December 10, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Violin icon Itzhak Perlman, known around the world for his exquisite musicality and the engaging warmth of his personality, makes a rare solo recital appearance in Portland for an Oregon Symphony Special Event concert on Wednesday, Jan. 5 in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The Oregon Symphony does not perform. This event is sold-out.
Considered one of history’s greatest and most beloved violinist, Perlman is also a recent recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors, the nation’s highest artistic award, for “his distinguished achievements and contributions to the cultural and educational life of our nation.”
Perlman, with Portland pianist Janet Goodman Guggenheim, will perform Beethoven’s passionate “Kreutzer” sonata, so-called because Beethoven ostensibly wrote it for the leading violinist of 1803 Paris, Rodolphe Kreutzer. Although Kreutzer himself never performed this sonata, it has become a cornerstone of violin literature, which demands the finest technical skills of all players. Mozart’s Violin Sonata in F major, written the same year as his dismissal from the service of the Archbishop of Salzburg, reflects both Mozart’s long-held frustration with his former employer and his relief at the prospect of freedom from the Archbishop’s artistic control.
For the second half of the concert, Perlman and Guggenheim will perform Dvořák’s “Four Romantic Pieces,” originally written for two violins and viola, at the request of some amateur musician friends. After Dvořák rescored them for the more standard instrumentation of violin and piano, they became part of the standard solo violin repertoire, with their charming simple melodies. The recital concludes with excerpts from Smetana’s symphonic poem “Má Vlast (My Homeland),” arranged for violin. The best-known movement of this larger work, “The Moldau,” musically represents the river Moldau, which flows through the countryside near Smetana’s childhood home in Bohemia.
The performance has been sold-out for several months.
Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Beloved for his charm and humanity as well as his talent, he is treasured by audiences throughout the world who respond not only to his remarkable artistry, but also to the irrepressible joy of making music, which he communicates. In December 2003 the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts granted Perlman a Kennedy Center Honor celebrating his distinguished achievements and contributions to the cultural and educational life of our nation.
Born in Israel in 1945, Perlman completed his initial training at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv. He came to New York and soon was propelled into the international arena with an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1958. Following his studies at the Juilliard School with Ivan Galamian and Dorothy DeLay, Perlman won the prestigious Leventritt Competition in 1964, which led to a burgeoning worldwide career. Since then, he has appeared with every major orchestra and in recitals and festivals around the world.
During the past ten years Perlman has also appeared on the conductor’s podium, and through this medium he is further delighting his audiences. He has performed as conductor with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, National Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Montreal and Toronto, as well as at the Ravinia and OK Mozart festivals. Internationally, Perlman has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the Israel Philharmonic.
In January 2000, Perlman was named Principal Guest Conductor of the Detroit Symphony. In July 2002 he was appointed Music Advisor of the St. Louis Symphony. He conducts both of these orchestras in the 2004-05 season as well as the San Francisco Symphony, Houston Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony and the Tonhalle Orchestra.
As soloist, Perlman continues to visit major centers throughout the world. He performs over twenty-five recitals internationally in the 2004-05 season, stopping in cities including London, Zurich, Los Angeles, San Diego, Washington D.C., Cleveland, Boston and New York.
A major presence in the performing arts on television, Perlman has been honored with four Emmy Awards, most recently for the PBS documentary “ Fiddling for the Future,” a film about the Perlman Music Program and his work as a teacher and conductor there. In July of 2004, PBS aired a special entitled “Perlman in Shanghai,” which chronicled a historic and unforgettable visit of the Perlman Music Program to China, featuring interaction between American and Chinese students and culminating in a concert at the Shanghai Grand Theater and a performance with one thousand young violinists, led by Perlman and broadcast throughout China. Perlman’s third Emmy Award recognized his dedication to Klezmer music, as profiled in the 1995 PBS television special “ In the Fiddler's House,” which was filmed in Poland and featured him performing with four of the world’s finest Klezmer bands.
Perlman has entertained and enlightened millions of TV viewers of all ages on popular shows as diverse as “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “Sesame Street,” the PBS series “ The Frugal Gourmet,” “The Tonight Show,” the Grammy awards telecasts, and numerous “Live From Lincoln Center” broadcasts and PBS specials, including “ A Musical Toast” and “Mozart by the Masters,” in which he served both as host and featured performer. In July 1994, Perlman hosted the U.S. broadcast of the “ Three Tenors, Encore!” live from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. In March 2001, a worldwide audience in the hundreds of millions saw Perlman perform live o n the 73 rd Academy Awards telecast, as he and cellist Yo-Yo Ma performed excerpts from the five film scores nominated in the category of Best Original Score. One of Perlman’s proudest achievements is his collaboration with film score composer John Williams in Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award winning film “ Schindler’s List,” in which he performed the violin solos. Perlman can be heard as violin soloist on composer Tan Dun’s soundtrack to Zhang Yimou’s current film, “Hero.”
Perlman’s recordings regularly appear on the best-seller charts and have garnered fifteen Grammy Awards. His latest Grammy was awarded for “ The American Album,” with Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His most recent releases include an all-Mozart recording with the Berlin Philharmonic (EMI), with Perlman performing as both soloist and conductor, and a recording for Deutsche Grammophon with Perlman conducting the Israel Philharmonic. Other recordings reveal Perlman’s devotion to education, including “Concertos from my Childhood” with the Juilliard Orchestra under Lawrence Foster (EMI) and “Marita and her Heart’s Desire,” composed and conducted by Bruce Adolphe (Telarc). Other recordings over the past decade have included a Grammy-nominated live recording with pianist Martha Argerich performing Beethoven and Franck Sonatas (EMI); “Cinema Serenade” featuring popular hits from movies with John Williams conducting (Sony); “A la Carte,” a recording of short violin pieces with orchestra (EMI) and “In the Fiddler’s House,” a celebration of Klezmer Music (EMI) that formed the basis of the PBS television special. Earlier this year, EMI released “The Perlman Edition,” a limited-edition 15-CD box set featuring many of his finest EMI recordings as well as newly compiled material.
Perlman has a long association with the Israel Philharmonic, and he has participated in many groundbreaking tours with this orchestra from his homeland. In November of 1987 he joined the IPO for history-making concerts in Warsaw and Budapest, representing the first performances by this orchestra and soloist in Eastern bloc countries. He again made history as he joined the orchestra for its first visit to the Soviet Union in April/May of 1990, and was cheered by audiences in Moscow and Leningrad who thronged to hear his recital and orchestral performances. This visit was captured on a PBS documentary entitled “Perlman in Russia,” which won an Emmy. In December of 1994 Perlman joined the Israel Philharmonic for their first visits to China and India.
Over the past 10 years Perlman has become more actively involved in educational activities. He has taught full time at the Perlman Music Program each summer since it was founded and currently holds the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation Chair at the Juilliard School.
Numerous publications and institutions have paid tribute to Perlman for the unique place he occupies in the artistic and humanitarian fabric of our times. Harvard, Yale, Brandeis, Roosevelt, Yeshiva and Hebrew universities are among the institutions which have awarded him honorary degrees. President Reagan honored Perlman with a “Medal of Liberty” in 1986, and in December 2000, President Clinton awarded Perlman the “National Medal of Arts.” His presence on stage, on camera and in personal appearances of all kinds speaks eloquently on behalf of the disabled, and his devotion to their cause is an integral part of Perlman’s life.
Janet Goodman Guggenheim has given recitals throughout the world both as soloist and collaborative artist, performing with such illustrious musicians as violinists Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Young Uck Kim, Uto Ughi, Shlomo Mintz, Miriam Fried, Ivry Gitlis and Dong-Suk Kang, bassist Gary Karr, flautist Ransom Wilson, and cellists Pierre Fournier and Matt Haimovitz. In addition, she has the unique distinction of having been selected by Pablo Casals as pianist for his master classes in Berkeley, California (the entire series of which has now been released on video).
Prior to moving to Portland, Ore. in 1995, Guggenheim was a member of the music faculty of the University of California at Berkeley, where she was an honors graduate and a two-time recipient of the Alfred Hertz Scholarship. She received a master ’s degree at the Juilliard School, where she was a student of Rosina Lhevinne, with whom she had studied during the summers since the age of ten. While at Juilliard she won numerous awards, including the National Federation of Music Clubs, Concert Artists Guild, the Josef Lhevinne Scholarship and a Martha Baird Rockefeller Foundation Grant. She also worked as studio pianist for renowned pedagogues Ivan Galamian, Dorothy DeLay, Joseph Fuchs and Leonard Rose. Her teachers include Dame Myra Hess, Margaret Saunders Ott, Marcus Gordon and her father.
Guggenheim has performed extensively abroad, with recent tours including concerts throughout Europe, and in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In April 1990 she traveled to the Soviet Union, where she appeared in recital with Itzhak Perlman at the Tchaikovski Hall in Moscow. Highlights of this tour are available in a recording and an Emmy Award-winning video, entitled “Perlman in Russia” (Angel/EMI). In addition to her appearances at various European summer festivals, she joined Perlman in a performance at the Istanbul International Festival in July 1992. In the summer of 1994, Guggenheim was a participant in the Tong Il Han Institute held in Pebble Beach, where she coached students from Korea, gave master classes and appeared in concert with Korean-American violinist David Kim. In December 1994 she performed in recital with Perlman in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei.
An active chamber musician, Guggenheim was a co-founder, along with Stuart Canin, of the Chamber Soloists of San Francisco. She has also performed with numerous other chamber groups in the Bay area, and at the festivals of Carmel, Cabrillo, Marin, Sacramento, Stern Grove, Hollywood Bowl, Mendocino, Seattle, Chamber Music Northwest, Sitka Anchorage Festival, and the San Francisco Symphony Russian Festival.
A longtime resident of the Bay Area, she made her debut with the San Francisco Symphony at the age of 16 under the baton of Arthur Fiedler. Her current CD releases (on the Naxos label) include “The Complete Cello and Piano Works of Rachmaninov,” with cellist Michael Grebanier.
Janet Guggenheim has performed numerous times on “The Tonight Show” (hosted by Johnny Carson and Jay Leno) with Itzhak Perlman, with Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Yo Yo Ma, in addition to many other appearances on television and radio.
