Mihai Ritivoiu piano
Gabriela Opacka-Boccadoro violin
Thursday 27 April 2023, 7.30pm at the Razumovsky Academy, 56 College Road NW10 5ET
7pm doors open
7.30pm concert (with an interval)
Tickets:
£ 25 (£15 students and under 25s) to include interval drinks
For further details and booking request please contact [email protected]
PROGRAMME
J. S. Bach – Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903
Stéphane Delplace – Sisyphe (world première)
R. Schumann – Arabeske in C major, Op 18
J. Brahms – 7 Fantasien Op. 116
Interval
G. Enescu – Violin Sonata No 3 in A minor “dans le caractère populaire roumain”
Born in Bucharest, the London-based Romanian pianist Mihai Ritivoiu is a laureate of numerous national and international competitions, most notably the George Enescu International Competition.
Mihai leads an international career performing solo and chamber music recitals in Europe and Asia, and has played concertos with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra and MDR Leipzig, and with conductors such as Joshua Weilerstein, Robert Trevino, Michael Collins, Cristian Mandeal, Christian Badea and Horia Andreescu. He has been invited to play at prestigious festivals, including Young Euro Classic in Berlin and the Enescu Festival in Bucharest, and has performed in halls such as the Barbican Centre, Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Studio Ernest Ansermet Geneva, the Radio Hall and the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest.
He appeared live multiple times on BBC Radio 3’s programme ‘In Tune’, and his performances have been broadcast by Radio Romania Muzical, Radio Television Suisse and Medici TV. His debut album released under the label Genuin with major solo works by Franck, Enescu and Liszt has been praised as “beautifully recorded, handsomely played – a solo recital to cherish” (The Arts Desk).
A graduate with the highest honours from the National University of Music in Bucharest and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, Mihai studied with Professors Viniciu Moroianu and Joan Havill. He took part in masterclasses with Dmitri Bashkirov, Dominique Merlet, Emmanuel Ax, Richard Goode, Jean-Claude Pennetier and has been mentored by Valentin Gheorghiu and Christopher Elton.
Continuously drawn to discover music beyond the realm of solo piano repertoire, Mihai has a rich experience as a chamber musician. Throughout the years he has played with such distinguished musicians as Corina Belcea, Antoine Lederlin, Roland Pidoux, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Bernhard Naoki Hedenborg and Oleg Kogan. He has also studied conducting with Ricardo Castro, and made his debut directing from the keyboard in 2022 in Florence. Currently he is pursuing his lifelong interest in composition further through studies with the French composer Stéphane Delplace.
Gabriela Opacka-Boccadoro is an exceptionally versatile musician living in London. Primarily a classical violinist, she performed as a soloist with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra among others. She is a member of Bukolika Piano Trio and has a duo with harpist Oliver Wass, with whom she recently recorded a selection of works by Ravel adapted for the harp and violin. As part of her research of a unique sound and repertoire, she recorded the “Marimba Experiment” album with percussionist Maria Chlebus. Gabriela performs regularly with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
She is currently completing a doctoral degree at the Warsaw Chopin University of Music and completed an Artist Diploma in Violin Performance at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under the guidance of cellist Louise Hopkins.
Gabriela enjoys a wide range of cross-genre collaborations. She has been singing as a soprano for London Contemporary Voices and recently began exploring conducting. As a conductor, she has been selected to take part in the Academy for Music Theatre in Nimes and the Transylvanian Opera Academy. She has composed for screen, mixing electronic sounds with self-recorded acoustic violin and vocal tracks.
Gabriela enjoys teaching. She has been a guest teacher for the Penderecki Youth Orchestra and NOR59 Strykeinstitutt in Oslo. As part of her doctoral studies she has been teaching violin students at the Warsaw Chopin University of Music.
For further details and booking request please contact [email protected]