August 09, 2007
Giampaolo Bandini – Henschel Quartet
Asiago, Church of San Rocco, August 11, 2007
ASIAGO
FESTIVAL 41st Edition
PRESS RELEASE
Third appointment with AsiagoFestival, after the sumptuous sounds of the opening entrusted to the English Hampshire County Youth Orchestra and after the more intimate but equally exhilarating atmospheres offered by Domenico Nordio, Hyun-Jung Berger and Oliver Kern. And it is a new date at the Church of San Rocco in Asiago, set for Saturday, Aug. 11 (9 p.m.), that will feature Giampaolo Bandini’s guitar and the Henschel Quartett (Christoph Henschel and Markus Henschel, violins; Monika Henschel-Schwind, viola; Mathias Beyer-Karlshøj, cello ) engaged in a program that-as is in the spirit of the 41st Asiago Festival-ranges from romanticism to contemporary music, offering a quartet by Mendelsshonn (op. 80, posthumous)and one by Kilmayer, concluding with a Quintet by Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco.
ASIAGOFESTIVAL is organized by the Cultural Association “Friends of Music of Asiago” – “Fiorella Benetti Brazzale”, in collaboration with the Parish of St. Matthew, with the contribution and collaboration of the City of Asiago, Department of Tourism and Culture. Fundamental is the support offered by Banca Popolare di Vicenza, Burro delle Alpi – Alpilatte, Gran Moravia, Bassan Bernardo and Sons, and Rigoni di Asiago
SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 9 p.m.
ASIAGO – Church of San Rocco
Giampalolo Bandini, guitar
Hebschel Quartett, string quartet
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Quartet op. posthum 80, in F Wilhelm Killmayer: String Quartet
Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco: Quintet op.143
HENSCHEL QUARTET T After a sold-out concert in London’s famous Wigmore Hall in March 2002 the “Strad” wrote: “…the highlight of the concert season! Sustained by a brio and boldness, which other quartets rarely display, the Henschel Quartett’s performance was as close to perfection as it was above
suspect. Magical!” The “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” after the quartet’s most recent concert at the Rheingau Musik Festival writes “… a sidereal hour of chamber music.” In 1994 the Henschel brothers found in cellist Mathias Beyer-Karlshøj the ideal partner for this formation. Their years of study with the Amadeus Quartet, Prof. F. Beyer and later with the Alban Berg, La Salle and Melos quartets put them on the highest international level. In 1995 the quartet won three of the most renowned international competitions: in Evian, Banff and Salzburg, they also won first prize in the Osaka International Competition and in the following year the gold medal. This was followed by debuts in the most important centers of classical music, which was also the case for the concert at London’s Wigmore Hall where they substituted at the last moment for the Ju i l l i a rd Quartet, a c o n c e r t that was broadcast live by the BBC. These successes elevated the He n s c h e l Quartet to the “1st league of the world’s leading string quartets.” (Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung) The quartet is a regular guest of the best-known concert seasons. It continuously performs at the most famous festivals such as: Tanglewood/USA, at the “Proms Concerts” in London, at the “Schubertiade” in eldkirch, in Kuhmo/Finland, the “Rheingau Musikfestival,” the “Schwetzinger Festspiele,” the “Kissinger Sommer,” Gidon Kremer’s “Kammermusikfest” in Lockenhaus. They often return to Japan where they enjoy considerable fame. In 2000 Japan’s NHK television broadcast a one-hour documentary on them; in 2003 they celebrated their ninth appearance there. In more than 80 concerts a year at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Tivoli in Kopenhagen, in Glasgow (BBC), Stuttgart, Munich, Japan, Australia. They frequently perform together with equally well-known colleagues such as Radovan Vlatkovic, Sharon Kam, Eduard Brunner, Alfredo Perl, Christian Elsner, Anna Gourari, Till Fellner, Nicolas Angelich, the Mandelring Quartet, and Magdalena Kozena. Appreciated for their affinity, their unique sound and the joy they convey, they have been repeatedly reinvited to Denmark, Australia and Japan where they routinely perform entire quartet cycles. Since 1998 they have had their own festival at Seligenstadt Monastery where they always host an ensemble. A new center of chamber music has sprung up here that enjoys international renown. Numerous are the Henschel Quartet’s recordings, among them the recording of Felix Mendelssohn’s quartets, which was awarded the German record critics’ prize (“Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik”) and the recording of Ginastera’s quartets awarded by “Grammophone.” For DG (“Deutsche Grammophone”) they recorded in 2004 music by Erwin Schulhoff and Ottorino Respighi’s “Il Tramonto” with singer Magdalena Kozena. Their bright and doughy sound is also due to the fabulous instruments the members of the Henschel Quartet play: they are violins by A. Stradivarius, viola by G. da Salo and a cello by G.Grancino.
Giampaolo Bandini is today considered among the best guitarists of his generation.Brilliantly graduated at only nineteen years old, he owes his musical training to Maestro Giovanni Puddu. On the chamber music side, he trained at the prestigious Imola Piano Academy with musicians such as Pier Narciso Masi, Alexander Lonquich, Dario De Rosa, Maureen Jones and Franco Gulli. Giampaolo Bandini was a member of the only guitar duo that succeeded in entering the roll of honors of the most prestigious international chamber music competitions, bringing back the absolute 1st prize on each occasion: XI Concorso “Città di Caltanissetta” (member of the Federation of International Competitions of Geneva) 1995; Perugia, Gubbio , Palmi , Rome (ARAM) , Milan (GMI). Since 1990 he has been a guest, both as a soloist and in various chamber ensembles,
of the most important concert institutions in Italy and abroad (Carnegie Hall in New York, Musikhalle in Hamburg, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, IRCAM in Paris, Chopin Museum in Warsaw). G. Bandini also regularly figures as a soloist and with orchestra in the billboards of the most important festivals in Europe, the United States and South America (Mexico, France, Croatia, Germany, the USA, Slovenia, Switzerland,Hungary, Poland, Russia, etc.). In 2003 he was nominated by the readers of “Guitart” magazine as the best Italian guitarist of the year. He collaborates regularly with the likes of Massimo Quarta, Danilo Rossi, Arnoldo Foà, Pavel Berman, Corrado Giuffredi, Cesare Chiacchiaretta, Andrea Griminelli, Trio di Parma, Massimo Mercelli, Lorna Windsor. He recently had the privilege of performing Leo Brouwer’s “Concerto Elegiaco” for guitar and orchestra, under the direction of the composer himself. For some time now he has been enthusiastically devoting himself to the study of nineteenth-century performance practice on period instruments, collaborating and playing in a duo with the greatest specialist in the field: the Czech guitarist Pavel Steidl, with whom he has formed a strong artistic-professional partnership. As a teacher he is regularly invited by the most prestigious Academies and Institutions:Chopin Academy in Warsaw; Rimsky Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg; Arts Academy in Rome. He currently teaches guitar at the Musical Academy of the Cinghio Theater in Parma and chamber music at the “F. Tarrega” Academy in Pordenone. On the occasion of the Verdi Centenary (2001), he made the world’s first CD recording of Mertz’s Fantasie on Verdi’s operas for the Niccolò record company, obtaining enthusiastic acclaim from the most important specialized magazines. He has made radio and television recordings for the most important Italian and foreign broadcasters (RAI 3, RTSI, Radio Tre, Radiocapodistria, etc.). He is often invited to serve on juries of music and guitar competitions both in Italy and abroad. He plays a guitar by luthier Antonino Scandurra.
ASIAGOFESTIVAL is organized by the Cultural Association “Friends of Music of Asiago” – “Fiorella Benetti Brazzale”, in collaboration with the Parish of St. Matthew, with the contribution and collaboration of the City of Asiago, Department of Tourism and Culture. Fundamental is the support offered by Banca Popolare di Vicenza, Burro delle Alpi – Alpilatte, Gran Moravia, Bassan Bernardo and Sons, and Rigoni di Asiago .
Public info: 0424.464081 – www.asiagofestival.it Press info: 335.8223010 (Marina Grasso)