20th Anniversary Season
July 25th - August 3rd 2008

Dame Emma Kirkby and London Baroque

www.emmakirkby.com

Incontri is proud to host Dame Emma this year: a great baroque soprano, over the years she has built long-term relationships with chamber groups and orchestras, in particular London Baroque. To date she has made well over a hundred recordings of all kinds, from sequences of Hildegarde of Bingen to madrigals of the Italian and English Renaissance, cantatas and oratorios of the Baroque, works of Mozart, Haydn and J. C. Bach. However, Emma still prefers live concerts, especially the pleasure of performing favourite programmes with colleagues; every occasion, every venue and every audience will combine to create something new from this wonderful repertoire.

Dianne Reeves, jazz vocalist

www.diannereeves.com

An absolutely new event for Incontri, a jazz concert – and with one of the most sought-after artists of the moment.  Blue Note recording artist Dianne Reeves is the pre-eminent jazz vocalist in the world today. As a result of her virtuosity, improvisational prowess and unique jazz and R&B stylings, Reeves was awarded the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for three consecutive recordings—a Grammy first in any vocal category. Reeves appeared and performed in George Clooney’s “Good Night, and Good Luck,” the Academy Award nominated film that chronicles Edward R. Murrow’s confrontation with Senator Joseph McCarthy. The soundtrack recording provided Reeves her fourth Best Jazz Vocal Grammy in 2006.

The London Oratory School Schola 

www.london-oratory.org/schola/

The London Oratory School Schola will be performing works by Byrd, Purcell, Handel, Britten, Thomas Adès and others, accompanied by the Arcana String Project. The Schola is one of the country's leading liturgical choirs, and a highly sought-after commercial choir too, having appeared on soundtracks for Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. The Schola also sings at the Brompton Oratory, London, on major feast days throughout the year.

Before the concert, there will be a reception in the handsome ‘saloni’ of Palazzo della Corgna, probably the most notable of the town’s XVIth century buildings. And before that, a group of Incontri Patrons will be taken on a special tour of Perugino's famous local masterpieces by an art historian (English and Italian).

Complete Beethoven piano and cello sonatas
with Duo Antonio Lysy and Jane Coop

www.antoniolysy.com   |   about Jane Coop

The complete cello and piano sonatas by Beethoven are being played by Antonio Lysy  and Jane Coop in one evening, broken by an hour’s interval for a tasting of wines and local products, offered by the APT Chianciano-Valdichiana. This gives us the opportunity to hear the two artists  in some of the most imaginative, intense, and exciting music of the great composer. Critics have said: “Lysy’s musicianship bespeaks irrefutable greatness”; and “Jane Coop’s playing is ravishing, powerful and deeply affecting”.

Stravinsky violin and piano program
with Anthony Marwood and Thomas Adès

about Anthony Marwood    |   about Thomas Adès

Thomas Adès, perhaps the most sought after young composer of our times and certainly one of the world’s geniuses, will be participating in two concerts. He will be playing in this Stravinsky programme for violin and piano with Anthony Marwood, the English violinist known to Incontri since the beginning of his career.

The Best of Incontri:
A chamber music concert with Ani Kavafian, Antonio Lysy, Ettore Causa, Pascal Rogé, Ami Hakuno, & Jane Coop

www.pascalroge.com

Incontri started out 20 years ago as an homage to chamber music. Dedicated and talented musicians would gather at Castelluccio to play the most beautiful and satisfying music ever produced by composers of every style and period. The outcome was a series of concerts that immediately raised enormous enthusiam, and produced this festival. The concert of today aims to bring back the best of Incontri chamber music, and the true atmosphere of our very special evenings.

Adès-Elgar concert
with Ani Kavafian, Anthony Marwood, Ettore Causa, Antonio Lysy, Thomas Adès, Pascal Rogé

about Thomas Adès

As composer, conductor and pianist, Thomas Adès has collaborated with great artists, orchestras and opera companies internationally. During the 2006/2007 season, he has conducted a revival of his opera The Tempest at the Royal Opera, played piano recitals in Los Angeles and San Francisco, conduct edthe Los Angeles Philharmonic and presided over a festival of his music at the Barbican Centre in London. Adès continues as Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival as well. The Los Angeles Times recently described Adès’ coming of age as an influential figure in contemporary classical music: “In England, Adès is not just known — he's a major force in the country's musical life. He is an emotive conductor with much to say.”