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Pianist Joseph Kalichstein Joins the Napa Valley Symphony’s
Italian Festival, Featuring Works by
Beethoven, Rossini and Mendelssohn
Conducted by Music Director Asher Raboy
The Napa Valley Symphony’s ’08-’09 season is dedicated to the memory of late
winemaker and philanthropist Robert Mondavi.
NAPA VALLEY, September 27, 2008—The Napa Valley Symphony is pleased to open its
76th Classical Series with Italian Festival, featuring works by Beethoven, Rossini, and
Mendelssohn, conducted by Music Director Asher Raboy. Pianist Joseph Kalichstein,
acclaimed for the heartfelt intensity and technical mastery of his playing, will be the
special guest artist for the Italian Festival.
Italian Festival takes place at the Lincoln Theater on Sunday, November 16 at 3pm, and
features two Romantic era compositions that capture the energy and spirit of the Italian
peninsula: Rossini’s popular Overture to Italian Girl in Algiers and Mendelssohn’s famed
Symphony #4, also known as the Italian Symphony, which he composed following an
extended trip to Italy.
Italian Festival also features guest artist Joseph Kalichstein performing Beethoven’s
Concerto #4 in G for Piano & Orchestra, Op 58. The concert on which this concerto was
premiered in December 1808 was the last public performance by the composer as a
pianist. Since its first performance, Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto has been
considered by many to be the composer’s greatest masterpiece in the concerto genre.
About Joseph Kalichstein
Pianist Joseph Kalichstein enthralls audiences throughout the United States and Europe,
winning equal praise as orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. He is also the
first Chamber Music Advisor to the Kennedy Center, an appointment that grew out of his
close association with the Center over many seasons. He has given solo recitals there,
appeared many times with the National Symphony Orchestra, and played a major role in
chamber music festivals devoted to Brahms and Beethoven.
Summer 2008 marked the 40th Anniversary of Mr. Kalichstein's first appearance at the
Aspen Music Festival in 1968, which he celebrated with a four piano extravaganza
including friends and colleagues Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman and Misha Dichter as well
as a performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 under the baton of Leonard
Slatkin. He also recently participated in the Ravinia Festival's ongoing Mozart
celebration, performing two of the piano concerti with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
under James Conlon, Ravinia's music director. During the 2008-09 season, Mr.
Kalichstein performs solo recitals throughout the U.S. and tour the U.S. and Europe with
the acclaimed Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson piano trio.
Recent orchestral engagements have included performances with the Boston Symphony
Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony,
Rochester Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, Vermont Symphony Orchestra, and
London Symphony Orchestra, and return tours to Japan, Germany, New Zealand, and
Scandinavia. He continues to record and play in music capitals worldwide with the famed
Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson piano trio, who celebrated their 30th Anniversary last
season and with whom he appeared in the opening month's festivities of Carnegie's new
Zankel Hall. In March 2006, an emotional and musical highlight for Mr. Kalichstein was
a special tour, which included several major U.S. cities, as a soloist with the Juilliard
orchestra under James DePriest, helping to celebrate his alma mater's 100th birthday.
Born in Tel Aviv, Mr. Kalichstein came to the United States in 1962. His principal
teachers included Joshua Shor in Israel and Edward Steuermann and Ilona Kabos at The
Juilliard School. Prior to his 1969 Leventritt Award victory, he won the Young Concert
Artists Auditions. As a result, he gave a heralded New York recital debut and, at the
invitation of Leonard Bernstein, performed Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with the
New York Philharmonic in a nationally televised concert on CBS.
With his diverse repertoire of works ranging from Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms to
20th-century works by Bartok, Prokofiev and others, Mr. Kalichstein has collaborated
with such celebrated conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, James Conlon,
Christoph von Dohnányi, James DePreist, Charles Dutoit, Lawrence Foster, Zubin Mehta,
Andre Previn, Kurt Sanderling, Leonard Slatkin, Edo de Waart, David Zinman and the
late George Szell and Erich Leinsdorf. His orchestral engagements have included
performances with the Atlanta, Baltimore, Barcelona, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati,
Detroit, Indianapolis, London, Montreal, National, NHK (Tokyo), Quebec, Pittsburgh, San
Francisco, San Diego, Saint Louis, Seattle, Utah and Vienna symphony orchestras; the
Berlin, Helsinki, Israel, London, Los Angeles, New York, Oslo, Rotterdam and Stockholm
philharmonic orchestras; the Cleveland, Halle and Minnesota orchestras; and the
English, Scottish, Franz Liszt and Saint Paul chamber orchestras. He has been
enthusiastically received at the Helsinki, Edinburgh, Aspen, Prague, Ravinia,
Tanglewood, Salzburg, and Verbier festivals.
A favorite of New York concertgoers, Mr. Kalichstein has appeared in several recitals on
Carnegie Hall's "Keyboard Virtuosi" series. He has also appeared there as soloist with the
Cleveland Orchestra, the Leipzig Chamber Orchestra and with the Kalichstein-LaredoRobinson Trio. He frequently collaborates with the world's great string quartets, among
them the Emerson, Guarneri and Juilliard.
Mr. Kalichstein's recent releases are a disc of works by Brahms and Schumann on the
Koch label, "The Romantic Piano," on Audiofon, a two-disc set featuring works of C.P.E.
Bach, Brahms, Mendelssohn and Schubert, and Ellen Taafe Zwillich's Piano Concerto,
part of Koch International's complete recording project of her work.
CALENDAR EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE:
WHAT:
Pianist Joseph Kalichstein Headlines the Napa Valley Symphony’s Italian Festival
WHEN:
Sunday, November 16 at 3pm
WHERE:
Lincoln Theater
100 California Drive, Yountville
TICKETS:
$30-$55
Available at www.napavalleysymphony.org or at 707.226.8742
THE NAPA VALLEY SYMPHONY
The Napa Valley Symphony is one of the oldest and largest non-profit performing arts
institutions in California, is dedicated to maintaining and operating a fully professional
symphony orchestra with the objective of enhancing the quality of life throughout Napa
County. The tradition of live instrumental music is supported through regularly
scheduled concerts of both traditional classical music and pops programs, with every
concert featuring world-class guest soloists.
The Napa Valley Symphony performs in the Lincoln Theater, located on the bucolic
grounds of the Veterans Home of California in Yountville. The Lincoln Theater has been
lavishly transformed into a world-class performance space, and is the newest and
grandest addition to the Napa Valley's cultural scene. Thanks to the extraordinary
efforts of the Friends of Lincoln Theater, the Symphony and all arts organizations
throughout the Valley have a stunning new state-of-the-art performance space - a
facility with amenities in keeping with the style and beauty of the Napa Valley. More
information is available at www.napavalleysymphony.org
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