Abu Dhabi Classics: Music magic

Abu Dhabi Classics – the classical music concert season of classical concerts brought back after three years, will continue till May 2015, offering eight months of non-stop music magic

Abu Dhabi Classics – the classical music concert season returns from October 2014 to May 2015, bringing some of the most prominent musical talent and orchestras to the emirate to reflect the excellence it has achieved in the field of culture.

The season is dedicated to the figure of the traveller, offering a wide range of musical explorations through the finest classical music from East and West.

The “traveller” theme is meant to offer a wide range of musical explorations, from the prestigious ensemble Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Christian Thielemann or the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, to renowned artists such as Grammy Award winner Jordi Savall, exceptional young concert pianists Khatia Buniatishvili and David Fray, oud virtuoso Nasser Shamma and the acclaimed Emirati oud master Faisal Al Saari, alongside today’s leading violinists Gidon Kremer and James Ehnes.

Events will take place in different venues: Emirates Palace Auditorium, Manarat Al Saadiyat Auditorium, Abu Dhabi Theatre and important historic sites in Al Ain including Al Jahili Fort. Up to 12 concerts are planned for the 2014/2015 season featuring artistes from over 20 countries with further expansion on the cards.

The re-launch started on October 14, 2014 with a lilting solo piano recital dedicated to Chopin’s travels by French prodigy Lydie Solomon who will make her Arabian debut at Manarat Al Saadiyat. Lydie Solomon’s concert — Chopin’s Journey — was especially created for Abu Dhabi by Solomon.

For years, the Abu Dhabi Classics, an eight-month season of classical concerts that took place mostly in Abu Dhabi, but also Al Ain, was one of the most popular cultural events in the emirate. After a three-year break, the Classics season, which runs from October till May, is once again brought back by TCA, in the same format of monthly concerts and educational workshops on the side for school and university students.

This time around, though, there are a few changes. To start with, apart from Emirates Palace, traditionally the only auditorium for Abu Dhabi Classics, concerts will also take place at Manarat al Saadiyat and Abu Dhabi Theatre, as well as Al Jahli Fort and Rotana Hotel in Al Ain. These venues will host 12 concerts this season featuring orchestras and soloists from more than 20 countries.

Abu Dhabi Classics will continue on October 28 at the Abu Dhabi Theatre with a concert inspired by Vivaldi’s Four Season and performed by the Latvian classical violinist and conductor Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica Chamber Orchestra that he founded in 1997.

The adventures of the legendary 14th century Arab traveller Ibn Battuta will be put on musical notes and performed as part of the Abu Dhabi Classics.

The Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA) said that the November concert is a world premiere of a rather special concert by the award-winning Spanish composer Jordi Savall. His “Ibn Battuta: the Voyager of Islam”, composed especially for Abu Dhabi Classics, will be performed on November 20 at the Emirates Palace by Hesperion XXI, an ensemble of 16 musicians playing traditional Arabic instruments.

Abu Abd Ibn Battuta was an explorer, voyager and writer, considered one of the most important Muslim travel writers of the Middle Ages, who journeyed around 120,000 kilometres in 29 years throughout the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Far East. His travels were recorded in the voyage report “Rihla”, which is the contextual base for Jordi Savall’s new work. Joining Savall on stage will be Moroccan Driss El Maloumi, widely considered one of the best oud players of his generation.

The music will be intertwined with readings by Arabic-speaking Spanish poet Manuel Forcano from the traveller’s journal, to pinpoint Ibn Battuta’s adventures through the Middle East, Turkey, Iraq and Iran from 1314 to 1336.