Festival Season
Fridays in July
Every Friday evening at 21:00 CEST throughout July, Stingray Classica broadcasts highlights from the world’s most prestigious classical music festivals. Firstly, Stingray Classica shows a documentary film on the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival (JCMF), established by pianist Elena Bashkirova and advocate Yeheskell Beinisch, on July 7. It features performances by outstanding artists such as violinist Baiba Skride and pianist Menahem Pressler. On July 14, conductor Hervé Niquet leads his ensemble Le Concert Spirituel in a wonderful program of masses and other sacred music by Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, recorded at Festival de Rocamadour in 2020. One week later, soprano Kristen Witmer, recorder player Thomas Triesschijn, and harpsichordist and organist Aljosja Mietus perform music by J. S. Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann in a 2020 concert from the Early Music Festival in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Lastly, on July 28, enjoy one more concert recorded at Festival de Rocamadour 2020. In this intimate recital, French violinist Renaud Capuçon and his compatriot pianist Guillaume Bellom perform Gabriel Fauré's Sonata No. 1, Op. 13, and César Franck's Sonata for violin and piano.
Bashkirova and Friends: Jerusalem Festival 2016
Friday, July 7 | 21:00
During late summer every year, some of the world's best musicians meet in Israel for the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival (JCMF), established by pianist Elena Bashkirova and Yeheskell Beinisch. In 2016, the 19th festival was dedicated to the music of interrelated composers, such as Brahms and Schumann, and Schubert and Beethoven – performed by outstanding artists such as Sir András Schiff, Baiba Skride, Menahem Pressler and Emmanuel Pahud in the halls of the Jerusalem YMCA. This documentary film features excerpts from performances of the following works: Johannes Brahms's String Sextet no. 1, Op. 18; Franz Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata in A minor, D. 821; Antonín Dvořák's Piano Quintet no. 2 in A major, Op. 81; Ferruccio Busoni's Fantasia Contrappuntistica; Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Trio no. 1, Op. 49; and Ludwig van Beethoven's Quintet for Piano and Winds, Op. 16.
Rocamadour: W. A. Mozart's short Masses
Friday, July 14 | 21:00
Over the course of eleven days in August 2020, the French town of Rocamadour hosted the fifteenth edition of Festival de Rocamadour, a music festival dedicated to sacred music from the classical, baroque, and romantic periods. On August 23, the French conductor Hervé Niquet led the ensemble Le Concert Spirituel, which he had personally founded in 1987, for a concert at the medieval Basilique Saint-Sauveur. Backbone of the concert are W. A. Mozart's two 'missae breves' written in Salzburg. These strikingly short masses are here performed with thematically related compositions by Joseph Haydn and his junior brother Michael interspersed. Firstly, we hear Mozart's Mass in F major, KV. 192, combined with two other compositions: after the Kyrie and Gloria from this Mass we hear the Church Sonata in C major, K.328 followed by the Mass's Credo, Sanctus and Benedictus. Preceding the Agnus, Le Concert Spirituel performs Michael Haydn's rarely played Ave verum, MH 654. In the second half of the concert, we hear Mozart's Mass in D, KV. 194, combined with two other compositions: following the Gloria of this Mass we hear the Church Sonata in A major, KV. 225, followed by the Credo of this Mass. Before rounding off the concert with the Mass's Agnus, Le Concert Spirituel performs Joseph Haydn's Adagio from his Concerto for keyboard instrument and orchestra in C major Hob. XVIII no. 8, followed by Mozart's Ave verum corpus, KV. 618.
Cantatas by J. S. Bach and Telemann
Friday, July 21 | 21:00
Every year in late August, the renowned Early Music Festival takes place in the Dutch city of Utrecht. It is the world's largest festival focused on early music, attracting an audience of over 70 thousand visitors. Due to the corona pandemic, the 2020 edition of the festival took place in an alternative form, offering an alternative program that included live concerts as well as daily livestreams of concerts and archive recordings. As part of this festival edition, Kristen Witmer (soprano), Thomas Triesschijn (recorder), and Aljosja Mietus (harpsichord and organ) present cantatas by J. S. Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann. This performance was recorded at St. Gertrude's Chapel in Utrecht on August 26, 2020.
Rocamadour 2020: Sonatas by Fauré and Franck
Friday, July 28 | 21:00
Over the course of eleven days in August 2020, the French town of Rocamadour hosted the fifteenth edition of Festival de Rocamadour, a music festival dedicated to sacred music from the classical, baroque, and romantic periods. On August 26, the French violinist Renaud Capuçon and his compatriot pianist Guillaume Bellom performed an intimate concert at the atmospheric, medieval Basilique Saint-Sauveur. On the program are Gabriel Fauré's Sonata No. 1, Opus 13 (1876), and César Franck's Sonata for violin and piano (1886).