Adventskalender im Foyer: Das 17. Fensterchen
Today in the Rangfoyer on the right: English horn in focus
Iveta Hylasova Bachmannova, Nicole Piccolomini and Elda Laro
5:00 p.m. / Rangfoyer on the right
Duration: approx. 25 minutes / Free admission
The repertoire for solo cor anglais is limited and little known, although it is impossible to imagine opera and concert literature of the Romantic period without this elegiac instrument, which often features prominently in the corresponding works. One need only think of Richard Wagner's pastoral scenes in TANNHÄUSER or TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, Gustav Mahler's ‘Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen’ or Marguerite's aria ‘D'amour l'ardente flamme’ from Hector Berlioz' LA DAMNATION DE FAUST.
Listen to this aria, arranged for English horn, piano and mezzo-soprano, with the wonderful Nicole Piccolomini as Marguerite, who performed here at the opera house between 2006 and 2009 in the ensemble and later as a guest in roles such as Federica / LUISA MILLER, Flosshilde / DAS RHEINGOLD, 3rd Dame / THE MAGIC FLUTE, 1st Maid / ELEKTRA, Schwertleite / THE VALKYRIE, Dryad / ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, Contessa di Coigny / ANDREA CHENIER, La Marquise de Langlade / MARIE VICTOIRE or Rosalia / TIEFLAND. She remains closely associated with our opera house to this day and last appeared here as the Governess and Old Countess in the new production of THE QUEEN OF SPADES.
Hans Steinmetz's ‘Liebesruf eines Faun’ (A Faun's Love Call), a work composed only in 1954, will then be heard for piano and English horn, playing on the antique-bucolic image of this instrument. The title alone conjures up images of shepherds' songs, olive groves and the lethargic midday heat. Eugène Bozza's Divertissement op. 39 from 1939 follows. At that time, the Nice-born Frenchman was working as a conductor at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Here, as in his numerous chamber music works composed during his time as director of the Valenciennes Conservatory, we can detect echoes of his native Provence. Let yourself be transported to a bucolic, ancient world of glistening sun, the scent of wild thyme and lavender, and the presence of shepherds, fauns and satyrs.
Iveta Hylasova Bachmannová has been principal English horn and oboist with our orchestra since 2003. Born in Košice, Slovakia, she studied the oboe with Prof. Stefan Sklenka at the conservatory in her home town, then continued her training at the Prague Academy of Music with Ludmila Jezová and completed summer music courses with Maurice Borgue and Jean Louis Capezzali. She won several high-ranking competitions as well as the Czech Music Fund Prize for the best interpretation of contemporary composition. She gained her first orchestral experience in the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, was solo oboist with the Košice State Philharmonic Orchestra, solo English hornist with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and worked as first oboist with the Prague Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra. Solo performances with renowned Czech orchestras and at the Prague Spring Festival, concerts with the Harmony Ensemble New York and the Chamber Soloists of the Deutsche Oper Berlin demonstrate her abilities, as do several CD recordings, including the Concerto for Flute, English Horn and Orchestra by Honegger under Serge Baudo or a solo CD with music for English horn by Telemann, Haydn, Rejcha and others.
Pianist and conductor Elda Laro has been a répétiteur at the Deutsche Oper Berlin since 2016. Prior to that, she was head of studies at the Theater Münster and made her conducting debut at the Albanian National Opera in Tirana in 2016 with Bellini's I CAPULETI E I MONTECCHI. She began her musical career as a solo pianist, performed with orchestras such as the Orchestra del Teatro Regio Torino and played under conductors such as Mstislav Rostropovich. She specialised in bel canto and worked as a répétiteur for twelve years at the Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania, the Tyrolean Festival and the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, among others. She accompanied renowned singers such as Mirella Freni and Giuseppe Giacomini. Laro studied at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Turin, in Paris and Salzburg, among other places, and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Premio Danzuso (2009). Her recordings include chamber music by G. Bottesini, which was awarded five stars by the Financial Times London.
