July 12th at 7 pm, St. John’s church (Jaani Street 5, Tartu)

Glasperlenspiel Music Festival

STRAUSS & STRAUSS

Wiener Kammersymphonie (Austria), Johann Strauss junior – 200, Richard Strauss (Le bourgeois gentilhomme).

Richard Strauss’s suite Le bourgeois gentilhomme (1918) in the Baroque mood begins with an overture that illustrates the bustling everyday life of the bourgeois Jourdain’s Parisian household. The following sections depict Jourdain’s attempts to appear believably aristocratic. In Minuet, Jourdain studies the art of dance. In The Fencing Teacher, a majestic teacher arrives accompanied by brass instruments and piano. In the next three movements, Strauss uses the dances of Jean-Baptiste Lully as the musical base, thereby paying homage to the composer who wrote the music for the premiere of Molière’s comedy in 1670. The orchestral suite ends with Dinner, the menu of which Strauss skilfully uses for the purpose of musical humour. The Rhine salmon arrives at the table with a quote from Wagner’s opera Das Rheingold, the Italian-style lamb’s leg is accompanied by music reminiscent of the bleating of sheep from Strauss’s own symphonic poem Don Quixote, and poultry dishes are ushered in by birdsong from Der Rosenkavalier at dawn and a quote from the aria La donna è mobile from Verdi’s opera Rigoletto. The evening will culminate in a cheerful dance reminiscent of the Viennese waltz by a kitchen boy.

The string quintet Wiener Kammersymphonie consists of talented Vienna based musicians. The ensemble brings a wide repertoire to the audience, from classical to contemporary works. The Wiener Kammersymphonie was founded in March 2006 and made their memorable debut with a series of concerts in Spain that received acclaim from both the audience and critics. Since then, this string quintet has performed almost all over Europe (Spain, France, United Kingdom, Poland, Netherlands, Denmark) and Latin America

Detailed info: www.klaasparlimang.com