Kremer Verses Kremerata: More Than Four Seasons At The Proms, 4 September 1999

Another quirky and memorable concert at The Proms. We took The Duchess Of Castlebar (Janie’s mum) with us to this one, as we thought she would like the Piazzolla. Possibly she did. You didn’t tend to get positive feedback from the Duchess back then and nothing has changed in 25 years, as I write in 2024.

Janie and I were fascinated by this concert. Janie was already keen on Piazzolla and this helped cement that interest.

Here’s what we heard:

• Giya Kancheli – V & V
• Arvo Pärt – Tabula rasa
• Antonio Vivaldi – The Four Seasons, No. 1 in E Major, RV 269
• Astor Piazzoll – Cuatro estaciones porteñas,  Verano porteño
• Antonio Vivaldi – The Four Seasons, No. 2 in G minor, RV 315
• Astor Piazzolla – Cuatro estaciones porteñas, Otoño porteño
• Antonio Vivaldi – The Four Seasons, No. 3 in F Major, RV 293
• Astor Piazzolla – Cuatro estaciones porteñas, Invierno porteño
• Antonio Vivaldi – The Four Seasons, No. 4 in F minor, RV 297
• Astor Piazzolla – Cuatro estaciones porteñas, Primavera porteña
• Peter Heidrich – Variations on ‘Happy Birthday’
• Alexander Bakshi – The Unanswered Call

Fiona Maddocks briefly wrote up the concert in The Observer:

Kremer Observer Maddocks 12 Sep 1999, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Here’s what the Arvo Pärt piece sounds like:

While here is the sound of the Piazzolla piece we heard interspersed between the oh so familiar Four Seasons:

We took the Duchess to North China after the concert. The restaurant West Acton, not the more northerly reaches of the Middle Kingdom…obvs.