“Up Close with Emily, Bruno, & Kit,” January 11

"Later that evening, at Davenport's Figge Art Museum, the 7:30 p.m. performance of Up Close with Emily, Bruno, & Kit will feature a stunning repertoire that boasts works by: Johann Sebastian Bach (selections from The Goldberg Variations transcribed Gjorgji Cincievski); ... Astor Piazzola ("Libertango" and "Oblivion"); Louis Sauter ("Les Noces de Chounette," third movement); Carlos Gardel ("Por una cabeza"); ... and Zequinha de Abreu ("Tico-tico").

Read the full article here.  See also the radio broadcast below.

The Other Danubes II

Maureen Buja tells the story of the Danube River in Music illustrated by works by different composers.

" ... As part of his work for violin, cello, and piano, Trois fleuves (3 Rivers), French composer Louis Sauter made the Danube the third of his rivers: La Seine, La Néva (in Russia), and then set Le Danube as a Hungarian dance, with a nostalgic melody in the middle."

Read and listen here. 

String quartet delivers a journey through time and space

Sue Rijsdijk reviews the concert given by Viridian String Quartet on 24 March at the Dotsure George Arts Theatre.

"...The Mozart was followed by the second movement of Beethoven's Pathetique sonata, arranged for the quartet by Louis Sauter.

 Here we needed more volume from the first violin who was being drowned by the accompaniment, although the balance improved as we went along."

Read the full article here.

Arthur Kaptainis reviews Sinfonia Toronto's 25th Season Opening Concert (21 October 2023)

"The program started with Regard de l'anniversaire XXV, a brief, amusing and substantially dissonant fantasy on Happy Birthday by Louis Sauter, a Frenchman inspired by Olivier Messiaen."

Read the full article here.

Anya Wassenberg  and Artistic Director Nurhan Arman Talk About Sinfonia Toronto, Past And Future

"... For the anniversary season, the idea is to include a celebratory note in each programme. There will be two world premieres on the programme, including Louis Sauter’s Regard de l’anniversaire XXV world premiere, written for the occasion.

Sauter also wrote a piece commemorating the orchestra’s 20th anniversary. “It’s actually based on Happy Birthday,” Arman explains. Sauter reworked the well known theme using the harmonies of Olivier Messiaen. “It’s going to be fun."

Read the full article here.

SINFONIA TORONTO
USHERING IN THE NEXT 25
by EVA STONE-BARNEY

"... In their opening concert, on Oct. 21, Sinfonia will perform four premières. French composer Louis Sauter has written Regard de l’anniversaire XXV especially for the occasion. Inspired by the harmonies of Messiaen, his piece offers a humorous, orchestral take on the classic Happy Birthday."

David Kettle of The Strad reviews Multiple Views from a Window published by Phasma Music and containing Sauter's Trois fleuves.

...offers an eye-opening journey through an eclectic array of composers’ concerns and interests

See more about this album here.

Atlanta Chamber Players close season performing lively music to a live audience

Review by Mark Gresham of the concert given on 16 May 2021 in Atlanta by the Atlanta Chamber Players.

" ... It was from Gershwin’s two piano version, not Grofé’s orchestrations, that mostly self-taught musician, composer and now retired engineer Louis Sauter created and arrangement for piano and string quintet in 2016. This is the version which was the featured closer to Sunday’s concert, performed by Pridgen as soloist with Kim and Krueger joined by Kenn Wagner, Catherine Lynn and Daniel Tosky as the string quintet."

Read the full article here.

Le Républicain de l’Essonne reports on the concert in Ballainvilliers which included Sauter's µMesse for three female voices and Lux æterna for soprano and piano. The performance of the first piece was dedicated to Paul Lawrence, late director of the Conservatoire de Ballainvilliers, the second was performed in memory of the composer’s mother, Lisette Sauter-Desgoutte 

About the annual Mozart Marathon

...

Teatro Baretti

Ore 20,45 Francesco Mazonetto, pf; Solisti dell'Orchestra d'archi "Ferruccio Busoni"; Leonardo Ricci e Diana Pellegrini, violini; Marco Gallina, viola; Stefano Aiolii, cello; Rondò K 382 (Transcrizione per pf et quartetto d'archi di Sauter)"

Report on the final concert of the Varignana Music Festival, featuring Sauter's arrangement of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, performed by Alexander Romanovsky and the String Quintet of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. They performed the work again in Bologna on July 18th.

Guido Krawinkel reports on Susanne Kessel's project 250 piano pieces for Beethoven, including Sauter's Tristan im Mondschein.

RTHK Radio 4 broadcast Sauter’s arrangement of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue recorded at the Greater Bay Area Concert Hall

Live broadcast of the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert in Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago. The concert included Sauter's Laissez-moi mes rêves for SATB choir and string quartet performed by the Grant Park Music Festival Apprentice Chorale and the Project Inclusion String and Vocal Quartets, directed by Christopher Bell.  More information here.

Watch a video of the performance.

Nurhan Arman is interviewed about the upcoming 25th Season Opening Concert of Sinfonia Toronto; watch the video here (in Armenian).

"... Yes, the first concert and all the concerts this year will always have a premiere. I invited seven international composers to write a short piece for each concert. The first concert will start with Regard de l'anniversaire XXV...

For the 25th anniversary of this year, the composer of this year is Louis Sauter. He is a Parisian composer. It is not the happy birthday we know. He is a very interesting person who wrote very modern harmonies from Olivier Messiaen."