Saturday, September 20
Croatian National Theatre in Varaždin, Great Concert Hall, 8.00 p.m.

The Concert of the Patrons Club of the Varaždin Baroque Evenings

Varaždin Chamber Orchestra
Philippe Grisvard, harpsichord solo and artistic leadership

Jean-Marie Leclair 
Ouverture from the opera Scylla et Glaucus 

Christoph Nichelmann 
Concerto for harpsichord in d minor, D-B M. TH 169
Allegro
Adagio sempre piano
Presto

Amando Ivančić  
Symphony nr. 7 in G major
Allegro
Andante
Tempo di Menuetto
Allegro

Simon Leduc 
Trio for orchestra op. 2 nr. 2 in g minor 
Maestoso con moto giusto
Cantabile posato con espressione
Presto risoluto

Ernst Wilhelm Wolf 
Concerto for harpsichord in B-flat major 
Allegro
Adagio
Allegro moderato

Founded in 1994, the Varaždin Chamber Orchestra continues the tradition of chamber and orchestral music-making that flourished in Varaždin during the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to its regular season of five concerts, the Orchestra is a frequent participant in the Varaždin Baroque Evenings and performs across Croatia, with guest appearances in Slovenia, Germany, Austria, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Orchestra has collaborated with many distinguished conductors (Pavle Dešpalj, Milan Horvat, Kazushi Ono, Marko Letonja, Vjekoslav Šutej, Uroš Lajovic, Vladimir Kranjčević, Mladen Tarbuk, Ivo Lipanović, Zoran Juranić, Ivan Repušić) and renowned soloists (Ruža Pospiš-Baldani, Dubravka Tomšič-Srebotnjak, Dunja Vejzović, Višnja Mažuran, Monika Leskovar, Karmen Pečar, Renata Pokupić, Radovan Vlatković, David Geringas, Valter Dešpalj, Dora Schwarzberg, Branimir Slokar, Peter Soave, Stanko Arnold, Ištvan Römer, Lovro Pogorelić, Božo Paradžik, Inva Mula, among others). Alongside its permanent concertmaster (Ivana Penić Defar), the Orchestra often engages guest concertmasters such as Leon Spierer, Catherine Mackintosh, Taras Pečeny, Tamara Smirnova, Aleksandar Ivić, Boro Martinić, Mario Korunić, Latica Honda-Rosenberg, Stefan Milenkovich, and Roman Simović. The Orchestra is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Ivan Lukačić and Jurica Murai prizes of the Varaždin Baroque Evenings, the Milka Trnina Award of the Croatian Association of Musical Artists (HDGU), the Plaque of the City of Varaždin, the Judita Award of the Split Summer Festival, and the Orlando Award of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival.

Philippe Grisvard is one of today’s leading leading experts in historical keyboard instruments. Born in Nancy in 1980, he first studied piano and oboe. His growing interest in Early Music led him to take harpsichord lessons with Anne-Catherine Bücher, followed by studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, where he trained in harpsichord and basso continuo with Jesper B. Christensen and fortepiano with Edoardo Torbianelli. Following his studies, he collaborated with a number of ensembles including L’Achéron, La Fenice, Scherzi Musicali and Les Ombres. Invited by period orchestras (Le Concert d'Astrée, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and Freiburger Barockorchester, among others) he regularly collaborates with conductors such as Emmanuelle Haïm, René Jacobs and Sir Simon Rattle and participated in opera productions at the Paris Opera, Staatsoper Berlin, Opéra de Dijon and Opéra de Lille. Grisvard is the principal harpsichordist of Ensemble Diderot. He participated in more than 60 recordings for labels such as Ricercar, Virgin, harmonia mundi, Eloquentia, Accent, Linn records and Audax. In his solo albums for Audax Records (works by G.F. Handel C.F.C. Fasch) he presents the fruits of his musicological research.