Women’s History Month
Saturdays in March
Inspired by the annual celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8 to highlight women’s contributions to history and contemporary society, Stingray Classica dedicates every Saturday in March at 21:00 CET to classical performances in which women artists play crucial roles. On March 4, Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero and the Youth Orchestra of the Americas under Carlos Miguel Prieto present an amazing performance. The celebrated pianist plays Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major, as well as original compositions: the ‘Latin Concerto’ and Improvisations. One week later, on March 11, star soprano Barbara Hannigan conducts the Mahler Chamber Orchestra while simultaneously singing the trickiest coloraturas. On March 18, Argentinian soprano Mariana Flores presents some of the finest Baroque music composed by Francesco Cavalli, Barbara Strozzi, and Antonia Bembo in a wonderful concert. Lastly, on March 25, Venezuelan conductor Glass Marcano (*1995) leads the Orchestre Symphonique Région Centre-Val de Loire/Tours in performances of two Romantic masterpieces: Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, and Georges Bizet’s Symphony in C major.
Gabriela Montero plays Ravel & Montero
Saturday, March 4 | 21:00
Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero is accompanied by the Youth Orchestra of the Americas conducted by Carlos Miguel Prieto. On the program are Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, as well as two of Montero’s own works: the “Latin Concerto” and Improvisations. The performance took place in one of the world's most beautiful concert halls, the Teatro del Lago in Frutillar, located in the middle of the Patagonian plains. The concert hall, which opened its doors in 2010, stands on the banks of Chile's second-largest lake overlooking a volcano that is capped with snow the entire year. In an accompanying interview, Montero speaks about composing, improvising, and performing works of her own alongside those of others. She discusses her home country of Venezuela, where she no longer performs for political reasons.
Barbara Hannigan: A Late Night Concert
Saturday, March 11 | 21:00
Barbara Hannigan conducts the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in a concert recorded at the Lucerne Festival of 2014. There are pianists who also conduct, and concert masters who lead their orchestra from the violin desk, but a star soprano who coordinates an ensemble while at the same time negotiating the trickiest coloratura singing is something entirely new! This concert opens with the Overture from Rossini's La scala di seta, followed by three concert arias by Mozart: Vado, ma dove? O Dei!, K. 583, Un moto di gioia, K. 579 and Misera, dove son? K. 369. After renditions of György Ligeti's Concert Românesc and Mysteries of the Macabre, the concert closes with Fauré's Pelléas et Mélisande, Op. 80, a suite derived from incidental music.
Vocal baroque works by Cavalli, Strozzi & Bembo
Saturday, March 18 | 21:00
Argentinian conductor and harpsichordist Leonardo García Alarcón leads his ensemble Cappella Mediterranea in a program of Italian Baroque music. The ensemble performs some of the finest Baroque pieces composed by Francesco Cavalli, a prominent composer in 17th-century Venice, and two of his famous students, Barbara Strozzi and Antonia Bembo. Argentinian soprano Mariana Flores presents the vocal works. On the program are ‘Mira questi due lumi’ from Cavalli’s Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo, ‘Dimmi, Amor, che farò’ from L'Oristeo, ‘Sinfonia della notte’ from L’Egisto, and ‘E vuol dunque Ciprigna’ from Ercole Amante; ‘M’ingannasti in verità’ from Bembo’s Produzioni armoniche consacrate a Luigi XIV; Strozzi’s Sino alla morte, Che si può fare, Lagrime mie, L’amante segreto, and è Pazzo il moi core; Biagio Marini’s La Romanesca; Tarquinio Merula’s Aria Sopra La Cieccona; and Dario Castello’s Sonata Seconda. This performance was recorded at the magnificent Église Notre-Dame of Sablé-sur-Sarthe, France, on August 26, 2020.
Beethoven Violin Concerto & Bizet Symphony in C
Saturday, March 25 | 21:00
Young Venezuelan conductor Glass Marcano is a rising star. Having played in various local youth and symphony orchestras as a violinist, her first experience conducting an ensemble followed in 2012. In September 2020, she won the Orchestra Prize at La Maestra Competition – the first orchestra direction contest for women – held in Paris. In this concert, recorded at Opéra de Tours in February 2021, Marcano leads the Orchestre Symphonique Région Centre-Val de Loire/Tours in performances of two Romantic masterpieces. The program opens with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, featuring Stéphanie-Marie Degand as the soloist. This piece is one of the most important works in its genre. The program concludes with Georges Bizet’s 1855 Symphony in C major, written when the composer was only 17 years old.