World-Renowned Violist Gilad Karni to Play Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet
HARTFORD, March 17, 2010 – The Hartford Symphony Orchestra will perform a night of musical enchantment by the great Russian composers Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, and Liadov on Thursday, April 22 – Saturday, April 24, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 25, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. in the Belding Theater at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts. Led by Music Director Edward Cumming, this masterworks concert will feature viola soloist Gilad Karni in the U.S. premiere of a unique arrangement of Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet.
Edward Cumming says, “At this program, we present a panoply of Russian music: the exotic textures of Liadov’s Enchanted Lake, the icy cool Prokofiev in a new orchestration of his Romeo and Juliet, and, finally, the brooding romanticism of a young Rachmaninoff in his Second Symphony. If there is music for lovers, then this is date night at the symphony — bring someone and hold on tight.”
The concert will begin with Anatoly Liadov’s Enchanted Lake for orchestra. Drawn from Liadov’s incomplete opera about Russian folklore, Zorushkya, the Enchanted Lake is a sparkling musical depiction of the shimmering light and rippling motion of a magical lake filled with water nymphs. Then, guest violist Gilad Karni will take the stage for a unique setting of Sergei Prokofiev’s beloved Romeo and Juliet ballet suite as adapted for solo viola and orchestra. In six movements, this dreamy setting of Shakespeare’s famous play will take the audience to a scene on the streets of Verona, the dance of the knights at the masked ball, the introductions of Romeo, Juliet, and Mercutio, and, of course, the infamously romantic balcony scene.
Inspired by the dramatic Wagnerian operas he saw in Germany, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony combines the intense emotions of an opera with the luscious sounds of a full symphony orchestra. Although Rachmaninoff wrote this symphony more than 100 years ago, its sweeping melodies still speak to the hearts of audiences today. (Pop singer Eric Carmen even borrowed the melody from the Adagio movement for his 1976 hit, “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again!”)
Violist Gilad Karni has been praised for his tone and interpretation throughout the world. He has left his trade-mark in many international viola competitions as 1st Prize Winner (1994) of the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and 3rd Prize Winner (1993) of the ARD Munich International Music Competition. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras in Austria, Denmark, France, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Israel, Japan, South Africa, and the USA. His vast orchestral experience ranges from being the youngest member of the New York Philharmonic, to Principal Violist Positions of the Bamberger Symphoniker, and Deutsche Oper Berlin, and currently the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.
************************************************************************
CALENDAR LISTING:
Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 & Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet
Hartford Symphony Orchestra with Edward Cumming, conductor; Gilad Karni, viola
Thursday, April 22, 2010 │ 8:00 p.m.
Friday, April 23, 2010 │ 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 24, 2010 │ 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 25, 2010 │ 3:00 p.m.
The Belding Theater │ The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts
Music Director Edward Cumming will lead a pre-concert chat one hour before each performance.
Program: Sergei Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27; Sergei Prokofiev: Six Pieces from Romeo and Juliet for Viola and Orchestra (orchestrated by Joel Mathias Jenny); Anatoly Liadov: The Enchanted Lake, Legend for Orchestra, Op. 62
Ticket Prices: $30 – $70; $10 with a student I.D. Ticket prices do not include applicable fees.
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.
These concerts are presented in part by The Gerald and Barbara Arbetter Remembrance Fund and Viking Fuel Oil Company. The Masterworks Series is presented by MetLife Foundation with additional support from The Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation and 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.