Press Center

BOSTONSYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PERFORMS THREE CONCERTS AT
CARNEGIE HALL LED BY MUSIC DIRECTOR JAMES LEVINE
FROM MARCH 15–17

Violinist Christian Tetzlaff Joins Orchestra as Soloist for All Three Works
on March 15 Program As Part of His Season-Long
Perspectives Series at Carnegie Hall

Pianist Maurizio Pollini Joins BSO for
Mozart and Schoenberg Concertos on March 16

Maestro Levine Leads Mahler’s Ninth Symphony on March 17 

The Boston Symphony Orchestra, led by Music Directorand Conductor James Levine, returns to Carnegie Hall for three programson three consecutive nights in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage from March15–17. These performances mark the BSO’s 125th consecutive year appearing inNew York.

The BSO and Maestro Levine kick off their Carnegie Hall visit on Tuesday, March15 at 8:00 p.m. with a concert featuring violinist Christian Tetzlaff assoloist on all three works of the evening’s program: Mozart’s Rondo for Violinand Orchestra in C Major, Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 2, and the New Yorkpremiere of Harrison Birtwistle’s Violin Concerto, a new work that isBirtwistle's first concerto for a stringed instrument. According to thecomposer, “The soloist is in conversation with the orchestra in a number ofguises. It is not an argument like in some concertos—the interchange is neverangry. However it is rhythmic and there is a lot of to and fro, and immediatechanges of mood rather like when the topic changes and the conversation headsoff in a different direction. The orchestra acts like a chorus—it can be acomposite voice or individual utterances can come to the fore.” Thisperformance is one of six events comprising Mr. Tetzlaff’s season-long Perspectivesseries at Carnegie Hall showcasing the artist’s versatility as a soloist,chamber musician, and educator.

The following evening, Wednesday, March 16 at 8:00 p.m., the BSO, MaestroLevine, and pianist Maurizio Pollini collaborate on Mozart’s PianoConcerto No. 23 in A Major and Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto. The program alsoincludes Schoenberg’s Variations for Orchestra and Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 inC Major, “Jupiter.”

The orchestra and Maestro Levine conclude on Thursday, March 17 at 8:00 p.m.,performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 9. Prior to this performance, Marilyn McCoy,Adjunct Professor of Music at Columbia University, will present a pre-concerttalk.

About the Artists
Violinist Christian Tetzlaff is known for his musical integrity,technical assurance, and intelligent, compelling interpretations. Mr. Tetzlaffperforms and records a broad spectrum of repertoire, ranging from Bach’sunaccompanied sonatas and partitas to nineteenth century masterworks byMendelssohn, Beethoven, and Brahms; from twentieth century concertos by Bartók,Berg, and Shostakovich to world premieres of contemporary works. Mr. Tetzlaffhas been in demand as a soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras andconductors, establishing close artistic partnerships that are renewed seasonafter season. He has appeared with the orchestras of Chicago, Cleveland,Boston, Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Toronto, amongmany others; and with the major European ensembles including the BerlinerPhilharmoniker, London Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Vienna Philharmonic,Rotterdam Philharmonic, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam.Also a dedicated chamber musician, he frequently collaborates withdistinguished artists and is the founder of the Tetzlaff Quartet. Mr.Tetzlaff’s highly regarded recordings reflect the breadth of his musicalinterests and include solo works, chamber music, and concertos ranging fromHaydn to Bartók. His recent recordings include the complete Bach sonatas andpartitas for solo violin for the Musical Heritage and Hänssler labels, Berg’sChamber Concerto for piano, violin, and 13 wind instruments with Mitsuko Uchidaand the Ensemble Intercontemporain led by Pierre Boulez for Decca, andSchumann’s Three Piano Trios with Leif Ove Andsnes and Tanja Tetzlaff for EMI/Virgin.His upcoming recordings include Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with theVienna Philharmonic led by Pierre Boulez for Deutsche Grammophon; the Schumannand Mendelssohn Violin Concertos with the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra and PaavoJärvi for Edel Classics; and Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 1 and Sibelius’sQuartet with the Tetzlaff Quartet for AVI.

Born in 1942, pianist Maurizio Pollini studied with Carlo Lonati andCarlo Vidusso. After winning First Prize at the International Fryderyk ChopinPiano Competition in 1960, Mr. Pollini established an international career,performing in the world’s major concert halls and working with the mostdistinguished orchestras and conductors. In 1995, he opened the Pierre BoulezFestival in Tokyo. That same year and in 1999, he organized and performed inhis own concert series at the Salzburger Festspiele, Paris (Cité de lamusique), Tokyo, and Rome (Auditorium Parco Della Musica), as well as a Perspectivesseries at Carnegie Hall. These varied programs included both chamber andorchestral performances, from Gesualdo and Monteverdi to contemporary music. In2004, Mr. Pollini was the Artist Étoile at the Lucerne Festival, performing arecital and orchestral concerts conducted by Abbado and Boulez. Mr. Pollini’srecordings of classical, Romantic, and contemporary repertoire have receivedcritical acclaim worldwide; Mr. Pollini’s discs of Schoenberg’s complete worksfor piano, as well as works by Berg, Webern, Manzoni, Nono, Boulez, andStockhausen, are a testament to his great passion for twentieth-century music.For his recording of Chopin nocturnes, he received a Disco d’Oro and a GrammyAward in 2007; he has also received an ECHO Klassik award, a Choc de laMusique, a Victoires de la Musique, and a Diapason d’Or de l’Année. Mr.Pollini’s recording of Mozart piano concertos—K. 453 and K. 467—with the ViennaPhilharmonic and a disc dedicated to Chopin were both released in 2008. Mr.Pollini is the recipient of the Vienna Philharmonic Ehrenring (1987), the Ernstvon Siemens Music Prize (1966), the “A Life for Music—Arthur Rubinstein” Prize(1999), and the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Prize (2000).

Now in his seventh season as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, JamesLevine is the BSO’s 14th music director since the orchestra’s founding in1881 and the first American-born conductor to hold that position. MaestroLevine made his BSO debut in April 1972 and became music director in the fallof 2004, having been named music director designate in October 2001. Highlightsof his 2010–2011 BSO programs include an Opening Night all-Wagner program withbass-baritone Bryn Terfel; Mahler’s Second, Fifth, and Ninth symphonies,continuing a Mahler symphony cycle marking the 150th anniversary of thecomposer’s birth and the 100th of his death; John Harbison’s First, Second, andThird symphonies, initiating a Harbison symphony cycle to be completed in2011–2012 with the world premiere of Harbison’s BSO-commissioned SixthSymphony; a program pairing Stravinsky’s oratorio Oedipus Rex withBartók’s opera Bluebeard’s Castle; Schumann’s Second and Thirdsymphonies, marking the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth; and concertocollaborations with violinist Christian Tetzlaff (including the world premiereof Harrison Birtwistle’s BSO-commissioned Violin Concerto) and pianist MaurizioPollini. Mr. Levine’s programming each year balances orchestral, operatic, andchoral classics with significant music of the 20th and 21st centuries,including newly commissioned works from such leading American composers asBabbitt, Carter, Harbison, Kirchner, Lieberson, Schuller, and Wuorinen. Hisrecordings with the orchestra on BSO Classics, all drawn from live performancesat Symphony Hall, include Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem, Ravel’scomplete Daphnis et Chloé, Mahler’s Symphony No. 6, a two-disc set ofMozart symphonies, and William Bolcom’s Eighth Symphony and Lyric Concerto.James Levine is also music director of the Metropolitan Opera, which thisseason celebrates the 40th anniversary of his 1971 Met debut. In 2010–2011 heconducts new Met productions of Wagner’s Das Rheingold and DieWalküre initiating a new complete Ring cycle and revivals of Berg’s Wozzeck,Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, and Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra and Iltrovatore, as well as concerts at Carnegie Hall with the MET Orchestra andMET Chamber Ensemble. Also a distinguished pianist, Maestro Levine is an activechamber music and recital collaborator, especially in Lieder and songrepertoire with the world’s great singers.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Symphony Hall season in Boston takesplace October 2, 2010–May 7, 2011. Now in its 130th season, the BSO gave itsinaugural concert on October 22, 1881. Since then, the orchestra has performedthroughout the United States as well as in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, SouthAmerica, China, and Russia, and also reaches a worldwide audience through itsperformances on radio and television, its recordings, and its highly successfulweb platform at bso.org, the largest and most-visited orchestral website in thecountry, receiving more than 7.3 million visitors annually. Additionally, theBSO has released many recordings, including four recordings with James Levinereleased in February 2009 (the orchestra’s recording of Daphnis et Chloéwon a Grammy Award for best orchestral performance) and a recording of Mozart’ssymphonies 14, 18, 20, 39, and 41 released in July 2010. The BSO plays anactive role in commissioning new works from today’s most important composers,including Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, John Harbison, Leon Kirchner, PeterLieberson, Gunther Schuller, and Charles Wuorinen, and offers a wide variety ofeducational programs, including the Tanglewood Music Center, the orchestra'sprestigious summer music academy at Tanglewood, the BSO's summer home in Lenox,MA. For further information, visit bso.org.

Carnegie Hall’s Perspectives
Now in its 12th season, Carnegie Hall’s Perspectives series is anartistic initiative in which select musicians are invited to explore their ownmusical individuality and create their own personal concert series throughcollaborations with other musicians and ensembles. Christian Tetzlaff closeshis Perspectives series by focusing on chamber music, appearing with hisgroup the Tetzlaff Quartet in April before joining violinist Antje Weithaas fora duo recital in May. He also leads his first Carnegie Hall ProfessionalTraining Workshop, presented by the Weill Music Institute, focusing onviolin-piano duos and including public master classes and two culminatingperformances by the participants.

Previous Perspectives artists have included conductor and pianist DanielBarenboim; conductors Pierre Boulez, James Levine, Michael Tilson Thomas, andDavid Robertson; violinist Gidon Kremer; cellist Yo-Yo Ma; pianistsPierre-Laurent Aimard, Leif Ove Andsnes, Martha Argerich, Emanuel Ax, MaurizioPollini, Peter Serkin, and Mitsuko Uchida; soprano Dawn Upshaw; bass-baritoneThomas Quasthoff; the Emerson String Quartet; the Kronos Quartet; Senegalesevocalist Youssou N’Dour; Brazilian singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso; Indianclassical tabla player Zakir Hussain; and experimental rocker David Byrne. Alsothis spring 2011, singer/songwriter James Taylor will present a four-concert Perspectivesseries. Perspectives artists for the 2011–2012 season will be pianistAndràs Schiff and early music ensemble L’Arpeggiata.


Program Information
Tuesday, March 15 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
James Levine, Music Director and Conductor
Christian Tetzlaff, Violin

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Rondo for Violin and Orchestra in C Major, K. 373
HARRISON BIRTWISTLE Violin Concerto (NY Premiere)
BÉLA BARTÓK Violin Concerto No. 2

Perspectives: Christian Tetzlaff

Sponsored by DeWitt Stern Group, Inc.

Tickets: $48–$150
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Wednesday, March 16 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
James Levine, Music Director and Conductor
Maurizio Pollini, Piano

ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Piano Concerto, Op. 42
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551, "Jupiter"

Sponsored by Deloitte LLP

Tickets: $45–$140
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Thursday, March 17 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
James Levine, Music Director and Conductor

GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 9

Pre-concert talk starts at 7:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage withMarilyn McCoy, Adjunct Professor of Music, Columbia University.

The Trustees of Carnegie Hall gratefully acknowledge the generosity of Mr.Robert L. Turner in support of the 2010–2011 season.

Tickets: $45–$140


Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.