January 13, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Music of Scandinavia and Russia is the highlight when Guest Conductor Eri Klas and pianist Benedetto Lupo make belated debuts with the Oregon Symphony in Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor on Feb. 5 and 6 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Also featured will be Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1 and Sibelius’ “Valse triste.” Media support is provided by The Oregonian. Lufthansa is the exclusive airline sponsor for the Symphony’s Classical series.
Klas and Lupo were scheduled to appear on a Sundays at Two concert two seasons ago that was cancelled due to inclement weather. Both arrived in Portland at the time to learn the concert was cancelled; they spent their brief stay getting to know each other (they had not met previously) and requested this opportunity to reschedule.
Klas is Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Artistic Director of both the Tampere Philharmonic in Finland and the Tallinn Philharmonic in Estonia. He is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Finnish National Opera; and Music Advisor of the Moscow New Opera. Klas was scheduled to conduct Grieg’s Piano Concerto with Lupo in January 2004, in a concert that was cancelled due to Portland’s week-long ice storm. Now Klas, an Estonian by birth and a noted specialist in Scandinavian music, returns to present a whole evening of Scandinavian gems, including Sibelius’ “Valse triste” and Grieg’s sparkling concerto, considered by many one of the most popular piano concertos in the classical repertoire.
Lupo won a bronze medal in the eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1989 and has since established himself as a pianist of international stature, with numerous recordings and concert appearances all over the world to his credit. He will make his Symphony debut with Grieg’s landmark Piano Concerto in A minor. Grieg modeled his concerto after Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor, which the young Grieg heard performed by Clara Schumann in Leipzig while he was a student there. Unknown outside Norway before the composition of this work, Grieg’s instantly popular Piano Concerto was the 25-year-old composer’s entry into the wider musical community of Europe and established his towering international reputation.
Klas will also lead the orchestra in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1, written as a graduation exercise from the Petrograd Conservatory when Shostakovich was 19. Although the first large-scale orchestral work from Shostakovich, this sardonic and well-crafted symphony demonstrates all of Shostakovich’s mature trademarks. Its four movements veer from edgy to powerfully concentrated, full of the brittle ironies for which Shostakovich’s music is best known.
The evening begins with music from Estonia’s best-known composer, Eduard Tubin. His 1938 Estonian Dance Suite showcases several dances from various regions across Estonia, and his restrained orchestral treatment presents each melody, whether stately or vigorous, in a manner designed to show off each dance’s unique quality.
Oregon Symphony Classical concerts regularly include additional opportunities for listeners to learn more about the music and the orchestra. These activities include:
Pre-concert talks: There will be a discussion one hour before the concert of the works to be performed. Media support for “Pre-Concert Talks” is provided by Classical Millennium.
Saturday: Guest Conductor Eri Klas will speak briefly from the podium in “Saturday Interactive.” Media support for “Saturday Interactive” is provided by KINK fm102.
Performances are scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. and Monday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets range in price from $20 to $85 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Customer Service 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 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Discounted tickets for groups of eight or more are available through the Group Sales hotline at (503) 416-6380. 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.
Italian pianist Benedetto Lupo gained worldwide recognition after receiving the bronze medal in the 1989 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. His victory led to acclaimed debuts with several American orchestras as well as chamber appearances with the Tokyo String Quartet. He made his New York City recital debut at Alice Tully Hall in 1992. That same year he won the Terence Judd International Award, earning his recital debut at London’s Wigmore Hall. In the years since, Lupo has performed across the globe and earned a reputation for not only his technical brilliance, but his masterful and nuanced interpretations.
Lupo has performed with many distinguished conductors including Vladimir Jurowski, Hugh Wolff, Peter Maag and Aldo Ceccato, to name a few. In the 2004-2005 he appeared with Quebec’s esteemed Les Violons du Roy, conducted by Bernard Labadie, and performed with the Montreal Symphony under conductor Kent Nagano. The 2003-2004 season included Bartók’s Concerto No.3 with Fabio Mechetti and the Jacksonville Symphony, and Brahms’ Concerto No. 1 with Pavel Kogan and the Utah Symphony. In the 2002-2003 season he appeared with the Columbus Symphony under Alessandro Siciliani.
Upcoming highlights include a tour with the London Philharmonic conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, performing in Bucharest, Linz, Zagreb, and Malaga. He travels to Italy and Brazil for recitals before coming to the United States to play in Miami with the New World Symphony under Bernard Labadie. While in the U.S. he will perform with the Austin, Oregon, Cedar Rapids, Louisiana, Alabama, Columbus and St. Louis symphony orchestras (the last, also under Bernard Labadie). He will also return for his third appearance with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
Lupo has performed extensively throughout both American continents and Europe, returning to the U.S. each season. He has appeared as soloist with the Phoenix, Tucson, Utah, Des Moines, Huntsville, Charlotte, Seattle, Vancouver, Hallé, and Brazilian symphony orchestras, as well as the Rochester, Florida, Bergen (Germany) and Slovak philharmonic orchestras, among others. He has performed at numerous music festivals worldwide, including the Tivoli in Copenhagen, the Villa Medici in Rome, the Chopin Festival in Poland, the Schubert Festivals in Rio de Janeiro and Saõ Paulo, and Chicago’s Grant Park Festival.
As a recitalist, he tours the U.S. and Europe annually, recently appearing at Teatro alla Scala, and performing Liszt’s rarely heard arrangement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 in Naples. As a chamber musician he has played with the Tokyo String Quartet, cellist Franco Maggio Ormezowsky, clarinetist Alessandro Carbonare, and violinists Uto Ughi and Evgeny Bushkov.
His recordings include an acclaimed version of Nino Rota’s “Concerto Soirée” with the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana on the Nuova Era label, and a new recording of the same work on Harmonia Mundi, which received the prestigious Diapason d’Or from the French magazine Diapason. With Peter Maag and the RSI Symphony Orchestra, he has recorded Schumann’s complete works for piano and orchestra, including the first CD recording of the piano version of “Konzertstück,” Op. 86, for the Arts label.
Lupo teaches at the Nino Rota Conservatory in Italy, gives master classes around the world, and serves on the jury of both the Cleveland International Competition and the Gina Bachauer Competition in Salt Lake City, having taken the second and third prizes, respectively, in the past. He is featured on the Emmy-award winning documentary “Here to Make Music: The Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition” and the seven-part series “Encore! The Final Round of Performances of the Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition,” both for PBS.
Eri Klas, a native of Estonia whose greatest musical influence was David Oistrakh, a great friend of his family, frequently guest conducts on the North American continent.
Klas made his US debut in 1991 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. In 1995, he made his debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony following highly successfully appearances at the Blossom and Ravinia festivals. Since then, he has appeared with most of the major North American orchestras including the Boston, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Montreal, National, Seattle and Saint Louis symphonies and the Minnesota Orchestra.
Equally in demand throughout Europe, Klas is currently the Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra; Artistic Director of the Tampere Philharmonic in Finland and the Tallinn Philharmonic in Estonia; and Principal Guest Conductor of the Finnish National Opera; and Music Advisor of the Moscow New Opera. He has guest conducted the Berlin, Munich and Rotterdam Philharmonics and appears regularly with the Tonhalle Orchestra, the Swedish and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestras, the Stockholm and Helsinki Philharmonics as well as with orchestras in France, Italy, Belgium, Russia and Australia.
Recent and upcoming engagements in Klas’ North American schedule include guest appearances with the St. Louis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Vancouver and New Jersey symphonies and the Calgary Philharmonic. During the 2005-2006 season, he leads the Houston, Utah and Oregon symphonies as well as the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and returns to the Hollywood Bowl. In addition to his work in the Netherlands, Finland and Estonia, recent and upcoming engagements in Europe and Asia include orchestral concerts and opera productions in Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Japan and Russia in St. Petersburg and with the Bolshoi Opera Orchestra in Moscow.
Klas is closely associated with leading contemporary composers. He conducted the world premiere of Alfred Schnittke’s “Peer Gynt” at the Hamburg Opera and the Royal Opera House in Stockholm, and collaborated with Natalia Gutman performing the world premiere of Schnittke’s First Cello Concerto with the Munich Philharmonic. A great champion of Estonian composers, he has conducted world premieres of works by Pärt, Tamberg, Tormis, Tubin and Eller, whose compositions he also often introduces in the US. In addition, Klas conducted the first performance of Henryk Gorecki’s Flute Concerto in Amsterdam and the US premiere of the same work with the Chicago Symphony. His discography includes Schnittke’s Third Symphony, ballet music from “Peer Gynt” and Four Violin Concerti as well as works by Sibelius on the BIS and Ondine labels. Klas’ most recent release is a CD of Orchestral works by John Corigliano with the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra for Ondine.
Klas began his conducting studies at the Tallinn Conservatory and upon graduation went to St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) to work with Nikolai Rabinovich. He made his debut at the Estonian National Theatre in Tallinn in 1964 conducting Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story.” In 1969, he was appointed assistant conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and for the next 12 years appeared regularly on the podium to conduct the famed Bolshoi orchestra, taking part in numerous opera, ballet and orchestral productions in Moscow and on tours throughout Europe. He was named Music Director in 1975 of the Estonian National Theatre and has since become conductor laureate. Between 1985 and 1990, he was Music Director of the Royal Opera in Stockholm.
Greatly interested in the education of young musicians, Klas has worked with many international youth orchestras. He has conducted the Estonian Youth Orchestra and the Sibelius Academy Orchestra numerous times, including a tour to China with the latter. In addition, he has worked with the Irish Youth Orchestra and led the Asian Youth Orchestra on tour throughout Asia and Europe with Gidon Kremer as soloist. Klas was also a professor of conducting at the Sibelius Academy from 1993-1997.
Klas has been awarded the Order of “Nordstjernen” from His Majesty King Carl Gustav of Sweden, the Order of Finnish Lion and an honorary doctorate from the Estonian Music Academy. A former Estonian light-weight junior boxing champion, he is a member of the Estonian International Olympic Committee, Chairman of the Estonian Cultural Committee and a Goodwill Ambassador for the UNICEF.
