ASO Performs Grieg's Romantic Piano Concerto
ASO Performs Grieg's Romantic Piano Concerto
LITTLE ROCK, AR, January 4, 2010 – The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra performs "Grieg's Romantic Piano Concerto" on January 16 at 8 PM and January 17 at 3 PM at Robinson Center Music Hall in downtown Little Rock. Guest conductor, and fourth Music Director finalist, Fusao Kajima will lead Grieg's famous Piano Concerto, written when the composer was only 25 years old. From a dramatic timpani roll followed by a solo piano entrance at the beginning of the piece, to brilliant virtuoso piano writing mixed with grandioso orchestra support in the last movement, Grieg masterfully melds virtuosity and lyricism.
The ASO also performs Dvorak's Symphony No. 8, a work that takes inspiration from nature. The work has themes evoking singing birds and a string accompaniment in the third movement reminiscent of a steam of water. Dvorak's "Bohemian-ness" also takes center stage in his melody creation - from the somber and soulful opening of the first movement, to the lyrical third movement, and the very earthy and spicy figures in the last movement.
Tickets for this program range from $20 - $58 and can be purchased online at www.ArkansasSymphony.org or over the phone at (501) 666-1761.
Program Details
Saturday, January 16, 8 PM
Sunday, January 17, 3 PM
Robinson Center Music Hall
Fusao Kajima, conductor
Valentina Lisitsa, piano
VILLA-LOBOS, Sinfonietta No. 1 (A memoria de Mozart)
GRIEG, Piano Concerto
DVORAK, Symphony No. 8
Program Notes
Insights about the program from conductor Fusao Kajima
This concert features the art of "tune" writing. These three composers each created beautiful melodies which are very unique and undeniably themselves.
One probably does not need to describe how wonderful the Grieg Piano Concerto is. It is rather remarkable that it was written when the composer was only 25 years old. From a dramatic timpani roll followed by a solo piano entrance at the beginning of the piece, to brilliant virtuoso piano writing mixed with grandioso orchestra support in the last movement, Grieg is in total command. A passage right after the opening piano solo reminds me of a gloomy gray Scandinavian sky, while a tender and lyrical string passage, with hidden Norwegian passion, in the slow movement seems have a power to melt the snow and ice.
Like Grieg, Dvorak was also a nature lover. His Eighth Symphony has themes evoking singing birds and a string accompaniment in the third movement reminiscent of a steam of water. Dvorak's "Bohemian-ness" also takes center stage in his melody creation - from the somber and soulful opening of the first movement, to the lyrical third movement, and the very earthy and spicy figures in the last movement.
I hope that you can enjoy these beautiful melodies - some have a smell of the ocean, or a pasture, or the jungle... Let your imagination take over while you immerse yourself in the music.
Fusao Kajima, conductor
"(Kajima) touches the minds and hearts of audiences," the Chicago Tribune wrote. As a conductor, Fusao Kajima has been winning critical acclaim for his leadership in both artistic commitment and innovative program offerings. Kajima was formerly the Music Director of the Bellevue Philharmonic.
Previously, he has held positions of Music Director of the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra (CO), the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra (IL), the Papagena Opera Company (MI), Assistant Conductor of the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra (MI), Freiburger Theater, Staatstheater Darmstadt (Germany), and the Opera Company of Mid-Michigan.
Maestro Kajima has conducted throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States, including the symphony orchestras of Shinsei Nihon in Tokyo, National Taiwan, Taipei Metropolitan, St. Petersburg in Russia, Pescara in Italy, Malaga in Spain, and orchestras of the Robert Schumann Philharmonic in Germany, and the Academic Philharmonic of Trento, Italy. He was also invited by Neeme Järvi to participate in the David Oistrakh Music Festival in Estonia. His future guest engagements include the Belgrade Philharmonic in Serbia and the Academy Orchestra of Gran Teatre Liceu in Barcelona, Spain.
He has also demonstrated his interest in training young musicians. He was invited to give masterclasses at the National Fine Arts University, the National Teachers College, and Don-Hai University in Taiwan.
Maestro Kajima has received high honors at some of the most prestigious international conducting competitions in the world, including the 1995 "Antonio Pedrotti," the 1988 "Masterplayers," and the 1985 Austrian Broadcasting Corporation Young Conductor’s Prize Competition.
A native of Japan, Fusao Kajima began his piano studies at age four and his conducting studies at fourteen. An alumnus of the New England Conservatory and the University of Michigan, his teachers include Gustav Meier, Martin Katz, Veronica Jochum, and Louis Krasner. Kajima studied at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, and Leonard Slatkin, at Chigiana with Gennady Rodhestvensky, and also in Estonia with Neeme Järvi and Jorma Panula.
Valentina Lisitsa, piano
Described by critics as "[a] bona fide angel playing" and an "electrifying pianist", the Ukrainian-born Valentina Lisitsa has been receiving rave reviews since making her Mostly Mozart Fesival debut at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. With her multi-faceted playing described as "dazzling", Valentina is at ease in a vast repertoire ranging from Bach and Mozart to Shostakovich and Bernstein. Her orchestral repertory alone includes more than forty concerti, all of which have been performed. She admits to having a special affinity for the music of Rachmaninoff and Beethoven and continues to add to her vast repertory each season. In 2010 she will perform Rachmaninoff’s “New 5th” Concerto with the Rotterdam Symphony. She is embarking on an ambitious project of recording all of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas - often a lifelong task achieved by very few artists.
With her highly individual and fearless approach to every work she performs, she has been greeted by enthusiastic audiences throughout the world. Her 2008 recital debut in Vienna's Musikverein Golden Hall received multiple standing ovations from the highly discerning Viennese audience. Valentina Lisitsa’s 2008-09 season included more than 80 performance world-wide.
Born in Kiev, Ms. Lisitsa began to study piano at the age of three and performed her first solo recital at four. After her studies - first in Lysenko School of Music and then in Kiev Conservatory -Valentina moved to the United States and shortly thereafter became a citizen. She has performed in the world's most prestigious concert venues, and among recent collaborations, have been tours with Sao Paolo Symphony, the New Zealand Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic and Prague Chamber Orchestra.
An avid chamber music player, Valentina has performed with Lynn Harrell, Jimmy Lin, Roberto Diaz, and Ida Haendel to name a few. But her most important musical partnership has been with the superb violinist Hilary Hahn. They first toured together in 2007 and recently toured extensively throughout Europe, North and South America, and Japan.
Ms. Lisitsa has recorded 8 CDs on the Audiofon label and 3 independently released DVDs, including her best-selling set of Chopin's 24 Etudes, which long held the coveted #1 spot on Amazon music video list.
Valentina Lisitsa is a Bösendorfer artist and often plays the flagship Imperial model. She makes her home with her husband – and duo piano partner – and their son.
Tickets
Tickets range from $20 - $58. Tickets for all ASO performances are on sale now. Visit the ASO Box Office online at www.ArkansasSymphony.org or call (501) 666-1761 Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. for more information.
Arkansas Symphony Orchestra
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 44rd season in 2009-20010 under the leadership of Music Director David Itkin. The ASO is the resident orchestra of Robinson Center Music Hall, and performs more than thirty concerts each year through its Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series, ACXIOM Pops LIVE! Series, River Rhapsodies Chamber Series, and numerous special events including SuperPOPS!.
