Cincinnati Symphony to Open with Tüür, Tchaikovsky
The pump is primed, the doors are open.
With its first sold-out concert in five years – last week’s non-subscription gala featuring pianist Lang Lang -- the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is ready to launch its 2009-2010 season.
The official opening concerts are 8 p.m. Sept. 25 and 26 (Friday and Saturday), 3 p.m. Sept. 27 (Sunday) at Music Hall.
The program, to be conducted by music director Paavo Järvi, promises to be an inviting one. Violinist Alina Pogostkina will perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and the May Festival Chorus will be heard in the U.S. premiere of Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür’s 2009 “Pietas” (Symphony No. 7).
The Chorus will join the CSO Sept. 25 and 26 in the “Polovtsian Dances” from Alexander Borodin’s “Prince Igor,” and the concerts will open with “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks” by Richard Strauss. Come at 7 p.m. both nights for a pre-concert, “Classical Conversation” with Tüür led by Northern Kentucky University music professor/Baltic scholar Vance Wolverton.
Tüür and Tchaikovsky will be heard on the Sunday matinee, which marks the opening of the CSO’s new “Pathways” series, a shortened format (one hour of music) with onstage, post-concert discussions by Järvi, the CSO musicians and guests. Tüür and Järvi will be on hand for this weekend’s discussion, which will be moderated by Mark Perzel of WGUC, FM 90.9.
Pogostkina, 25, winner of the 2005 Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki, will make her CSO debut at these concerts.
Tickets are $10-$95 Friday and Saturday, $10-$71.25 Sunday, when 25% discounting applies to all but gallery/extreme and extreme seats (orchestra front row).
To order, call (513) 381-3300, visit www.cincinnatisymphony.org or the CSO box office at Music Hall, 1241 Elm St. downtown. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and two hours before performances.