Music lovers in Jaffna, long deprived of good Western music are in for a treat. The Chamber Music Society of Colombo (CMSC) and the Sewalanka Foundation will present “Music for Yarl-Paanam”, at the Veerasekaran Hall, on Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 5pm. The public is invited to attend this event, which is absolutely free of charge, with generous sponsorship by Riks Konsert Ene and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Colombo.

This could be the first orchestra playing classical music in the peninsula. The Tamil root of “Yarl-Paanam” may be translated as “the Land of the Harp Player”, so it would seem appropriate to introduce classical music by great masters once more to the city.  The CMSC believes that they are up to the challenge.

The CMSC intends this concert to be the beginning of a fruitful exchange of ideas between artistes, with it acting as a catalyst for other arts organisations to follow suit.

The programme will include Mozart, Handel, Vivaldi, Haydn and Hindemith, a programme already played in the historic De Groote Kerk at the 4^th Galle Literary Festival in January, and at the Lionel Wendt Theatre, Colombo in February. Both concerts were greeted with enthusiastic standing ovations. The fourth concert in this series will be announced later.

The Mozart is his middle period overture to the opera entitled “The Shepherd King”. The Vivaldi Concerto Grosso features three of the CMSC’s principal string players in a solo role, providing exciting and vibrant baroque musical discourse. The Haydn is his barnstorming Symphony no. 39, and the Hindemith brings new sounds that were challenging even for Colombo audiences. The players look forward to meeting this new Northern audience, extending a hand of friendship and solidarity.

March 10th, 2010 | Announcements, Upcoming Events | No comments

A grand programme by a Grand master

 March brings a very rare musical treat. The Chamber Music Society of Colombo is proud to present the world famous French concert pianist Jean-Bernard Pommier, who will thrill local audiences with a selection of monumental piano sonatas. The project is sponsored by airline partner SriLankan Airlines, and hotel partner Hilton Colombo Residencies.

The recital will be at the Goethe Institute (German Cultural Centre), 39, Gregory’s Road, Colombo 07, on Saturday, 13 March 2010, at 7pm. Tickets are priced at Rs. 2000 and Rs. 1000, and are available at Titus Stores Liberty Plaza from Thursday 04 March.

The programme for the evening will include Beethoven’s Sonata no. 23 in f minor, op. 57 “Appassionata”, flanked by Mozart’s Sonata no. 18 in D major, K. 576 and Liszt’s only, mighty Sonata in b minor, S. 178.

Born in 1944, Mr. Pommier began piano classes at the age of four with the Russian pianist Mina Koslova, and gave his first piano recital at the age of 7. He went on to study piano at the Paris Conservatoire with Yves Nat and Pierre Sancan, as well as conducting with Eugène Bigot. In New York, he worked with Eugene Istomin. He won first prize at Berlin’s Young Musicians’ International Competition in 1960. He became the youngest finalist at the 1962 International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, even winning first honourable mention from the chairman Emil Gilels (the year that it was won by Vladimir Ashkenazy and the late John Ogdon). At the same time, he began recording with EMI. Ten years later, he began a long collaboration with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, in Berlin and at the Salzburg Festival. He has since embarked on a career which has taken him to all of the world’s leading concert halls, to rave reviews by audiences and critics alike.

More recently, his concerto partners have included Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, Bernard Haitink, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Michel Plasson, Georges Prêtre, Semyon Bychkov, Charles Dutoit, Riccardo Muti, Lawrence Foster and Sir Simon Rattle. His recital and concerto appearances have included major centres such as London (with all 5 major orchestras), Amsterdam (with the Royal Concertgebouw), Tokyo (with the NHK Symphony), Leipzig, Dresden, Chicago, Paris and Moscow; as well as the Philharmonic Orchestras in Los Angeles, Vienna, Berlin and New York.

He also enjoys an active career as a conductor working with major orchestras in Europe and America. He also frequently takes up the dual role of pianist and conductor with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Northern Sinfonia (England), the Sinfonia Varsovia (Poland), the Israel Chamber Orchestra, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra (Switzerland), the English Chamber Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

His chamber music partners have included Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Leonard Rose, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Paul Tortelier, Jaime Laredo and the Guarneri and Vermeer Quartets. He has given master-classes in Chicago, London, Lausanne, Durham and Melbourne.

Recent recital highlights include a complete cycle of the 32 Beethoven piano sonatas in London in 2008/09.

His native France has bestowed the title of Officer of the Ordre national du Mérite and Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur.

March 6th, 2010 | Announcements, Upcoming Events | No comments