NEWS RELEASE
The Cleveland Orchestra presents second “Musically Speaking”
concert of the season, focusing on Tchaikovsky’s
Symphony No. 4, at Severance Hall on January 10
Beyond the Score® program narrated by Gerard McBurney illuminates music through multimedia approach
Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden makes his Cleveland Orchestra debut with week of subscription concerts
CLEVELAND, December 10, 2009 – The Cleveland Orchestra will perform the second concert in its “Musically Speaking” series of Sunday afternoon concerts on January 10, at 3:00 p.m. Jaap van Zweden (pronounced YAP van ZVAY-den), music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, will conduct the program, which focuses on a single work: Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Opus 36. Mr. van Zweden makes his Cleveland Orchestra debut with concerts on January 7, 8, 9, and 10.
This Musically Speaking concert will be a Beyond the Score® event, a series launched by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra during the 2005-06 season. As written and created by the CSO’s creative director, Gerard McBurney, Beyond the Score® shares the illuminating stories found “inside” the music, through narrative and video, calling on the orchestra to provide live musical examples that illustrate the structure of each composition. Mr. McBurney has commented, “Above all else, I want to give listeners a sense that this music is there for them and that there are thousands of different ways to listen to it.”
The first half of the January 10 program will feature a multi-media presentation of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, allowing the audience to learn the work’s rich context in history, how it fits into the composer’s output of works, and the details of the composer’s life that influenced its creation. When Gerard McBurney presented this program in Chicago one year ago, The Chicago Tribune wrote that his exploration “took apart Tchaikovsky’s music movement by movement, theme by theme, examining it in light of the composer’s melancholy personality, his repressed homosexuality, his brief and disastrous marriage and, above all, his deeply rooted belief in fate’s implacable hold over human existence.”
Gerard McBurney will appear as narrator at this concert, in his Cleveland Orchestra debut. Actor Terence Cranendonk will read from Tchaikovsky’s letters. Mr. Cranendonk made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in the first Musically Speaking concert of the season, on November 29. He has appeared with the Cleveland Play House, Cleveland Public Theatre, and New World Performance Lab. After intermission, the Orchestra will perform the Symphony No. 4 in its entirety, straight through. Listeners are invited to stay after the concert for a question-and-answer session with guest artists and musicians. Click here to watch or download Beyond the Score® on Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.
The third and final “Musically Speaking” concert of the 2009-10 season will take place on Sunday, March 7, 2010 (“Wolfgang – Mozart the Man”).
Free Prelude Concert
Another aspect of the “Musically Speaking” series, which The Cleveland Orchestra inaugurated during its 2005-06 season, is the Prelude Concert of chamber music performances given by members of the Orchestra in Reinberger Chamber Hall beginning at 2:00 p.m. These extremely popular programs highlight interesting connections with the music on the program for that afternoon’s Orchestra concert. The January 10 Prelude Concert features Chul-In Park, Sae Shiragami, Patrick Connolly, Joanna Patterson, Paul Kushious, and David Alan Harrell performing the first movement (Allegro con spirito) from Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence, Opus 70 (for two violins, two violas, and two cellos), and Peter Otto and Eli Matthews performing Eugène Ysaÿe’s Sonata for Two Violins, Opus posthumous.
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Biographical information on Jaap van Zweden follows at the end of this release. Additional biographical information on Gerard McBurney and Terence Cranendonk is available on request.
“Musically Speaking” is made possible in part through the generous support of the William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Foundation.
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The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2009-10 season at Severance Hall is sponsored by UBS. Headquartered in Zurich and Basel, Switzerland, UBS is a global firm providing services to private, corporate and institutional clients. Its strategy is to focus on international wealth management and the Swiss banking business alongside its global expertise in investment banking and asset management. In Switzerland, UBS is the market leader in retail and commercial banking.
UBS is a significant supporter of orchestral music globally. In addition to its season sponsorship of The Cleveland Orchestra, the firm currently sponsors several other outstanding symphony orchestras, such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and The Philadelphia Orchestra. These partnerships reflect UBS’s dedication to supporting the communities where it operates, as well as a philosophy of working collaboratively with its clients to deliver the customized solutions that help them pursue their goals.
“UBS is proud of our ongoing relationship as Season Sponsor of The Cleveland Orchestra,” said Marten Hoekstra, CEO, UBS Wealth Management Americas. “Supporting the arts is ingrained in our corporate culture and we view our partnership with this internationally renowned orchestra as a reflection of our ongoing commitment to communities where we live and work.”
TICKET PRICES: Box: $110; Orchestra: $60, $41; Dress Circle: $82, $47; Balcony: $60, $47, $31. TICKET SERVICES: The Severance Hall Ticket Office is located in the Smith Lobby. The entrance and 15-minute Ticket Service parking are along East Boulevard. Single tickets for all concerts in the 2009-10 season are now on sale. Severance Hall Ticket Office Hours: M-F 9-6; Sat. 10-6. Closed Sundays and major holidays, except for those days with performances, when the Ticket Office opens three hours before the concert. To charge tickets by telephone on American Express, Discover Card, MasterCard, and Visa, call Cleveland Orchestra Ticket Services at (216) 231-1111 (Cleveland) or 800-686-1141 during the regular ticket office hours listed above. Subscriptions and single tickets are also available through The Cleveland Orchestra’s website at clevelandorchestra.com. The website offers secure ticket transactions with any major credit card and provides complete concert listings.
PARKING: For evening and afternoon subscription concerts at Severance Hall, parking can be purchased for $10 per vehicle, when space permits, in the Campus Center Garage (the underground garage located directly behind Severance Hall). Pre-paid parking for the Campus Center Garage can be purchased in advance through the Ticket Office at the cost of $14 per concert (this includes City of Cleveland parking tax and handling fee). The pre-paid parking ensures patrons a parking space. Availability of these pre-paid parking passes is limited.
For further information, or to order pre-paid parking, patrons should call the Cleveland Orchestra Ticket Office during regular office hours at (216) 231-1111 or 800-686-1141. Pre-paid parking passes are also available through The Cleveland Orchestra’s website at clevelandorchestra.com.
Calendar Listing
Sunday, January 10, at 3:00 p.m.
Severance Hall
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
JAAP van ZWEDEN, conductor
GERARD McBURNEY, narrator
TERENCE CRANENDONK, actor
Musically Speaking – Beyond the Score®
TCHAIKOVSKY – Symphony No. 4
Beyond the Score® is produced by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Gerard McBurney, creative director, Beyond the Score®
Martha Gilmer, executive producer, Beyond the Score®
Ticket Prices: $31-$82 (Box seats $110) – Call (216) 231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or order online at clevelandorchestra.com
Season Sponsor: UBS
“Musically Speaking” is made possible in part through the generous support of the William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Foundation.
January 10 “Musically Speaking” Series Prelude Concert by members of The Cleveland Orchestra in Reinberger Chamber Hall, at 2:00 p.m. Chul-In Park, Sae Shiragami, Patrick Connolly, Joanna Patterson, Paul Kushious, and David Alan Harrell perform the first movement (Allegro con spirito) from Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence, Opus 70 (for two violins, two violas, and two cellos), and Peter Otto and Eli Matthews perform Eugène Ysaÿe’s Sonata for Two Violins, Opus posthumous.
Media Contacts: Jennifer Schlosser, (216) 231-7518 / Email: jschlosser@clevelandorchestra.com; or
Ana Papakhian, Office: (216) 231-7476; Cell phone: (216) 370-2595 / Email: anap@clevelandorchestra.com
Jaap van Zweden
Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden spent sixteen years as a professional violinist before becoming a full-time conductor. This season marks his second as music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and his contract recently was extended through the 2015-16 season. He will make his Cleveland Orchestra debut with concerts on January 7-10.
Jaap van Zweden was born in 1960 in Amsterdam. He began violin studies at the Amsterdam Conservatory, and at age sixteen entered the Juilliard School to work with Dorothy DeLay. At nineteen, he became the youngest concertmaster in the history of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 1997, after pursuing conducting studies in the Netherlands, Mr. van Zweden changed his professional focus. He subsequently served as chief conductor of both the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra and the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague. In addition to his position with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Mr. van Zweden is currently chief conductor and artistic director of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Chamber orchestras, and chief conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra.
As a guest conductor, Jaap van Zweden has led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Oslo Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He has conducted at National Reisopera and Netherlands Opera, in repertoire including Beethoven’s Fidelio, Barber’s Vanessa, Puccini’s La Traviata and Madama Butterfly, Verdi’s Otello, and Wagner’s Lohengrin and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Mr. van Zweden’s future projects include concert performances of Haydn’s Armida and Wagner’s Parsifal.
Jaap van Zweden has recorded Beethoven’s nine symphonies with the Residentie Orchestra, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic. His London Philharmonic debut performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 was recorded live. With the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, his discography includes the Brahms symphonies, Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, and a Bruckner cycle for the Octavia label, with symphonies 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9 released to great acclaim.
Mr. van Zweden and his wife, Aaltje, have four children and are committed to bringing awareness and acceptance to autism. In the Netherlands, they have established the Papageno Foundation, which brings music therapy into the homes of autistic children.
