Exploring Beethoven in Geneva: Chiara Banchini on Theresia’s next chamber music project

By Emilia Campagna - July 22, 2024

Theresia will be in Geneva in July for a chamber music residency led by violinist Chiara Banchini, in which nine musicians from the orchestra explore and perform a historical transcription of Beethoven's Second Symphony in the chamber version by Ferdinand Ries.
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Continuing what has become a tradition, Theresia will be in Geneva in July for a chamber music Academy led by violinist Chiara Banchini, in which nine musicians from the orchestra will participate. Elana Cooper and Guillermo Santonja di Fonzo (violins), Hannah Gardiner and Helena Reguera Rivero (violas), Marta Jiménez Ramírez (cello), Ariel Walton (double bass), Ching-Yao Wang (flute), and finally Jonathan van der Beek and Janire de Paz Rivas (horns) are the musicians who will take part in the musical project. They explore and perform a historical transcription of Beethoven’s Second Symphony in the chamber version by Ferdinand Ries. The project is artistically spearheaded by Chiara Banchini, who told us more about the musical programme and about the Festival Concerts d’été de St Germain, of which she is a member of the artistic committee.

Chiara Banchini, let’s start with the Festival Concerts d’été de St. Germain: how is it structured and how did the collaboration with Theresia come about?

“The festival takes place in July and August with concerts every week on Sunday and Monday evenings. It has been going on for 40 years and has a very loyal audience. We have a priority, which is to let young people play more than artists who are already established and in the prime of their careers. In this spirit, the collaboration with Theresia began in 2019: I proposed it when I joined the artistic committee. Initially, the projects were generally dedicated to repertoire for chamber groups or small ensembles, but since 2022 we have started a project on historic transcriptions of Beethoven’s symphonies, which has been very well received”.

What were the previous stages of this exploration of Beethoven, and what is this year’s programme about?

“In 2022 we performed the Sixth Symphony, in 2023 the Seventh, and this year the Second Symphony: it is a transcription by Ferdinand Ries, Beethoven’s student and friend. The transcription is very beautiful and very well done: it’s a new and interesting way to approach Beethoven’s symphonies, because it feels like getting into the heart of the compositional process.”

Beethoven’s Second Symphony is not the only piece on the program.

“Indeed. We decided to put an original piece by a contemporary of Beethoven next to the symphony: it is the Nocturne for flute, two horns and string quintet by Franz Anton Hoffmeister. It is a completely unknown side; it has never even been recorded. What is particularly interesting is that it is written for the same instrumental ensemble that Ries used for the chamber version of Beethoven’s Second Symphony. Moreover, following a practice of the time, each instrument in the ensemble has its own solo moment in which to emerge and showcase its technical and musical talents.”

Does the festival focus on baroque and classical repertoire?

“In fact, the Festival’s musical programme ranges from Baroque to contemporary, but since I have been on the committee, I have been able to ensure that there is much more focus on historically informed performance. And not just the Baroque repertoire! For example, we have planned a concert of Schubert Lieder that will be played on an 1840 fortepiano. This also solved the acoustic problems that made it impossible to use a modern piano, since the concerts take place in a church.”

You said earlier that the Festival has a priority to give space to young musicians: besides Theresia, who are the other young emerging artists?

“We have a strong collaboration with the Concours de Genève: this season we just hosted the NOVO Quartet, winners of the 2023 edition dedicated to the string quartet. We also host the winners of a new interdisciplinary competition, OSEZ!, aimed at groups that have to present a musical performance with actors, dance and staging: the winners of the first edition were the vocal sextet Ensemble Diaphane, which opened the festival with a programme ranging from baroque to contemporary.”

Concerts will take place at Eglise Saint-Germain de Genève, on Sunday 28 and Monday 29 July 2024 at 6.30 pm

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Simone Laghi guides us in the discovery of two hidden treasures

By Emilia Campagna - July 18, 2023

Although very different, the programmes for our next two projects have one thing in common that is very important to us. Both the historical chamber music transcription of Beethoven's 7th Symphony and Traetta's oratorio Rex Salomon have been critically edited by Simone Laghi, Scientific Advisor of Theresia, who gives us an interesting insight to these hidden treasures.
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Theresia musicians have two big events coming up this summer: a chamber music residency in Geneva -a welcome return – led by Chiara Banchini from 24-31 July, and an orchestral production as guests of the Early Music Festival in Innsbruck conducted by Christophe Rousset, from 12-18 August, performing with the NovoCanto choir.

Although the programmes are very different (music by Beethoven and Boccherini in Geneva, music by Tommaso Traetta in Innsbruck), they have one thing in common which is very important to us. The core of the Geneva programme, a historical chamber music transcription of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, and Traetta’s oratorio Rex Salomon were both critically edited by Simone Laghi, Scientific Advisor of Theresia, with whom we’ve had a brief interview.

Simone Laghi, let’s start with Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony in the transcription for flute and string sextet. What can you tell us about this work?

The transcription was written by Nicolas Mori, an Italian-English violinist who was active in London in the first half of the 19th century. This type of transcription was very common in Europe at the time, to bring symphonic and orchestral works into a chamber dimension (and thus for domestic performance). In this case, it is a very interesting work, especially for the ensemble used, namely flute and string sextet (specifically two violins, two violas, cello and double bass): there are no particular changes in the writing, the flute takes over the role of the wind parts, sometimes flanked by the second viola.

How did you get to work on this transcription and edit the critical edition?

In my research at Cardiff University I dealt with the string quartet repertoire of early 19th-century Italian composers active in London, so I came across the work of Nicolas Mori. A few years ago I had the opportunity to edit the critical edition of this transcription, which was then published by the HH publishing house. However, I believe that Theresia’s is the first performance in modern times. There are, however, other interesting transcriptions by Mori, such as those of Beethoven’s Overtures: unfortunately the double bass parts are missing, so it is impossible to make a critical edition for now.

Beyond the existence of this ‘English’ transcription, is there a relationship between Beethoven and London?

Absolutely. We know, for example, that Beethoven composed the Ninth Symphony at the invitation of the London Philharmonic Society: it is true that the first performance took place in Vienna, but then the Symphony was naturally performed in the English capital. And then it seems that Beethoven had planned to go to London, as Haydn had done years before, but it never actually took place.

Now let’s talk about Traetta’s Oratorio “Rex Salomon”, which Theresia will perform on 18 August as part of the Innsbruck Early Music Festival: what do we know about this composition?

The Rex Salomon was composed by Tommaso Traetta in 1766 to be performed at the Ospedale dei Derelitti in Venice by the ‘Putte’, i.e. the girls residing in this charitable institution. Precisely because it was intended to be performed within the Ospedale dei Derelitti, the vocal ensemble is female only, making it a rather special work within this genre.

What was the occasion for the composition?

Rex Salomon was composed to be performed on the Feast of the Assumption, 15 August 1766. On this particular occasion Traetta had the task of restoring the former glory of the Ospedaletto’s orchestra and choir, which had been neglected in recent years and were experiencing a period of decline. With this oratorio, which was performed four more times in the following ten years, he succeeded in doing so, even though we are in the last years of the glorious history of the Serenissima: with 1797 and the fall of the Republic, even the musical vitality of realities such as the Ospedaletto dei Derelitti faded away.

How did the ‘Putte’ become part of the orchestra and choir?

Often they were girls who had been taken in as children because they were orphans, but in many other cases they were so-called ‘adult daughters’ who were taken in because of their musical merits: it was not easy to get in, the selection process was quite strict. Nor was it easy to get out, because once these talented young girls had been trained, the institution wanted to keep them. Those who managed to pursue a musical career on their own had to do so outside Venetian territory, or if they performed in the city, they did so in secret and under a false name.

What is the source on which you have based the edition from which Theresia will perform?

It is a manuscript kept in Brussels and part of the Fétis collection: this important musicologist, who lived in the 19th century and was the author of a monumental Encyclopaedia of Music and Musicians, probably bought the manuscript on the antiques market, and it is a somewhat unusual piece in the collection. Moreover, the manuscript refers to the last performance, that of 1776, which Traetta partially revised because one of the singers, originally a alto, had been replaced by a soprano.

What are the musical characteristics of Rex Salomon?

The main peculiarity is the vocal ensemble, which is necessarily all female. There is a certain complexity to the writing, although it is far from the excessive virtuosity typical of the theatre of the time. However, there is still a great deal of coloratura and a certain amount of elaboration, a sign that the level of the performers was quite high and that they were addressing an audience with high expectations. It is curious, and gives us a measure of a peculiar situation, that each of the five soloists has two arias, so there is no measurable hierarchy in the increasing number of arias according to degree of importance. The instrumental part, especially the first violins, is also well worked out, detailed in its articulations.

There is a fine record of the very first performance, a letter written by the philosopher Giammaria Ortes to the composer Johann Adolph Hasse on 16 August 1766: “Yesterday I went to a new musical oratory at the Ospedaletto, and I have realized how, without singing well, one can still avoid singing poorly, and how in similar conservatories, the combination of docility and moderate skill can provide more pleasure than abundant skill combined with presumption. If these girls continue in this manner, this could be the case in which music, having generally fallen into the excess in which it currently resides, returns back to that mediocrity that constitutes its perfection.”

Simone Laghi is Sicentific Consultant of the Theresia Orchestra and a digital communication expert. He holds a PhD in music performance from Cardiff University. He has a background as professional musician in the historical performance practice field, and he has collaborated with a large number of groups and ensembles in Europe. He has produced and organised recordings. He has published several musical editions of eighteenth-century works, and has written articles and editorials for Ad Parnassum, Early Music Performer, and Eighteenth-century Music.

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Dmitry Smirnov: “Gut strings taught me a great deal”

By Emilia Campagna - February 28, 2023

Dmitry Smirnov is the extraordinary soloist who accompanied us on our Beethoven adventure: let's get to know him better in this interview
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The residency during which Theresia was conducted by Giovanni Antonini came to an end with two extraordinary concerts. The two evenings were great success, where the orchestra received applause from a truly enthusiastic audience; two concerts in which Beethoven’s music sparked with energy, transparency, and expressiveness. This was also thanks to the extraordinary soloist who accompanied us on our Beethoven adventure, a first both for Theresia and 28-year-old Russian violinist Dmitry Smirnov.

In a break between the balance rehearsal and a concert, we had a long chat with Dmitry and we’d like you to get to know him a little better too. And we highly recommend to follow his brilliant career!

We started at the very beginning, when Dmitry Smirnov was only a small little boy who started to play the violin…

“I started to play the violin when I was five years old: it was thanks to my parents, who are both professional musicians, specifically singers. They took care of the first part of my education. I was obviously trained to play the modern violin since it is not so easy to approach the baroque instrument in Russia as a young pupil: I realised that in Italy many of my peers were given the opportunity to try the baroque violin at a very young age, probably because there’s a stronger tradition in historically informed performance here.”

At some point you did turn to the baroque violin: how did this come about?

“I had moved to Switzerland to study at the University of Basel, where I met a great musician: Rainer Schmidt, who was my violin and chamber music teacher. I learned a lot from him, although the work was always focused on the modern violin. But just at that time, when I was 20 years old, I attended a concert of Il Giardino Armonico in Basel: and it was there that I finally discovered a different way of playing, which affected me deeply.”

What struck you in particular?

“At that moment, the rhythm which had an energy all of its own, but also the simplicity of the act of performing. Then, over time, I realised that what struck me came from articulation, from intonation, from a number of things.”

And what did you do next?

“I kept on researching, listening, informing myself. Then, in 2017, I tried gut strings on my own instrument. It was amazing because I realised that by playing with gut strings and the baroque bow I was learning a great deal: it’s as if the gut strings taught me again about the articulation of sound, phrasing, things that I had learned, that were taught to me but somehow I had forgotten or kept at the back of my mind.”

Did you take lessons?

“Of course I did. Among other things, I was lucky enough to take a masterclass with Amandine Beyer: I played Bach, and she taught me so many things, with such an open mind. Like me, she comes from modern violin background too, but nowadays she’s a leading reference for those who want to play the baroque violin.”

So today, what relevance does the baroque violin have in your career?

“Well, it is not my primary activity, but I try to play the baroque violin as often as I can. And, I would love to end this separation between modern playing and historically informed playing, as you can apply HIP’s approach to any repertoire.”

When did you meet Maestro Giovanni Antonini and started working with him?

“This was in 2019: we had had some encounters in Zurich, where I had attended some performances of Il Giardino Armonico. I remember listening to Handel’s Alcina and Mozart’s Idomeneo. He probably had listened to some of my recordings, because he invited me to join Il Giardino Armonico for a recording of three of Haydn’s Symphonies.”

How was the experience of being conducted by Giovanni Antonini?

“It was great! Giovanni Antonini is at the heart of the orchestra, he lets something incredible happen: I found myself surrounded by wonderful instrumentalists, where everybody was humble and generous at the same time.”

Did you experience the same feeling with Theresia Orchestra?

“Sure I did. It’s an amazing ensemble, the musicians are so energetic. And I must acknowledge that the organisation was impeccable, they have a wonderful team of staff working behind the scenes.”

Speaking of ensembles, you founded your own a few years ago: what kind of ensemble is “Camerata Rhein” and what repertoire does it focus on?

“It is a variable chamber music ensemble based on a trio of clarinet, violin and piano: I must confess it was born as a sort of pet project, just to spend time reading new music and playing with friends, with the idea to let others join us (for example, inviting a cellist to perform Messiaen’s Quatour pour la fin du temps). Giving it a name was in the first place a way to justify the amount of time we spent together playing! But then we were lucky enough to be invited to many festivals in Switzerland, where our project was really well received.”

What do you do when you’re not playing? Do you have any hobbies or is music taking up hundred percent of your life?

“Music took most of my time when I was young especially due to bad time management: today, music is indeed my passion, and when your job coincides with your biggest passion in order to save yourself, you have to pull the brake sometimes and let it cook. I love to learn new things, like languages, but also spend more time with my family, and obviously with my wife, who I married one year ago. I also like to listen to a different kind of music than the one I play: I especially like Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, two artists who by the way often work together, and I recently discovered Gregory Porter, a fantastic singer.”

With Theresia, you rehearsed in Ravenna, and performed in Rovereto and Florence: what did you enjoy most on this Italian tour?

“I would say the food, but that’s not very original, is it? Well, Ravenna and Rovereto are two places I didn’t know at all and I very much enjoyed visiting both cities. I noticed that Rovereto is very close to Lake Garda, which I love very much, but there was no time to get there as we only stayed there shortly. Luckily, we had more time in Ravenna: the mosaics are astonishing and as it often happens while in Italy, I enjoyed being surrounded by things that bring you into the history of the place.”

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Giovanni Antonini and Beethoven as you do not expect

By Emilia Campagna - February 22, 2023

A few days away from the concert where he will conduct Theresia, we caught up with Maestro Giovanni Antonini for a well-rounded chat about his musical career and his relationship with Beethoven
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A few days ahead of the concerts in which he will conduct Theresia (in Rovereto on February 26 and in Florence the next day), we caught up with Maestro Giovanni Antonini for an insightful chat about his musical career and his relationship with Beethoven.

Giovanni Antonini, you will conduct the orchestra in an entirely Beethoven focused programme, such an iconic composer: what is your relationship with Beethoven?

I have had an ongoing connection with Beethoven since 2005 when I started a recording project of the complete Symphonies with the Kammerorchester Basel. The project lasted 10 years, so the whole work was very thoughtful and thorough. My starting point with Beethoven was similar as Theresia Orchestra’s today: the orchestra has a very extensive experience in the classical repertoire (Haydn, Mozart, but also a lot of less familiar composers) but never approached the Beethoven Symphonies. That was the situation for me as well. From a certain point of view, it was an advantage: Beethoven is perhaps the most performed composer, and over time he has been attributed even with extramusical, often political, meanings. By coming to his music after considerable experience in the earlier repertoire, I was able to approach it with freshness and a new outlook, free of bias.

It must be said that a remarkable technical leap was taken by Beethoven: his music was extremely difficult at the time, specifically because of its technical complexity, which often had to do with the required dynamics. Beethoven was the first composer to demand such a high degree of intensity from the orchestra, which was truly unheard of in those days. Taking on Beethoven is quite a challenge and also an opportunity for both technical and musical growth.

Compared to less historically informed performance approaches, what does playing on period instruments tell us about Beethoven?

Playing Beethoven according to historically informed performance practice allows us to rediscover aspects otherwise overlooked: one of these is frailty, an aspect that is hardly associated with this composer. Beethoven is the titan, the hero, in his most stereotypical depiction. But Beethoven also has another side: he explores our human dimension, of which frailty is an important aspect. And that aspect emerges powerfully from playing on original instruments, the ones that were used in his time and for which he composed.

Because of its complexity, Beethoven’s music gave an incredible boost to the technical development of instruments. Today’s string instruments have metal strings that produce a mighty sound, or we have bright and powerful woodwinds, but at the time of the creation of this music, this was not the case. Think of the flute for example: in the 1800s it was an instrument that would express sweetness, with a soft sound: then it changes and becomes powerful, but the modern flute has very little to do with the instrument Beethoven had in mind.

You will be conducting Theresia, an important step in their professional and musical training for many members of our youth orchestra: thinking of you at that age, what were the key events or encounters at the beginning of your career?

The most important encounter was with my colleagues with whom I founded the ensemble Il Giardino Armonico. Our work together has been a true musical journey: we rehearsed so much, exploring the 17th century Italian repertoire, and our joint effort paid off with great success.

A music lesson… Giardino Armonico in the early days

As far as my role models are concerned, even though I did never had the chance to engage with them directly, I owe a great deal to both Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Franz Brüggen. Harnoncourt changed the vision of Italian Baroque music and not only: I remember for example his recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, a scratchy sound that was both ancient and brand new; and then Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, where he gave great prominence to the woodwinds; on the other hand, Brüggen took the flute, which was considered a second-rate instrument, and proved to everyone that it could be a leading instrument.

How did you start conducting?

It was thanks to the work with Il Giardino Armonico: at a certain point we had the chance to perform with a larger ensemble and we needed someone to conduct, so I volunteered… and I learned to do it. It went on for years and I discovered that conducting is an expansion of musical potential: the conductor doesn’t produce any sound but builds the whole performance step by step. I had conducted Il Giardino Armonico exclusively for years, when in 1998 other orchestras started inviting me: it was the time when modern orchestras started to be interested in the historically informed practice and of course, they needed someone trained in the field.

Let’s talk about Dmitry Smirnov, the violinist who will perform as a soloist with Theresia and with whom you have already worked: what do you like about this young talent?

Smirnov is a violinist at the highest technical and musical level: a violinist of the modern school who can play anything and who, as happens to be more often the case, is also interested in performing on original instruments. He is part of a generation of musicians for whom it is not mandatory to choose between the modern instrument and the period one: indeed, as a violinist trained in the modern school, he absorbs the experience of historically informed performance like a sponge. That gives him the ability to tackle with Beethoven without adhering to stereotypical models.

Do not miss Giovanni Antonini conducting Theresia: concerts take place on February 26 in Rovereto and February 27 in Florence!

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Olga Pashchenko’s cd reviewed by The Gramophone: “An outstanding rendition”

By Emilia Campagna - October 21, 2015

Olga Pashchenko got a glowing review on The Gramophone for her cd entirely devoted to Beethoven.
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Olga Pashchenko got a glowing review on The Gramophone for her cd entirely devoted to Beethoven. The cd program includes: the 32 Variations on an Original Theme, the two Sonatas op. 49, the Variations and a Fugue on an original theme and the G minor Fantasia op. 77.

As Jed Distler writes, “This disc features a Christopher Clarke instrument (modelled on a Fritz piano from Vienna, c1818), whose well-regulated action and varied timbres will likely attract fortepiano mavens. More importantly, Olga Pashchenko has an exceptional way with Beethoven. She imbues both little Op 49 sonatas with a disarming simplicity that can only be borne out of sophistication. You’ll notice, for example, the subtle yet palpable tension and release in the inflections and accents of No 1’s Rondo and the flexible advantages of playing No 2’s Menuetto with the feeling of one beat to the bar.”

Flattering words are used for the interpretation of the 32 Variations: Her outstanding rendition of the 32 Variations in C minor boasts many impressive moments, from the suavely dispatched triplet sequences in Vars 19 21 to the spacious, slightly disembodied sonorities that she conjures up in Vars 28 and 30. Pashchenko has obviously invested a good deal of thought and practice time into the G minor Fantasia, Op 77, yet she pounces on the sudden loud declamations and dives into the wild scales, truly evoking the music’s improvisatory genesis.”

Critic Jed Distler focuses on a comparison between the interpretation of Olga Pashchenko and Brautigam’s one: “In contrast with Ronald Brautigam’s engagingly taut and headlong Eroica Variations, Pashchenko zeroes in her attention on individual variations, revealing her fondness for expressive asides in the form of rubato, tenutos and rounding off phrases at the end of major sections. She especially gilds Var 5’s melodic lilies, while her soft-grained broken octaves in Var 6 arguably downplay the urgency of Beethoven’s unexpected reharmonisation of the theme, which Brautigam brilliantly underlines by slightly accelerating the basic tempo. But Var 8 features alluring pedal effects and a cheeky double-note cadenza right after the final fermata, while the fugue’s playful, almost jazzy lightness contrasts with Brautigam’s surging drive. Thicker passages sometimes lose definition with the ambient resonance, yet otherwise the sound is fine.”

Last summer Olga Pashchenko performed with Theresia Youth Baroque Orchestra as a soloist in the Double Concert by CPE Bach; we are meeting her again soon: Olga will play basso continuo in the concerts scheduled in November in Lodi and Padua.

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