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The Great Sollima Show

Giovanni Sollima, Ivan Karizna, Boris Andrianov, Kristina Blaumane
Wed 6 Nov 17:00 - 18:00
Main Hall
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Wed 6 Nov
17:00 - 18:00
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Violoncelles Vibrez!

Program

Komitas Krunk
Henry Purcell Fantasia Upon One Note
Arnold Marinissen Whispering Angels (world premier)
Felix Mendelssohn Canon for Alfredo Piatti
Giovanni Sollima Cello Fuga (on a subject by Mendelssohn)
Giovanni Sollima Terra Aria
Giovanni Sollima New work for cello octet (world premier)
Giovanni Sollima Violoncelles Vibrez!

Performers

Giovanni Sollima cello
Ivan Karizna cello
Boris Andrianov cello
Kristina Blaumane cello
Cello Octet Amsterdam: Alistair Sung, Claire Bleumer, Esther Torrenga, Geneviève Verhage, Rares Mihailescu, René van Munster, Sanne Bijker and Sanne van der Horst cello
Frank van de Laar piano

Since 2008, Giovanni Sollima has consistently been a prominent figure at the Biënnale. He often brought music by composers that he rediscovered himself, such as Candelli and Costanzi, but of course he also brought his own compositions and arrangements. In 2018 he was given the Anner Bijlsma Award. Specially for Sollima, Arnold Marinissen composes new work Whispering Angels for cello solo, piano and ‘shadow octet’. Violoncelles Vibrez! Is one of the most played solo concerti for two celli and ensemble, performed this time by the composer himself, together with Ivan Karizna.

Boris Andrianov

Boris Andrianov (Moscow, 1976) studied at the Gnessin Institute in Moscow and at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow with Natalia Shakhovskaya. He continued his studies at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule in Berlin with David Geringas. He was the first prize winner at various international competitions in Zagreb, Paris and Seoul. Boris Andrianov has worked with numerous contemporary composers and has given many premieres of new compositions by Giya Kancheli, Krzysztof Penderecki and Giovanni Sollima, among others. He has released various prize-winning CDs, including one with guitarist Dimitry Illarionov. Andrianov is the Artistic Director of several festivals, one of which is the cello festival in Moscow, Vivacello.  In 2022, he was a jury member at the National Cello Competition in Amsterdam. Boris Adrianov is a professor at the Conservatory of Moscow and plays a Carlo Bergonzi cello.
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Ivan Karizna

Ivan Karizna (Minsk, 1992) grew up in a musical family and started playing the cello aged 7. He received lessons from the well-known cello pedagogue Valentin Perlin. When he was 17, he moved to Paris to study with Jérôme Pernoo. He then went on to study at the Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson.  Ivan has won prizes at numerous international cello competitions, including the fifth prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2017, where he also won the Audience Prize. He has given performances at the Cello Biënnale already, bringing music from Belarus in 2018, as well as the cello arrangement of Shostakovich’s Viola Sonata which he performed with Amsterdam Sinfonietta in 2022.  Ivan Karizna plays a Bartolomeo Tassini cello from 1760 (ex-Tortelier).  
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Giovanni Sollima

Giovanni Sollima (Palermo, 1962) studied cello with Giovanni Perriera and Antonio Janigro, and composition with his father and Milko Kelemen. He is a true cello virtuoso and a remarkable composer. He communicates through music that is full of Mediterranean rhythms and typically Italian melodies, and he covers all style periods; from the ‘Jura of the Cello’ – as he calls the Baroque period – to metal. Furthermore, he is a qualified researcher of the old Italian school of the cello. At the Biënnale in 2018, he presented a programme of music by Giovanni Battista Costanzi and in 2022, he performed the rediscovered Cello Concerto by Gaetano Ciandelli with the Orchestra of the 18th Century.  Giovanni Sollima mainly performs his own compositions and thus contributes heavily to the creation of new cello repertoire. His audience is extremely diverse and ranges from classical music connoisseurs to young metalheads. Giovanni Sollima plays a Francesco Ruggieri cello from 1679. At the Biënnale in 2018, Giovanni Sollima received the Anner Bijlsma Award.
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Cello Octet Amsterdam

Cello Octet Amsterdam has been a regular guest at the Cello Biënnale since the first edition in 2006. The Cello Octet is an adventurous collective of cellists that specialises in new music and interdisciplinary performances. The Octet has become a renowned name in today’s contemporary music scene, in part thanks to collaborations with composers such as Philip Glass, Sofia Gubaidulina, Arvo Pärt, Theo Loevendie, Mauricio Kagel, Michael Gordon, and Kate Moore. After the premier of his first piece for the Octet, Arvo Pärt said: “The Octet is worth a fortune, I have discovered this ensemble 10 years too late.” The cellists of Cello Octet Amsterdam manifest not only as a close, world-class chamber music ensemble, but also as groundbreaking performers in shows such as Cellokrijgers (“Celo Warriors”), or as a rock band in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Cello Band. Driven by the conviction that musicians are at the centre of society and carry the responsibility to contribute to social discussions, the Octet regularly enters unique collaborations with composers, theatre makers, choreographers, and social organisations. Their shows Instant Happiness and Instant Love (co-production with Via Berlin) focused on current topics such as consumerism in society and human trafficking, and the Octet has recently been exploring themes like diversity and migration. Together with the Cello Biënnale, the Cello Octet developed the education project ‘de Bestorming’.  
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Frank van de Laar

Frank van de Laar (Laren, 1965) completed his studies with Jan Wijn at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam in 1989 with the highest possible distinction. He continued his education in Hannover with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and in Amsterdam with Naum Grubert. In 1987, he won the 3d prize at the International Brahms Competition in Hamburg and in 1988, he won the first prize at the Postbank-Sweelinck Competition. He made his debut in the Grote Zaal of the Concertgebouw that same year, and numerous performances in The Netherlands and abroad followed in high tempo. He has given concerts in the United States, Asia, and almost all European countries, winning many prizes and distinctions. His repertoire spans from the entire Baroque era to contemporary music, with an interesting role for lesser known early and contemporary works. He is also an active chamber musician. His performances have been recorded by countless radio and television channels and he has released over twenty-five CDs. He is a professor at the conservatories in Amsterdam and Zwolle. 
Andere musici

Kristina Blaumane

Kristina Blaumane (Riga, Latvia) studied at the Latvian Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. She became the principal cellist of Amsterdam Sinfonietta in 1988, and in 2007 she was appointed principal cellist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Apart from being a highly demanded soloist, she is also a fervent chamber musician. She has performed alongside musicians such as Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo Ma, Mischa Maisky, Yuri Bashmet, Gidon Kremer, Leif Ove Andsnes, and Janine Jansen. Kristina is a great champion of contemporary music. She has given numerous premieres and has had various works composed for her, including cello concertos by Dobrinka Tabakova, Kristaps Pētersons, Pēteris Plakidis, and Artem Vassiliev. At the Cello Biënnale in 2008, she gave the premiere of Dobrinka Tabakova’s cello concerto. 
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Genevieve Verhage

Geneviève Verhage (1985) is a versatile cellist with a passion for chamber music, renowned for her musicality and strong personality. She is a co-founder of the Ragazze Quartet, where she was the cellist from 1999 to 2013. She is currently a member of Cello Octet Amsterdam and regularly performs with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Pynarello, and LUDWIG. In addition to classical concerts, Geneviève also gives theatre performances. She has toured with Orkater/Via Berlin, Oorkaan, the National Opera and Ballet, and Circus Treurdier, and has performed with LeineRoebana and Nynke Laverman & Sytze Pruiksma. Geneviève studied with Monique Bartels and Melissa Phelps at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and the Royal College of Music in London. With the Ragazze Quartet, she also completed the full-time course of the Dutch String Quartet Academy studying with Stefan Metz and Marc Danel. She has received invaluable help in the development of her playing through masterclasses with Jean-Guihen Queyras, Bernard Greenhouse, Luc-Marie Aguera, and the Kronos Quartet, as well as with directors Ria Marks and Titus Tiel Groenestege. Geneviève plays a Hippolyte Silvestre cello from 1865, made available to her by the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation.
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