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July 23, 2010 Candide, Christoph Eschenbach and the CSO at Ravinia Location: Ravinia Festival, Chicago Program: Bernstein Candide and Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 Making my 5th return to the Ravinia Festival, the Chicago Symphony and I celebrate Christoph Eschenbach's 70th birthday as he plays Mozart's piano concerto No. 23, K. 488. Then the party starts with a concert version of Bernstein's Candide, the work I enjoyed conducting so much at la Scala and Theatre du Chatelet, only this time where the music speaks for itself! Happy Birthday Maestro!
September 1, 2010 Kaddish and Kadisz Location: All Saints Church, Warsaw Program: Bernstein Symphony 3, Kaddish/ Penderecki, Kadisz Bernstein's 3rd Symphony has been the most meaningful experience during my career. To have contirbuted to Sam Pisar's life story has been a tremendous honor, and our musical collaboration has taken us around the world, from Chicago to London to Luzern to Jerusalem. In June, 2011, we will make my debut with the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, which Bernstein himself inaugurated. But before that, this September, we will present this symbiotic Kaddish in Sam's homeland, and in its capital of Warsaw. I am eternally grateful to the Penderecki's for their continued patrongage and invitation, and even more important, that Penderecki himself has paired the Bernstein Kaddish with his own Kadisz. With the famous Sinfonia Varsovia, Podlaska Opera and Philharmonic Choir, soprano extraordinaire, Kelley Nassief, and, of course, Sam Pisar as narrator, this concert, to be filmed for Polish TV, will be yet another milestone in our ongoing journey.
September, 16 2010 Hollywood in Vienna Film Music Gala- A Tribute to Howard Shore Location: Konzerthaus, Vienna Program: works by Shore, Korngold, Steiner, Rosza, Williams, Horner and more..... I look so forward to my second season as Music Director of the red carpet film music gala, Hollywood in Vienna, which is an experience unlike no other. With the always flexible and fantastic Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra of the ORF, this year will be a star studded affair, with Howard Shore receiving the Max Steiner Film Music Prize, and a diverse range of film music works, ranging from Robin Hood to Avatar to Lord of the Rings and more, in a theme around the great adventure. Come be a part of our event or find our more information at www.hollywoodinvienna.com
September 23, 2010 (Brussels) - September 24, 2010 (Liège) Mahler's other symphony: Das Lied von der Erde Location: Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts/Salle Philharmonique, Liège, Program: Mahler Das Lied von der Erde, Schumann Konzertstück, Wagner Siegfried Idyll Finally, I return to the Orchestre Philharmonique du Liège Wallonie-Bruxelles in a program that would make any conductor envious. Three extremely important pieces of repertoire, Schumann's Konzerstück for 4 horns carried on the tradition of the Sinfonia Concertante; Wagner's chamber work he composed while at Trisbchen in Luzern, a work very dear to me; and finally, Mahler's other symphony, who my mentor Bernstein regarded as his greatest: the mystical and ethereal Songs of the Earth. With Anna Larsson, mezzo soprano and Stephen Gould tenor, this work begins my season (as every other conductor) of Mahler in his anniversary year. Before I face the acceptance of his 9th Symphony and the affirmation of life in his 6th later this season, it is the farewell into the eternal that shall begin my own exploration. And I am grateful to the OPL for inviting me to collaborate on such a meaningful work and to make my debut in Brussels. Merci!
October 9-10, 2010 (Angers) - October 12-13, 2010 (Nantes) Amadeus with l'Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire Location: Centre du Congrés: Angers/Nantes Program: Works by Mozart in an adaptation of Peter Shaffer's "Amadeus" Probably no other film portrays classical music and the life of a composer better than does "Amadeus." in 1998, during my tenure in Houston as Founder and Artistic Director of OrchestraX, we adapted the film to be performed live; that is, the text from the play by Peter Shaffer, with actors in an interactive environment, and the music of Mozart as it relates to the dialogue. I have subsequently presented this adaptation in Lucerne, Krakow and now it makes its French premiere. I am particularly pleased to present the soprano with whom we performed in Lucerne, Theodora Gheorghiu, who is now singing at the Staatsoper in Vienne; the great french actors Nicolas Moreau and Noèmie Koecher as Mozart and Constanze; and as Salieri, a legend himself, the violinist and my friend, Ivry Gitlis.
November 2, 2010 (Angers) & November 4, 2010, (Nantes) Axelrod and the ONPL: Schubert's Trout Quintet Location: Centre du Congrés, Angers and Nantes Program: Schubert Trout Quintet, Schoenberg Verklaerte Nacht, Strauss sextet to Capriccio This is a concert of Viennese delicacies. One should savor the harmonies and color, as one would savor taste on the palate of the tongue. Schubert began the romantic adventure in Vienna, his "trout" being the evocation of nature, in variation form taken from his "Die Forelle" Lieder. I am honored to join my fellow colleagues on piano. Schoenberg's chamber masterpiece, of a highly romantic nature, confirms his place as one of the great composers, irrespective of the dodecaphony he discovered later in his life. Another composer famous in Vienne, though originally from Germany, Richard Strauss, made the high romantic tone poem his signature style, and through the sextet overture to Capriccio, his last opera, Strauss poses the question that by definition is a conversation: What is more important, words or music? Strauss, the composer, naturally answers for himself: The music without any doubt!
November 09/10 (Nantes), 2010 - November 12/14, 2010 (Angers) le Nouvel ONPL: A New Era, A New World Location: Centre du Congrés, Nantes and Angers Program: Dvorak New World Symphony, Prokofiev Piano Concerto 3, Kernis New Era Dance And so a new era begins! The New Era Dance by Aaron Jay Kernis, a significant America composer, is a tone poem of the ambience one discovers in New York City, that place most representative of my home country and in which my mentor, Leonard Bernstein, best depicts in his own music. Indeed, from traffic to sirens to the jazziness, one hears echos of Bernstein's West Side Story. Most of all, the orchestra chants from a whisper to a scream, "New Era," to bring the listener into the energy of an optimistic America. That America, and New York, played an important role in the life of Dvorak for his 9th Symphony. Though the melodies are mainly Czech folk songs, there are suggestions of African American spirituals and Native American Indian themes. As Dvorak became Director of the New York National Conservatory of Music in 1892, the New World Symphony, also premiered in 1893 by the New York Philharmonic, the pairing of this Symphony dedicated to the sound of America and Kernis' New York portrait makes logical sense. So what about Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3? Really nothing, except that it was premiered in 1921 in another great American City, Chicago. But it is one of my favorites, and featured wonderfully in the movie, "The Competition."
November 21/26, 2010 (Angers) - November 22/23, 2010 (Nantes) Do You Love Brahms? Location: Centre du Congrés Nantes/Angers Program: Brahms Symphony 4, Webern Passacaille, Chausson Poème, Ravel Tzigane The majestic 4th Symphony of Brahms, my personal favorite of his, is noted for its passicaglia 4th movement. This variations on a theme synthesizes all of Brahm's characteristic: formal structure, rhythmic innovation, soaring melodies and passionate romance, even if reserved in an understated way. So to love Brahms, as the title suggests in the romantic encounter depicted in the movie, it is the original way in which Brahms inherits the drama of Beethoven and points towards a romantic future that we can appreciate its significance. That future, as heard in the high romantic passicaglia of Webern, perhaps owes more to the music of Wagner, but the idea of structure and form is essential to the understanding and evolution of the early works of these 2nd Viennese school composers, of which Berg and Schonberg along with Webern belong. There is poetry and an inner beauty to the mathematics of music. Perhaps the Poeme of Chausson and the Tzigane of Ravel are appropriate ways to portray that beauty, even if it is contained. Wild Beauty: Two words to describe the art of Rachel Kolly d'Alba, making her debut with the ONPL.
December 3/5, 2010 (Angers)-December 7/9, 2010 (Nantes) A River Runs Through It Location: Centre du Congrés Nantes/Angers Program: Schumann Symphony 3 "Rhénane", Beethoven Triple Concerto, Barber Adagio for Strings Three's company is an expression in English. Beethoven found the trio as chamber ensemble the perfect method for concerto form. This work is one I hold very dear, not only because of the music itself, but because it is associated with the legendary Beaux Arts Trio, the trio with whom Ive performed the work so often, even for their final concert we made together in Lucerne. The 3rd Symphony of Schumann, perhaps his most underrated symphony, is a joyful depiction of the landscape in Germany along the Rhine that Schumann knew so well, as do I. Having conducted the same Dusseldorf Symphony of which he was Music Director in 1850, as my first concert in Germany in 2000, the "Rhenane," is an important work in my musical development both for its music and its historical association. More info (external link)
December 14, 2010 - December 19, 2010 La Verdi e il Spirito Romantico Location: Auditorium di Milano Fondazione Cariplo, Milano Program: Schumann Symphony 3, Tchaikovsky Symphony 5 The Orchestra Sinfonica MIlano di G. Verdi, known affectionately and historically as La Verdi, has become one of my closest friends and collaborators. Every concert we make is an exhilirating experience. This time, we dive deep into the romantic spirit, showing the genius of Schumann and the influence he had on perhaps the greatest melodicist of his age, Tchaikovsky, with his 5th Symphony. Of course, one can never deny the priority of Verdi as the greatest tunemaster ever, certainly not in Milano! Viva laVerdi!
December 31, 2010 (Nantes), January 1, 2011 (Angers) the Last Tango in the Pays de la Loire Location: Centre du Congrés Nantes/Angers Program: Piazzolla Acongagua/Tres Tangos, Dorman Frozen in Time, Abe Prism Rhapsody and more This concert is an encore program and chance to work again with the phenomenon that is Martin Grubinger. This multi-percussionist is the greatest musician to come from Salzburg, since, well, Mozart. Together we premiered many percussion concerti in the Musikverein during the 2007 Mozart year, and performed together in Lübeck during the Schleswig Holstein Festival and in Luzern at the KKL. This time we make not only tango but play again two concerti Martin and I enjoy so much: Dorman's Frozen in Time and Abe's Prism Rhapsody. This is rhapsodic, rhythmic music and what better way to celebrate the new year than to dance the night away under the stars!
February 06/10, 2011 (Angers) - February 8/9, 2011 (Nantes) 1001 Nights Location: Centre du Congrés, Nantes/Angers Program: Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherezade, Mozart Overture to the Abduction from the Seraglia, Say 1001 Nights in a Harem Violin Concerto This concept of respect and reconciliation between cultures through music is also expressed through my championing of the music and talent of Fazil Say. My great friend from Turkey is known throughout the world for his piano virtuosity. As a composer he is equally prolific, his 1001 Nights in a Harem, which I premiered and recorded in Lucerne with the incredible Patricia Koptchinskaïa, is one of the most performed works around the world since its creation. Naturally, Mozart's Overture to his opera, which is set in a Sultan's harem in Istanbul, and Rimsky-Korakov's orchestral tone poem of Sheherazade, compliment the exotic and erotic flavor of the orient! |
