Celebrity Series of Boston
Gary Dunning, President and Executive Director
Presents
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly, conductor
Nikolaj Znaider, violin soloist
Friday, November 7, 2014, 8pm — Symphony Hall
(Boston) Celebrity Series of Boston will present Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra with conductor Riccardo Chailly, and violin soloist Nikolaj Znaider on Friday, November 7, 2014 at 8pm at Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA. This performance is sponsored by Eleanor and Frank Pao.
Tickets start at $45 and are available online at www.celebrityseries.org, by calling CelebrityCharge at (617) 482-6661 Monday-Friday 10:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m., or at the Symphony Hall Box Office, 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston.
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra made its Celebrity Series debut in 1974; this is their ninth performance with Celebrity Series. The orchestra most recently appeared in 2010. Riccardo Chailly made his Celebrity Series debut conducting the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1985. He has since appeared with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1991, 1995, and 1999, and with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 2007 and 2010. Nikolaj Znaider made his Celebrity Series debut in 2003 as violin soloist with Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
The performance is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the fabled Peaceful Revolution of October 9, 1989. The Revolution – the culmination of many weeks of “Monday Demonstrations” in Leipzig – ultimately led to the fall of the Berlin Wall one month later on November 9, 1989. In addition, the tour marks 40 years of regular guest appearances of the Gewandhausorchester in the United States. Celebrity Series presented the Boston debut of the Gewandhausorchester in 1974 as part of their inaugural United States tour.
The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is the oldest civic concert orchestra in the world. The orchestra had its origins in the concert society called the “Grand Concert” founded by 16 merchants in 1743. After three decades in the Three Swans Inn in Leipzig’s Brühl neighborhood, increasing audience interest made it necessary to find a new home. In 1781 the orchestra moved into a 500-seat hall in the assembly hall of the cloth traders, the Gewandhaus (“Garment House”). In 1884, the orchestra moved into a new concert hall that had been built through the sale of endowment shares, which was later destroyed during the air raids of 1944. In 1981, a new Gewandhaus was opened on Augustusplatz.
Riccardo Chailly studied at the conservatories in Milan and Perugia and received specialized training in conducting from Franco Ferrara in Siena. At the age of 20, Chailly became assistant conductor to Claudio Abbado at Milan’s La Scala. He made his opera debut there in 1978 and was soon in great demand at the world’s leading opera houses and concert halls.
From 1982 to 1989 Chailly was principal conductor of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and from 1986 to 1993 held the post of music director at the Teatro Comunale, Bologna. He was appointed chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam in 1986 and became its conductor emeritus in 2002. From 1999 to 2005, he was music director of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi. He became chief conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in September 2005 and general music director at the Leipzig Opera. In June 2013 the city of Leipzig extended his contract with the Gewandhaus Orchestra to 2020. Chailly’s deep-rooted connections to La Scala were reinforced in December 2013 when the company announced his appointment as its next music director. He will assume the post in January 2017 for an initial period of five years; meanwhile, he is set to become principal conductor at La Scala for a two-year term in January 2015.
Riccardo Chailly has been an exclusive Decca artist for over three decades. His recorded repertoire ranges from the music of Bach and the great classical symphonic and operatic works to contemporary compositions. His Gewandhaus discography includes the Brahms Piano Concertos with Nelson Freire, Violin Concertos by Mendelssohn and Bruch with Janine Jansen, Schumann’s Symphonies (in their orchestral revision by Mahler) and Mendelssohn Discoveries. In 2010 Decca released three albums of Bach masterworks recorded at the Leipzig Gewandhaus: the Brandenburg Concertos, the St Matthew Passion and the Christmas Oratorio; the composer’s complete Keyboard Concertos were issued the following year.
Two other 2011 releases also attracted critical acclaim: an album of Gershwin’s works with pianist Stefano Bollani and Beethoven’s nine symphonies with the Gewandhaus Orchestra. In 2013 Chailly and the Filarmonica della Scala marked the bicentenary of Verdi’s birth with an album of the composer’s Overtures and Preludes. He also recorded the complete Brahms Symphonies and the Violin Concerto with the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Leonidas Kavakos. Chailly’s latest recording highlights the Gewandhaus Orchestra’s historic connections to the music of Felix Mendelssohn. The new album, released in May 2014, comprises the composer’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 and incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Nikolaj Znaider is not only celebrated as one of the foremost violinists of today, but is fast becoming one of the most versatile artists of his generation uniting his talents as soloist, conductor and chamber musician. Nikolaj Znaider was invited by Valery Gergiev to become Principal Guest Conductor of the Mariinsky Orchestra in St. Petersburg where this season he will conduct opera productions in addition to symphonic concerts. Last season he made his conducting debut with the Concertgebouw Orkest and Orchestra of Santa Cecilia Rome.
Znaider was Artist in Residence with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, where he conducted two symphonic programs, and appeared in recital and concert. In the 11/12 season Znaider appeared as Artist in Residence with the Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra, and last season with the London Symphony Orchestra, playing concerti and conducting large-scale symphonic programs in London and abroad.
His latest recording for RCA RED SEAL is the Elgar Violin Concerto with the late Sir Colin Davis and the Dresden Staatskapelle. His award winning recordings of the Brahms and Korngold Violin Concerti with the Vienna Philharmonic and Valery Gergiev, the Beethoven and Mendelssohn Concerti with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic and Prokofiev 2 and Glazunov Concerti with Mariss Jansons and the Bayerische Rundfunk have been greeted with great critical acclaim, as was his release of the complete works for violin and piano of Johannes Brahms with Yefim Bronfman. For EMI Classics he has recorded the Mozart Piano Trios with Daniel Barenboim and the Nielsen and Bruch Concertos with the London Philharmonic.
Znaider is passionate about the education of musical talent and was for ten years Founder and Artistic Director of the Nordic Music Academy, an annual music summer school. Nikolaj Znaider plays the “Kreisler” Guarnerius “del Gesu” 1741 on extended loan to him by The Royal Danish Theater through the generosity of the VELUX FOUNDATIONS and the Knud Højgaard Foundation.
Program:
MENDELSSOHN
The Hebrides (Overture)
BEETHOVEN
Violin Concerto
MENDELSSOHN
Symphony No. 5, “Reformation”
About Celebrity Series of Boston
Celebrity Series of Boston was founded in 1938 by pianist and impresario Aaron Richmond. Over the course of its 76-year history, Celebrity Series has presented an array of the world’s greatest performing artists, including Sergei Rachmaninoff, Arturo Toscanini, Ignace Paderewski, Artur Rubenstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould, Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, Isaac Stern, Andrés Segovia, Kirsten Flagstad, Marian Anderson, Luciano Pavarotti, Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, Martha Graham, Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mstislav Rostropovich, and the New York City Opera Company.
The Celebrity Series has been bringing the very best performers–from orchestras and chamber ensembles, vocal and piano music, to dance companies, jazz, and more–to Boston’s major concert halls for 76 years. The Celebrity Series of Boston believes in the power of excellence and innovation in the performing arts to enrich life experiences, transform lives and build better communities. Through its education initiatives, the Celebrity Series seeks to build a community of Greater Boston where the performing arts are a valued, lifelong, shared experience–on stages, in schools, at home– everywhere. For more information on Celebrity Series of Boston, call (617) 482-2595 or visit us online at www.celebrityseries.org.
The Celebrity Series of Boston, Inc. receives generous support from Amy & Joshua Boger; Donna & Mike Egan; Gabor Garai & Susan Pravda; David & Harriet Griesinger; Paul L. King; The Little Family Foundation; Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation; Eleanor & Frank Pao; The John S. and Cynthia Reed Foundation; Sanjay & Sangeeta Verma; Nancy Richmond Winsten; Charlesbank Capital Partners LLC; First Republic Bank; Foley & Lardner; Massachusetts Cultural Council;The Peabody Foundation; PTC; Tufts Health Plan; The D.L. Saunders Real Estate & Hotel Investment Group, AMO; Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
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