Pianist David Greilsammer Pursues International Solo, Chamber and Conducting Work in 2014-15, Builds on Geneva Camerata’s Reputation with Groundbreaking Programming
David Greilsammer, the young pianist and conductor hailed as “one of the most accomplished and adventurous musicians of his generation” by the New York Times, has launched into his 2014-15 season in typically bold, eclectic, and creative style. Managing brilliantly to juggle his prodigious conducting, piano playing, artistic directing and programming talents, he performs exciting programs around the world and continues to develop his innovative music directorship of the Geneva Camerata (GECA). With the orchestra he performs in prestigious venues and festivals in Italy, France, Turkey and Israel; conducts soloists such as Steven Isserlis, Avi Avital, Carolin Widmann, Jennifer Larmore, Daniel Hope, and Jacky Terrasson, among others; and presents imaginative programs that bring together baroque, classical, contemporary, jazz, folk, and electronic music. As pianist he reprises his successful 2014 Sony Classical album that juxtaposes the Sonatas of Scarlatti and Cage, and performs a captivating program of 20th century music and poetry for the prominent Modigliani Exhibition that opens this winter in Pisa, Italy.
This is Greilsammer’s second season with the Geneva Camerata (GECA), and it shows him in ambitious form, with top collaborators, in atypical venues, performing varied repertory that includes four world premieres, presenting encounters between Baroque and contemporary works, as well as exciting cross-cultural and multidisciplinary projects. The season got off to a flying start on September 30 with a musical homage to Gabriel García Márquez, featuring the great accordion virtuoso Richard Galliano in a program that ranged from Rameau and Mozart to Piazzolla and the world premiere of a new piece by the talented Jannik Giger. Earlier this month Greilsammer presented another program that included stunning juxtapositions, combining Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto, which he conducted from the piano, with works by French Baroque composer Marin Marais, as well as an exploration of jazz and Afro-Cuban music with New York based jazz pianist Jacky Terrasson, who improvised with Greilsammer and the orchestra. On January 29, Greilsammer and Geneva Camerata present “The Violin Dances,” a concert that will feature the world premiere of Magnitude for 22 dancers and orchestra by Marcos Balter, as well as classical and romantic works by Haydn and Schumann, with violin soloist Carolin Widmann.
Greilsammer continues the series of of original, interactive, and exciting family concerts he and the orchestra have developed with “King Arthur,” a new show for music and puppets based on Henry Purcell’s opera, with the Geneva Marionette Theater and soprano Capucine Keller (Feb 28). Other artistic partners and special guests throughout the season include violinist Giuliano Carmignola (Feb 6), jazz pianist Yaron Herman (Feb 19 and April 30), cellist Johannes Moser performing on both cello and electric cello (March 26), soprano Véronique Gens (May 21), and clarinetist Gilad Harel (June 7). The orchestra also ventures to Gstaad to perform “Love & Tragedy”, a program of Vivaldi, Boccherini, Purcell, Berg and Handel, with mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore (Feb 2).
Greilsammer is developing the orchestra’s unique profile internationally, and together they have many engagements abroad this season, including in Turkey, Israel, Italy and France. With Greilsammer at the piano, the orchestra has a residency at the renowned cultural center “Centquatre” in Paris, as they explore a singular contemporary approach to Klezmer music (Dec 5, 6). The group then performs twice at the Eilat Festival in Israel (Feb 5, 6), the first evening with celebrated cellist Steven Isserlis playing Haydn’s C Major Cello Concerto, and the second with Italian violin virtuoso Giuliano Carmignola, who will perform Mozart’s Third Violin Concerto. On March 28 Greilsammer and the orchestra present “A Folk Celebration!” in Rome, and on April 14 the group performs at the prestigious Is Sanat Concert Hall in Istanbul, with Greilsammer conducting a program of Vivaldi, Piazzolla, Lully, Vivaldi and Mozart, featuring Martynas Levickis on the accordion.
Greilsammer also enters his second year as Artist-in-Residence at the St. Etienne Opera, where he performs a variety of concerts as soloist and conductor, including a solo recital that juxtaposes the first and second “Viennese Schools” (Mar 22), and a concert at the opera house’s annual festival, in which he conducts from the keyboard Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1, in addition to conducting Webern’s Symphony Op. 21 (Mar 21). As part of the residency, earlier in the year he will be joined by his longtime colleague, mandolinist Avi Avital, in a “Bach and his Family” program (Jan 13). The residency also includes outreach events for children, as well as musical presentations and pre-concert lectures for students, about which Greilsammer is very passionate. He will team up once again with Avi Avital at the University of Chicago on February 20 for a singular program of masterpieces that have been arranged for mandolin and piano, as well as various solo piano works.
Another fundamental interest of Greilsammer’s is the exploration of various art forms and how they cross-fertilize with music. His recital at Palazzo Blu in Pisa, Italy on January 20 is a perfect example of this curiosity and inventive approach: as part of the Modigliani Exhibition, he will perform pieces by composers who lived in Paris at the same period as Modigliani, including Satie, Debussy, Ravel, and Stravinsky, alongside poems by Apollinaire that will be read by renowned Italian actor Angelo Di Genio between the musical pieces.
Greilsammer will also continue touring with his program “Scarlatti:Cage:Sonatas,” a solo recital that juxtaposes sonatas for keyboard by Scarlatti and sonatas for prepared piano by John Cage, on two instruments. This recital, featured on his most recent Sony Classical album, was released in 2014 to great critical acclaim. Besides being praised by the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and BBC Magazine, the album was selected by NPR as one of the top 25 recordings of 2014 (all musical styles included), and The Telegraph wrote of it: “David Greilsammer blends the work of Scarlatti and Cage to intoxicating effect.” He will bring this innovative program to Geneva (Nov 18), Tel Aviv (Dec 15), and the Dortmund Konzerthaus in Germany (Jan 15).
Further details of David Greilsammer’s upcoming engagements are provided below, and more information is available at the artist’s website: davidgreilsammer.com.
David Greilsammer: 2014-15 engagements
Nov 18
Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva Museum of Art & History
Scarlatti:Cage:Sonatas (piano)
Nov 25, 26
Tel Aviv, Israel
Israel Chamber Orchestra (piano/conducting)
Rameau, J.C Bach, Mozart, Jonathan Keren (World Premiere)
Dec 5, 6
Paris, France
Geneva Camerata in Residence at the Centquatre in Paris (piano/conducting)
With Gilad Harel, clarinet
Dec 10
Grenoble, France
Piano Festival Sainte-Marie-d’en-Bas
Baroque & Contemporary works
Dec 15
Tel Aviv, Israel
Meitar Ensenble
Concert 1: Scarlatti:Cage:Sonatas (piano)
Concert 2: Works by Cage, and world premieres by Abram and Klartag (conducting)
Jan 13
St. Etienne, France
St. Etienne Opera House
Geneva Camerata on tour (conducting)
“Bach and His Family”
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Symphony in D minor
Johann Sebastian Bach: Keyboard Concerto in D minor (arranged for mandolin)
Johann Bernhard Bach: Suite in G minor – Overture
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Flute Concerto in D minor (arranged for mandolin)
With Avi Avital, mandolin
Jan 15
Dortmund, Germany
Konzerthaus Dortmund
Scarlatti:Cage:Sonatas (piano)
Jan 20
Pisa, Italy
Palazzo Blu – Modigliani Exhibition Concert (piano)
Satie: Sarabande No. 2
Apollinaire: Clair de lune
Ravel: Une barque sur l’océan
Apollinaire: Crépuscule
Debussy: 3 Préludes
Apollinaire: L’Adieu
Satie: Deux Pièces froides
Apollinaire: La tzigane
Stravinsky: Tango pour piano
With Angelo Di Genio, actor
Jan 29
Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva Camerata (conducting)
“The Violin Dances”
Haydn: Overture to L’isola disabitata
Marcos Balter: Magnitude for 22 dancers & orchestra (new commission, choreographed by Cindy Van Acker)
Schumann: Violin Concerto in D minor
With Ballet Junior de Genève; Carolin Widmann, violin; Cindy Van Acker, choreographer
Feb 2
Gstaad, Switzerland
Geneva Camerata (conducting)
“Love & Tragedy”
Marin Marais: Alcione Suite
Vivaldi: Griselda, “Ho il cor già lacero”
Boccherini: Symphony in D minor, Op. 12, No. 4
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, “When I am Laid in Earth”
Berg: Lyric Suite, Andante Amoroso
Handel: Giulio Cesare, “Va tacito e nascosto”
Vivaldi: Concerto for Two Oboes in D minor, RV 535
Handel: Ariodante, “Dopo notte”
With Jennifer Larmore, mezzo-soprano
Feb 5
Eilat Festival, Israel
Geneva Camerata (conducting)
“A Luminous Cello”
Marin Marais: Alcione Suite
Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major
Ligeti: Ramifications
Mozart: Symphony No. 29 in A Major, K. 201
With Steven Isserlis, cello
Feb 6
Eliat, Israel
Geneva Camerata (piano/conducting)
“A Journey to the Red Sea”
Mendelssohn: Symphony for Strings No. 10 in B minor
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major
Boccherini: Symphony in D minor, Op. 12, No. 4
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major, K. 271
With Giuliano Carmignola, violin
Feb 19
Meyrin, Switzerland
Geneva Camerata (conducting)
Haydn: Symphony No. 49 in F minor
Purcell: Fairy Queen Suite / Improvisations
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-flat Major, K. 449
Mozart / Ellington: “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing”
Rameau / Yaron Herman: “Pygmalion Blues”
Yaron Herman: “Mojo”
With Yaron Herman, jazz piano and improvisations
Feb 20
Chicago, IL
University of Chicago Presents (piano)
Mozart: Sonata K. 301 in G Major (orig. violin and piano, arr. for mandolin and piano)
Berg: Piano Sonata, Op. 1
J.S. Bach: Sonata BWV 1019 in G major (orig. violin and harpsichord, arr mandolin and piano)
J.S. Bach: Partita BWV 1004 in D minor – Chaconne (orig. violin solo, arr. mandolin solo)
Mozart: Fantasia in C minor, K. 475
Pärt: Fratres (arr. mandolin and piano)
Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances (arr. mandolin and piano)
With Avi Avital, mandolin
Feb 28
Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva Camerata (conducting)
“King Arthur”: Family concert – based on Henry Purcell’s opera “King Arthur”
With Capucine Keller, soprano & narrator; Liviu Berehoi, puppeteer
In collaboration with the Geneva Marionette Theater
March 21
St. Etienne, France
St. Etienne Opera (piano/conducting)
St. Etienne Symphony Orchestra
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466
Webern: Symphony, Op. 21
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15
March 22
St. Etienne, France
St. Etienne Opera (piano)
“Viennese Schools”
Webern: Variations, Op. 27
Haydn: Variations in F Minor
Berg: Sonata Op. 1
Mozart: Sonata in A major
Schoenberg: Six short pieces, Op. 19
Schubert: Six Moments Musicaux, D. 780
March 26
Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva Camerata (conducting)
“Rock Cello!”
Vivaldi: L’Olimpiade Overture
Bartok: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
Jonathan Keren: Concerto for Electric Cello
J.C. Bach: Cello Concerto in C minor
With Johannes Moser, cello and electric cello
March 28
Rome, Italy
Geneva Camerata (piano)
“A Folk Celebration!”
With Avi Avital, mandolin; Gilad Harel, clarinet
April 14
Istanbul, Turkey
Is Sanat Concert Hall
Geneva Camerata (conducting)
“Exotic Dances”
Vivaldi: L’Olimpiade Overture
Piazzolla: “Aconcagua” Concerto for bandoneon and orchestra
Vivaldi: Concerto No. 4 in F minor, “Winter” (arranged for accordion)
Lully: Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, excerpts
Mozart: Symphony No. 29 in A Major, K. 201
With Martynas Levickis, accordion
April 21
Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva Camerata Workshop
“In the court of the Sun King”
April 30
Monthey, Switzerland
Geneva Camerata (conducting)
“Pygmalion Blues!”
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K. 414
Purcell: Fairy Queen Suite
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-flat Major, K. 449
Ellington: “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing”
Rameau / Yaron Herman: “Pygmalion Blues”
With Yaron Herman, jazz piano
May 3
Geneva, Switzerland
Grand Théâtre – Geneva Opera House
Geneva Camerata (conducting)
“Cupid at the Opera”
With Geneva Opera’s young singers troupe
May 21
Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva Camerata (conducting)
“Carte Blanche with Véronique Gens”
Beethoven: Coriolan Overture
Purcell: The Fairy Queen, “If love’s a sweet passion”
Rameau: Hippolyte et Aricie, “Cruelle mère des amours”
Gershwin: “The Man I Love”
Mozart: Così fan tutte, “Come scoglio”
Michael Pelzel: “Chatoiements de l’air” (World Premiere)
Mozart: Symphony No. 35 in D Major “Haffner”
With Véronique Gens, soprano
June 6
Mézière, Switzerland
Geneva Camerata (conducting)
“A Wild Violin”
Haydn: Symphony No. 39 in G minor
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K. 414
Schnittke: Moz-Art à la Haydn
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G minor, K. 216
With Daniel Hope, violin
June 7
Mézière, Switzerland
Geneva Camerata (conducting)
“Balkan Baroque!”
Vivaldi: L’Olimpiade, Overture
Traditional Balkan dances from Macedonia
J.C.F. Bach: Symphony in D minor
Traditional Balkan dances from Bulgaria
J.S. Bach: Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043
Traditional Balkan dances from Greece
Telemann: Oboe Concerto in G minor (arranged for clarinet by Gilad Harel)
Medley of traditional Balkan Songs
With Gilad Harel, clarinet
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© 21C Media Group, November 2014
Photo By: Julien Mignot