BBT Mitsuko Uchida Tour 2008
Borletti-Buitoni Trust celebrates its fifth anniversary with two prestigious tours in the USA and Europe. BBT award winners Martin Fröst (clarinet), Soovin Kim (violin), Christian Poltéra (cello) and Llŷr Williams (piano) with founding BBT trustee Mitsuko Uchida returned utterly triumphant from the Trust's first United States tour in May 2008. The tour will be repeated with concerts in Perugia, Amsterdam and London in November 2008.
At the heart of the tour programme is Messiaen's iconic Quatuor pour la fin du temps. The tour ends with a performance at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall on 6th November 2008 as part of the Southbank Centre's Messiaen Festival "From the canyons to the stars".
Audiences and critics in Kalamazoo, Philadelphia and New York packed the concert halls and sang their praises.
US tour reviews
"...a kind of United Nations of splendid talent"
New York Times 20 May 2008
"Ms Uchida led a dazzling performance, emphasizing pinpoint precision and thrilling co-ordination. Each of the three men was excellent in his solo movement, but what really made this a very special reading was the ensemble work in the faster roller-coaster rides laced with avian outcries and angelic fanfares."
New York Sun 9 May 2008
"Mr Williams produced a stately performance [Liszt's La Lugubre Gondola], holding individual notes poetically and grandiosely, allowing time for the thoughtful and the cathartic. Even the spaces between the notes breathed the air of profundity."
New York Sun 9 May 2008
"Ultimately, their persuasive playing reflected full immersion in Messiaen's cosmos and language... A tour de force."
Kalamazoo Gazette 14 May 2008
"Another stand-out section was Poltéra's cello part in "Louange a l'Eternite de Jesus (Praise to the Eternity of Jesus)." Wonderfully assisted by Uchida's chord ostinato, Poltéra drew out an extended, engaging legato melody. The concluding "Louange a l'Immortalite de Jesus," a parallel to the previous "Louange," gave Kim extensive solo passages, all of which he executed with enormous skill. Messiaen received good treatment Tuesday."
Kalamazoo Gazette 14 May 2008
"Everyone but the pianist gets a solo in the Messiaen, yet the piano holds, sustains and frames this universe of a quartet... A fine performance will cast a spell. Thursday's was exceptional, the qualities outward and inward, the extroversion particular to the "Interlude" and "Dance of Fury." The clarinet part was taken by Martin Fröst, a charismatic Swiss [sic]. His solo, "Abyss of the Birds," moves from triple pianissimos to quadruple fortes with intense, awesome control."
Philadelphia Inquirer 17 May 2008
"The clarinettist showed another side of his virtuosity in Bartok's Contrasts, composed in 1938 for Benny Goodman and violinist Joseph Szigeti. Fröst, Kim and English pianist Llŷr Williams, poised and stalwart, made a good team. Williams' interpretation was marked by tremendous fluidity; the violinist, perhaps the most experienced, displayed a delightful splendor of tone, and Fröst's sinuosity matched his charisma. The trio phrased like a fine braid swinging about, and best, they had fun together. Uchida has done well selecting these young artists for the Borletti-Buitoni Trust."
Philadelphia Inquirer 17 May 2008
"This rendition [Bartok's Contrasts] was notable for its dexterity and nimbleness, each of the three men [Llŷr Williams, Soovin Kim, Martin Fröst] skipping expertly across minefields of rhythmic complexity. There was much spirit and boundless energy, with kaleidoscopic colour changes and expressive runs and trills... The Zankel crowd rewarded the players with an enthusiastic and prolonged ovation."
New York Sun 19 May 2008
Europe tour:
Sunday 2nd November 2008
Teatro Morlacchi, Perugia
Programme:
Bartok Contrasts for violin, clarinet and piano
Schubert Arpeggione for cello and piano
Messiaen Quatuor pour la fin du temps #
Tuesday 4th November 2008
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
Programme: as for Perugia
Thursday 6th November 2008
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Programme:
Liszt La Lugubre Gondola Nos 1 & 2
Bartok Contrasts for violin, clarinet and piano
Messiaen Quatuor pour la fin du temps #
# with Mitsuko Uchida piano
Christian Poltéra, Martin Fröst, Mitsuko Uchida, Llŷr Williams & Soovin Kim (Photo by John Ferro Sims)
Llŷr Williams & Christian Poltéra (Photo by John Ferro Sims)
Martin Fröst, Christian Poltéra, Mitsuko Uchida, Soovin Kim & Llŷr Williams (Photo by John Ferro Sims)
Llŷr Williams in concert, Carnegie Zankel (Photo by Julieta Cervantes)
Soovin Kim, Llŷr Williams & Martin Fröst in concert, Carnegie Zankel (Photo by Julieta Cervantes)
Soovin Kim, Llŷr Williams & Martin Fröst in rehearsal (Photo by Julieta Cervantes)
Soovin Kim, Mitsuko Uchida, Christian Poltéra & Martin Fröst in concert, Carnegie Zankel (Photo by Julieta Cervantes)
Soovin Kim, Mitsuko Uchida, Christian Poltéra & Martin Fröst, Carnegie Zankel (Photo by Julieta Cervantes)
Soovin Kim, Mitsuko Uchida, Christian Poltéra in rehearsal (Photo by Julieta Cervantes)