Edinburgh International Festival
dal 11/8/2001 al 1/9/2001
Segnalato da
11/8/2001
Edinburgh International Festival
Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh
Director Brian McMaster said 'The Festival celebrates new experiences, whether through presenting new or rarely performed works, exciting new artists or innovative styles of working. This year's programme offers an opportunity to experience some of the world's best artists and most interesting work. It reflects the increasingly diverse sources of inspiration drawn on by today's artists and the increasingly blurred distinctions between art forms - ideal themes for a Festival which takes in all of the performing arts.'
Director Brian McMaster said 'The Festival celebrates new experiences, whether through presenting new or rarely performed works, exciting new artists or innovative styles of working. This year's programme offers an opportunity to experience some of the world's best artists and most interesting work. It reflects the increasingly diverse sources of
inspiration drawn on by today's artists and the increasingly blurred distinctions between art forms - ideal themes for a Festival which takes in all of the performing arts.'
Each year during the summer months Edinburgh becomes the
world's Festival City. It is the huge range and number of
artistic events, performances and exhibitions happening
throughout the city which makes Edinburgh unforgettable.
It makes you feel that there is always something else
happening around the corner which you are missing. There is;
and you are. This is inevitable, part of the joy of the Festival.
Opera
A hugely diverse opera programme includes three recent works conducted or led by their composers. These include
the UK premiere, in concert, of Peter Eötvös' Three Sisters, one of the most successful operas in recent years. It
has already received five productions in Europe since its premiere in 1998 and is conducted here by the composer.
James MacMillan conducts a concert performance of his Parthenogenesis (supported by The Hamada Edinburgh
Festival Foundation) and Carles Santos appears in Ricardo i Elena - a spectacular surrealist opera which takes its
influences from the miracle of birth and Carles Santos' own Roman Catholic upbringing. Scottish Opera opens its
eagerly anticipated production of Die Walküre (sponsored by Bank of Scotland), the second opera in Wagner's Ring
Cycle, and there is an acclaimed contemporary staging of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (supported by Dunard Fund) from
the Aix-en-Provence Festival directed by Stéphane Braunschweig. Concert performances of operatic rarities include
Rossini's Armida (supported by Peter Moores Foundation), Messiaen's monumental Saint François d'Assise
(supported by the Edinburgh International Festival Endowment Fund) and Rameau's Zoroastre (with support from
L'AFAA and the Institut Français d'Ecosse). Pierre Boulez conducts Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle (sponsored by BT
Scotland) in a concert which also includes two of his own compositions, Charles Mackerras conducts Mozart's
Idomeneo and András Schiff conducts Mozart's Così fan tutte. The Festival opens with a concert performance of part
1 of Berlioz's epic Les Troyens (sponsored by Scottish & Newcastle) with part 2 on 18 August (supported by The
Stevenston Charitable Trust) including Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's debut as Dido.
Theatre
The theatre programme includes three premieres. Award winning film director François Girard (who directed The Red
Violin) directs the English language premiere of Novecento by Alessandro Baricco (with support from Visiting Arts) -
a one man play telling the evocative tale of jazz pianist Danny Boodmann TD Lemon Novecento, who is abandoned
on an ocean liner at birth and spends his entire life at sea.
Award winning Scottish playwright Shan Khan's hard hitting play, Office, based on the world of drug dealing is given
its premiere by the Soho Theatre Company (sponsored by The List). There is also the world premiere of a staged
version of composer John Cage's 1982 radio play Marcel Duchamp, James Joyce, Erik Satie: An Alphabet (with
support from Visiting Arts).
Patrick Mason returns to the Festival to direct the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company in Tom Murphy's play Too Late
for Logic (sponsored by Lloyds TSB). One of the world's finest theatre companies, Vienna Burgtheater, makes its
UK debut with a short residency performing two contrasting plays - Chekhov's The Seagull directed by Luc Bondy
(supported by the Edinburgh International Festival Muses) and Thomas Bernhard's Alte Meister (with support from
Visiting Arts). The Belgian company De Onderneming presents two plays, performed in English, adapted from Agota
Kristof's internationally acclaimed novels. The Notebook and The Proof explore the impact of the Second World War
on the lives of two young boys. Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne presents Hashirigaki by Heiner Goebbels, a musical and
theatrical spectacular inspired by the text of Gertrude Stein's The Making of Americans. Unconstrained by narrative
or theatrical conventions the work interweaves traditional Japanese music with the music of Beach Boy Brian Wilson
and of Heiner Goebbels himself.
Dance
The dance programme presents two of America's great dance companies and three of Europe's cutting edge
companies and features a broad range of contemporary choreography.
Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project presents a recreation and celebration of the creative fervour of the
revolutionary choreography of the 1960s and 1970s. PASTForward (sponsored by Standard Life) features the works
of Lucinda Childs, Trisha Brown, Simone Forti and others, using dance, film and narrative to put the early works in
context, including new works created by the same dance makers.
New York City Ballet (sponsored by ScottishPower) returns following its hugely successful appearance at the 2000
Festival when it presented some of its rich heritage of 20th century classics. This year the company presents new
works using a classical ballet vocabulary created by artists such as William Forsythe, Angelin Preljocaj, Peter
Martins and the young British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. The programmes include ballets from New York
City Ballet's showcase for new choreographers, The Diamond Project and will be the first time that so many works
from the project have been seen together outside New York.
The dance programme also features American choreographer Amanda Miller's dance company Ballett Freiburg
Pretty Ugly with The Art of Fugue accompanied by live music on stage performed by a quintet from the Freiburg
Baroque Orchestra (sponsored by Tayburn). Belgian dance company Charleroi/Danses - Plan K has collaborated
with Iraq born architect Zaha Hadid to create Metapolis - project 972, a stunning visualisation of a utopian city, and
the Italian dance phenomenon Emio Greco returns presenting Double Points:one & two with music including Ravel's
powerful Bolero.
Music
Visiting international orchestras include the Boston Symphony Orchestra performing two contrasting programmes
under the baton of Bernard Haitink (sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland). Two of Russia's great orchestras
appear at the Festival: the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the country's oldest orchestra was founded at the
decree of the Tsar Alexander III in 1882 whilst the Russian National Orchestra made its debut in 1990, gaining
immediate critical acclaim. The wonderful young musicians of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (sponsored by
NEC) return under the baton of Ivan Fischer.
The concert going experiences of days gone by are recreated with three concerts featuring programmes conducted
by the composer at the time - Beethoven in Vienna (sponsored by Scottish Widows), Handel in Dublin and Mahler in
Hamburg. Edinburgh's wealth of historical organs are explored with a fascinating series of concerts featuring music
appropriate to each instrument, performed by virtuoso organist Thomas Trotter.
The Usher Hall programme also includes recitals by Matthias Goerne and Alfred Brendel (supported by Dunard Fund)
and András Schiff. Countertenor David Daniels performs Handel operatic arias with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra
(supported by Dunard Fund) and Ian Bostridge, David Daniels and Christopher Maltman perform Britten's complete
Canticles (supported by The Morton Charitable Trust).
The Bank of Scotland Queen's Hall series features the Festival recital debuts of many exciting young artists,
including tenor Jonas Kaufmann, the Belcea Quartet, mezzo-soprano Petra Lang, soprano Dorothea Röschmann,
tenor Daniil Shtoda and pianist Gianluca Cascioli. Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne give a recital of piano solos,
duets and works for two pianos. Period performance features with legendary harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt,
brothers Barthold and Wieland Kuijken with harpsichordist Robert Kohnen, Quatuor Mosaïques and the Freiburg
Baroque Orchestra.
The Festival also offers a programme of conversations and study days at The Hub to complement the programme.
There is a chance to hear a wide range of the creative personalities behind this year's Festival, including architect
Zaha Hadid, countertenor David Daniels, playwright Shan Khan and choreographer/actor Merce Cunningham.
Composers Peter Eötvös, Heiner Goebbels, James MacMillan and Carles Santos join a lively debate on the future of
opera and there is also a chance to learn more about the history and work of the Vienna Burgtheater (both events are
sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland). The University of Edinburgh Centre for Continuing Education offers a
series of free lunchtime lectures at The Queen's Hall to give a more in depth view of some of the works performed.
Press contact: Emma Forbes or Jackie Westbrook 0131 473 2020 or e-mailpress@eif.co.uk
To book tickets
Call: +44 (0)131 473 2000 Postal bookings
Fax: +44 (0)131 473 2003 Edinburgh International Festival
P O Box 1 - 2000 Edinburgh EH1 2XF