WEDNESDAY 9 FEBRUARY 2011 at 8:30 PM
*Théâtre des Variétés – 1 Boulevard Albert I – Monaco*
Monte Carlo Chamber Choir
*Conductor: Stefano Visconti – Pianist: Francesca Tosi*
*Crescendo exclusively hosts professional artists.
Only the members of the association who supervise the production are volunteers.
The production could come to life thanks to the grant from the Directorate of Cultural Affairs of the Princely Government, the generosity of the association members, and ticket sales.*
Monte-Carlo Chamber Choir
*This ensemble, created in July 2009, aims to better disseminate the chamber music repertoire in the Principality of Monaco and abroad.
It is composed of sixteen singers, mostly from prestigious Monegasque musical institutions and the PACA Region, such as the Monte-Carlo Opera and the Nice Opera, under the direction of Stefano Visconti, Choir Director of the Monte-Carlo Opera.
This ensemble offers high-quality performances to theaters, festivals, and other cultural venues that do not have their own ensemble. The purpose of this ensemble is to conduct a cultural action that combines the execution of well-known and lesser-known works. Artistic collaborators are responsible for nurturing this exploration.
The Chamber Choir is presided over by Mr. Guillaume Rose, national counselor of the Principality of Monaco.*
Stefano Visconti, Choir Director
*Born in Livorno in 1960, Stefano Visconti studied piano, then choir conducting with Fosco Corti and Roberto Gabbiani and orchestral conducting with Piero Bellugi and Giancarlo Andretta. Since 1984, he has directed the Guido-Monaco polyphonic choir in Livorno, which has won various awards and has grown to include a mastery and a youth choir. Choir director at the Livorno Theater from 1991 to 2001, he has held the same position at the Torre del Lago Puccini Festival since 1999. In 2000, he founded the Tuscany Chamber Choir. In 2001, he won the post of choir director and artistic director of the mastery at the Opéra-Théâtre d’Avignon. He has led a musicological research project and a reconstruction project of Cambini’s complete sacred music work for soloists, choir, and orchestra. He has made several recordings with Foné, Agora, and Kikko Classic, notably of Mascagni’s operas (L’amico Fritz, I Rantzau, Lodoletta, Guglielmo Ratcliff, Silvano, Cavalleria rusticana, Iris, and Si). He has been the choir director of the Monte-Carlo Opera since 2007.*
Francesca Tosi, Pianist
*After winning a first prize in piano with distinction in the class of Daniel Rivera, she continued her musical training with several artists such as Maria Tipo, Murray Perahia, Alexander Lonquich, Alessandro Specchi, France Clidat, and Franco Rossi, cellist of the Italian Quartet, with whom she specialized in the chamber repertoire.
From 1997 to 2003, she was the music director at the Teatro comunale of Florence, where she collaborated with conductors like James Conlon, Gerd Albrecht, Semyon Bychkov, Myung-Whun Chung, Daniel Oren, Roberto Abbado, and Zubin Metha.
In March 2001, Francesca Tosi participated in the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino orchestra’s tour in Tokyo for the productions of Traviata and Turandot conducted by Zubin Metha. In this context, she also collaborated as a pianist with Claudio Abbado for Simon Boccanegra and with the Regional Orchestra of Tuscany for the 2001-2002 symphonic season. From 2006 to 2008, she was the vocal coach of the academy for opera singers directed by soprano Mirella Freni.
From 1998 to 2007, she held the position of vocal coach at the Torre del Lago Puccini festival, and since 2008, she has been the choir director for all Puccini operas. She recently conducted a series of operatic concerts with the orchestra of the same festival and the San Remo orchestra. Since 2005, she has been the assistant conductor of the Nice Opera Choir.*
Monte-Carlo Chamber Choir
*Sopranos: Galina Bakalova, Elena Golomeova, Patricia El Meligy
Mezzos and Altos: Giulia Betti-Gandelli, Elisabetta De Giorgi, Joh-Ann Marlet, Paola Scaltriti
Tenors: Frédéric Diquero, Pasquale Ferraro, Benoît Gunalons, Mario Marrone
Baritones-Basses: Loris Bertolo, Errol Girldestone, Edgardo Rinaldi*
EVENING PROGRAM
*-Anton Dvorak (Nelahozeves 1841 – Prague 1904)
Six Moravian Duets
1. Dyby byla kosa nabrosena
2. Slavikosky polecko maly
3. Holub na javore
4. Vdobrym sme se sesli
5. Sipek
6. Zelenaj se, Zelenaj*
*-Leos Janacek (Hukvaldy 1854 – Ostrava 1928)
Adapted by Bela Bartok (Nagyszentmiklós 1881 – New York 1945)*
*Four Slovak Folk Songs (Mixed Choir and Piano)*
1. Wedding Song from Poniky
2. Song of the Hayharvesters from Hiadel
3. Dancing Song from Medzibrod
4. Dancing Song from Poniky
*Igor Stravinsky (Oranienbaum 1882 – New York 1971)*
“Tango” Piano Solo
*George Gershwin (New York 1898 – Los Angeles 1937)*
“Fascinating rhythm”
“I got rhythm”
“The man I love”
*Scott Joplin (Texas 1867? – New York 1917)*
“Maple Leaf Rag”
Intermission
*Franz Schubert (Lichtental 1797 – Vienna 1828)*
“Der Tanz” D 826 Mixed Choir and Piano
“Die Geselligkeit” D 609 Mixed Choir and Piano
*Robert Schumann (Zwickau 1810 – Endenich 1856)*
“Zigeunerleben” op. 29 no. 3 Mixed Choir and Piano
*Franz Liszt (Doborjan 1811 – Bayreuth 1886)*
“The Nightingale” (on a Russian theme) Piano Solo
“Hungarian Rhapsody” no. 11 Piano Solo
*Johannes Brahms (Hamburg 1833 – Vienna 1897)*
“Zigeunerlieder” op. 63 Mixed Choir and Piano
1. He, Ziegeuner, greife in die Saiten
2. Hochgetürmte Rimaflut
3. WiBt ihr, wann mein Kindchen
4. Lieber Gott, du WeiBt
5. Brauner Burche führt zum Tanze
6. Röslein dreie in der Reihe
7. Kommt dir manchmal in den Sinn
8. Horch, der ind klagt in den Zweigen
9. Weit und breit schaut niemand mich an
10. Mond verhüllt sein Angesicht
11. Rote Abendwolken ziehn*
