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Once again on the “Pablo Casals” Festival
The festival ‘Pablo Casals’ was created 60
years ago by a subterfuge. Because the maestro won’t go to the world, the world
must come to the maestro. More exactly at Prades, a village lost in the
French-Spanish mountains, where great artists as Isaac Stern, David Oistrah or
Yehudi Menuhin came to join the Spanish maestro.
From the very beginning, the festival
produced exclusive passion for chamber music and friendship atmosphere,
exchange of ideas and pedagogy. Today, there is also an academy where 100
young people come from everywhere to
benefit from the advice of the greatest musicians: Frans Helmerson, Arto Noras,
Olivier Charlier, Mihaela Martin or Michel Lethiec, the director of the festival.
Every day, the artists invited have
concerts, in the most diverse music groups, in one of the jewelries of
In the evening of August 6th 2010, after
the passionate interpretation of Trio no.1 of Schubert by pianist Itamar Golan,
violinist Olivier Charlier and cello player Arto Noras, violinist Mihaela
Martin lead artfully the octet of the composer for strings and winds. Each
soloist was influenced by her energy and took over the music aims of the
violinist with obvious pleasure. Supported by a sensitive and attentive cello
and contrabass, the violins and the viola were in perfect symbiosis, and the
wind instrumentalists imposed their touch with finesse.
The final effervescence was possible due to
the mutual respect and admiration of each one’s excellence. This is the spirit
of the ‘Pablo Casals’ Festival .
One of the major achievements of the Pablo Casals Festival is the ability of pleasing both its artists and its audience. The former are enjoying themselves with the exceptional musical meetings and intense sessions of cameral music. And the latter is permanently involved in the performance through the diversity of the programme and of the band, which can be admired in one night only.
Translated by Cristina Mihaela Sandu, Andreea Velicu and Zenovia Popa
MA Students, MTTLC, Bucharest University