TAMESTIT & TIBERGHIEN
Programme
- Franz Schubert: Sonata in A minor “Arpeggione” D 821
- Robert Schumann: Mondnacht
- Franz Schubert: Nacht und Träume D 827
- Robert Schumann: Märchenbilder
- John Dowland: Flow my tears
- Benjamin Britten: Lachrymae op. 48
- Rebecca Clarke: Sonata for Viola and Piano
Performers
- Antoine Tamestit - viola (Artist-in-Residence)
- Cédric Tiberghien - piano
The performance of two superb French musicians – the violist and Prague Spring artist-in-residence Antoine Tamestit and the pianist Cédric Tiberghien – will make for an exhilarating event. The Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum will be their starting point for a musical journey through the centuries, in which they will introduce the audience to the Elizabethan melancholy of John Dowland, whose famous song was later supplemented by the variations of Benjamin Britten, the Romantic melodies of Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann, and a viola sonata by the 20th-century British American viola virtuoso Rebecca Clarke. “The recital with Cédric Tiberghien is a way for me to show the possibilities that the viola has with the piano, and also to bring with me my longest and closest musical partner,” says Tamestit. “I think that no other instrument is the butt of musicians’ jokes as often as the viola. Few contemporary violists have done as much for the good name of the viola as Antoine Tamestit,” remarks Prague Spring Programme Director Josef Třeštík. The artist-in-residence of the 78th edition of the Prague Spring, who will also chair the jury of the festival’s viola competition, ranks among the best instrumentalists of today. His play is rich in tone, thrillingly musical, and matched by a wealth of repertoire that reaches from the Baroque era to specifically dedicated works by the brightest contemporary composers. Le Figaro wrote of Tamestit that he is “one of the most gifted French musicians of the era.”
In the previous season, Tamestit – who plays on an instrument from the famous workshop of Antonio Stradivari – could boast the title of “Portrait Artist” of the London Symphony Orchestra, as this pre-eminent English ensemble accompanied him at four concerts conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, and Robbin Ticciati. He functioned as artist-in-residence of the Staatskapelle Dresden and has performed as a chamber musician in Tanglewood, alongside the likes of Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, or Yo Yo Ma. As Tamestit himself says, his closest artistic collaborator is his fellow compatriot, the pianist Cédric Tiberghien. “Cédric and I are close friends and we share a very similar view on music in general,” Tamestit explains. “When we rehearse, we always talk a lot about phrasing, the philosophical aspect of music, and the expression we want to achieve. That’s our work, we don’t spend as much time on technical details.” Together, they have released several CDs, including a highly prized album of Johannes Brahms’s sonatas. Tiberghien is one of the leading solo pianists of the present day. Among others, he is a regular guest at London’s Wigmore Hall, which houses his ongoing project to perform Beethoven’s complete sonatas. After his 2018 debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Berliner Zeitung lauded his performance of Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand as “astounding” and “poetic, without resorting to sentimentality, and robust, without sacrificing lucidity of play.”
Read the profile of the festival’s artist-in-residence, Antoine Tamestit.
Festival Artist-in-Residence Antoine Tamestit
Listen to the Sonata for Viola and Piano by Rebecca Clarke
