The third edition of the International Cello Festival of Canada was recently held in Winnipeg from Oct. 28 to Nov. 1. Several events took place in the Desautels Concert Hall and Eva Clare Hall at the U of M, in addition to other venues across the city.
One of the events on campus included The Bach Café, a concert series where each invited cellist performed one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s six suites for unaccompanied cello. The first of these suites contains one of the most well-known cello pieces of all time — the G major prelude.
Apart from classical repertoire, cellists also joined forces with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra to perform classics such as George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”
The festival featured numerous world-renowned cellists like the U.K.’s Colin Carr and Germany’s Alban Gerhardt. In addition to performing, the masters taught classes to budding cellists.
U of M faculty members also appeared in the festival’s concerts. Stephen Runge, a pianist, dean of the Desautels faculty of music and director of the school of art, performed a Ludwig van Beethoven sonata with cellist Inbal Segev. Minna Rose Chung, a professor of cello, also played in the festival’s Halloween concert.
One highlight was the performance of Bach’s fifth cello suite by Viennese cellist Matthias Bartolomey. Set in C minor and starting with the lowest possible note on the instrument, it is considered to have the darkest sound out of Bach’s cello suites. Rather than the stormy and gut-wrenching tone often associated with Bach’s fifth suite, Bartolomey’s interpretation was surprisingly tender and introspective, often evoking wistfulness more than misery.
Bartolomey also appeared in A Halloween Special: Wood-Shredding Cellists on Oct. 31, a concert at St. John’s Anglican Cathedral that almost exclusively featured cellos. This program arranged beloved classical pieces such as Edvard Grieg’s “Morning Mood” for cellos, but also featured compositions by the performers.
The level of musicianship was astonishing, serenading the audience with rich timbres and taking them on a cello odyssey from Beethoven to the Beatles. The cellists concluded the Halloween special with a fiery tango composed by Astor Piazzolla performed on 12 cellos, earning a standing ovation.
