The programme of our carnival concert at the Lentz Villa (on 18th January 2024 at 7 p.m.) consists of popular waltzes, polkas, and marches composed by the Strauss family, famous operatic and operetta arias by Giacomo Puccini, Franz Lehár, Gioaccino Rossini, and others, as well as favourite hits from musicals and ragtime pieces by Scott Joplin and others.
During this concert, we wish to familiarize our audience with the atmosphere of carnival dances and parties held in Vienna (where the Strauss family lived and worked) and in Italy – the native country of outstanding soprano Silvia Di Falco, who will join us for her Szczecin performance from her home on sunny Sicily.
Apart from the singer, the concert features pianist Olga Bila and Baltic Neopolis Quartet.
Born in Ragusa, Sicily, Di Falco graduated from the Conservatorio di Musica Giovan Battista Martini in Bologna (from the class of Maestra Donatella Debolini). She developed her vocal skills with famous tenor William Matteuzzi as well as at masterclasses taught by such stars as Raina Kabaivanska, Roberto Maragliano, Elio Battaglia, Luciana Serra, and Renato Francesconi.
The singer made her debut in Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s opera Lo frate 'nnamorato (2004, cond. Maestra Cinzia Pennesi). She later appeared, among others, at the Teatro dell’Opera di Milano, Teatro Comunale Vittoria Colonna, Teatro ‘Puccini’ di Meranom, Teatro di Vipiteno, and Rudolf Steiner-Schule in Vienna.
Di Falco is the winner of audience award in the 6th Concorso Internazionale ‘Voci per l’opera e l’operetta Carlos Gomes’ in Turin, the Inner Wheel Awards 2016 and Lion Awards for Music 2017. The singer is also the artistic director of two well-known festivals: Italian Opera Taormina and Taormina International Music.
Baltic Neopolis Quartet
The Quartet consists of Emanuel Salvador and Łukasz Górewicz – violins, Emilia Goch-Salvador – viola, and Piotr Więcław – cello.
Founded in 2008 on the initiative of members of Szczecin’s Baltic Neopolis Orchestra, the Quartet has given performances at, among others, the 42nd ‘Poznań Music Spring’ International Festival of Contemporary Music (2013), the Lutosławski Year celebrations in Prague (2013), the 1st Wojciech Kilar Contemporary Music Festival in Gorzów Wielkopolski (2013), Gaia World Music Festival in Portugal (2015), the 19th Festival Internacional Música y Fiesta Massanassa in Spain (2015), summer festivals in Rovinj and Umag-o Classica in Croatia, as well as in Greece (2016) and on Malta (2017). 2017 saw their warmly received tour of China and Japan. The musicians also collaborated on many theatrical and popular music projects, such as performing the string parts on albums by Jola Szczepaniak (Baba Gada) and Katarzyna Nosowska (8).
Olga Bila
Graduate of the Sergei Prokofiev State Music Academy in Donetsk (piano class of Prof. Natalia Chesnokova). She developed her piano skills with Profs Igor Riabov (Ukraine), Susanna Arabkertseva (Russia), and Vera Nosina (Russia).
Bila taught piano in music schools in Ukraine as well as working as accompanist and répétiteur for conductors and singers at her alma mater. As choral and soloists’ repetiteur at the Szczecin Opera at the Castle, she has taken part in preparing the premieres of, among others, Jerzy Kornowicz’s The Least Probable Story, Benjamin Britten’s Turn of the Screw, Laurent Petitgirard’s Guru, and Philip Glass’ The Trial.
At present she collaborates with the Szczecin Academy of Art and the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic in Szczecin. Bila has received diplomas for the best accompanist at competitions in Dnipro, Donetsk, Łódź, Poltava, and Szczecin. She has also given performances as a soloist in Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine.
Programme
Johann Strauss II (son) (1825-1899) – arr. Matt Naughtin (b. 1947)
Waltz from the opera Die Fledermaus (The Bat)
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Aria ‘Donde lieta’ from the opera La Bohème
Aria ‘O mio babbinocaro’ from the opera Gianni Schicchi
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Hungarian Dances Nos 1 and 5
Scott Joplin (1868-1917)
‘Calliope Rag’
‘Elite Syncopations’
Francesco Cilea (1866-1950)
Aria ‘Io sono l’umileancella’ from the opera Adriana Lecouvreur
Franz Lehár (1870-1948)
‘Romanza della Vilja’
Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
Romanian Folk Dances
Johann Strauss II (son) (1825-1899) and Joseph Strauss (1827-1890)
