The Danubia Orchestra has been invited to the Torroella de Montgrí Music Festival, north of Barcelona, on the recommendation of the Spanish conductor Alexis Soriano, who conducted the orchestra in Budapest two years ago.
Danubia will share the stage with such renowned artists as the Arditti Quartet, Boris Berezovsky and the Catalan singer Núria Rial, who also appeared as a soloist on the latest Elemér Balázs Group CD Early Music.
The Danubia Orchestra was originally to play selections from a DVD recorded together with the Muzsikás group. However, the programme was streamlined as a result of cost cuts. On the current programme, the orchestra will start with Eduardo Rincón's composition The Ninth Day of Creation, which is a contemporary work but written in a post-romantic style. This will be followed by Beethoven's violin concerto, performed by Sergey Krilov, and Schumann's Symphony No. 3, The Rhine.
The orchestra's second Spanish festival performance, on August 20, will be part of the 29th International Pau Casals Music Festival in El Vendrell, the birthplace of the famous cellist Casals.
The festival follows Casals' principles and includes classical music, jazz and pop on the programme. The list of guest performers includes the Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra, Maria Joao Pires and the Kandinsky Trio.
The Danubia Orchestra will play Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme with the young Hungarian cellist István Várdai at the festival. The conductor will be Soriano, artistic director of the Spanish Evenings of Saint Petersburg festival and the permanent guest conductor of the Hermitage Orchestra.
Another important recent development for the Danubia Orchestra was the release on DVD of the film Clara (Geliebte Clara), about the life of Clara Schumann. The orchestra has an important role in the film.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
