News Release
The Cleveland Orchestra presents first “Musically Speaking”
concert of the season, focusing on Dvořák’s
“New World” Symphony, on November 29
Narrated Beyond the Score® program illuminates music through multimedia approach
French conductor Bertrand de Billy makes his Cleveland Orchestra
debut with week of subscription concerts
CLEVELAND, October 28, 2009 – The Cleveland Orchestra will perform the first concert in its “Musically Speaking” series of Sunday afternoon concerts on November 29, at 3:00 p.m. Bertrand de Billy, music director of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, will conduct the program, which focuses on a single work: Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Opus 95 (“From the New World”). Mr. de Billy is making his Cleveland Orchestra debut with concerts on November 27, 28, and 29.
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 November 29 program will feature a multi-media presentation of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”), 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. Actor Thomas Q. Fulton Jr., who made his debut with The Cleveland Orchestra in the 1989 Blossom Festival production of Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, will serve as narrator. Mr. Fulton has been director of the Chagrin Falls Performing Arts Academy since 2008. Actor David Hansen, known for his appearances with the Great Lakes Theater Festival, Cleveland Public Theatre, and Bad Epitaph Theater Company, will perform the role of Antonín Dvořák, and actor Terence Cranendonk, who has appeared with the Cleveland Play House, Cleveland Public Theatre, and New World Performance Lab, will perform several roles, including the composer’s young son and Henry “Harry” Thacker Burleigh, the baritone and songwriter who introduced Dvořák to African-American folk music. Soprano Andrea Chenoweth, whose previous appearances with The Cleveland Orchestra have included Bach’s Magnificat and Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, will sing excerpts from spirituals that influenced Dvořák in writing his “New World” Symphony.
After intermission, the Orchestra will perform the Symphony No. 9 in its entirety, straight through. Listeners are invited to stay after the concert for a question-and-answer session with guest artists and musicians.
Additional “Musically Speaking” series concerts will take place on Sunday, January 10, 2010 (“Tchaikovsky – Fate and Triumph”) and 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 November 29 Prelude Concert features Amy Lee, Alicia Koelz, Mark Jackobs, Joanna Patterson, and Tanya Ell performing a movement from Dvořák’s String Quintet in E-flat major (“American”), Opus 97 (for two violins, two violas, and cello), and English Horn player Robert Walters performing in Eric Ewazen’s Quintet for English Horn and Strings (string players to be announced).
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Biographical information on Bertrand de Billy follows at the end of this release. Additional biographical information on Thomas Q. Fulton, Jr., David Hansen, Terence Cranendonk, and Andrea Chenoweth 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. 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.
Calendar Listing
Sunday, November 29, at 3:00 p.m.
Severance Hall
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
BERTRAND de BILLY, conductor
THOMAS Q. FULTON JR., narrator
DAVID HANSEN, actor
TERENCE CRANENDONK, actor
ANDREA CHENOWETH, soprano
Musically Speaking – Beyond the Score®
DVOŘÁK – Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”)
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
Season Sponsor: UBS
November 29 “Musically Speaking” Series Prelude Concert by members of The Cleveland Orchestra in Reinberger Chamber Hall, at 2:00 p.m. Amy Lee, Alicia Koelz, Mark Jackobs, Joanna Patterson, and Tanya Ell perform a movement from Dvořák’s String Quintet in E-flat major (“American”), Opus 97 (for two violins, two violas, and cello), and English Horn player Robert Walters performs in Eric Ewazen’s Quintet for English Horn and Strings
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
Bertrand de Billy
French conductor Bertrand de Billy, music director of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, will make his Cleveland Orchestra debut with the concerts of November 27, 28, and 29, 2009. Born in Paris in 1965, Bertrand de Billy studied violin and viola, sang in a boys’ choir, and began his professional career as an orchestra member. In 1986, he began a four-season tenure as conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique des Jeunesse en Ile de France. He subsequently became conductor and deputy music director of the Anhaltisches Theater in Dessau, Germany, and in 1996, the Volksoper Vienna. From 1999 to 2004, Mr. de Billy was music director of the newly re-opened Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona.
Bertrand de Billy has conducted at the state opera houses in Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich; London’s Royal Opera; National Opera in Paris; Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels; and Vienna State Opera; and at the Los Angeles Opera, Metropolitan Opera, and Washington Opera in this country. At the Vienna State Opera, he was responsible for several new productions, including the complete French version of Verdi’s Don Carlos. In 2002, Mr. de Billy made his debut at the Salzburg Festival with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducting Mozart’s The Magic Flute. That year he also became principal conductor of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, with which he has performed many operas at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien.
Mr. de Billy’s extensive discography includes the symphonies of Beethoven and Mahler; French orchestral music; Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni, and The Marriage of Figaro; the tone poems of Richard Strauss; and Wagner’s Ring cycle. His recording of Puccini’s La Bohème with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra was used as the soundtrack for the film of the same name.
Bertrand de Billy has conducted nearly all the orchestral works of Dutilleux and Messiaen, as well as world premieres of pieces by Friedrich Cerha and Johannes Maria Staud. Mr. de Billy also regularly leads performances of music by Luciano Berio, HK Gruber, Hans Werner Henze, György Kurtág, Wolfgang Rihm, Jörg Widmann, and Bernd Alois Zimmermann.
For more information, visit www.debilly.com.
