Great Orchestras – Great Performers. At the beginning of the new year, the Athens Concert Hall’s beloved cycle of events offers its audience a concert dedicated exclusively to works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by the master of the genre Sir András Schiff, in the dual role of soloist and conductor, accompanied by the Cappella Andrea Barca Orchestra.

The eminent pianist and conductor, world-renowned for his important reference performances of the Mozart repertoire, will lead the international ensemble he founded in 1999 in Mozart’s legendary Symphony No.40 in G minor, one of the most famous and most performed of all time. On the same evening, Sir Andras Schiff, as virtuoso soloist, will perform two masterpieces for piano and orchestra by the great Austrian: the Concertos No. 23 in A major and No. 27 in B-flat major.

The musicians of the Cappella Andrea Barca Ensemble are active internationally as successful soloists and members of chamber music ensembles, but they do not belong to specific orchestras. They were personally selected by Sir Andras Schiff to perform all of Mozart’s piano concertos as part of the Salzburg Mozart Week (1999-2005).

Under the direction of Sir Andras Schiff, the Orchestra progressively broadened its horizons. Since 1999, the conductor and musicians have organised the annual Omaggio a Palladio Festival at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, where in 2001 they staged Mozart’s opera “So do they all”. Also, from 2004 to 2007, the Orchestra participated as a guest at the Kunstfest (Arts Festival) in Weimar. In addition, it has toured numerous European cities and toured the USA during the Year of Mozart (2006). Furthermore, he has performed at leading cultural events such as the Beethovenfest (Beethoven Festival) in Bonn (2008, 2010) etc. In 2019, he conducted a three-week tour of Asia (China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong). Also in 2020 and 2023, he performed Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” and “Don Giovanni” as part of the “Mozart Week” in Salzburg.

Sir Andras Schiff’s ambition is for the Andrea Barca Capella to be presented to the public in such a way that its members emerge as both soloists and chamber musicians. “What I seek as a conductor is to expand chamber music; it is a musical ensemble of excellent soloists, but above all chamber music performers. In this orchestra, there are many members of string quartets, and the string quartet is the culmination of the music-making. […] There is no room for egocentrism. This ensemble is based on friendship, understanding, equality and shared ideals: aesthetic, musical and human.”

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