Early Music Vancouver - Constantinople presents Bach & Khayyam

Tickets

Cost: $37.70
Find tickets: here

Pre-Concert Chat: 07:00pm hosted by Alexander Weimann with Kiya Tabassian.

Separated by time and space, the two geniuses of Johann Sebastian Bach and Persian mathematician-poet Omar Khayyam were nonetheless among similar heights of greatness. Ensemble Constantinople and soprano Hana Blažiková bring these two visionaries together in dialogue, intertwining arias by Bach with the contemplative and expressive poetry of Khayyam.

PROGRAMME
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Ach, dass nicht die letzte Stunde, BWV 439
from Schemellis Songbook

Omar Khayyam (1048–1131)
Hengame sabouh ey saname farokh pey, RK 178
from Robaiyat-e Khayam

Bach
Zerfließe, mein Herze, BWV 245
from Passio secundum Johannem

Khayyam
In ghafeleye Omr ajab migozarad, RK 66
from Robaiyat-e Khayam / Dimitrie Cantemir (1673–1723)

Bach
Vergiss mein nicht, BWV 505
from Schemellis Songbook

Khayyam
Khayam agar ze badeh masti khosh bash, RK 116
from Robaiyat-e Khayam

Bach
Bist du bei mir’, BWV 508
from Notenbuch der Anna Magdalena Bach

Bach
Warum betrübst du dich, BWV 516
from Notenbuch der Anna Magdalena Bach

Khayyam
Asrare azal ra na to daniyo na man
from Robaiyat-e Khayam

Bach
Quia respexit
from Magnificat, BWV 243

Kiya Tabassian (b. 1976)
La Fugua d’Antonio

Bach
Den Tod niemand zwingen kunnt
from Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4

Bach
Ich ende behende
from Selig ist der Mann, BWV 57

Khayyam
Yaran-e movafegh hame az dast shodand, RK 95
from Robaiyat-e Khayam

Bach
Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut, BWV 199
Recitative: Ich lege mich in diese Wunden
Aria: Wie freudig ist mein Herz


Hana Blažíková
Hana Blažíková was born in Prague. As a child she sang in the children’s choir Radost Praha and played the violin. Later she turned to solo singing, graduating in 2002 from the Prague Conservatory in the class of Jiří Kotouč and undertook further study with Poppy Holden, Peter Kooij, Monika Mauch and Howard Crook.

Today Hana has achieved high acclaim as a leading specialist in the interpretation of Baroque, Renaissance and medieval music, performing with ensembles and orchestras around the world, including the Collegium Vocale Gent, the Bach Collegium Japan, Sette Voci, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, L’Arpeggiata, Gli Angeli Genève, La Fenice, Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Tafelmusik, Collegium 1704, Collegium Marianum, Musica Florea, L’Armonia Sonora and others.

In 2010 and 2013 she took part in a highly praised world tour of the St. Matthew Passion under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe and in 2011 she made her debut in Carnegie Hall with Masaaki Suzuki´s Bach Collegium Japan. In 2017 she appeared in major venues all over Europe and North America in the trilogy of Monteverdi operas mounted by John Eliot Gardiner for the composer’s 450th birthday. In the three operas she sang six roles including the title role in Poppea.

Hana appears on more than thirty CDs, including the well-known series of Bach cantatas with the Bach Collegium Japan. She also plays gothic and romanesque harp and presents concerts in which she accompanies herself on this instrument. In addition she is a member of the Tiburtina Ensemble, which specializes in Gregorian chant and early medieval polyphony.

Ensemble Constantinople
Founded in 1998 by its artistic director Kiya Tabassian, Constantinople is a musical ensemble inspired by the ancient city straddling the East and West. Since its founding, the ensemble promotes the creation of new works incorporating musical elements of diverse musical traditions around the world; drawing from medieval manuscripts to a contemporary aesthetic, passing from Mediterranean Europe to Eastern traditions and New World Baroque. Underpinned by a spirit of research and creation, Constantinople has joined forces with leading international artists such as: Marco Beasley, Suzie LeBlanc, the Mandinka griot Ablaye Cissoko, the Greek ensemble En Chordais, the Belgian duo Belem, The Klezmatics, sarangi virtuoso Dhruba Ghosh, and Iranian kamancheh master Kayhan Kalhor. They are regularly invited to perform in international festivals and prestigious concert halls including: the Salle Pleyel (Paris), the Berliner Philharmonie, the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music (Morocco), the Rencontres musicales de Conques (France), the Aga Khan Museum (Toronto), the Cervantino Festival (Mexico) and the Festival de Carthage (Tunisia). Constantinople has 19 albums to its credit. Over the past fifteen years, Constantinople has created nearly 50 works and travelled to more than 240 cities in 54 countries.

Kiya Tabassian, director
In 1990, at age 14, Kiya Tabassian emigrated with his family to Quebec from his native Iran, bringing with him some initial musical training in Persian music. Determined to become a musician and composer, he continued his education in Persian music, studying with Reza Gassemi and Kayhan Kalhor. At the same time, he studied composition at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal with Gilles Tremblay. In 1998, he co-founded Constantinople with the idea of developing an ensemble for musical creation that draws from the heritage of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, of Europe, and of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Serving as its artistic director, Kiya has developed close to 40 programs with Constantinople. Numerous musical groups and institutions have called upon his talents as a composer, including the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and the European Broadcasting Union. He has also composed music for documentary and feature films, including Jabaroot and Voices of the Unheard. Since the summer of 2017, he has held the post of Associate Artist at Rencontres musicales de Conques festival in France. In 2017 he co-founded the Centre des musiciens du monde in Montreal. Kiya also sits on the Board of Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.
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