January 7, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Acclaimed Russian guest conductor Yakov Kreizberg continues his two-week residency with the Oregon Symphony as he leads the orchestra in Dvořák’s Cello Concerto featuring the debut of cellist Daniel Müller-Schott, the youngest winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition’s top prize, and music of Strauss and Hindemith on Feb. 5, 6 and 7 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. An additional performance is scheduled on Feb. 8 at Salem’s Smith Auditorium. Media support is provided by The Oregonian. Lufthansa is the exclusive airline sponsor for the Symphony’s Classical series.
A conductor of undisputed international stature, Kreizberg is the Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Netherlands Philharmonic and Netherlands Chamber Orchestras. Also Principal Guest Conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Kreizberg is in great demand as a guest conductor around the world. “We feel very fortunate to have him here for an extended period of time; the musicians really enjoy working with him and (Music Director) Carlos ( Kalmar) appreciates his intense work ethic,” said Symphony Artistic Administrator Charles Calmer. For this concert, Kreizberg chose a program focused on “instrumental virtuosity,” he said.
Müller-Schott, who won first prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition at the age of 15, makes his Oregon debut with one of the great masterworks of the cello repertoire, Dvořák’s Cello Concerto. Now 28, Muller-Schott is credited with “ fastidious and highly intelligent musicianship” and is said to be “traveling fast” (London Times, Feb. 23, 2004). Dvořák’s Cello Concerto is described by the New Grove Dictionary of Music as “one of Dvořák’s most personal works.” In it Dvořák expresses his deep yearning for his native Bohemia, as well as his grief over the death of his sister-in-law.
The concert also includes Richard Strauss’ tone poem “Don Juan,” which eloquently captures the psychologically complex character of the famous philanderer by using the entire palette of orchestral colors. Other works include Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks’ moving 1979 piece for string orchestra, “Cantabile,” and one of the 20 th century’s most popular orchestral showpieces, “Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber.”
Oregon Symphony Classical concerts regularly include additional opportunities for listeners to learn more about the music and the orchestra. These activities include:
Concert Conversations: Symphony cellist Timothy Scott and Patrick McElroy of KBPS, AllClassical 89.9 will present a lecture one hour before the concert titled “Absolutely Almost Everything About the Most Popular Cello Concerto in the World,” in which they’ll discuss Dvořák’s creative inspiration for his cello concerto, and the interesting musical and technical features of this cornerstone of cello literature. Questions are welcome. Media support for “Concert Conversations” is provided by Classical Millennium.
Saturday: Guest conductor Yakov Kreizberg will speak briefly from the podium in “Saturday Interactive.” Media support for “Saturday Interactive” is provided by KINKfm102.
Performances are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 5 and 6 at 7:30 p.m. and Monday, Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, with an additional performance on Tuesday, Feb. 8 at Willamette University’s Smith Auditorium in Salem. Tickets range in price from $18 to $80 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (503-790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony’s Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.
The Russian-born American conductor Yakov Kreizberg currently holds the posts of Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Netherlands Philharmonic and Netherlands Chamber Orchestras, and Principal Guest Conductor to the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. He relinquished the post of Generalmusikdirector of the Komische Oper Berlin at the end of the 2000-2001 season, and from 1995 to 2000 was Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
Kreizberg’s career has taken on international breadth with a wide range of engagements as guest conductor with orchestras in Europe and elsewhere, including the Royal Concertgebouw, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, WDR Köln, NDR Hamburg, Bamberger Symphoniker, Staatskapelle Dresden and London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, BBC Symphony, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Czech Philharmonic, Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Bayerische Rundfunk, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Swedish Radio Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, NHK Symphony and he has been a regular guest at the BBC Proms. During this season Kreizberg will tour Germany with Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and conduct the Vienna Symphony Orchestra on an extensive tour of Japan.
Kreizberg’s list of North American engagements is impressive and guest conducting engagements include the Philhadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh, Dallas, New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, the Minnesota Orchestra, Chicago, San Francisco, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Detroit, Atlanta, Houston, St Louis, Boston, Washington National, Toronto and Montreal Symphony Orchestras.
Born in St. Petersburg, Kreizberg started taking piano lessons at the age of five. He studied conducting privately with Ilya A. Musin, before emigrating to the United States in 1976. He was awarded conducting fellowships at Tanglewood with Bernstein, Ozawa and Leinsdorf, and at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute. Rapidly establishing a strong reputation in the United States, Kreizberg won the Eugene Ormandy prize from the University of Michigan and in 1986 was awarded first prize in the Leopold Stokowski Conducting Competition in New York. From 1985 to 1988 he was Music Director of Mannes College Orchestra in New York, and from 1988 to 1994 held a highly successful tenure as General Music Director of Krefeld / Mönchengladbach Opera House and the Niederrheinischer Sinfoniker.
In just a few years, Daniel Müller-Schott has succeeded in establishing himself world-wide as one of the supreme cellists. With his sure sense of style and great musical maturity, he endeavors to open up new paths for his audiences and to works already thought to be familiar.
As a soloist, Müller-Schott has worked with such renowned conductors as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Christoph Eschenbach, Alan Gilbert, Michael Gielen, Hartmut Haenchen, Vernon Handley, Sakari Oramo, Michael Tilson Thomas and Osmo Vänskä. He has performed with orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony Miami, Israel Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw National Philharmonia, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Hamburg NDR Symphony Orchestra.
In 2004 and 2005, Müller-Schott will make guest appearances as a soloist in many European countries as well as in North America and Asia. His debuts with world-famous orchestras and conductors will include the Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and the Tchaikovsky Orchestra Moscow.
Müller-Schott makes regular guest appearances at international music festivals such as the Festival Lucerne, Ravinia Festival Chicago and the City of London Festival. Furthermore, Müller-Schott plays in many concert halls throughout Europe and North America, including the Berliner Philharmonie, Kölner Philharmonie, Concert Hall of the Vienna Musikverein, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Sydney Opera House, the Herbst Theater in San Francisco and Carnegie Hall.
Müller-Schott studied under Walter Nothas, Heinrich Schiff and Steven Isserlis. He benefited from the personal sponsorship and support of Anne-Sophie Mutter as the holder of a scholarship from her Foundation. He plays a Matteo Goffriller cello, made in Venice in 1700, and a modern violoncello, made by Etienne Vatelot in Paris in 1985, which the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation has loaned to him.
Müller-Schott lives near Munich. In his spare time he is an enthusiastic jogger and badminton player. He is very interested in art, and feels a strong affinity with 19 th century French painters. Literature is another of his passions, in particular biographies which deal with the times, lives and works of the great composers and artists.
