February 4, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … The Oregon premiere of John Adams’ Pulitzer-winning “On the Transmigration of Souls” combines with overdue Oregon Symphony debuts of Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 and Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements and audience favorites Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 to highlight the 2005-2006 Classical season, called a “musical adventure” by Music Director Carlos Kalmar. Lufthansa is the exclusive airline sponsor for the Symphony’s Classical series. Media support for the Classical series is provided by The Oregonian.
In his third season, Kalmar continues his commitment to thematic programming, while combining “symphonic masterpieces” with a number of what he calls “lesser-known orchestral treasures.” “You will hear some wonderful music which the Symphony has not performed in many years, and even a few beautiful pieces the orchestra has never played,” he explained. Core orchestral repertoire not heard in Portland for some time includes Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5 and Schumann’s Symphony No. 2. The Symphony also will give its first performances of 23 works, many of which fall into what Kalmar terms standard orchestral repertoire. They include Mahler’s Symphony No. 7; Kodály’s “Peacock Variations;” Thomas Adès’ “...but all shall be well;” Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements; Tchaikovsky’s Orchestral Suite No. 3; and Henri Dutilleux’s “Métaboles” for Orchestra.
Standard repertoire highlights include Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, with the debut of rising violinist Kyoko Takezawa, and Symphony No. 7; Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” as part of a Classical jazz program to coincide with the Portland Jazz Festival; Grieg’s incidental music from “Peer Gynt;” Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1, featuring the return of pianist Yakov Kazman (last minute Rach 3 phenomenon this season); Strauss’ “Don Quixote;” Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade.”
Guest artists also will include: pianists Horacio Gutiérrez and Benedetto Lupo; conductors Yakov Kreizberg and Michael Stern; mezzo-sopranos Jennifer Larmore and Michelle De Young; Concertmaster Amy Schwartz Moretti, making her Classical solo debut on Berg’s Violin Concerto; and Principal Viola Joël Belgique and Principal Cello Nancy Ives, among others. Rising conductor Gregory Vajda, recently called a “young titan” in the Montreal Gazette, serves a one-year appointment as interim Resident Conductor.
In May 2006, the Symphony will collaborate with Portland Opera and Oregon Ballet Theatre to commemorate the 250 th anniversary of the birth of Mozart with a “Month of Mozart.” The Symphony and Portland Symphonic Choir will present Mozart’s final masterpiece, the “Requiem.”
Programming for the Classical series has been redesigned and expanded to allow subscribers a wider variety of programs and concert dates to choose from, said Artistic Administrator Charles Calmer. While a full series package still includes 14 concerts, 17 classical programs actually will be offered, providing some variety among the Saturday, Sunday and Monday night concerts. The Symphony also will introduce “Sunday Encore,” an afternoon series of four full-length Classical programs. “We’re delighted to be able to expand our offerings and fulfill requests from the community for full-length daytime concerts,” said Calmer. "The addition of three Classical weeks combined with a greater efficiency of programming across the series provides more rehearsal time for each program and enables us to engage high caliber guest conductors, both of which are key factors in the orchestra's artistic development."
The new “Sunday Encore” series complements the existing Classical schedule of Saturday, Sunday and Monday evening concerts. It does not replace the Symphony’s popular Sundays at Two series, which will continue to feature four shorter (generally no more than 80 minutes) concerts that focus on a mix of lighter selections from the Classical repertoire.
Some of this season’s distinguished soloists include mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore, who sang the “Olympic Hymn” at the Closing Ceremonies of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta; she will perform Mahler’s “Rückert Lieder” on April 8 and 9, 2006. Pianist Yakov Kasman, who wowed audiences with his eleventh-hour bravura performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 last October will return to perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 on March 11-13, 2006 and renowned pianist Horacio Gutiérrez, hailed by critics as “able to play…with a magical grace that made the notes seem to float from the piano,” returns to perform Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor on Oct. 22-24, 2005. Other soloists include the versatile mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, praised by critics for her “sensitive and exciting performance,” who will sing Ravel’s “Sheherazade” on Jan. 22-23, 2006; Concertmaster Amy Schwartz Moretti, who made her Symphony solo and orchestral debut last season will play Berg’s demanding Violin Concerto on Feb. 11-13, 2006; violinist Vadim Gluzman will play Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor on Dec. 3-5, 2005 with what the Leipziger Volkszeitung calls “an almost frightening degree of technical perfection and artistic superiority” and violinist Kyoko Takezawa, described by the Newark Star-Ledger as “an operatic diva of the violin,” plays Beethoven’s Violin Concerto on Jan. 14-15, 2006. In addition, Principal Cello Nancy Ives and Principal Viola Joël Belgique will team up to perform Strauss’ tone poem “Don Quixote” on April 2-3, 2006.
Laureate Music Director James DePreist, now the conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at Juilliard will make an appearance in October, 2005. Two acclaimed guest conductors will also be returning: Yakov Kreizberg, the Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Netherlands Philharmonic and Netherlands Chamber Orchestras, and Michael Stern, Music Director of the Kansas City Symphony and the founding director of the IRIS Chamber Orchestra. Other guest conductors include Eri Klas, Artistic Director of the Tampere Philharmonic in Finland and the Tallinn Philharmonic in Estonia and Stefan Solyom, who will make his American conducting debut with the Symphony in March, 2006. In addition, two conductors who made their Symphony debuts on the Sundays at Two series will appear on the regular classical series: Hannu Lintu, Chief Conductor of the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and Gregory Vajda, the Assistant Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra who will serve a one-year appointment as the Oregon Symphony’s Resident Conductor in 2005-2006.
The Symphony’s Classical season also will feature audience favorites such as Schubert’s Symphony No. 9, “The Great;” Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2; Britten’s “Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell,” also known as “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra;” Wagner’s “Prelude and Liebestod” from “Tristan and Isolde;” Haydn’s Symphony No. 101, “Clock;” Ravel’s Piano Concerto; and Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. Other repertoire for the season includes “Variaciones concertantes” by Alberto Ginastera; Dutilleux’ “Métaboles;” Mahler’s “Rückert Lieder;” Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess: Symphonic Picture;” Sibelius’ “Valse triste;” Joseph Schwantner’s “Aftertones of Infinity;” Kurt Schwertsik’s “Shrunken Symphony” and Christopher Rouse’s “Phantasmata.”
The Classical series is the Symphony’s flagship series and presents the finest symphonic music available to its audiences. It features a mix of classical music that includes famous masterpieces and lesser-known works performed by world-class guest artists. This season, the Classical series has been redesigned and expanded with the addition of the new “Sunday Encore” series, a subscription package of four afternoon concerts that feature full-length repeats of programs presented on the evening Classical concert series. “Sunday Encore” concerts begin at 2 p.m. In addition to “Sunday Encore” subscriptions, Classical subscriptions are available in packages of 14 concerts or seven concerts on Saturday, Sunday or Monday nights. Performance times are Saturdays and Sundays at 7:30 p.m. and Mondays at 8 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in the Portland Center for the Performing Arts, located in downtown Portland at the corner of S.W. Main and Broadway. “Concert Conversations,” free to ticket holders, are given one hour before each concert. These “Concert Conversations” feature professional musicians, professors of music, radio personalities and other experts speaking on works to be performed, lives of the composers and relevant historical information. As he did last year, Music Director Kalmar will be appearing at all the “Concert Conversations” for each concert he conducts.
In addition to the “Concert Conversations,” Classical concerts regularly provide additional opportunities for listeners to learn more about the music and the orchestra. These activities include:
Saturday: The conductor or guest artist comments on the program during the concert in “Symphony Interactive.” Media support for “Symphony Interactive” is provided by KINKfm102.
On the Tuesday preceding Classical concerts, a preview can be heard on KBPS All Classical 89.9 FM “Northwest Previews” at 6 p.m.
Subscriptions can be purchased in packages of 14 concerts, which range in price from $196 to $966 for adults and $196 to $259 for students and seniors (Upper Balcony and Orchestra Section D). Subscriptions for a seven concert package on Saturday, Sunday or Monday nights range in price from $119 to $546 for adults and $112 to $140 for students and seniors (Upper Balcony and Orchestra Section D). Subscriptions for the “Sunday Encore” series of four concerts range from $68 to $304. The Symphony’s flexible ticket exchange program has been enhanced to allow for more options for subscribers who want to exchange their tickets for other performances.
Subscriptions may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office in downtown Portland at 923 S.W. Washington, or charged by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343, weekdays (and Saturdays, Sept. through May) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or (503) 416-6383 after 5 p.m. Subscription orders also may be placed online at www.orsymphony.org beginning Monday, Feb. 7. Classical subscribers receive full subscription benefits, including flexible ticket exchange and advance purchase for Special Event concerts at a 10 percent discount. Single tickets for Classical and other Symphony concerts will be available to the general public at 9 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 22, 2005.
