2024 Concert Season at Teatro Marrucino
Across the course of 2024, CMDI will be presenting a number of concerts and recitals in collaboration with the renowned Teatro Marrucino in the Italian city of Chieti, an officially-designated Theatre of Tradition by the Italian Ministry of Culture, and one of the oldest working theatres in Europe.
The season opens on Sunday, 25 February, followed by a concert on Sunday, 17 March, and a piano recital on Sunday, 28 April. Then on the 5th of May, there will be a visit by the famed French/Cypriot pianist Cyprien Katsaris, a winner of the International Cziffra Competition and Queen Elisabeth Competition, and recipient of the Albert Roussel Foundation Prize and the Alex de Vries Foundation Prize, amongst many others.
Presenting an eclectic programme of classical works, the maestro will open with Joseph Haydn’s Sonata in C major, Hob.XVI:35, before presenting Franz Schubert’s Klavierstücke in E-flat Major D 946: No. 2; Frédéric Chopin’s Polonaise in A-flat major, ‘Héroïque’, Op. 53; and Franz Liszt’s Fantasy on Hungarian Popular Tunes, in a transcription for solo piano by Hans von Bülow and Katsaris himself, amongst others.
May will also witness a further two engagements, the first of which will be a duo recital on the 12th of the month headlined by Belgian violinist Marc Bouchkov and Italian pianist Giuliano Mazzoccante. The two maestros shall treat audiences to a series of seminal pieces, including Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 5, Op. 24 ‘Spring’, and César Franck’s celebrated Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano.
Then, on May 26th, German cellist Gabriel Schwabe and Swedish pianist Roland Pöntinen will team up for their own concert on the theatre’s historic stage. The first entry for the evening will be Johann Sebastian Bach’s Gamba Sonata in G Major, BWV 1027, with the event also set to showcase Samuel Barber’s Cello Sonata in C minor, Op. 6, along with other compositions.
Marking the beginning of the summer months, June 23rd will see the young Dutch-American violinist Stephen Waarts travelling to Chieti to join forces with French pianist Yannick Rafalimanana for their own duo recital. Presenting both contemporary and historic works, they will interpret a programme that includes Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's 20th-century piece, ‘The Lark’, after which shall come a performance of Robert Schumann’s Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 121.
At the other end of the summer months, meanwhile, South Korean-German violinist Clara-Jumi Kang and South Korean pianist Sunwook Kim will add their entry in this series of concerts with a recital on the 15th of September, where they will present a series of sonatas from the pens of such names as Ludwig van Beethoven, Ottorino Respighi, and César Franck.
Following a concert on the 22nd of October, there will then be a visit by Canadian violinist James Ehnes, accompanied by pianist Orion Weiss, on the 27th of the month. Presenting a duo recital on the theatre’s main stage, they will lead with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Violin Sonata No 4 in C minor, BWV 1017, before interpreting a number of pieces that will then conclude with Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s lauded ‘Much Ado about Nothing’.
The season continues with a performance on Sunday, 24 November, while the theatre will also host two special foyer concerts on the 23rd and 30th of November respectively.
