Carlos Miguel Prieto leads the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra in two concerts on October 23 and 24. The HSO presents the second concert of the Classical Series on Saturday, October 23, featuring a unique and colorful program devoted exclusively to the well-known 20th century French composer Maurice Ravel.
Guest artists are Benedetto Lupo, piano and Theodora Hanslowe, mezzo soprano. The next day, Sunday October 24, the Mainly Mozart series opens in the VBC Concert Hall with a concert featuring the works of Mozart and Haydn. Lupo returns to play the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21.These concerts mark Prieto’s first appearance in the Fiftieth Anniversary Season with the HSO. He arrives in Huntsville following a busy international conducting schedule, including engagements with the Xalapa Symphony Orchestra, the Mozart-Haydn Festival in Mexico City, the Houston Symphony and the New Orleans Philharmonic. In September, he led the Xalapa Symphony Orchestra on a two-week tour of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, including two concerts in the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam.“Even after the excitement of the European tour, I am very glad to be returning to Huntsville! Other cities would envy all the Huntsville has to offer. The people are always eager to embrace our wonderful orchestra, and it’s a heartwarming experience for me. I am ready to make great music!”
Classical 2: Saturday, October 23, 2004 | 7:30 p.m. | Von Braun Center Concert Hall
Concert sponsor is The Pei-Ling Chan Trust and Tony and Kathy Chan. Guest artist sponsor is Graphic Color.
East meets West in Ravel’s Sheherazade, a transcendent and modest song cycle based on three French poems, performed with Mezzo soprano Theodora Hanslowe. This work was inspired by Ravel’s visit as an astonished teenager to the World’s Fair in Paris where Europe beheld for the first time Javanese gamelan music. This experience led the young composer to explorations of exotic themes and modes of expression.
Next, pianist Benedetto Lupo joins Prieto and the Orchestra to perform both of Ravel’s piano concerti, his last major works written at a time of declining health. The contrasts in style of the two works is striking, considering they were written at the same time, and both contained jazz elements. This rare performance of both works on a single program by a noted virtuoso is a unique opportunity to explore these differences.
The Concerto for the Left Hand was written at the request of the prominent Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein who lost his right arm in World War I. It is astonishingly inventive with dark texture and jazz elements. The sunnier Concerto in G also contains jazz influences, not unsurprising as jazz had become the voice of the decade. However, blending American jazz with echoes of Mozart and Saint-Saëns required the hand of a master. “I believe that a concerto can be charming and brilliant,” said Ravel, “and that there is no necessity for it to aim at profundity or big dramatic effects.” He clearly achieved that goal with the G major Concerto, which is bright and buoyant, brimming with joie de vivre.
Ravel’s most popular workBolerocloses the program. The concept of Bolero is audacious in its simplicitya fifteen-minute orchestral crescendo is created by layer upon layer of instrumental color, an unrelenting rhythmic drive and a provocative, in-your-face conclusion that drives audiences wild. Ravel looked upon this work with disdain, remarking that it “contained no music.” It has been called a fifteen-minute crescendo, a concerto for snare drum, a theme without variations, and a minimalist triumph years before Philip Glass. Yet for all the arrows launched in its direction, Bolero still retains a magic fascination, its inexorable beat enthralling one’s attentions and even affections.
Benedetto Lupo has been described as “a pianist of grand musical temperament.” Bronze medallist of the Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Lupo continues to dazzle audiences throughout the United States and Europe. He has won several competitions and awards, and is featured on television documentaries. He concertizes regularly in the United States and Europe, appearing with prestigious orchestras and festivals. Lupo lives in Acquaviva delle Fonti, an Adriatic town near Bari, Italy.
Mezzo soprano Theodora Hanslowe has met with critical praise for her “warm, supple and richly expressive voice, considerable acting ability and commanding stage presense” (The Washington Post). She has appeared in opera houses throughout the world, and as a soloist on the concert hall stage. She is a native of Ithaca, New York.
Mainly Mozart 1: October 24, 2004 | 3:00 p.m. | Von Braun Center Concert Hall
Series sponsor is RNR Ventures. Guest Artist sponsor is Automatic Screw Machine Products Company/Lawson Products.
The concert opens with the first symphony of Mozart, a charming and graceful work written by the eight-year old wunderkind. Mozart’s sister noted in her diary that Wolfgang had composed it in an idle afternoon when their father, somewhat under the weather, had admonished the children to amuse themselves quietly. Pianist Benedetto Lupo returns for the Piano Concerto No. 21, described by Mozart’s father as “astonishingly difficult.” Today, it is less frequently remembered for its technical challenges than for its lyrical second movement, which was prominently featured in the 1967 Swedish film, “Elvira Madigan.”
The Symphony No. 45 of Franz Joseph Haydn concludes the concert. Subtitled “Farewell,” the Symphony begins with a stronger measure of color and tension than is usual in Haydn’s previous works. However, Haydn takes a whimsical turn at the end, instructing the musicians one by one to cease playing and exit, leaving two lone violinists to finish on a bare stage. Legend has it that this bit of drama was intended as a hint to their Prince that the musicians wished to leave the summer residence and return home to their families.
Carlos Miguel Prieto has received awards and critical acclaim for his interpretations of the music of Mozart and Haydn. He is the founder and Music Director of the groundbreaking Mozart-Haydn Festival in Mexico City, now in its fifth successful year.
HSO’s opening concert was a near sell-out, and advance ticket purchase is recommended. Tickets may be purchased by phone at 539-4818, in person at the HSO Offices and online at www.hso.org. Tickets may also be purchased the night of the concert at the Concert Hall beginning at 6:15 p.m. on Saturday, and 2:15 p.m. on Sunday. For Saturday’s concert, single ticket prices range from $24 to $54, with student and group rates available, and there is a $5.00 student rush beginning at 7:20 p.m. For Sunday’s concert, ticket prices are $25 for adults and $15 for students.
Pre-Concert Conversations with Carlos are thirty-minute informal talks that provide insights into the program, beginning at 6:45.
“Sneak Preview,” HSO’s final rehearsal at 11:00 a.m. on concert day, is open to the public for a nominal charge of $5.00. Season passes are also available at $25.00 for a single, and $50.00 for a family of three. Children 5 and under are free. Sponsor is Publix Super Markets Charities.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Benedetto Lupo
Pianist Benedetto Lupo, Bronze Medallist in the Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, continues to dazzle audiences throughout the United States and Europe. He was featured on the Emmy award-winning television documentary Here to Make Music: The Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and the seven-part television series Encore! The Final Round Performances of the Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which continues to be aired nationally on PBS. Mr. Lupo has won many competitions and awards, including the Terence Judd International Award, First Prize at the Alfred Cortot Competition in Milan, Second Prize at the Robert Casadesus Competition in Cleveland, and Third Prize in the Gina Bachauer Piano Competition in Salt Lake City. He has recently been invited to become a member of the juries of both of the later two competitions.
Mr. Lupo has performed with the Utah Symphony, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Montreal Symphony; the Spokane Symphony, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Des Moines Symphony, and the Berkeley Symphony. In Europe, Mr. Lupo’s engagements include performances with conductor Aldo Ceccato and the Orchestra di Milano and the Orchestra de Liege in Belgium, the Verdi Orchestra in Milan, and the Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, the Orchestra Sinfonica d’Italia; the Orchestre Philharmonique of Nice; the Orchestra di Bologna, the Teatro Regio Orchestra in Turin, the Santa Cecilia, the Orchestra di Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, the RAI Orchestras of Naples, Rome and Milan, and the Genoa Symphony. He has appeared with the National Capitole Orchestra of Toulouse, the Luxembourg Philharmonic, the Monte Carlo Philharmonic, and the Lodz Philharmonic. In South America, he has performed with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra in Rio de Janeiro.
Mr. Lupo’s recordings on the NUOVA ERA and the ARTS Labels have been well received. They include Nino Rota’s neo-romantic Concerto Soiree, and the complete works for piano and orchestra of Robert Schumann.
Mr. Lupo has appeared at numerous music festivals including the Festival International de Bordeaux, Villa Medici in Rome, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Chopin Festival in Poland, the Tivoli Festival in Copenhagen, the Carinthian Festival in Austria, Schubert Festivals in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival.
He made his New York City recital debut at Alice Tully Hall in December of 1992. Recent recitals include a performance in Naples of the demanding Liszt arrangement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4. His recital performances have also taken him to Manchester, Brussels, Paris, Hanover, Madrid, La Fenice in Venice, Teatro alla Scala , the Istanbul Festival, Cleveland, and Pasadena.
Mr. Lupo lives in Acquaviva delle Fonti, an Adriatic town near Bari, Italy.
Theodora Hanslowe
Mezzo-Soprano Theodora Hanslowe has met with critical praise for her “warm, supple and richly expressive voice, considerable acting ability and commanding stage presence” (The Washington Post), and for her “high vocal quality, personality, and joy in performing that is impossible to ignore” (Salzburger Nachrichten).
Since 1994, Theodora has appeared in opera houses throughout the world. She recreated the title role in Massenet's Chérubin with the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, where the opera had its premiere, and performed the role of Isabella in L'Italiana in Algeri with Los Angeles Opera. Her debut at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires was as the Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos. She has sung the title role in La Cenerentola with L'Opéra de Montréal, the Semperoper in Dresden, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, and Florida Grand Opera. She has appeared as Rosina with the Metropolitan Opera, Festival de Musique de Strasbourg, Florida Grand Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and the New Israeli Opera. She recently sang Romeo in Bellini's I Capuleti ei Montecchi with Washington Concert Opera, performed Ino in Semele with the Handel & Haydn Society, and was Hänsel in the new production of Hänsel and Gretel at New York City Opera.
Equally comfortable on the concert stage, Ms. Hanslowe was a soloist in: Britten's Spring Symphony with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and André Previn; Beethoven's Mass in C with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas; Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and Symphony No. 9 with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; the Mozart Requiem with the Indianapolis Symphony and Raymond Leppard; performances and a recording of Bach's Mass in b minor with Boston Baroque and Martin Pearlman on the Telarc label; and Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Hanslowe has performed several times with the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and St. Louis Symphonies, and, with St. Louis and Hans Vonk, made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1997 singing Berlioz' Les Nuits d'été. A native of Ithaca, New York, Theodora Hanslowe graduated from Cornell University (Bachelor of Arts) and received an Artist Diploma from Peabody Conservatory.
The Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, North Alabama’s premiere performing arts organization, traces its beginnings back to the winter of 1954-55 and the presence of Wernher von Braun and his German rocket teams, whose arrival in Huntsville sparked an era of sensational growth. While the professional lives of these new residents were dedicated to visions of space exploration, they brought with them a lifelong passion for classical music. Many of the Germans played in the first orchestra. Their energy and influence set the tone for the vibrant cultural life enjoyed today by the residents of the Tennessee Valley. HSO provides high quality classical music performances and education to the entire region. More information is available at 539-4818 and www.hso.org.
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