Concert Highlights Include Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” & Strauss’ “Blue Danube”
HARTFORD, November 24, 2009 – The Hartford Symphony Orchestra will toast the New Year with a sparkling concert of Strauss, Chopin, Mendelssohn, and more at “The New Year Begins!” on Thursday, January 7 – Saturday, January 9, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. in the Belding Theater at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts. Led by guest conductor and music director candidate Tito Muñoz, this program also will feature Theophanidis’ 2006 Piano Concerto as performed by pianist Donald Berman.
The HSO will kick off this New Year’s celebration with Johann Strauss’ On the Beautiful Blue Danube. Heard everywhere from cartoons to car commercials, this waltz contains what is arguably one of the most recognizable tunes of all time. The concert will continue with a work fit to celebrate the New Year- a new piano concerto. Performed by pianist Donald Berman, Christopher Theophanidis’ 2006 Piano Concerto will add a touch of modern excitement to this dazzling program.
Mr. Berman will then close out the first half of the concert with Chopin’s Variations on La ci darem la mano (“Give me your Hand”) from Mozart’s opera, Don Giovanni. Like the bubbles in a glass of New Year’s champagne, each sparkling variation on this popular duet will flow through Chopin’s glistening figurations, supple rhythms, and lyric writing for the piano. This celebratory concert will close out with an auditory romp through the Scottish countryside in Mendelssohn’s boisterous Third Symphony, appropriately subtitled “Scottish.”
The search for a new music director for Hartford Symphony Orchestra will take place during the next two seasons, 2009-10 and 2010-11, and will include seven guest conductor appearances. Four candidates will guest conduct in the 2009-2010 season, and three candidates will conduct in the 2010-11 season. HSO Music Director Edward Cumming will continue to lead the orchestra through the conclusion of the 2010-11 season in May of 2011. His successor is expected to be announced by January 2011.
Lauded by the Cincinnati Enquirer for his “natural facility and convincing musicianship on the podium,” Tito Muñoz is increasingly recognized as one of the most gifted conductors of his generation. Currently the Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra, he previously served as Assistant Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony. He has appeared with the symphony orchestras of Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Eugene, and Princeton, among others. Born in 1983 in NYC, Mr. Muñoz began his musical training on the violin in the Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program. An alumnus of the National Conducting Institute, he also attended the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen where he won top conducting prizes and served as the festival’s Assistant Conductor.
American pianist Donald Berman is recognized as one of the chief exponents of new works by living composers, overlooked music by 20th century masters, and recitals that link classical and modern repertoires. Mr. Berman has performed to critical acclaim at major venues in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East and has presented recitals, lectures, and masterclasses in Israel, Italy, and throughout the United States; including Tufts University and New England Conservatory. Mr. Berman is a prizewinner of the 1991 Schubert International Competition. He lives with his wife and two children in New York City.
************************************************************************
CALENDAR LISTING:
THE NEW YEAR BEGINS! THE BLUE DANUBE
Hartford Symphony Orchestra with Tito Muñoz, guest conductor; Donald Berman, piano
Thursday, January 7, 2010 │ 8:00 p.m.
Friday, January 8, 2010 │ 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, January 9, 2010 │ 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, January 10, 2010 │ 3:00 p.m.
The Belding Theater │
Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts
Program: J. Strauss: On the Beautiful Blue Danube; Chopin: Variations on Mozart’s La Ci darem la mano for Piano and Orchestra; Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3, “Scottish;” Theophanidis: Piano Concerto (2006)
Ticket Prices: $32.50 – $62.50; $12.50 with a student I.D.
Tickets are available in person Monday through Friday between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. at Hartford Symphony Orchestra Ticket Services, 99 Pratt Street, Suite 500 in Hartford, by calling (860) 244-2999, or online 24/7 at www.hartfordsymphony.org.
The Hartford Symphony Orchestra participates in the Greater Hartford Arts Council’s Let*s GO Arts! program that offers 2-for-1 tickets to arts and entertainment events, and discounts at restaurants and clubs. Let*s GO Arts! members can receive 2-for-1 full price tickets to HSO Masterworks and POPS! concerts.
The Masterworks Series is presented by MetLife Foundation with additional support from The Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation, and additional concert support from the Maximilian E. & Marion O. Hoffman Foundation, Inc. The Hartford Symphony Orchestra receives major support from the Greater Hartford Arts Council, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Sponsors listed as of November 23, 2009.