ENJOY a night of Italian splendour with leading ensemble Europa Galante, which will enthral the audience at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP) in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 30 at 8.30pm.

Rochester will present an all-German programme on the all-German organ.

The Italian ensemble, directed by violinist Fabio Biondi, is one of the most respected specialists in Baroque music.

The ensemble was founded by Biondi in 1990.

Europa Galante breathes life into 18th century European masterworks such as Purcell’s Abdelazer and Vivaldi’s Sinfonia: La Senna Festeggiante, Violin Concerto in A Minor and The Four Seasons.

A resident orchestra of Fondazione Teatro Due in Parma, Europa Galante has performed in many of the world’s most prominent concert halls and theatres such as Milan’s La Scala, Rome’s Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, London’s Royal Albert Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein and New York’s Lincoln Centre.
The ensemble has thus far brought its excellent musicianship to Australia, Japan, Canada and South America.

This year, it has performed around Europe, visiting France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Holland and Britain.

Its vast repertoire ranges from the operas of Handel and Vivaldi and oratorios of Scarlatti to the great instrumental works of the 1900s.

In addition, the group also performs commissioned works for opera productions.

The ensemble has participated in prestigious music festivals like the Alessandro Scarlatti Festival in Palermo and has given world premieres of Clori, Dorino e Amore Serenata and the operas Massimo Puppieno, Il Trionfo dell’Onore, La Principessa Fedele and Carlo Re D’Alemagna.

Europa Galante also performs chamber music such as the string sonatas of 17th century Italian composers.

After years of collaboration with the French label Opus 111, the ensemble signed an exclusive contract with Virgin Classics in 1998 and released its recordings of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Boccherini’s string quintets as well as arias from cantatas by Bach.

The ensemble has twice been nominated for the Grammy Awards.

Tickets are priced at RM220, RM170, RM120 and RM60.

Meanwhile, at 11.30am on Sunday, there will be a free lunchtime organ recital by DFP resident organist Dr Marc Rochester.

His free-entry recital is themed German Glories and performed on the majestic Klais pipe organ.

Rochester will present an all-German programme on the all-German organ, playing the works of Bach, Reger, Karg-Elert and Schumann as well as some Wagner for good measure.

At 6.30pm on Oct 21, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) will perform chamber works such as Eight Lines composed by Steve Reich, Sequenza VIII for Solo Violin by Luciano Berio and Zoltan Kodaly’s Sonata for Unaccompanied Cello (Op. 8).

Tickets for the chamber performance are priced at RM10. Venue: Dewan Filharmonik Petronas in KLCC, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. Call 03-2051-7007.