I’m so happy that tickets for the Stiftfestival, from 21-29 August are now on sale 😍
This year the festival is bigger, and more ambitious than ever, celebrating LIVE MUSIC with a colorful, adventurous, diverse, both challenging and fun programme, around the theme EASTERN WIND, combining much loved masterpieces with discoveries and premieres. We open with Piazzolla’s wonderful opera Maria de Buenos Aires with a dream cast directed by Marcelo Nisinman, outside magnificent Twickel castle and in the second weekend we screen the film classic Dracula with Philip Glass’ live music outside loveliest Singraven Castle. At the heart of the festival are the 15 Schostakovich String Quartets, played over 6 concerts in the most intimate, magical venues (I’m playing 9 of them with a Shosta 4tets loving collective including Maja Bogdanovic, Dana Zemtzov, Joel Waterman, Mikhail Zemtzov, Tijmen Huizing and Floor LeCoultre), and brilliant young international quartets the Animatos and the Belinfantes are playing the remaining 6). The great Groot Omroepkoor (Netherlands Radio Choir) sings Rachmaninow’s wonderful Vespers, and I’m delighted to present Roxanna Panufnik’s new ‘Songs of Love and Friendship’, for solo violin and large mixed choir, commissioned by Stift and AVROTROS. We proudly announce 11 more premieres, including the Chamber Violin Concerto by composer in residence Elena Firsova, several works by brilliant and hugely missed Isidora Zebeljan and Dmitri Smirnov (whom we both sadly lost in 2020), and by Alissa Firsova and Borys Fedorov.
Alfred Schnittke is celebrated, with masterworks including his Piano Quintet and String Trio, as well as Sofia Gubaidulina, with her ;Sieben Wörter’ for cello (David Cohen), Bayan and orchestra sounding besides Peteris Vasks ‚Lonely angel‘ and Pergolesi‘s Stabat Mater in our second opening concert ‚Angels’. We also look forward to Tchaikowsky’s Rococo Variations with splendid Maja Bogdanovic, Shostakowich and Catoire Piano Quintets with Nino Gvetadze and Anna Fedorova, Stravinsky’s Sacre with Nino and Marianna Shirinyan, Mussorgsky‘s Songs and dances of death with Henk Neven, a jazzy night with brilliant Fabian Fiorini… and there‘s honestly a loooot more.. feel very free have a look around our festival site www.stiftfestival.com, and at the full programme, and of course feel free to share this! :)) 🙏😍
