Press Centre
Music in the Giant 2009
May 19 to 24, 2009
Swarovski Kristallwelten and Swarovski Werkshalle, Wattens
The sixth Music in the Giant festival is devoted to piano music and its interpretation by outstanding pianists. From May 19 to 24 2009, Grigorii Sokolov, Till Fellner, Mihaela Ursuleasa, Stefano Bollani and others will be performing at the Swarovski Kristallwelten in Wattens. Uniquely, for the opening concert by the Kremerata Baltica, Swarovski's newest factory hall has been made available as a concert hall.
Piano music reflecting the full range of musical expression is the special feature of this year's Music in the Giant programme. Eight international pianists will be playing piano works ranging from the classical period to the modern age. Solo recitals by the Russian pianist Grigorii Sokolov (24.5.), who is visiting the Swarovski Kristallwelten for a second time after his first appearance in 2003, the young Romanian virtuoso Mihaela Ursuleasa (21.5.), as well as a performance by Till Fellner of Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" Sonata (23.5.) make it clear how much expressiveness and brilliance can be expected. Works for two pianos will be performed by Dennis Russell Davies and Maki Namekawa on May 20 and Ferhan and Ferzan Önder on May 22. The piano will also be accompanied by voice and other instruments, with Robert Schumann's song cycle "Dichterliebe" (A Poet's Love) performed by the baritone Roderick Williams together with Mihaela Ursuleasa (20.5.), by Williams accompanied by Fellner and the cellist Adrian Brendel (23.5.) and, last but not least, in the musical
dialogue of Stefano Bollani, one of the world's most remarkable jazz musicians at present, and his mentor, the great Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava (22.5.).
Tribute to Haydn
The piano will not be heard as a solo instrument with orchestral accompaniment at Music in the Giant 2009 – instead the Wattens Festival will be continuing the previous year's focus on the clarinet, with the invitation of the Kremerata Baltica. On May 19, conducted by Heinrich Schiff, the Baltic chamber orchestra will accompany soloist Sharon Kam in a performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major, placing this in the context of Arnold Schönberg's poetically inspired sextet "Verklärte Nacht" (Transfigured Night) and a tribute to Joseph Haydn. This is the Haydn anniversary year of 2009, and the festival will open with a performance of his Symphony No. 83, "La Poule", written in 1785.
Through Time and Space
The following concert evenings at the festival – which has been extended to six days for the first time – reflect the multi-faceted side of the piano not only in relation to the instruments accompanying it but also in terms of musical content: with works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann, Grigorii Sokolov and Williams/Ursuleasa are devoting their performances to the German and Austrian Classical and Romantic eras. Highly virtuosic compositions from Western, Eastern and Southern Europe – by Béla Bartók, Sergei Rachmaninov, Witold Lutosławski, Fazil Say and Olivier Messiaen – have been selected by Mihaela Ursuleasa and Ferhan
and Ferzan Önder as part of their programme. Dennis Russell Davies and Maki Namekawa in contrast are focusing on US-American piano music by Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein and Philip Glass. Stefano Bollani and Enrico Rava have the freest attitude to music: in their current project "The Third Man" their improvisations are linked with music of the Film Noir.
New Works, Special Location
With this sheer breadth of musical styles and epochs it certainly makes sense to include some very modern works in the programme. Recent contemporary works of music to be integrated into the Music in the Giant programme will include a piece commissioned by Swarovski Kristallwelten from the young German composer Tommy Ballestrem, whose "Five Pieces for Two Pianos" will be given its first performance on May 22, 2009 by Ferhan and Ferzan Önder. There will also be the first Austrian performance of two works by Philip Glass (20.5.) and Harrison Birtwistle (23.5.). For the festival opening by Kremerata Baltica, a special location has been selected: uniquely and for the very first time, a Swarovski factory hall. For this one evening, the newly-built "Werkshalle Ost" will become a unique place of performance before being assigned to its planned function.
Art – Dinner – Concert
From May 20 to 24, 2009 the stylish backdrop to Music in the Giant will be provided by the package "Art – Dinner – Concert", where delicious food, art and great music are all harmoniously combined (bookable only by prior reservation). The exclusive evening event costs 85 Euros (reduction: 75 Euros, not including beverages) and begins at 5 pm respectively below the entrance tent to the Swarovski Kristallwelten. After an aperitif, visitors can go on a special tour with experts and explore the artistic treasures of the Chambers of Wonder, before indulging in a three-course menu by DO & CO International. A Music in the Giant concert rounds off the artistic evening.
