Philharmonic, the Brussels Philharmonic, National Orchestra of Belgium, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, MusicAeterna Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic London, Camerata Salzburg, under the baton of conductors such as Teodor Currentzis, Vladimir Fedoseev, Michel Tabachnik, Walter Weller, Emmanuel Krivine, Yuri Temirkanov, Kent Nagano, Thomas Sanderling, Michael Sanderling and Alexander Vedernikov, among others. Andrey Baranov is a founding member and the first violinist of the David Oistrakh String Quartet, which was established in 2012 and has rapidly become one of the leading string quartets of our time. His album The Golden Violin, released on the MUSO label, has won the prestigious Diapason d’Or award in 2018. Andrey studied at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in Saint-Petersburg and at the Conservatoire de Lausanne. His teachers were Lev Ivaschenko, Vladimir Ovcharek and Pierre Amoyal.
DAISHIN KASHIMOTO violin
Both as the soloist of an international orchestra and as a sought-after chamber musician, Daishin Kashimoto is a regular guest of major concert halls around the globe. In his decadelong role as first concertmaster of the Berliner Philharmoniker, this tremendous wealth of experience also benefits him in his equally adept role as a soloist, where he plays a wide repertoire ranging from classical to new music. Daishin Kashimoto has appeared with such renowned orchestras as the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, the Bavarian, Hessian, and West German Radio Symphony Orchestras, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the St Petersburg Philharmonic, and the Berliner Philharmoniker under conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Seiji Ozawa, Lorin Maazel, Yehudi Menuhin, Paavo Järvi, Myung-Whun Chung, Daniel Harding, and Philippe Jordan. As a chamber musician Daishin Kashimoto has appeared alongside Martha Argerich, Yuja Wang, Leif Ove Andsnes, Éric Le Sage, Konstantin Lifschitz, among others. Kashimoto started studying the violin in Tokyo, at the age of three! He was the youngest student to ever attend Julliard School's pre-college programme at the age of seven, and when he was eleven, he continued his studies at Lübeck University of Music under Zakhar Bron, and subsequently at the Freiburg University of Music under Rainer Kussmaul. Prize winner in a number of competitions, he won the First Prize at the Menuhin Junior International Competition in 1993, the Cologne Violin Competition in 1994, and the Vienna Fritz Kreisler and the Long-Thibaud Competitions in 1996.
BORIS BROVTSYN violin
Boris Brovtsyn studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and became a laureate of international competitions, such as Georg Kulenkampff (1994, Cologne), Transnet (1996, Pretoria) and Yehudi Menuhin (1998). In 2001, he was a finalist at the Queen Elizabeth Violin Competition and won the 2001 Reuters Prize. The following year he won the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition. In 1998, Brovtsyn made his UK debut with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Rumon Gamba. As a soloist, Boris Brovtsyn has collaborated with artists such as Yuri Bashmet, Gerd Albrecht, Yan Pascal Tortelier, and Arvo Volmer to name but a few, and appeared with Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre National de Belgique, BBC Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lille and Moscow State Chamber Orchestra, Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Basel and Bern symphony orchestras, Warsaw Philharmonic, and Utah Symphony Orchestra. He has performed at Verbier Festival, Lugano Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Oxford Chamber Music Festival, Ryedale Festival, Genius of the Violin Festival, Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival and in the “George Enescu” Festival among others. As a soloist, Boris has worked with Sir Neville Marriner, Yuri Bashmet, Gerd Albrecht, Marek Janowski, Neeme Järvi, Louis Langrée, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Gilbert Varga, Antoni Wit, Alexander Lazarev, Vassily Sinaisky, Vladimir Fedoseev, Alain Lombard and Arvo Volmer to name but a few.