42
43
T
he Cyprus Symphony Orchestra (CySO)
provided classical music lovers with a wealth
of repertories to warm us up over the past chilly
winter months.
Offering everything from a romantic set-up on
Valentine’s Day, to the popular children’s musical
Peter and the Wolf and the Magic Remote Control,
our national orchestra certainly did not disappoint.
Peter and the Wolf
The CySO brought Sergei Prokofiev’s (1891-
1953) much-loved musical tale
Peter and the Wolf
to life on 6 and 7 February, narrated by Cypriot
actor Petros Georgadjis and conducted by Alkis
Baltas, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of
the CySO.
Three family concerts took place at the Municipal
TheatreinLarnacaandStrovolosMunicipalTheatre
in Nicosia, while the orchestra also presented the
programme in four morning educational concerts
in Nicosia and Paphos, which were attended by
selected primary schools and kindergartens.
Rumour has it that the great Russian composer
came up with the idea of “a musical tale for
children” following his two sons’ many visits to
performances at the Musical Theatre for Children
in Moscow. Each of the characters in Prokofiev’s
tale is representedby a differentmusical instrument
or instrumental group. Prokofiev himself wrote
the text of the story: Peter enjoys the beauty of
nature in the company of a duck, a cat and a bird,
until a wolf appears. The CySO let the musical
instruments tell the story in their own unique and
subtle way.
Following the musical story, the Orchestra had
a special surprise for its young friends: An extra
performance entitled
The Magic Remote-Control
.
The concert was organised in collaboration with
the Department of Primary Education, Ministry of
Education and Culture and the CyprusAssociation
of Private Preschool Education (CAPPE).
The Magic of Love
The CySO helped couples celebrate their devotion
on Valentine’s Day with music and works inspired
by love. With Manuel de Falla’s passionate ballet
suite
Love, the Magician
as well as unforgettable
arias and love duets from the operatic repertoire,
the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, its conductor
and artistic director Alkis Baltas, together with
Cypriot baritone Kyros Patsalides and Cypriot
soprano Chryso Makariou, promised a romantic
The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra
musical evening filled with “The Magic of Love”.
Concerts were held in Nicosia, Larnaca and
Paphos from 12 February to 14 February 2015.
Bright Sounds and Reflective Sounds
(With the participation of members of the Cyprus
Youth Symphony Orchestra)
The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra presented a
concert series with the participation of members
of the Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra, under
the artistic direction of Alkis Baltas and soloist
trumpeter Sokratis Anthis.
With his ballet
Farewell
, the Cypriot composer
Savvas Savva pays tribute to local hero
Grigoris Afxentiou. The CySO presented three
movements from the ballet, followed by the
much-loved
Trumpet Concerto in A-flat Major
by contemporary Armenian composer Alexander
Arutunian. Deemed by critics and soloists alike
as a brilliant and virtuosic masterpiece, the
Concerto’s unrestrained rhythmic energy and
the characteristic colours of its melodic lines
and elements of Armenian folk music certainly
dazzled music lovers.
The
Bright Sounds and Reflective Sounds
concert
wrapped with Johannes Brahms’ Symphony
No.2
in D major, op. 73
, which is often compared to
Beethoven’s
Pastoral
for its prevalent tranquillity,
joy, optimism and
high spirits.
The concerts were presented at the Markideion
Theatre in Paphos on 26 March and Strovolos
Municipal Theatre in Nicosia on 27 March.
Musical Clock of Yesterday and Today
It is always especially enlightening to juxtapose
classical music styles with their 20
th
century
counterparts in a concert programme. The CySO
“Musical Clock’s” first stop was contemporary
Cypriot composer Nicos Troullos’ Serenade for
Strings. It then travelled back to the 1950s with
Bohuslav Martinu’s Rhapsody Concerto for
viola, loved for its moving lyrical passages and
intense climaxes. Finally, the CySO travelled
more than two centuries back to Franz Joseph
Haydn’s
Symphony No.101 in D Major “The
Clock”,
which is pervaded by heartfelt joy and
a characteristic
“ticking” rhythm throughout its
second movement
.
The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra
