Langrée Leads the CSO into 2014-2015
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's 2014-2015 season, the first to be planned entirely by new music director Louis Langrée, promises variety
innovation and for the third year in a row, the return of the orchestra's
popular "One City, One Symphony" community engagement project.
Langrée will conduct ten subscription weeks, plus the opening night gala with superstar Lang Lang, for a total of 23 concerts, up from 13 this season.
"Our musical exploration together has just begun, and we have much to look forward to in the 2014-15 season," he said.
Programs to be led by Langrée range from symphonies by Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky to Debussy's "La Mer," Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" with the May Festival Chorus, John Adams' "Harmonielehre," and a delectable-sounding season finale in May, 2015, comprising Borodin's "Polovtsian Dances" from "Prince Igor," Rimsky-Korsakov's "Sheherazade" and the CSO premiere of Israeli composer Avner Dorman's 2006 "Spices, Perfumes, Toxins!" featuring percussionist Martin Grubinger. He will lead an all-Beethoven concert to open the season Sept. 13, with Lang Lang performing the Piano Concerto No. 1.
Langrée will conduct three world premieres: André Previn's Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, with violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson Nov. 21 and 22, and new works by violinist and Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw March 13 and Icelandic composer Daniel Bjarnason March 14, both in conjunction with the 2015 MusicNOW Festival (Bryce Dessner, artistic director).
Artist newcomers include pianists Alexander Gavrylyuk, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Khatia Buniatishvili and Igor Levit, violinists Alina Ibragimova and Caroline Shaw, percussionist Martin Grubinger and vocalists Erin Morley, soprano, and Matthew Worth, baritone.
Making return appearances with the CSO will be pianists Emmanuel Ax, André Watts, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Ingrid Fliter and Valentina Lasitsa, violinists Joshua Bell, Leila Josefowicz and Simone Lamsma and clarinetist Martin Fröst.
Two members of the CSO will step into the solo spotlight, principal cellist Ilya Finkelshteyn in the Schumann Cello Concerto Jan. 15-18, 2015, and principal harpist Gillian Benet Sella in Theme and Variations for Harp and Orchestra by Joaquin Turina (arr. Frühbeck) March 20 and 21, 2015.
Guest conductor Kazem Abdullah will make his CSO debut Oct. 9 and 11 with Dvořák's Symphony No. 8 and Stravinsky's "Symphony of Psalms" with the May Festival Chorus. Han-Na Chang, whose previous engagements with the CSO have been as a cellist, will bow in as guest conductor Feb. 6 and 7, 2015 with Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" (arr. Ravel).
Returning to the CSO podium Feb. 27 and 28, 2015 will be music director laureate Paavo Järvi in Shostakovich's Symphony No. 1 and Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2 with Khatia Buniatishvili.
Returning guest conductors include Andrey Boreyko, Michael Francis, Peter Oundjian, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Sir Roger Norrington and composer/conductor John Adams, who will lead Respighi's "Pines of Rome" and the CSO premiere of his "Sheherazade.2 - Symphony for Violin and Orchestra," with Josefowicz April 17 and 18, 2015.
The theme of next season's "One City, One Symphony" project is "Heroes," with concerts Nov. 14-16. Again there will be neighborhood listening parties, listening guides, educational materials and community partnerships (details will be announced at a later date at www.cincinnatisymphony.org/onecity). Featured on the concerts will be Mahler's Symphony No. 1 ("Titan"), Beethoven's "Coriolan" Overture (written for a drama about the fifth-century BCE Roman general Coriolanus), and "Hymne a la justice" by French composer Albéric Magnard, who died a national hero in 1914 for refusing to surrender his property to German invaders.
A new element of "One City, One Symphony" will be "Louis' Listening Party," to be held in conjunction with the Nov. 16 concert (a Sunday afternoon). Langrée will explicate the heroic theme of the Mahler Symphony on the first half, with musical examples provided by the orchestra, followed by a complete performance of the work after intermission.Forty-five composers are represented during the new season, with Beethoven (no surprise) leading the way with seven works. Tchaikovsky is next with four (2015 is his 175th anniversary), followed by Mozart and Bartok with three each. John Adams heads the list for contemporary works with two. Many are CSO subscription premieres, including Ravel's "Une barque sur l'océan," Stravinsky's "The King of the Stars," Adams' "Sheherazade.2 - Symphony for Violin and Orchestra," Magnard's "Hymne a la justice," Nielsen's "Aladdin" Suite, Giménez' Intermezzo from "La boda de Luis Alonso" and Dorman's "Spices, Perfumes, Toxins!"
There are 20 subscription concerts on the 2014-2015 season, plus the opening night gala with Lang Lang Sept. 13 (one night only, non-subscription). Performance times are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. Fridays, 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays at Music Hall.
Subscriptions are available in packages of 5, 10, 15 or 20 concerts ranging from $60-$465. "Classic Choice" vouchers good for your choice of 6 or 10 concerts during the season (best available seats) are $335 and $318 for 6 and $365 and $515 for 10. Those who subscribe to 10 or more concerts per person by Feb. 21 will receive a free ticket for the opening night gala with Lang Lang.
Single tickets for Lang Lang begin at $35 and go on sale June 2. Single tickets for the remainder of the season begin at $12, available Aug. 8.
For information or to subscribe, call (513) 381-3300, or visit www.cincinnatisymphony.org.
The 2014-2015 CSO Season.
Lang Lang
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Martin Frost
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Emmanuel Ax
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Kazem Abdullah
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André Watts
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Andrey Boreyko
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Nov. 14-16. Louis Langrée conductor. "One City, One Symphony: Heroes." All-Orchestral. Ludwig van Beethoven, "Coriolan" Overture. Albéric Magnard, "Hymne à la justice." Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 1 ("Titan").
Jaime Laredo
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Sharon Robinson
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Alexander Gavrylyuk
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Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
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Ilya Finkelshteyn
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Valentina Lasitsa
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Han-Na Chang
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Jean-Yves Thibaudet
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Paavo Järvi
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Caroline Shaw
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Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
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Gillian Benet Sella
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John Adams
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Leila Josefowicz
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Sir Roger Norrington
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Joshua Bell
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Martin Grubinger
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