Charleston Symphony Masterworks Featuring Orion Weiss (Piano) and Robert deMaine (Cello)
February 16, 2011
CHARLESTON, SC – February 14, 2011 – The Charleston Symphony Orchestra (CSO) completes its 75th Anniversary Masterworks season with exciting performances featuring two of the most sought after guest soloists today. Delighting the Charleston audience will be Orion Weiss performing Mozart’s beautiful Piano Concerto No. 25 and Robert deMaine performing Dvorak’s moving Concerto for Cello in two separate performances with the CSO in February and March.
We are so excited to have these two extremely talented and very hot performers join us in Charleston this year, said CSO Artistic Advisor, Yuriy Bekker, In addition, each performance will be led by an extremely gifted and up and coming conductor in today’s classical music scene. These glorious works include Schubert’s The Great Symphony No. 9 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, as well as the piano and cello concertos featuring our guest soloists.
On February 26, 2011, led by Kansas City Symphony’s associate conductor Maestro Steven Jarvi, the CSO will perform Beethoven’s Overture to Creatures of Prometheus, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 and Schubert’s Great Symphony No. 9. The evening will celebrate the Bold Voices of Vienna and feature pianist extraordinaire, Orion Weiss.
The New York Times music critic, Anthony Tommasini, ranked Schubert the fourth greatest composer after Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. The concerts second half will feature the Symphony No. 9 in C major, known as The Great is the final symphony completed by Franz Schubert. Nicknamed The Great C major originally to distinguish it from his Symphony No. 6, the Little C major, the subtitle is usually now taken as a reference to the symphony’s majesty. Often considered Schubert’s finest piece for orchestra, the Great C-Major Symphony is also one of the composer’s most innovative pieces.
The Bold Voices of Vienna Masterworks concert will be held on Saturday, February 26, 2011, at 8 pm at the Gaillard Auditorium.
On March 10, 2011, led by Maestro Bohuslav Rattay (pictured left) of the Muncie Symphony Orchestra and Lake Charles (LA) Symphony, the CSO will perform Slavic Soul opening with the moving Dvorak’s Concerto for Cello featuring Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Cellist, Robert deMaine. The evening will close with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. This symphonic work has become a staple of the orchestral repertoire and remains one of the most frequently performed symphonies of the late 19th century.
It is recognized by many as one of the composer’s most evocative and successful scores, commented Dr. William Gudger of the College of Charleston in his program notes for the performance.
The Slavic Soul Masterworks concert will be held on Thursday, March 10, 2011, at 8 pm at the Gaillard Auditorium.
Video blogs hosted by our guest conductors and artists, are posted on CharlestonSymphony.com expanding more on the performances.
In addition, the Pre-Concert Conversations hosted by Dr. William Gudger (College of Charleston) have returned for both the February 26th and March 10th performances at 7 pm at the Gaillard. Both Maestro Jarvi and Maestro Rattay will join the conversations as well as CSO musicians to help explain the performance in greater detail. All Masterworks ticket holders are welcome.
Tickets for both performances range from $20 – $65 and student tickets are $10. Tickets are available at www.CharlestonSymphony.com, the Gaillard Auditorium Box Office, Ticketmaster outlets or by calling 1-800-982-2787.
February 26, 2011 – CSO Masterworks – Bold Voices of Vienna
Guest Conductor, Steven Jarvi
Piano, Orion Weiss
Overture to Creatures of Prometheus, Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 25, Mozart (Orion Weiss)
Symphony No. 9 The Great, Schubert
About Orion Weiss:
Recently named Young Artist of the Year by the Classical Music Recording Foundation, Cleveland Institute of Music and Julliard School graduate, pianist Orion Weiss (pictured left – credit to Leslie van Stelten) performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (CSO) in its second Masterworks performance this season.
In addition to releasing his piano recital album of Dvorak, Prokofiev and Bartok during the current season, he will also be featured in a recording project of the complete Gershwin works for piano and orchestra with the Buffalo Philharmonic and JoAnn Falletta, and will perform with numerous other orchestras including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Slovenian Philharmonic.
He tours the US and world performing with such orchestras as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Symphony, among others. Mr. Weiss’s impressive list of awards includes the Gilmore Young Artist Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Gina Bachauer Scholarship at the Julliard School and the Mieczyslaw Munz Scholarship.
In February of 1999, Mr. Weiss made his Cleveland Orchestra debut performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. In March 1999, with less than 24 hours’ notice, Mr. Weiss stepped in to replace André Watts for a performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He was immediately invited to return to the Orchestra for a performance of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto in October 1999.
A native of Lyndhurst, OH, he attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in 1999. In 2004, he graduated from the Julliard School, where he studied with Emanuel Ax.
Called commanding and compelling by NY City’s Time Out, Orion will be sure to bring the beautiful sounds of Mozart’s piano concerto.
The gods of music must be smiling upon Orion Weiss. Here was playing of inspired virtuosity, but with bountiful thought behind the technical strength. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH)
Weiss’ playing is at once sensitive and technically dazzling and he manages to elicit an ethereal quality at just the right moments, for just the right amount of time. The result is a bewitching sense of yearning and – above all – passion. Daily Camera (Boulder, Co)
About Maestro Steven Jarvi:
Complementing the piano concerto, guest conductor Steven Jarvi, associate conductor at Kansas City Symphony and music director of Winter Opera Saint Louis, will lead the CSO in Beethoven’s Overture to Creatures of Prometheus and Schubert’s Symphony No. 7 or otherwise known as The Great.
Described as an eloquent and decisive conductor by the Wall Street Journal and praised for his uncommonly expressive and detailed performances by the Miami Herald, Steven Jarvi is the Music Director of Winter Opera Saint Louis and the Associate Conductor of the Kansas City Symphony where he leads over 25 performances a year. Mr. Jarvi previously served as the Conducting Fellow with Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony in Miami Beach and as an Associate Conductor for the New York City Opera. A former Tanglewood Fellow, Steven studied with James Levine and Kurt Masur and was also the first conductor ever invited to be a member of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at the Kennedy Center’s Washington National Opera, a position he was personally selected for by Plácido Domingo. Upcoming engagements include the Rochester Philharmonic and a Virginia Opera production of Phillip Glass’ Orphée.
Thursday, March 10, 2011 – CSO Masterworks – Slavic Soul
Guest Conductor, Bohuslav Rattay
Cello, Robert deMaine
Concerto for Cello, Dvořák
Symphony No. 4, Tchaikovsky
About Robert deMaine:
Praised by The New York Times as An artist who makes one hang on every note, American virtuoso cellist Robert deMaine has distinguished himself as one of the finest and versatile musicians of his generation, having performed worldwide to critical acclaim from Carnegie Hall to the Teatro Colon.
A first-prizewinner in many national and international competitions, Mr. deMaine became, in 1990, the first cellist ever to win the Grand Prize at San Francisco’s Irving M. Klein International Competition for Strings. As a concerto soloist, he has collaborated with conductors Neeme Jarvi, Joseph Silverstein, Peter Oundjian, and Leonard Slatkin, among many others, and has performed virtually all of the major cello concerto repertoire with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where he has been Principal Cellist since 2002. Robert deMaine counts among his chamber-music partners violinists James Ehnes, Gil Shaham, Hilary Hahn, Ani and Ida Kavafian, pianists Emanuel Ax, Andrew Armstrong, Orion Weiss, and Yefim Bronfman, and has appeared at many international music festivals, including those of Marlboro, Aspen, Heidelberg, San Miguel de Allende, Montreal, and Seattle.
A dedicated teacher, Mr. deMaine has presented masterclasses throughout the U.S. and abroad, and is a regular guest of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach and the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland. He has also taught at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan.
Also a composer, Robert deMaine has written many works for the cello, including Twelve Etudes-Caprices, which he performs regularly. Several important composers have written large-scale works for him, including Chris Theofanidis, Joel Eric Suben, and Jeffrey Mumford.
Soon to be released are two recordings by deMaine on the Blue Griffin label: a recital disc featuring works by Rachmaninov, Faure, and Grieg with the pianist Andrew Armstrong, and the Haydn Cello Concertos with the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra.
DeMaine plays with an intensity so fierce and lyricism so delirious that it sounds as if his life depends on it…Musically, DeMaine is all business. A musician’s individuality begins with his tone, and he produces an exquisite and personal sound rich with expression, modulated color, and tasteful vibrato. It hovers gracefully between tender sweetness and robust passion, reminiscent of the great mid-century Swedish operatic tenor Jussi Björling. Mark Stryker, The Detroit Free Press
After hearing super-cellist Robert deMaine in the Charleston Music Fest, I was doubly determined to make it to Saturday evening’s Charleston Symphony Concert…Then came the cello magic, courtesy of Mr. deMaine and Joseph Haydn, whose D-Major Cello Concerto provides ample opportunity for virtuosic display. Our soloist brought the sunny score to vibrant life, with amazing dexterity and gobs of lush tone. The noisy standing ovation led to a glittering encore. I found out during my mad backstage dash during intermission that deMaine had written his own remarkable cadenzas. — Lindsay Koob, The Charleston City Paper (South Carolina)
About Maestro Bohuslav Rattay:
Now in his fifth season as the Artistic Director of the Muncie (IN) Symphony Orchestra and first as Music Director of the Lake Charles (LA) Symphony, Czech conductor Bohuslav Rattay has gained a reputation as one of the finest talents of his generation, combining impassioned and virtuosic musicianship with a determination to bring great music into the lives of all people. Critics and audiences alike have commended him for his fresh and inspired interpretations of works ranging from perennial concert-hall favorites to the contemporary.
An enthusiastic ambassador for classical music, Maestro Rattay is renowned for his unique and innovative concert programs incorporating everything from special audience discussions to multi-media elements. He is also a committed educator of the younger generations and is a faculty of Ball State University and frequent guest conductor of All-State and youth orchestras.
Maestro Rattay is also in great demand as a guest conductor including recent appearances at Prague’s Dvořák Symphony Orchestra and around the U.S. including the Charleston (SC) Symphony, where he received critical accolades for a vibrant performance delivered with elegant panache.
Maestro Rattay holds degrees from the Prague Conservatory, Rice University and the Peabody Institute of Music and divides his time between the United States and Europe.
About the Charleston Symphony Orchestra:
The Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the largest full-time performing arts organization in South Carolina, has been a partner in weaving the cultural fabric of Charleston since 1936. The Orchestra’s mission is to promote the enjoyment and appreciation of music among visitors and residents of the Charleston area, and to make music a vital part of the area’s cultural life. Its artistic excellence, youth education programs, and community outreach have made the Charleston Symphony Orchestra a central component in the rich cultural foundation of this region.
