Contact:
Carl Herko
Vice President, Media & Public Relations
503-416-6347
cherko@orsymphony.org
March 2, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE OREGON SYMPHONY IN APRIL:
OLD FAVORITES SHARE THE SPOTLIGHT WITH NEW DISCOVERIES
(PORTLAND, Ore.) – The Oregon Symphony presents only three programs during the month of April, but those three span the breadth of orchestral music, from classical masterpieces by Mozart and Beethoven, to contemporary works by composers Magnus Lindberg and Christopher Theofanidis, to an evening of Portuguese fado with the reigning queen of the art form. Complete details on all of the Oregon Symphony’s April concerts follow:
SATURDAY-MONDAY, APR. 4-6:
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW – AND RAVEL’S BOLERO, TOO
- When and Where: Three performances, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 4 and 5, and 8 p.m. Monday, Apr. 6; Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
- The Performers: The Oregon Symphony, with guest conductor Hannu Lintu on the podium, joined by pianist Horacio Gutiérrez.
- The Program:
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 36 (Linz)
- Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
- Magnus Lindberg: Feria
- Maurice Ravel: Bolero
- Tickets: $15 to $98; at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office, 923 SW Washington St., in downtown Portland. Ticket office hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343 during the same hours, or online at any time from the orchestra’s web site, orsymphony.org. Tickets are also available through ticketmaster.com or by calling (503) 790-ARTS.
- What’s So Special About These Concerts:
- The program definitely qualifies as “something old, something new,” with a range of works that spans more than two centuries, from a Mozart symphony written in 1783 to a contemporary work by Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg that was premiered in 1997.
- Lindberg, one of the brightest lights among composers today, begins a two-year appointment next season as the New York Philharmonic’s composer-in-residence.
- The shortest work on the program is the best known: Ravel’s Bolero, instantly recognizable because of its frequent appearances in television commercials, figure-skating competitions and, most famously, the 1979 movie 10.
- Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu has led the Oregon Symphony several times in recent years, most recently in November 2007.
- Cuban-American pianist Horacio Gutiérrez, who performs Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, most recently appeared with the Oregon Symphony in October 2005, when he played Frederic Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
SATURDAY-MONDAY, APR. 18-20:
FORMER MUSIC DIRECTOR JAMES DePREIST RETURNS TO THE SCHNITZ
- When and Where: Three performances, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 18 and 19, and 8 p.m. Monday, Apr. 20; Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
- The Performers: The Oregon Symphony, with guest conductor (and its former music director) James DePreist on the podium, joined by pianist Garrick Ohlsson.
- The Program:
- Christopher Theofanidis: Rainbow Body
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4
- Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 1
- Tickets: $15 to $120; at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office, 923 SW Washington St., in downtown Portland. Ticket office hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343 during the same hours, or online at any time from the orchestra’s web site, orsymphony.org. Tickets are also available through ticketmaster.com or by calling (503) 790-ARTS.
- What’s So Special About These Concerts:
- The program features two much-loved masterworks from the core orchestral repertoire – Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto and Sibelius’ First Symphony – as well as the Oregon Symphony premiere of a contemporary work, Rainbow Body, written in 2000 by American composer Christopher Theofanidis.
- Rainbow Body’s main melody is based on a chant by the medieval mystic Hildegard of Bingen.
- Conductor James DePreist stepped down as music director of the Oregon Symphony in 2003 after 23 seasons as the orchestra’s artistic leader. He then held the title of laureate music director for five seasons, from 2003 to 2008. Since 2004 he has been director of conducting and orchestral studies at The Juilliard School in New York.
- Pianist Garrick Ohlsson, here to perform the Beethoven Fourth Concerto, most recently appeared with the Oregon Symphony in September 2006, when he played Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, the famous “Emperor” concerto.
SATURDAY, APR. 25:
MARIZA BRINGS THE SOUND OF PORTUGUESE FADO TO PORTLAND
- When and Where: One performance only, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Apr. 25; Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
- The Performers: The Oregon Symphony, with Resident Conductor Gregory Vajda on the podium, joined by the brilliant Portuguese fado singer Mariza.
- The Program: A selection of unforgettable fado tunes, many from Mariza’s four albums, including her latest release, Terra.
- Tickets: $15 to $65; at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office, 923 SW Washington St., in downtown Portland. Ticket office hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343 during the same hours, or online at any time from the orchestra’s web site, orsymphony.org. Tickets are also available through ticketmaster.com or by calling (503) 790-ARTS.
- What’s So Special About This Concert:
- She may not yet be a household name in the United States, but Mariza – who was born in Mozambique and raised in Portugal – is a world music phenomenon, having gone in a few short years from singing in a Lisbon bar to selling out major concert halls from Moscow and London to New York and Sydney.
- The Washington Post says of her: “Mariza’s superb contralto voice and fearless sense of drama are reviving and reinventing the traditional fado style, and the results ... are nothing short of spectacular.”
- In addition to the Oregon Symphony, Mariza is accompanied by her small ensemble of Portuguese musicians and Portuguese guitar.
- Fado, the mournful, soulful folk music of Portugal, may be the Portuguese counterpart to American blues. But don’t think of it as simply sad music. “It’s realistic rather than sad, and it takes you deep into the soul of a human being,” Mariza says. “In fado we sing about many things, God, love, death and sadness – but happiness, too.”
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CONTACT:
Carl Herko
Vice President, Media & Public Relations
(503) 416-6347
cherko@orsymphony.org