Review by Ginevra House

A rare treat came to Gairloch on 22 April with the Chamber Philharmonic Europe. With a modest

seven-piece ensemble, the intimate sound recalled the era when chamber music was literally played in

chambers of Europe’s nobility. It was also a trip down memory lane for me, having played many of

those pieces in school chamber orchestra.

Vivaldi’s delicate Concerto I Parigi No.1 (RV157) opened the show, followed by Albinoni’s ‘San

Marco’ trumpet concerto. Soloist Cyrill Gussaroff gave an elegant performance, with the final Allegro

tripping lightly off his tongue. Bach’s Violin Concerto in A Minor (BWV1041) followed, with leader

Andrej Sur’s solo in the Andante particularly captivating, raising sighs of appreciation and a cheeky

mid-concerto round of applause from the audience before the third movement!

Mozart’s Divertimento in D (K136) opened the second half, with players blatting the tune between

them like kittens with a ball of wool. Delius’s two tender Aquarelles drew us into a different world,

slipping chromatically through muted colours in the mist. In honour of his 100th birthday, Holst’s St

Paul’s Suite was saved for a final treat, careening from the playful to the soulful to the sheer joyous.

Cyrill Gussaroff (trumpet) was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russia where he received his first trumpet lesson from the famous trumpet player Professor V.Margolin, in whose class he graduated from the Saint-Petersburg Conservatoire with distinction in 2002. He continued his education at the Conservatoires of Hanover and Essen, where he was taught by such influential people as Professor S.Goehtel and Prof. U.Koeller. In his career Mr. Gussaroff has gained awards at international competitions including the International Competition Citta di Porcia, the Dokshitzer Competition Vilnius, the Competition of Calvia Mallorca and the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire International Competition, Moscow. He started his career as a trumpet soloist at the Staatskapella Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg. At present he is a soloist with the Lower Rhine Symphony Orchestra and is an artist of the Orchestra of the Bayreuth Festival. In addition, Cyrill Gussaroff has worked with seceral different orchestras such as the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bochum Symphonie, the Camerata Budapest, the Chamber Philharmonic Europe and the Philharmonika Venezia.

Andrej Sur (Violin) was born in 1959 in Perwouralsk (Russia) in a musician's family. From the 7th year he received at the state music school. He studied violin in the conservatoire in Yekaterinburg under Professor L. Mirchin. He was as leader and soloist of the orchestra (Ural State Symphony Orchestra), chamber musicians and pedagog for violin in Ural Academie of Music (Yekaterinburg, Russia). Since 1994 lives in Berlin, is a leader of the symphony orchestra Berlin, the member of the Berliner Symphoniker. Works as a soloist and chamber musician.