ABU DHABI – In a magical musical evening, the second season of Abu Dhabi Classics 2009-2010 continued in the UAE capital with two concerts at Emirates Palace and Abu Dhabi Theatre last Friday and Saturday.
The yearlong event is organised by Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) will continue until May 2010 with high-profile musical performance to take place in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
On Friday evening the Orchestre Philharobique de Radio France performed under its distinguished music director, the Korean maestro Myung-Whun Chung, two of the most brilliant works in the French orchestral repertoire; Berlioz’s Symphony Fantastic from the early 19th century and the full version of Ma Mere L’Oye “Mother Goose” for Maurice Ravel from the 20th century.
Maestro Myung-Whun Chung is one of the world’s most acclaimed interpreters of French music. He served as music director of the Paris Opera from 1989 to 1994 and has received numerous awards from the French critics as well as the prestigious Legion d’honneur from the French government for his contribution to French musical life.
On Saturday, Abu Dhabi Theatre on the breakwater witnessed a special concert presented by instrumentalists of the renowned St. Petersburg Conservatory, one of the most important musical institutions in the world for nearly a century and a half.
Some of Russia’s most talented young musicians including 8 year-old pianist Elizaveta Marchenko performed works by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Frédéric Chopin, Pyotr Llyich, Tchaikovsky, Maurice Ravel and others in a night titled “Stars of Tomorrow”
Meanwhile, the musical concerts will continue in December 5 with symphonic Masterwirks where the Classical Mozart and Romantic Bruckner will be performed by Drisden’s great Staatskapelle at Emirates Palace auditorium.
No orchestra in the world has a longer or more distinguished tradition than Dresden’s great Staatskapelle.
This incomparable orchestra was founded in the 16th century and was acclaimed in the 19th century as Europe’s finest orchestra by no less than Beethoven and Richard Strauss.
To hear it play Bruckner’s Fourth, the glorious “Romantic” Symphony, and a delightful Mozart piano concerto, performed by the celebrated German conductor-pianist Christoph Eschenbach, is to experience the essence of the symphonic experience.
Also the Emirates Palace Auditorium will witness on Sunday December 6, Santa Claus Concert for Kids narrated by Sir Ben Kingsley.
On St. Nicholas Day, 6 December, lucky young musicians from the Abu Dhabi Classics Academy will have the privilege of performing with Dresden’s legendary orchestra in a programme designed for young music lovers, including Leopold Mozart’s charming “Toy” Symphony and Prokofiev’s beloved musical tale Peter and the Wolf.
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