Reunion with old friends at the anniversary festival
The anniversary festival of the Swiss Alps Classics will be a very special reunion with old friends. The fifth edition from June 2nd to 5th, 2021, under the motto "Variations on the theme of music", will be a reunion with artists who, in the past four years have already done the honors of performing in the midst of the unique Swiss Alpine backdrop. The exceptional Viennese violinist Emmanuel Tjeknavorian is returning to Andermatt as the “rising star” of the international conductor scene; two strong women - the soprano Marisol Montalvo and the pianist Maria Radutu - fascinate with highly individual solo programs. The record participants of the festival are three members of the Swiss Alps Chamber Ensemble: the brothers Dominik and Benedikt Hellsberg (violin and cello) and Robert Bauerstatter (viola) each have their fourth festival assignment after 2017, 2018 and 2019.
It will be the third participation - after 2017 and 2019 - for Emmanuel Tjeknavorian. The 26-year-old is part of the “festival family”: “I have the most wonderful memories because there the human and the professional match very much. I have a close bond with the artistic director Clemens Hellsberg and the Reichel family, who founded this festival. You meet people you love and you find perfect artistic framework conditions. "
Tjeknavorian is now regarded as one of the greatest international conductor talents. He announces: “From 2023 I want to concentrate fully on conducting.” At the Swiss Alps Classics 2021 on June 4, in the church of the Benedictine monastery in Disentis, he will lead the Swiss Alps Chamber Ensemble through works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Handel, Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, supported by Marisol Montalvo's incomparable voice. Tjeknavorian raves: “Clemens Hellsberg has put together a really great program that fits perfectly into this ambience and this sacred space.” Benedikt Hellsberg is also there as a soloist, who compliments his father Clemens Hellsberg: “He always succeeds, to bring top international artists to Andermatt. And I'm grateful to him that he always works with me, ”he says modestly. This year, the 27-year-old is looking forward to seeing his “good friend” Emmanuel Tjeknavorian and Marisol Montalvo: “Marisol is characterized by completely natural musicality. It has nothing artificial. "
At the end of the festival on June 5, Montalvo will be performing with her autobiographical one-woman show “Mad Scene” in the Andermatt concert hall. The American with Puerto Rican roots explains: “I worked as a co-writer on the piece. The show is about my life and how I became an opera singer. With all the challenges and crazy circumstances that I encountered on my way. ”The soprano is considered one of the leading interpreters of contemporary music in particular and, for example, shone in the title role of Alban Berg's opera “Lulu” in Basel.
It is the second festival participation for Montalvo; she was already there in 2019, as was Maria Radutu. The Austrian-Romanian piano virtuoso, distinguished by her idiosyncratic search for new ways of programming, is looking forward to presenting her new program "PHOENIX" on June 3 at The Chedi Andermatt, after the long break caused by Corona. “For this program I thought about how to musically shape a rebirth. It couldn't be any better, because it will be my first big solo concert after nine months in which I wasn't allowed to be on stage. ”She wants works from four centuries with Liszt's“ Mephisto Waltz No. 1 ”as the pianistic climax to play. Radutu announces: “We will explore a lot of different emotional worlds together. From the youthful revolt to the lost love to a pianistic climax until we finally find sovereignty and balance. "
The Viennese by choice congratulates the Swiss Alps Classics on its first anniversary and speaks to the other “old friends” of the festival from the heart: “For the fifth anniversary, I wish the festival at least another 50 years with just as exciting programs, a great audience and one incredible scenic backdrop. "