LINCOLN CENTER’S GREAT PERFORMERS PRESENTS
THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC JUNE 3 AND 5
IN AVERY FISHER HALL
New York Premiere of Adams’s Dharma at Big Sur on June
5
Lincoln Center’s Great Performers will present the Los Angeles
Philharmonic, led by music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, on Friday,
June 3, 2024 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, June 5, 2024 at 2 p.m. in Avery
Fisher Hall. On June 3, pianist Alexander Toradze joins the orchestra
for a program of works by Stravinsky (Suite from Pulcinella) and
Shostakovich (Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 35 and Symphony
No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93).
On June 5, electric violinist Tracy Silverman joins the orchestra
for the New York premiere of the electric violin concerto The
Dharma at Big Sur by John Adams, written for Silverman and commissioned
for the opening of Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles in
2003. Inspired by Jack Kerouac’s Big Sur, Adams’s
music reflects on the spiritual and physical experience of being
a Californian. The program also includes Ives’s The Unanswered
Question and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé (complete).
Tickets for the Los Angeles Philharmonic are priced at $68, $55,
and $35 and are available at the Alice Tully and Avery Fisher
Hall box offices, Broadway at 65th Street, by calling CenterCharge
at 212/721-6500, or by visiting Lincoln Center’s website
at www.lincolncenter.org.
Great Performers is sponsored by the American Express Company.
Dharma at Big Sur:
In the program notes from the opening performance at Disney Hall,
John Adams explained the genesis of Dharma at Big Sur: “When
the Philharmonic asked me for a new work to celebrate the opening
of Disney Hall, I knew I wanted to write something that reflected
our collective experience of being Californians. I especially
wanted to reflect the experience of those who, like me, were not
born here and for whom the arrival on this side of the continent
had both a spiritual and a physical impact.
I originally searched for texts from writers who told of their
own first impressions of California, and I even went back as far
as the Spanish missionaries to locate something appropriate. Then
I read “Big Sur” by Jack Kerouac, a book that is both
personal (as Kerouac always is), evocative and that oscillates
between turbulence and ecstasy. I thought Kerouac's voice was
the one that most closely approximated my own feelings…
…Then I had the tremendously good fortune to hear at an
Oakland jazz club the violinist Tracy Silverman, an extraordinary
musician who plays the electric violin. Tracy, it seemed to me,
had the Kerouac spirit: he was brought up in the classical tradition,
played concertos as a teenager, graduated from Juilliard and then
rebelled and left classical music in order to create his own,
very unique and intensely expressive style of playing. I was reminded
that Kerouac was accepted to Columbia on a football scholarship
and then quit school to hit the road.”
More about the artists:
Hailed as Southern California’s leading performing arts
institution, the Los Angeles Philharmonic was established in 1919
by a wealthy amateur musician named William Andrews Clark Jr.
The 94 musicians of the new ensemble met their first rehearsal
on October 13 of that year, under the direction of Walter Henry
Rothwell, whom Clark had recruited from the St. Paul (Minnesota)
Symphony Orchestra. Eleven days later, Rothwell conducted the
orchestra’s premiere performance before a capacity crowd
of 2,400 in Trinity Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles. He continued
as music director until his death in 1927. Since then, nine renowned
conductors have served in that capacity; Georg Schéevoigt
(1927-29); Artur Rodzinski (1929-33); Otto Klemperer (1933-39);
Alfred Wallenstein (1943-56); Eduard van Beinum (1956-59); Zubin
Mehta (1961-1978); Carlo Maria Giulini (1978-84); André
Previn (1985-89) and, since the beginning of the 1992-93 season,
Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Esa-Pekka Salonen, the tenth conductor to head the Los Angeles
Philharmonic, began his tenure as Music Director in October 1992.
Salonen made his American debut conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic
in November 1984, and he has conducted the orchestra every season
since. Among the many highlights of Salonen’s activities
with the Philharmonic have been world premieres of new works by
composers John Adams, Bernard Rands, Rodion Shchedrin, Steven
Stucky, and Salonen himself; well received Ligeti, Schoenberg
and Stravinsky Festivals; appearances at the Ojai Festival; numerous
critically acclaimed international tours since 1992; and his extensive
discography with the orchestra for Sony Classical. Salonen was
born in Helsinki, Finland in 1958. He made his conducting debut
in London with the Philharmonia Orchestra in September 1983. He
served as principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia of London
from 1985 to 1994 and as principal conductor of the Swedish Radio
Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 1995.
Recording artist Tracy Silverman was first violinist with the
Turtle Island String Quartet for four years, and has been featured
as a violinist and record producer on CBS News Sunday Morning
with Charles Osgood. He is a key figure in the world of electric
violin, known both in the concert hall and in the rock clubs.
In 1999 he was named Artist in Residence by the city of Hamburg,
Germany. Silverman has been playing violin since he was 5 years
old, and made his professional debut at age thirteen as 1st place
winner and soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and has
been honored with many awards, including the national Stillman-Kelly
Award. Silverman graduated from the Juilliard School, where he
studied chamber music with Sam Rhodes of the Juilliard Quartet
and Lewis Kaplan of the Aeolian Chamber Players. Silverman has
become an innovative force in the playing and designing of the
6-string electric violin and has composed a Concerto for Electric
Violin and Orchestra which has been performed by the Wisconsin
Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Andrew Sewell and is
programmed for 2002 and 2003 with the Mansfield and Wichita Symphonies.
Alexander Toradze is universally recognized by musicians, critics,
and audiences alike, as a masterful keyboard virtuoso in the grand
Romantic tradition. Distinguished above all for the highly emotional
intensity of his playing, he has enriched the Great Russian pianistic
heritage with his own unorthodox interpretative conception, deeply
poetic lyricism, and intense passionate excitement. Mr. Toradze’s
recent recording of all five Prokofiev Piano Concertos with Valery
Gergiev and the Kirov orchestra for the Philips label are acclaimed
by critics as definitive. His recording of Prokofiev’s Piano
Concerto No. 3 was voted as the best on record (among over 70
recordings) by the prestigious International Piano Quarterly.
Other highly successful recordings have included Scriabin’s
Prometheus, Poem of Fire with Valery Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra,
and recital albums of the works of by Mussorgsky, Stravinsky,
Ravel and Prokofiev for the Angel/EMI label.
James Bagwell maintains an active schedule throughout the U.S.
as a conductor of choral, operatic, and orchestral literature.
He has received critical praise for his work as Music Director
of Light Opera Oklahoma, and returned to Tulsa to conduct three
new productions and two orchestral concerts with members of the
Tulsa Philharmonic for the 2003 summer festival season. In August
2001, he was appointed artistic director and conductor of Cappella
Festival Orchestra and Chorus in New York. He is founder and artistic
director of The New York Repertory Chorus who made their debut
in New York City in November 2002. Active as a guest conductor,
he was invited to return to conduct the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra
in 2000 after his debut in December 1999. From 1998-2000 he served
as artistic director and conductor of the Indianapolis Symphonic
Choir and the Indianapolis Chamber Singers, a professional ensemble
he formed in 1999. Mr. Bagwell has been Music Director of the
Cincinnati May Festival Youth Chorus since 1997. Last summer was
his fifth season as director of choruses for the May Festival
Summer Chorus during the Riverbend Music Series. James Bagwell
has trained choruses for major American orchestras, including
the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra,
Indianapolis Symphony, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, and the
Asheville (NC) Symphony, working with such notable conductors
as Raymond Leppard, James Conlon, Christof Perick, Imre Pallo,
Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Erich Kunzel, Leon Fleischer, and Robert Shaw.
In 2000 he joined the faculty of Bard College where he is director
of the orchestral and choral program.
The Concert Chorale of New York is a group of professional singers
performing with various conductors and presenters. They have appeared
at the Caramoor Festival with John Nelson in concert versions
of L’Allegro and Theodora, with Andre Previn in A Midsummer
Night’s Dream and with Will Crutchfield in La Centerentola
and La donna del lago. Other credits include the Brooklyn Academy
of Music’s productions of Philip Glass’s Civil Wars,
John Adams’s Nixon in China and The Death of Klinghoffer
and various productions with the Mark Morris Dance Company. The
Chorale has also worked with Gerard Schwarz at the 92nd Street
Y, performing the Bach Magnificat and B-minor Mass, Handel’s
Dixit Dominus, and Beethoven Symphony No. 9 on various occasions.
Other projects include La Périchole and Orphée with
Yves Abel and L’Opera Francais. Recordings include Kismet
and Man of La Mancha with Paul Gemignani for CBS Records and the
recently released recording of Sondheim’s The Frogs for
Nonesuch. The Chorale is also involved in a project at the Performing
Arts Center at Purchase in performances of Gilbert and Sullivan
works and, with Jane Glover, a concert series featuring the works
of Haydn, Bach, and Beethoven. The men of the Chorale are featured
on a recording of the Pet Shop Boys on EMI Records. One of the
highlights of the Chorale was performing Bach Cantatas with Erich
Leinsdorf at the 92nd Street Y.
The Chorale participated in Live From Lincoln Center’s
A Salute to the American Musical, which was nominated for an Emmy
Award. Performances include La belle Hélène, Chabrier’s
Le roi malgré lui, Francesca di Rimini, and a concert of
Dallapiccola and Nono with the American Symphony Orchestra, conducted
by Leon Botstein. Other’s including the Bruckner Requiem,
and recordings of Die ägyptische Helena and Die Liebe der
Danae. They were also involved in a performance with Judy Collins
at Carnegie Hall, and the men of the Chorale sang in the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Tristan und Isolde.
Great Performers is sponsored by the American Express Company.
Additional support is provided by Bruce Kovner, The Florence Gould
Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc.,
Continental Airlines, The Eleanor Naylor Dana Charitable Trust,
Rita E. and Gustave M. Hauser, The Shubert Foundation, The Norman
& Rosita Winston Foundation, Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation,
The Alice Tully Foundation, the Great Performers Circle, Chairman’s
Council, and Friends of Lincoln Center.
Public support is provided by the New York State Council on the
Arts.
Additional corporate support is provided by The Bank of New York.
Movado is an Official Sponsor of Lincoln Center, Inc.
WNBC/WNJU are Official Broadcast Partners of Lincoln Center,
Inc.
Continental Airlines is the Official Airline of Lincoln Center,
Inc.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) serves three primary
roles: presenter of superb artistic programming, national leader
in arts and education and community relations, and manager of
the Lincoln Center campus. As a presenter of over 400 events annually,
LCPA complements the extraordinary offerings of the 11 other Lincoln
Center resident organizations, bringing internationally acclaimed
artists to hundreds of thousands of people each year through a
variety of popular series. These programs include American Songbook,
Great Performers, Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln Center Out
of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, and the Mostly Mozart Festival.
The Emmy Award-winning Live From Lincoln Center, the only live
performing arts series on television today, extends the reach
of Lincoln Center’s stages to millions of Americans across
the country. As a leader in arts and education and community relations,
LCPA takes a wide range of activities beyond its halls through
its educational cornerstone, Lincoln Center Institute, as well
as offering arts-related symposia; family programming; accessibility;
and other community initiatives. And as manager of the Lincoln
Center campus, LCPA also provides support and services for the
Lincoln Center complex and its resident organizations.
Lincoln Center is committed to providing and improving accessibility
for people with disabilities. Braille and large-type programs
are available for selected Lincoln Center concerts. Wheelchair
seating and assisted hearing devices are available at all concert
halls and theaters. For information, or to receive a Lincoln Center
accessibility guide, call the Department of Programs and Services
for People with Disabilities at (212) 875-5375.
Special rates for Great Performers concerts are available for
groups of 15 or more by calling the group sales office at (212)
875-5475.
Important Phone Numbers:
CenterCharge (for tickets and gift certificates) 212/721-6500
Programs and Services for People with Disabilities 212/875-5375
Information Request Line 212/875-5766
Group Sales Office
Lincoln Center Presents Great Performers
Friday, June 3, 2024 at 8:00
Avery Fisher Hall
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen, music director
Alexander Toradze, piano
Stravinsky: Suite from Pulcinella
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 35
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93
Sunday, June 5, 2024 at 2:00
Avery Fisher Hall
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen, music director
Tracy Silverman, electric violin
Concert Chorale of New York
James Bagwell, director
Ives: The Unanswered Question
John Adams: The Dharma at Big Sur (2003) (New York premiere)
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé (complete)
Pre-concert lecture at 12:45 p.m., Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse,
165 W. 65th Street, 10th floor
Tickets for the Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts are priced at
$68, $55, and $35 and are available at the Alice Tully and Avery
Fisher Hall box offices, Broadway at 65th Street, by calling CenterCharge
at 212/721-6500, or by visiting Lincoln Center’s website
at www.lincolncenter.org.
