Download ri philharmonic offers beethoven, ravel, strauss in season finale may

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 18, 2014
CONTACT: Kyle Phipps, Marketing Manager
401.248.7030 / [email protected]
RI PHILHARMONIC OFFERS BEETHOVEN, RAVEL, STRAUSS IN SEASON FINALE MAY 10
RETURN ENGAGEMENT FOR PIANIST ALON GOLDSTEIN
April 18, 2014 – East Providence, RI ‐ The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra and music director LARRY
RACHLEFF celebrate the finale of the Philharmonic’s 69th season on May 10. Pianist ALON GOLDSTEIN makes a
return engagement with a performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1. The orchestra will also perform
Richard Strauss’ Don Juan, and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suites, with the PROVIDENCE SINGERS, CHRISTINE
NOEL, artistic director. The concert takes place Saturday May 10 at 8:00pm at The Vets in Providence. The
concert is sponsored by The Joseph and Rosalyn Sinclair Foundation. Mr. Goldstein’s appearance is sponsored by
The Joseph and Rosalyn Sinclair Foundation, Dr. Herbert Rakatansky and Ms. Barbara Sokoloff, and The Sage and
Sgro Families. WPRO News Talk 630 is the media sponsor. Tickets (starting at $15) are available at
riphil.org/tickets, by phone at 401.248.7000, and in person at the RIPO box office, 667 Waterman Ave., East
Providence. There is an Open Rehearsal Friday May 9 at 5:30pm.
LARRY RACHLEFF, music director, said: “This concert pairs the love story of Richard Strauss’s Don Juan with that
of Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloé. Ravel’s ballet suites comprise fifty minutes of glorious French sound. 150
musicians will be on stage, a huge orchestra and chorus; we’re glad to collaborate with the Providence Singers
again. After the tender ecstasy of Ravel’s French impressionism, Strauss’s tone poem asks the orchestra to play
with uncommon speed, dexterity, electricity and fire. You certainly hear the fervor of Don Juan in this athletic
romp.” Rachleff continued: “Our friend Alon Goldstein returns with Beethoven’s first piano concerto. Alon is a
frequent collaborator of ours, most recently with Grieg’s piano concerto. It’s interesting to compare this first
concerto of Beethoven with the twentieth of Mozart, which we heard Bob Levin play in our April concert. The
two concerti reach towards each other, across the years.”
Pianist ALON GOLDSTEIN has performed with major orchestras throughout the United States, Europe and Israel
and as a recitalist in major music centers around the world. His 2012-13 season included a tour of Central and
South America with the Israel Chamber Orchestra, his debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and
performances with the Tokyo Quartet, as well as nation-wide performances with the Goldstein-Peled-Fiterstein
Trio. A graduate of the Tel-Aviv academy and the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, where he studied with the
legendary Leon Fleisher, Alon is the winner of numerous competitions. He received the America Israeli Cultural
Foundation scholarships for 10 years. Mr. Goldstein is a favorite with the Philharmonic audience, and in the
spring of 2012 he assisted the artistic staff in the selection of the new Steinway Grand piano.
The PROVIDENCE SINGERS celebrates the choral art through concerts of masterworks and contemporary works,
creative collaborations, recordings of American choral treasures, new music commissions, and education
programs. Led by artistic director Christine Noel, the Providence Singers presents an annual concert series and
performs regularly with the Rhode Island Philharmonic. A guest appearance with Dave Brubeck at the 2004
Newport Jazz Festival was hailed by Mr. Brubeck as “the best performance yet” of his cantata Gates of Justice; at
the composer’s invitation, the Providence Singers premiered Mr. Brubeck’s The Commandments and reprised
Gates at Lincoln Center in 2005. Other collaborators include the Kronos Quartet at the FirstWorks Festival,
Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the New Haven Symphony, New Bedford Symphony, the Aurea Ensemble,
Boston Landmarks Orchestra, and others.
CHRISTINE NOEL celebrates her inaugural season as Artistic Director of the Providence Singers. She recently
conducted the Singers with chamber orchestra in Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis and Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes de
Confessore. As past Associate Conductor, she prepared the Providence Singers for performances of Messiah,
Carmina Burana, and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.3, and collaborated with colleague Andrew Clark on the
BMOP/sound recording of Lukas Foss’ The Prairie and Dominick Argento’s Jonah and the Whale with the Boston
Modern Orchestra Project. She is on the music faculty and serves as Director of Choral Activities at Clark
University, Worcester, MA. She is also Founder and Artistic Director of the RI Children’s Chorus, which has
performed at conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and the Music Educators’
National Conference (MENC).
The Philharmonic’s season featured eight Classical concerts on Saturday nights at The Vets. Four have had Friday
Open Rehearsals, including this Friday May 9 at 5:30pm, offering insight into the collaboration between the
conductor, guest artists and orchestra musicians as they prepare for the upcoming classical concert. Please call
the Philharmonic box office at 401.248.7000, or visit www.riphil.org/tickets.
Alon Goldstein, piano
This is a low-res image!
Click here for a hi-res version of this image.
Christine Noel, The Providence Singers, artistic director
This is a low-res image!
Click here for a hi-res version of this image.
AT A GLANCE:
Season Finale: Beethoven with Alon Goldstein
Larry Rachleff, conductor
Alon Goldstein, piano
The Providence Singers, Christine Noel, artistic director
STRAUSS
BEETHOVEN
RAVEL
Don Juan, TrV 156, op.20
Piano Concerto No.1, C major, op.15
Daphnis et Chloé: Suites 1 & 2
Saturday May 10 at 8:00pm
TICKETS:
Open Rehearsal: Friday May 9 at 5:30pm
starting at $15, with discounts for students and groups in select sections
online: www.riphil.org/tickets, 24/7
by phone: Philharmonic box office: 401.248.7000; Monday-Friday 9‐4:30
in person: Philharmonic box office, Carter Center, 667 Waterman Street, East
Providence, Monday-Friday 9‐4:30 OR
The Vets box office, 1 Avenue of the Arts, Providence, rehearsal Friday 2‐showtime;
concert Saturday 3:30‐showtime
ABOUT THE PROGRAM: stories behind the music
R. Strauss, Don Juan
The story of his life: Richard Strauss may have identified with his subject when he began composing Don
Juan. A 20-year-old Wunderkind, Strauss was attractive, immensely talented and held a position of high
esteem (though without pay). He was away from his parents for the first time. It was only natural to have a
string of love affairs. Reflecting deeply on them and projecting them into his music was also natural. As a
vehicle for the expression of sexual desire, he chose the greatest erotic subject of all time, the Don Juan
legend.
Beethoven, Piano Concerto No.1 in C Major, op.15
Early days: Beethoven was known more as a pianist than as a composer during his early years in Vienna,
partly because of his performances of his own piano concertos. He premiered his C Major Concerto in
Prague, and the critics quickly realized that a true innovator had entered the musical arena.
Beethoven emulates Mozart's piano concertos, including the indirect manner of bringing in the piano part,
which finally "discovers" the main theme. A substantial piano solo near the end was also part of the Mozart
legacy. The slow movement is unexpectedly sumptuous, led nearly throughout by the piano. The depth and
poignancy of this movement give the listener an early glimpse of the great Beethoven slow movements,
which, reportedly, sometimes left audiences in tears. In the concerto's finale, we perceive the shadow of
Haydn's scintillating rondos mixed with Beethoven's personal brand of boisterous wit.
Ravel, Daphnis et Chloé Suites
Ravel's full-length ballet, Daphnis et Chloé, was based on an ancient Greco-Roman legend. Ravel considered
it not only a stage work but also an orchestral statement, a "choreographic symphony." As the composer
relates: The work is constructed symphonically, according to a strict plan of key sequences, out of a small
number of themes, the development of which ensures the work's homogeneity.
Pirates and a bacchanal in 5/4 time: At the opening of Suite No.1, nymphs call on the god Pan, who
appears out of the clouds as night falls. The scene changes to the pirates' camp. The pirates bring in Chloé,
who implores them to release her. Twice she tries to escape. Suddenly, Pan appears from a cloud and
rescues Chloé. Suite No.2 begins with sunrise—one of the most glorious passages in all Ravel's music.
Shepherds awaken Daphnis with the news that Pan has saved Chloé. The reunited couple dances and
embraces, and the crowd rejoices with a bacchanal in 5/4 time rounds out the ballet. Legend tells us that
the dancers struggled to keep up with this asymmetrical meter. They solved the problem by chanting to
themselves the syllables, "Ser-gei-Dia-ghi-lev."
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION
The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School is the largest fully integrated orchestra and music school
in the United States. Our mission is to enrich and transform Rhode Island and our region through great music
performance and education.
2013-2014 is the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra’s 69th Season, Music Director Larry Rachleff’s 18th with the
Orchestra. The season includes an eight-concert Classical Series with a roster of world-renowned guest artists that
includes pianists Alon Goldstein, Cecile Licad, Jean-Philippe Collard and Robert Levin, violinists Jennifer Frautschi and
Philippe Quint, cellist Colin Carr, and guest conductor Michael Christie. Our Amica Rush Hour Series offers an early
start time – 6:30pm – on four Fridays (October 18, November 15, March 21, April 11). These shorter, informal,
accessible classical concerts feature full performances of select repertoire from the Saturday Classical concerts. Our
four Open Rehearsals, on Fridays at 5:30pm (September 20, January 17, February 21, May 9), offer audience
members insight into the collaboration between the conductor, guest artists and orchestra musicians as they
prepare for the upcoming classical concert. Special events include the perennial holiday favorite Handel’s Messiah
with The Providence Singers on Saturday, December 7 at 7:00pm. Resident Conductor Francisco Noya conducts
Handel’s Messiah, our Education Concerts and our Summer Pops Concerts.
Now in its 26th year, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School serves approximately 1,500 children, youth and
adults every week with lessons, classes, ensembles and community partnership programs, and an additional 13,000
students annually through partnerships, residencies, education concerts and in-school performances. Ensembles
include five youth orchestras, two wind ensembles, eleven jazz ensembles and many chamber music ensembles and
the RI Philharmonic Community Orchestra for adults. Information is available at www.riphil.org.
TICKETS AND DISCOUNTS
Tickets may be purchased 24/7 on the Philharmonic website: www.riphil.org/tickets. Tickets may also be purchased
at the Philharmonic box office at 667 Waterman Avenue, East Providence, by phone (401.248.7000) or in-person
Monday‐Friday 9am‐4:30pm. On Open Rehearsal and Amica Rush Hour Fridays, ticket sales are also available at The
Vets box office, from 2:00pm and 2:30pm respectively until showtime. On Saturday concert days, tickets are
available onsite at The Vets box office from 3:30pm until showtime, or by calling 401.248.7000.
Ticket prices start at $15 for adults, with discounts in selected areas of the hall for full‐time students and groups.
Rush Hour concert tickets range from $15 to $50. Additional facilities and handling fees apply. Tickets for Open
Rehearsals are $15, inclusive of fees, for general seating. There is free parking for all Philharmonic concerts at
designated lots along Smith Street. For Saturday evening concerts, the Philharmonic provides free shuttle service to
and from the parking lots before and after the concerts.