Festival: July 2008 Archives

The music of Kaija Saariaho will be widely heard in the United States this summer. Saariaho's second opera 'Adriana Mater' will get its U.S. premiere on July 26, 2008, at the Santa Fe opera. In August, Saariaho is featured as the composer-in-residence of the Mostly Mozart festival in Lincoln Center, New York. The festival programme includes for example the U.S. premiere of the oratorio 'La Passion de Simone' on August 13, as well as Saariaho's cello concerto 'Notes on Light' (Aug 14) and the string quartet 'Terra Memoria' (Aug 21).

Full news in more depth can be found at http://www.fimic.fi/news

PROKOFIEV AND HIS WORLD

Two summer weekends, august 8–10 and august 15–17, offer expansive survey of music by the great Russian composer and his contemporaries, with life and times of Prokofiev further illuminated by preconcert talks, panel discussions, and a symposium

"Prokofiev and His World," a centerpiece of the seven-week 2008 Bard Summerscape Festival, offers first close examination of composer's life and career since historical archives left behind in Russia were partially opened in 2003

"Part boot camp for the brain, part spa for the spirit" –New York Times

Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. – The last two weekends of Bard SummerScape 2008 will feature the world-renowned Bard Music Festival, returning in its 19^th annual season for an exploration of "Prokofiev and His World." The eleven summer programs of the Bard Music Festival will take place over two weekends on August 8–10 and August 15–17, to be followed by an autumn finale featuring two additional programs (October 24 and 25).

Szymanowski's opera King Roger and his "Pastoral Dance" Harnasie will be performed by the American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, in productions designed and directed by Lech Majewski, for five performances opening July 25

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – Bard SummerScape's exploration of "Prokofiev and His World" will be enriched by productions of two rapturous works by Polish composer Karol Szymanowski – a contemporary and friend of Prokofiev's – opening Friday, July 25 for a run of five performances through August 3. Under music director Leon Botstein, SummerScape's resident American Symphony Orchestra will play both the acclaimed opera King Roger (The Shepherd) and Harnasie, a pastoral dance by the composer who is widely considered the father of modern Polish music. The Wroclaw Opera Chorus will perform, with Polish vocal soloists, and a children's choir. Both works will be directed and designed by Lech Majewski.