February 14, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH CONCERTS AT THE SYMPHONY
(PORTLAND, Ore.) – From the Sneetches and Zelda to Dvořák and Shostakovich, March provides audiences with a wide variety of symphonic choices.
SUNDAY, MAR. 3
[KIDS CONCERT]
DR. SEUSS’ “THE SNEETCHES” AND OTHER TALES
When and Where: 2:00 pm; at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
The Performers: The Oregon Symphony; Pamela Mahon, narrator; the Pacific Youth Choir; Dance West; David Hattner conducts.
The Program: A matinee performance designed to thrill the younger ages. The always exuberant Pamela Mahon leads a new musical setting written by Lorenzo Palomo.
More Background Info and Photos:
On the Oregon Symphony: www.orsymphony.org
On the Pacific Youth Choir: www.pacificyouthchoir.org
On Dance West: www.dancewestcompany.com
Tickets: $10 to $36; 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. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343 during the same hours, at the concert hall box office starting two hours before the performance, or online at any time from the orchestra’s web site, OrSymphony.org.
What’s So Special About This Concert:
- The third and final concert of the Symphony’s Kids Concerts series.
- Designed primarily for audiences between the ages of 5 and 10.
- Pamela Mahon takes on the role of Sophia, the storyteller, leading the young audience on a storytelling adventure they’ll remember for a long, long while.
- Features Kyle Olsen, 14-year-old bassoonist.
- There will be fun giveaways for the younger audiences
- The Oregon Symphony will also announce the 2013-14 Kids Concert series at this concert
- The 2012-13 Kids Concert Series is sponsored by The Standard
SATURDAY, MAR. 9:
SUNDAY, MAR. 10:
MONDAY, MAR. 11:
SAINT-SAËNS & SHOSTAKOVICH
When and Where: [EDITORS PLEASE NOTE DIFFERING PERFORMANCE TIMES]
Mar. 9 at 7:30 pm; Mar. 10 at 2:00 pm; Mar. 11 at 8:00 pm; Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
The Performers: The Oregon Symphony with Hannu Lintu conducting, Benjamin Schmid*, violin.
The Program:
Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain (original version)
*Saint-Saëns: Concerto for Violin No. 3
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15
More Background Info and Photos:
On the Oregon Symphony: www.orsymphony.org
On Hannu Lintu: www.hannulintu.fi/
On Benjamin Schmid: www.benjaminschmid.com
Tickets: $21 to $96; 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. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343 during the same hours, at the concert hall box office starting two hours before the performance, or online at any time from the orchestra’s web site, OrSymphony.org.
What’s So Special About This Concert:
- A thoroughly entertaining “Russian sandwich,” with two dramatic Russian pieces surrounding a tuneful French violin concerto.
- Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain is known to one and all from its featured position in Disney’s Fantasia.
- The work, one of Mussorgsky’s most popular pieces, will be performed in its original orchestration which highlights a darker, richer tone.
- That’s fitting for a work that depicts a barbaric witch’s Sabbath ritual.
- This is the first time the orchestra has played the work in its original version.
- Saint-Saëns loved the form of the concerto, writing no less than ten of them.
- This Concerto for Violin No. 3, his final one, contains less of the kind of melodic virtuosity the composer is known for in favor of the virtuosity of the soloist.
- The violinist is the star here.
- And that role is in the very capable hands of violinist Benjamin Schmid, joining us for the third time.
- One of the most versatile of today’s violinists, he has a broad repertoire that goes well beyond the usual violin rep, including works by Hartmann, Gulda, Korngold, Muthspiel, Szymanowski, Lutoslawski, and Schöenberg in which his jazz improvisation skills shine.
- His last performance with us was Bolcom’s Violin Concerto.
- He plays on a 1731 Stradivari.
- His nearly 40 recorded CDs have received numerous awards including the German Record Price, the Echo Klassik Prize, the Gramophone Editor’s Choice and the Strad Selection.
- The orchestra plays Shostakovich’s 15th Symphony for the first time.
- The piece, whose meaning has confounded musicologists since its creation, sports a couple of interesting quotes: Wagner’s fate motif from the Ring Cycle as well as Rossini’s capricious William Tell Overture.
- Leading the orchestra from the podium is one of the Oregon Symphony’s favorite guest conductors, Hannu Lintu.
- He is the Chief Conductor Designate of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra for a term beginning in 2013, and for the year leading up to this its Principal Guest Conductor.
- He has been Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra since August 2009 and is the Principal Guest Conductor of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin.
- He is a regular guest at the Radio Orchestras in Berlin, Paris, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Amsterdam and Madrid, with many orchestras in North and South America (Toronto, Houston, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and St. Louis Symphony Orchestras, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl), in Asia (Seoul, Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur) and Australia (the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras and others). Later this season he makes his debut with the London Philharmonic, the Sydney Symphony, the NDR Orchestra in Hanover, the Minnesota Orchestra and the BBC Scottish Symphony.
SATURDAY, MAR. 16:
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: SYMPHONY OF THE GODDESSES
When and Where: One night only; Mar. 16, 7:30 pm; at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
The Performers: The Oregon Symphony, with the Pacific Youth Choir; Eímear Noone conducts.
The Program: Program will be announced from the stage.
More Background Info and Photos:
On the Oregon Symphony: www.orsymphony.org
On The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses: www.zelda-symphony.com
On Eímear Noone: www.eimearworld.com
Tickets: $26-85: 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. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343 during the same hours, at the concert hall box office starting two hours before the performance, or online at any time from the orchestra’s web site, OrSymphony.org.
What’s So Special About This Concert:
- A multi-media concert that will take audiences of all ages on a thrilling orchestral adventure through one of the video game industry’s monumental franchises.
- Fans will relive all of their favorite moments and beloved melodies from titles including Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening and more.
- Designed to be a journey as epic and thrilling as the Legend itself, The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses presents the music of this celebrated franchise with all-new arrangements directly approved by franchise producer Eiji Aonuma and Nintendo composer and sound director Koji Kondo (Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda).
- composer and sound director Koji Kondo (Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda).
- This concert is sponsored by Intel.
SATURDAY, MAR. 23:
SUNDAY, MAR. 24:
DVOŘÁK’S EIGHTH SYMPHONY
When and Where:
Mar. 23 and Mar. 24 at 7:30 pm; at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
(This concert will also play in Salem on Mar. 22 at 8:00pm. Visit orsymphonysalem.org to purchase tickets and learn more.)
The Performers: The Oregon Symphony with Jun Märkl conducting and Kirill Gerstein*, piano.
The Program:
Liszt: Prometheus
*Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1
Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 (“English”)
More Background Info and Photos:
On the Oregon Symphony: www.orsymphony.org
On Jun Märkl: www.junmarkl.com
On Kirill Gerstein*: www.kirillgerstein.com
Tickets: $21 to $96: 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. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343 during the same hours, at the concert hall box office starting two hours before the performance, or online at any time from the orchestra’s web site, OrSymphony.org.
What’s So Special About This Concert:
- Liszt’s Prometheus is the musical retelling of the mythical legend who provided humans with fire and paid a hefty price.
- Pianist Kirill Gerstein plays Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1, a work written specifically to display Rachmaninoff’s towering technique and virtuosity.
- The piano is definitely front and center, and the work deftly combines dynamic fury with gentle melody.
- The Russian-born Gerstein returns after many previous appearances with the Symphony.
- Mr. Gerstein is a recipient the prestigious Gilmore Artist Award, presented every four years to an exceptional pianist who, regardless of age or nationality, possesses broad and profound musicianship and charisma.
- He has worked with such prominent European orchestras as the Munich, Rotterdam and Royal Philharmonics, London’s Philharmonia, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Staatskappelle, Zurich Tonhalle, the Finnish and Swedish Radio Orchestras, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne and the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, as well as with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra in Caracas with Gustavo Dudamel.
- His first solo recording featuring works by Schumann, Liszt and Oliver Knussen was chosen by The New York Times as one of the best recordings of 2010.
- Conductor Jun Märkl makes his debut with the Symphony.
Photos for media uses can be accessed at: www.orsymphony.org/newsroom/artists.aspx
Season subscriptions, including the popular Flex Passes and Gift Cards, are still available through the Symphony Ticket Office at 503-228-1353.
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CONTACT:
Jim Fullan
Vice President, Communications, Marketing & Sales
503-416-6347
jfullan@orsymphony.org