From 19 to 29 May, the festival “Mozart & Pärt” will be held in Los Angeles, California, USA. This festival focuses on the music of Arvo Pärt, performed by the renowned orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and its principal conductor, Gustavo Dudamel. The festival will culminate with the world première of an orchestral piece by Arvo Pärt, performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The composer’s works will be featured in a total of ten concerts in Los Angeles, in addition to works by Mozart, Handel, Bill Viola (video/sound/installation), and others.
The festival will start on May 19th, with a performance of Pärt’s Miserere and Mozart’s Requiem. Alongside the Latvian Radio Choir and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir will also participate in the concert, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The soloists are soprano Lucy Crowe, mezzo-soprano Roxana Constantinescu, tenor Paul Appleby and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni. The program will be performed on four successive nights, from May 19 May to May 22.
On Thursday May 26, and Friday May 27, there will be a concert titled “The Angels”, where the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor Gustavo Dudamel will present Pärt’s works “Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten” and “Symphony No. 4 “Los Angeles”“. Symphony No. 4 was co-commissioned by the LA Philharmonic and its former music director Esa-Pekka Salonen in 2008, which can be considered as the beginning of the collaboration between the composer and the orchestra.
The festival will culminate on Saturday May 28, with the world première of Arvo Pärt’s piece “Greater Antiphons” for string orchestra. This piece will be conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, and was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The second performance will be on Sunday May 29.
The English title of this piece refers to the Magnificat antiphons; that is, the O antiphons used at Vespers during Advent, which have also featured in Pärt’s earlier works.
The festival will end with an organ concert on May 29, with performances by the organists Aaron David Miller and Damin Spritzer. The concert will include performances of Pärt’s “Annum per annum”, “Trivium” and “Spiegel Im Spiegel”, in addition to works by Mozart and Gigout.
As a prelude to the festival, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra of San Francisco will present a concert on May 11, performing works by Pärt and Handel, with soloists Andreas Scholli (countertenor) and Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano), with Nicholas McGegan conducting.
Arvo Pärt’s Greater Antiphons will premiere in Europe at the Malta International Arts Festival, which will take place from 8 to 18 July.
For further information about the festival “Mozart & Pärt”: http://www.laphil.com/mozartandpart
Malta International Arts Festival: http://maltaartsfestival.org
