Oundle International Festival 2008
Friday 11th July to Sunday 20th July 2008
Although the 2008 Festival has
something of a Russian theme,
variety and contrast are the key,
both of mood and performer. The
very first concert sets the Russian
scene, with the combined voices
of two world-class choirs joining in
Shchedrin’s atmospheric The Sealed Angel. Performed by
candlelight in Fotheringhay Church, this will be a powerful
and moving opening to the ten day Festival. Notable
performers coming to Oundle from Russia are Yevgeny
Sudbin, very much the name on everyone’s lips for his
acclaimed recordings of Scriabin, the youthful Atrium
String Quartet, which is making a remarkable impact
on the chamber music scene, and the Russian Chamber
Philharmonic St Petersburg on their first visit to
the UK. The Exhibition at the Yarrow Gallery will follow
the trend, with a fascinating look at the collaboration
between composers and film makers in the former USSR.
Ekaterina Melnikova, Russian organist extraordinaire,
provides an interesting link between the Exhibition and
a concert later in the week by the superb reed quintet,
Calefax. Ekaterina plays her own transcriptions both of
Prokofiev’s score for Ivan the Terrible, which will also be
featured in the Exhibition, and of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker
Suite; this piece will be played by Calefax too, but with
their own transcription by way of Duke Ellington –
an interesting subject to compare and contrast!
Festivals should be entertaining as well as enlightening,
and we go a long way this year towards achieving both
these aims. Fascinating Aida must be high on list for all
those who heard the comic genius Dillie Keane at the
Festival in 2002, and Ensemble Bash will provide a very
different kind of diversion with their wide-ranging and
extraordinary show. And as for the return of the hugely
popular Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, the fact that
their show sold out in record time last year says it all.
So please join us if you can, for as much as you can;
whether your interest lies in the purely classical or the
lighter side of music, we hope you will find much to enjoy.
Patricia Ryan
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