Kremerata Baltica Chamber Orchestra to perform in Amman

AMMAN — In the scope of the Middle Eastern tour they are currently taking, the Kremerata Baltica Chamber Orchestra, led by founder and prestigious violinist Gidon Kremer, will perform at a concert in Amman on Tuesday at Al Hussein Cultural Centre Theatre. On Sunday, the ensemble played in Alexandria, Egypt.

Maestro Kremer hails from Riga, Latvia and is unanimously considered to be one of the greatest classical violinists alive. He studied with the legendary Ukrainian-born violinist David Oistrakh at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

The programme that will be presented Tuesday includes Mozart’s “Divertimento in F major”, Schubert’s “Fantaisie in C major” for violin and orchestra, Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings in C major” and Piazzolla’s “Le Grand Tango”, the version arranged for violin and string orchestra. Maestro Kremer will be the violin soloist when playing Schubert’s fantaisie and Piazzolla’s tango.

Though Kremer leads the Orchestra, there will be no conductor in the traditional meaning of the term for the performance in Amman. As explained to The Jordan Times by the organisers, “The uniqueness of Kremerata Baltica is that the orchestra usually operates without a conductor. Only from time to time are conductors involved for certain projects”.

By covering a rather wide span of music history, from Mozart (1756-1791) to Piazzolla (1921-1992), Kremer’s programme selection not only shows the versatile talent of the ensemble but is also sure to please the audience, whatever their taste in classical music. The concert in Amman will feature 20 of the ensemble’s regular musicians. It also marks the 20th anniversary of the Kremerata and the 70th birthday of its founder, Maestro Gidon Kremer.

In 2016, the violinist received the 28th Praemium Imperiale Award in Music from Japan, in recognition for his lifetime achievements. Moreover, the Kremerata Baltica won a Grammy Award in 2002, as the Best Small Ensemble Performance, for “After Mozart”. The album has also received an ECHO Klassik award.

By any measure, the discography of the Kremerata is impressive. From the recording of George Enescu’s Octet op.7 and Quintet op.29, to the more traditional Mozart’s piano concertos 20 and 27 featuring megastar pianist Evgeny Kissin, the collection of CDs constitutes a brilliant palette of fine classical works covering different periods and different composers.

The organiser of the event is Friends of Jordan Festivals (FJF), a group, established in Amman in 2010, of individuals who are passionate about arts, music and their country. Since then it has been organising and promoting festivals and cultural performances of world-class standard and uncompromising artistic quality.