Carnegie Hall presents the Minnesota Orchestra on Monday,February 28 at 8:00 p.m., with Music Director Osmo Vänskä leading aprogram of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with soloist Lisa Batiashvili andSibelius’s Symphony Nos. 6 and 7 in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. Apre-concert talk takes place at 7:00 p.m. with Walter Frisch, Professor ofMusic at Columbia University. In recent seasons at Carnegie Hall, concerts bythe Minnesota Orchestra and Maestro Vänskä that pair works of Sibelius andBeethoven have been widely praised by audiences and critics alike. In responseto last season’s concert of Sibelius’s Kullervo, Alex Ross of The NewYorker wrote “…the Minnesota Orchestra sounded, to my ears, like thegreatest orchestra in the world.”
About the Artists
Georgian-born violinist Lisa Batiashvili appears regularly with many ofthe world's greatest orchestras. Highlights of her 2010–2011 season include aEuropean tour with the New York Philharmonic with Alan Gilbert and aperformance under his direction with the NDR Sinfonieorchester, as well asconcerts with The Philadelphia Orchestra with Vladimir Jurowski, and thePhilharmonia Orchestra with Lorin Maazel, among others. In 1995, at the age of16, Ms. Batiashvili was the youngest competitor awarded second prize in theSibelius Competition. In 2008, she was honored with the MIDEM Classical Awardand the Choc de L'année for her Sony recording of Sibelius’s and Lindberg’sViolin Concertos and the same year received an ECHO Klassik award. She nowrecords exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon and plays a 1709 EnglemanStradivarius violin on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.
Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä became the Minnesota Orchestra’s tenthmusic director in September 2003 and is renowned for his compellinginterpretations of the standard, contemporary, and Nordic repertoires.Throughout his first seven seasons in Minnesota, Maestro Vänskä has drawn acclaimfor performances both at home and abroad. In 2010, he led the orchestra on atour to European festivals, including two appearances as the only Americanorchestra at the BBC Proms and concerts at the Edinburgh Festival and theConcertgebouw in Amsterdam. Among the highlights of Mr. Vänskä’s eighth seasonin Minnesota are world premieres of commissioned works by Einojuhani Rautavaaraand James MacMillan; a Midwinter Mozart festival in January, culminatingin semi-staged performances of The Magic Flute; and Carl Orff’smonumental Carmina burana in May. As a guest conductor, Mr. Vänskä hasled all the major American and European orchestras, including those of Boston,Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, andWashington, D.C. Abroad he has appeared with the Berliner Philharmoniker, BBCSymphony, the Czech Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus,London Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Royal ConcertgebouwOrchestra, and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. He has recorded extensivelyon the BIS and Hyperion labels. In 2004, Musical America named himConductor of the Year, and in 2008 he received an honorary doctorate from theUniversity of Minnesota as well as a Champion of New Music Award from theAmerican Composers Forum. Mr. Vänskä’s tenure with the Minnesota Orchestracontinues through 2015.
The Minnesota Orchestra, now in its second century and led by MusicDirector Osmo Vänskä, ranks among America’s top symphonic ensembles, with adistinguished history of acclaimed performances in its home state and aroundthe world; award-winning recordings and radio broadcasts; educational outreachprograms; and a visionary commitment to building the orchestral repertoire oftomorrow. Founded as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, the ensemble gave itsinaugural performance on November 5, 1903. The orchestra played its firstregional tour in 1907 and made its New York City debut in 1912 at CarnegieHall, where it has performed regularly ever since. The ensemble presents nearly200 programs each year, primarily at its home venue of Orchestra Hall inMinneapolis, and its concerts are heard by live audiences of 400,000 annually.Its Friday night performances are broadcast live regionally by Minnesota PublicRadio—a weekly tradition for more than 35 years—and many programs aresubsequently featured on American Public Media’s national programs, SymphonyCastand Performance Today, as well as in a series aired by BBC Radio 3. In2010, the organization launched Minnesota Orchestra Music on Demand, offeringdownloads of select major works recorded live in concert and available online.Under Maestro Vänskä, the orchestra has completed several acclaimed recordingprojects, including a two-CD set of Tchaikovsky’s piano-and-orchestra workswith Stephen Hough, and a five-disc cycle of the complete Beethoven symphonies.Current projects include multi-year initiatives to record the complete Sibeliussymphonies as well as all the Beethoven piano concertos with Yevgeny Sudbin.
Program Information
Monday, February 28 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA
Osmo Vänskä, Music Director and Conductor
Lisa Batiashvili, Violin
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61
JEAN SIBELIUS Symphony No. 6 in D Minor, Op. 104
JEAN SIBELIUS Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 105
Pre-concert talk starts at 7:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage withWalter Frisch, Professor of Music, Columbia University.
Sponsored by Deloitte LLP
Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.
| Ticket Information
Tickets, priced from $33 to $98 are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org.
For Carnegie Hall Corporation presentations taking place in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, a limited number of seats, priced at $10, will be available day-of-concert beginning at 11:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:00 noon on Sunday until one hour before the performance or until supply lasts. The exceptions are Carnegie Hall Family Concerts and gala events. These $10 tickets are available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis at the Carnegie Hall Box Office only. There is a two-ticket limit per customer.
In addition, for all Carnegie Hall presentations in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage a limited number of partial view (seats with obstructed or limited sight lines or restricted leg room) will be sold for 50% of the full price. For more information on this and other discount ticket programs, including those for students, Notables members, and Bank of America customers, visit carnegiehall.org/discounts. |
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