August 2011

I start this Newsletter on a very sad note. Josef Suk the great Czech violinist and violist died last month. He was known as the greatest living Czech musician, the great grandson of Dvorak and the grandson of Josef Suk the composer and violinist. For me he was one of the most open, friendly, interesting and charming people I have known. In 2007 and 2008 he was the Patron of Divertimenti in Prague, the highly successful string quartet festival Sasha Stepanova and I organised. This was based in the Mozart museum Villa Bertramka which unfortunately closed. Josef Suk and his delightful wife Marie attended all the concerts and parties and gave huge support in many ways. I was also associated with the International String Quartet Festival series from 1994 to 2005 and on several occasions Josef Suk played the Dvorak op 97 Quintet with quartets including the Prazak, Wihan and Kocian – truly memorable concerts with this great violist. I last heard and saw him play in May 2010 never dreaming it would be the last time. I feel I have lost not only my hero but also a very good friend. There are excellent obituaries in the London Guardian, Telegraph, Times and Independent who wrote, “Josef Suk was one of the world's great violinists, perhaps the supreme lyricist among the major virtuosos of the 20th century, and one of the kindest and most considerate of men.” It should also be remembered that he was also one of the greatest violists.

Corfu is still alive with music with two wonderful festivals last month. Highlights for me were the amazing performance of Dido and Aeneas with the famous Baroque conductor Stanley Ritchie in historic St George’s Church, the Arriaga Quartet from Brussels in the romantic Achilleon Palace and the legendary Vienna Chamber Orchestra in the excellent Ionian Academy. Zbynek Padourek violist of the Martinu Quartet, formerly Kocian Quartet, and his family were among the visitors this month. We had a very interesting talk about working together again in 2012.

Tuscany and Umbria - 1 to 13 September
A most interesting group of people – many amateur musicians and several listeners. It will be a busy time with twelve playing sessions with intensive coaching by Elvira and Alfia Bekova and Igor Polesitsky and extensive sightseeing in this enchanting part of Italy. Meals and parties will no doubt be very sociable occasions. At present there are only two rooms still available so if you are thinking of booking do make sure you do this as soon as possible.

2012 - our 30th Birthday
Do come and celebrate this memorable Anniversary year with us. 1982 we started in Chelsea, London and two years later extended to Vienna, Budapest and Eszterhaza; then Corfu, Paris. Normandy, Prague, Ireland, Israel, my home town Sydney, Asolo, Florence and two places in the Florentine Hills, then Bangkok and Chiang Mai, not forgetting the “Beethoven on Board” cruise in the Caribbean and last year the Rhine.

So many wonderful and interesting people, as well as fascinating places, have made the last thirty years so memorable. Some people have been coming on these Holidays for many years – Walter Otten from London and Lichenstein was with us the first year in Chelsea, London and will be joining us in Tuscany and Umbria in September, having been to many other Holidays in between. We have often said that I should write a book. So do please send me some of your memories of these Holidays and that will surely inspire me to start a collected history.

Patricia Hastings who has been my assistant on so many Holidays and I will be visiting Istanbul in January. Several people have expressed interest in Istanbul and we shall visit the venue I planned for our Chamber Music Holidays there in January. A return to Florence, one of our most popular venues is also in mind for the future.

The Rhine - provisionally 30 April to 8 May 2012
Details will be finalised by early September. We are planning an exciting new coaching series with the Martinu Quartet from Prague as well as fascinating sightseeing in this wonderful part of Germany.

Vienna – 21 to 29 August 2012
Will inckude the Aron Quartet’s Chamber Music Festival in Schloss Laudon; five concerts in this most beautiful moated Baroque castle which is a perfect setting for an atmospheric chamber music festival. We stay in the centre of Vienna, ideal for museum visits and sightseeing, chamber music playing with coaching, and an optional two night stay in Salzburg 29 to 31 August. Final details will be published in September. Those of you who were with us in Eszterhaza and Vienna in May/June 2009 will remember the wonderful private concert the Aron Quartet gave for us and also on several other occasions in earlier years.

Tuscany and Umbria 2012
Ddetails later in the year after we have finished our first Holiday Festival.

Corfu 2012 - dates to be finalised for either late June or late September.
Information about the coaching and concerts will be on the website in late October. As always we shall spend a day in nearby Albania to visit the amazing archaeological site Butrint. I am looking into a additional option of three days in north west Greece just opposite Corfu to visit the mind boggling Meteora then to the Zagori region with the largest gorge in the world and enchanting villages with traditional white stone houses and cobbled streets, an absolutely amazing place.

Once again, thank you all for your interest and support and please send some of the wonderful memories of the last thirty years. I would be grateful if you would forward this Newsletter to musical friends and do please continue to send me contacts with people who may be interested in joining us. I hope to see you in 2012 – or even in Italy in September! If you have written an e-mail to me which has not been answered please resend it.

All best wishes,
Vivienne Pittendrigh.

Previous Newsletters

March 2011
November 2010
October 2010
Spring 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
June 2009
May 2009
February 2009
December 2008
October 2008