The CSO’s Russian Winter Festival to Celebrate the Great Russian Composers January 8 & 9
Concerts Offer Two Different Programs Over Two Days
The CSO’s Russian Winter Festival, to be held January 8 and 9 at the Ohio Theatre, features two different Russian-themed programs over the two-day event, offering a broad taste of the finest works of the great Russian composers. Additionally, the CSO has partnered with The Ohio State University and the Columbus Museum of Art to enhance the Russian Winter Festival with Russian-focused offerings designed to immerse concert-goers across multiple disciplines.
MASTERWORKS 6a – MUSSORGSKY: PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION
Friday, January 8, 8pm
Ohio Theatre
Rossen Milanov, conductor
Program:
Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture
Tchaikovsky: Suite from Swan Lake
Stravinsky: Circus Polka
Mussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition
The first program of this two-part celebration offers the crème de la crème of Russia’s countless treasures including the elegant melodies of Tchaikovsky’s most beloved ballet, the riveting celebrations of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Overture, and the vivid gallery of sketches that make up Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
MASTERWORKS 6b – RACHMANINOFF: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3
Saturday, January 9, 8pm
Ohio Theatre
Rossen Milanov, conductor
Natasha Paremski, piano
Program:
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concert No. 3 in D Minor
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D Minor
The second program of the Russian Winter Festival boasts two monumental scores—Rachmaninoff’s virtuosic and expansive Piano Concerto No. 3 (featured in the Oscar-winning movie Shine), and Shostakovich’s mighty Fifth Symphony, the bold piece in which he defied the brutal Soviet government at the risk of his life.
Tickets for the Russian Winter Festival start at $10 and can be purchased at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, please call (614) 228-8600 or (800) 745-3000. The CAPA Ticket Center will also be open two hours prior to each performance. Young people between the ages of 13-25 may purchase $5 All Access tickets while available. For more information, visit www.GoFor5.com.
The 2015-16 Masterworks Series is made possible through the generous support of season sponsor Anne Melvin.
ADDITIONAL COMPLEMENTS TO THE RUSSIAN WINTER FESTIVAL
Prelude – Patrons are invited to join Christopher Purdy in the theatre at 7pm for a 30-minute, pre-concert discussion about the works to be performed.
Postlude – After the Friday performance only, patrons are invited to join the musicians of the CSO in the Ohio Theatre’s Galbreath Pavilion for a post-concert vodka tasting.
Subject Matter – As part of the Russian Winter Festival, The Ohio State University will host a free lecture, “Russia and the Emergence of Its Cultural Elite in the Late 19th Century,” on Tuesday, January 5, at 4:30pm. Given by Helena Goscilo, OSU Professor of Slavic and Eastern European Languages and Literatures, the lecture will be held at OSU’s Lawrence and Isabel Barnett Center for Integrated Arts and Enterprise (1813 N. High St.).
Mozart to Matisse – In a new partnership with the Columbus Museum of Art, a series of afternoon lectures will pair chamber music performances by CSO musicians with art works from the CMA art collection. Focusing on specific periods which coincide with upcoming CSO repertoire, the Mozart to Matisse presentation for the Russian Winter Festival will be “Chagall and the Great Russian Composers.” The program will explore the artwork of Russian modernist artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985), and compare its common themes and aesthetic influences with the music of the great Russian composers. Wednesday, January 6, 2pm, Cardinal Health Auditorium of the Columbus Museum of Art (480 E. Broad St.).
About CSO Music Director Rossen Milanov
Respected and admired by audiences and musicians alike, Rossen Milanov is the new Music Director of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and begins his tenure with transformative and creative ideas for new programming and expanding the orchestra’s reach to new audiences.
Recently completing his first season with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra to enthusiastic acclaim, Milanov is also the Music Director of the Princeton Symphony and of the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias (OSPA) in Spain. During the 2015-16 season, he is dedicating the Princeton concert season to the creativity of women, showcasing the compositions of some of the most respected emerging female composers, such as Anna Clyne, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snyder. With OSPA, he celebrates the orchestra’s 25th anniversary with 25 new works and premiere performances in Spain. He will also be conducting a new production of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” at the Zurich Opera.
Milanov studied conducting at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, where he received the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship.
About guest pianist Natasha Paremski
With her consistently striking and dynamic performances, pianist Natasha Paremski reveals astounding virtuosity and voracious interpretive abilities. She continues to generate excitement from all corners as she wins over audiences with her musical sensibility and flawless technique. Paremski was awarded several very prestigious artist prizes at a very young age, including the 2006 Gilmore Young Artists Prize (at the age of 18), the 2007 Prix Montblanc, and Switzerland’s Orpheum Stiftung Prize. In 2010, she was awarded the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year. Her first recital album was released in 2011 and it debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart. In 2012, she recorded Tchaikovsky’s first concerto and Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Rhapsody with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Fabien Gabel on the orchestra’s label. www.NatashaParemski.com
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The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, education excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The CSO also appreciates the support of the Greater Columbus Arts Council, supporting the city’s artists and arts organizations since 1973, and the Sayre Charitable (Huntington), Martha G. Staub, Kenneth L. Coe, and Jack Barrow funds of The Columbus Foundation, assisting donors and others in strengthening our community for the benefit of all its citizens.
About the Columbus Symphony Orchestra
Founded in 1951, the Columbus Symphony is the only full-time, professional symphony in central Ohio. Through an array of innovative artistic, educational, and community outreach programming, the Columbus Symphony is reaching an expanding, more diverse audience each year. This season, the Columbus Symphony will share classical music with more than 200,000 people in central Ohio through concerts, radio broadcasts, and special programming. For more information, visit www.columbussymphony.com.
