Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20
Gulbenkian Choir and Orchestra / Risto Joost / Raúl da Costa
Performers
- Conductor
- Piano
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Gulbenkian Orchestra
In 1962, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation decided to establish a permanent orchestral ensemble. Originally with only twelve musicians (strings and continuo) it was named “Orquestra de Câmara Gulbenkian”. This collective was successively enlarged and today the “Orquestra Gulbenkian” (the name it has adopted since 1971) has a permanent body of sixty instrumentalists, a number that can be expanded depending on the repertoire.
This structure allows the Gulbenkian Orchestra to interpret works from the Baroque and Classical periods, a significant part of 19th century orchestral literature and much of the music of the 20th century, including works belonging to the current repertoire of the traditional symphonic orchestras. In each season, the orchestra performs on a regular series of concerts at the Gulbenkian Grand Auditorium in Lisbon, where it has had the opportunity of working together with some of leading names of the world of music (conductors and soloists). It has also performed on numerous locations all over Portugal, in an effort to decentralize music and culture.
The orchestra has been constantly expanding its activities in the international level, performing in Europe, Asia Africa, and the Americas. In the recording field, Orquestra Gulbenkian is associated to labels as Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Hyperion, Teldec, Erato, Adès, Nimbus, Lyrinx, Naïve and Pentatone, among others, and this activity was recognized with several international prizes.
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Risto Joost
Conductor
The young Estonian conductor Risto Joost excels by his specialized versatility and has gained widespread recognition for his work both in the opera pit and on concert stage. The trained singer and Conductor in Residence of the Estonian National Opera has already held major artistic positions, such as Chief Conductor of the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director of the MDR Leipzig Radio Choir from 2015 to 2019. He succeeded at important competitions and conducted some of the world’s most distinguished orchestras. Since 2020/21 Risto Joost is Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of Theatre Vanemuine Tartu.
Risto Joost is in demand as a guest conductor with orchestras such as Helsinki Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Norwegian Opera Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic, Tapiola Sinfonietta,Trondheim Symphony, Netherlands Philharmonic, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Dortmund Philharmonic, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Gulbenkian Orchestra & Choir, Prague Radio Symphony, Janacek Philharmonic, Brno Philharmonic, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Teatro la Fenice, Latvian National Symphony, Liepaja Symphony, Estonian National Symphony among others.
In addition he collaborated with the RIAS Kammerchor, SWR Vokalensemble, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Swedish Radio Choir, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir to name a few.
At the Estonian National Opera Risto Joost has led more than 20 premieres. His repertoire ranges from Baroque to the most challenging works of contemporary composers. At the Birgitta Festival Tallinn he led La Bohème in 2018.
Forthcoming highlights are his debuts with Bavarian State Opera Orchestra Munich, Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen, Philharmonie Zuidnederland, Kristiansand Symphony (Don Giovanni) and engagements to Slovenian Philharmonic & Choir, Gulbenkian Orchestra & Choir, WKO Heilbronn, Jyväskylä Sinfonia, Liepaja Symphony, Janacek Philharmonic etc.
At Theatre Vanemuine he conducts the premiere of Tonis Kaumann: The Mall as well as revivals of Tristan und Isolde, Don Giovanni, Madame Butterfly, Donizetti: Linda di Chamounix among others.
Risto Joost’s discography includes three albums by Tõnu Korvits: You are Light and Morning (Sei la luce e il mattino) with Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Hymns to the Nordic Lights with Estonian National Symphony as well as Moorland Elegies (all Ondine).
Furthermore it contains works by Haydn with Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Peeter Vähi with Latvian National Symphony, Arvo Pärt with Netherlands Chamber Orchestra & Netherlands Chamber Choir.
For his artistic activities in Estonia and abroad, Risto Joost received the music award of the Cultural Foundation in Estonia in 2016 and was awarded the Young Cultural Figure Award of the Estonian Republic in 2011. He was Prizewinner of the Malko Conducting Competition 2015 and Jorma Panula Conducting Competition 2012.
Risto Joost has studied at the Estonian Academy of Music and received further training at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In 2008, Risto Joost graduated from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm with a Masters Degree, majoring in orchestral conducting with Jorma Panula.
He founded the chamber choir Voces Musicales/Voces Tallinn in Estonia in 1999 and has been Artistic Director of the Birgitta Festival Tallinn in 2017 and 2018.
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Raúl da Costa
Piano
Born in 1993, Raúl da Costa started his musical studies at the age of seven in his hometown's Music School, where he first studied piano with Professor Luis Amaro and then with Emília Coelho. From 2006 to 2011, he studied in Academia de Música S. Pio X in Vila do Conde, Portugal, with Professor Álvaro Teixeira Lopes.
Raúl da Costa is a regular guest at the most prestigious halls in Portugal and in various Festivals throughout Europe. With a vast repertoire from Bach to Zimmermann, chamber music has represented a main point in Raúl’s career, especially the collaboration with Christoph Poppen, Juliane Banse, Bruno Monsaingeon and Matvey Demin. He made his orchestral debut at the age of 12 in Casa da Música, Porto, and has since then played under the baton of Stefan Blunier, Antonio Pirolli, Theodore Kuchar, Joseph Swensen, Martin Andre, Vladimir Lande and with various orchestras such as the Porto Symphony Orchestra, the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, the Siberian State Symphony Orchestra, or the Antaliya Symphony Orchestra.
Raúl is the 1st Prize winner of the various international piano competitions, including the San Sebastian International Piano Competition, the Scriabin International Competition in Paris and in the Young Pianist of the North International Piano Competition in Newcastle. He was a prize-winner of the 1st European Union Piano Competition in Prague (representing Portugal) with only 16 years of age. In 2016, Raúl won the 1st Prize and unanimously the public prizes at the ZF Musikpreis International Award. Raúl is a scholar of the renowned Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe, the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Foundation, and of the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.
He has made live recordings for both Portuguese and foreign Radio and Television, such as for the Deutschlandradio, NDR, SWR radios in Germany, or Radio France. His live recording of Rachmaninoff’s 4th Piano Concerto with Porto Symphony Orchestra and Stefan Blunier was released on CD.
Raúl profited of the work with distinguished artists such as Maria João Pires, Ferenc Rados, Dmitri Bashkirov, Ferenc Rados, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Boris Berezovsky, Roger Muraro and Tatiana Zelikman.
Raúl studied in the Hochschule für Musik, Medien und Drama in Hannover, where he was part of the class of the renowned Professor Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and Prof. Bernd Goetzke. Currently, he is studying with Kirill Gerstein in the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, Berlin. In 2018 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Póvoa de Varzim International Music Festival.
Programme
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 20, in D minor, K. 466
1. Allegro
2. Romance
3. Rondo: Allegro assai