NEWS RELEASE
Pierre Boulez leads The Cleveland Orchestra
in program featuring Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn
at Severance Hall on February 11, 12, and 13
Concerts are part of international celebrations of Boulez’s 85th birthday
Vocal soloists are mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená and baritone Christian Gerhaher
CLEVELAND, January 22, 2010 – In the second week of Cleveland concerts marking the 85th birthday year and the 45th anniversary year of Pierre Boulez’s American professional orchestra debut with The Cleveland Orchestra, the conductor/composer will lead the Orchestra in a program of music by Mahler at Severance Hall on Thursday, February 11; Friday, February 12; and Saturday, February 13, at 8:00 p.m. Mr. Boulez will also conduct the Orchestra in an all-French program on February 4, 6, and 7. (A separate concert announcement has been issued.)
The program for February 11, 12, and 13 begins with Gustav Mahler’s Adagio from Symphony No. 10 in F-sharp major. After intermission, the program concludes with Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn (“The Youth’s Magic Horn”), Songs for Voice and Orchestra. Vocal soloists joining the Orchestra will be mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená, in her Cleveland Orchestra debut, and baritone Christian Gerhaher.
In observance of the 150th birthday (July 7) of Gustav Mahler in 2010 (and the 100th anniversary of his death in 2011, on May 18), Universal Edition, which publishes Mahler music, has launched a new Mahler blog, where they are publishing all information regarding performances, festivals, interviews, new editions, recordings, and reviews up to and during the two Mahler anniversary years. The blog includes separate video interviews with Pierre Boulez and Franz Welser-Möst, among other leading conductors. The Universal Edition Mahler blog may be accessed at www.universaledition.com/mahler.
Pierre Boulez, who from 1970-72 served as musical advisor of The Cleveland Orchestra, turns 85 on March 26. He has been a regular and favorite guest conductor of the Orchestra, leading more than 200 concerts. Among his many recordings with the Orchestra, five have won Grammy Awards, including the 1969 award in the “Best Classical Performance, Orchestra” category, for their album including Debussy’s Images.
Hailed as “a great communicator, with strong dramatic instincts and a distinctive mezzo voice” (The Times, London), Magdalena Kožená has established a career as a major concert, opera, and recital artist, with appearances throughout Europe and across the United States, including at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, and the Salzburg Festival. Recent orchestral engagements include Mahler’s Rückert Songs with the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Claudio Abbado, and the Simon Bolivar Venezuelan National Youth Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel.
Praised as “a wonderfully intelligent artist who uses all the shades in his voice to extract the maximum from every song” (The Guardian), baritone Christian Gerhaher has in recent seasons appeared as soloist in performances of several works by Mahler, including Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Kindertotenlieder with the Camerata Academica Salzburg, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Orchestra della Scala and also with the NHK Symphony on tour in Japan, and Das Lied von der Erde with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
Guest Artist Biographies
French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez is regarded as one of the world’s most distinguished musicians. His 2009 Kyoto Prize affirms the importance of his compositions and activities as author, teacher, and advocate of contemporary music.
Mr. Boulez made his American professional orchestra debut with The Cleveland Orchestra in March 1965. In 1969, he became the Orchestra’s first principal guest conductor. Following the death of Music Director George Szell in July 1970, he served as musical advisor through the 1971-72 season. Since then, he has been a frequent guest conductor with the Orchestra, most recently in February 2008.
Pierre Boulez was born in 1925 in Montbrison, France. After initial training in mathematics, he studied piano, composition, and choral conducting at the Paris Conservatory, where his teachers included Olivier Messiaen and René Leibowitz. In 1953, Mr. Boulez founded a modern music concert series that later became the Domaine Musical. Throughout the next decade, he taught at Basel University and in Darmstadt, and was a visiting professor at Harvard University. He later joined the faculty at the Collège de France.
In 1971, Pierre Boulez became music director of both the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic; he held the posts until 1975 and 1977, respectively. In 1974, French President Georges Pompidou invited Mr. Boulez to establish and direct a music research center – the Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM). He also founded the Ensemble InterContemporain, and now holds honorary positions with both organizations.
Pierre Boulez has fostered close relationships with the world’s major orchestras and opera companies. His conducting highlights include the inaugural concert of the Cité de la musique in Paris; a four-orchestra festival of his compositions in Tokyo; tours with the London Symphony Orchestra celebrating his 70th, 75th, and 80th birthdays; and new productions of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, Schoenberg’s Moses and Aron, and Wagner’s Parsifal. More recently, Mr. Boulez has led Janáček’s From the House of the Dead in Aix-en-Provence, Amsterdam, and Vienna; served as composer-in-residence at Salzburg’s Mozartwoche; and conducted Mahler’s complete symphonies at Carnegie Hall.
An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist since 1992, Pierre Boulez has focused his discography on 20th-century works. His recordings have garnered Gramophone, Echo, and Deutscher Schallplatten awards and more than 25 Grammys. Mr. Boulez also has received the Glenn Gould Prize and Wolf Prize, numerous honorary doctorates, and many other awards.
Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená is acclaimed for her performances on opera, concert, and recital stages. She will make her Cleveland Orchestra debut with the February 11-13 concerts.
Born in Brno, Ms. Kožená studied at the Brno Conservatory and with Eva Blahová at the College of Performing Arts in Bratislava. Ms. Kožená was awarded several major prizes in both the Czech Republic and internationally, culminating in the Sixth International Mozart Competition in Salzburg in 1995. In 2003, she was awarded the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
Active in a variety of orchestral, recital, and opera performances, Ms. Kožená has sung with the Accademia Santa Cecilia, Berlin Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Philadelphia Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the Vienna Philharmonic. Her Mahler performances have included the Rückert Songs with the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Claudio Abbado, and the Simón Bolivar Venezuelan National Youth Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel.
In recital, Ms. Kožená has performed in Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Lisbon, London, New York, Paris, Prague, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Vienna. She also has participated in the Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Munich, Salzburg, and Schwarzenberg Schubertiade festivals. Her pianists include Daniel Barenboim, Yefim Bronfman, Malcolm Martineau, Andras Schiff, and Mitsuko Uchida.
Ms. Kožená’s operatic repertoire includes Debussy’s Pelleas and Melisande; Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice; Handel’s Julius Caesar; Janáček’s Katja Kabanova; Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, and Idomeneo; Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea; Rossini’s La Cenerentola, and Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. She has performed these works in the major opera houses of Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Munich, New York, Paris, and Vienna, as well as at the Salzburg Festival.
Just prior to coming to Cleveland, Ms. Kožená appears in recital with András Schiff at Wigmore Hall in London. Subsequent engagements include Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic, Chabrier’s L’Étoile at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, a recital with Malcolm Martineau at the Zurich Opera House, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Berlin Philharmonic.
An exclusive artist with Deutsche Grammophon, Magdalena Kožená received the 2001 Gramophone Solo Vocal Award for her first solo recital disc of music by Dvořák, Janáček, and Martinů. Recent releases include a Mozart album with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Sir Simon Rattle, a Handel disc and a Vivaldi disc with the Venice Baroque and Andrea Marcon, and a recital disc with Malcolm Martineau titled Songs My Mother Taught Me. She was named the 2004 Gramophone Awards Artist of the Year and most recently received a 2009 Gramophone Award for her recording of the Julietta Fragments by Martinů.
German baritone Christian Gerhaher is acclaimed for the lyric passion of his singing in recital, concert, and opera performances. He made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in April 2006.
Mr. Gerhaher studied in Munich with Paul Kuen and Raimund Grumbach, and also attended the Opera School of the Academy of Music in Munich, and together with his regular piano partner, Gerold Huber, studied Lied interpretation with Friedemann Berger. While completing his medical studies, he participated in masterclasses given by Inge Borkh, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. In 1998, Mr. Gerhaher won the Prix International Pro Musicis; he subsequently made his Carnegie Hall and Schubertiade Feldkirch debuts. He is an honorary professor at Munich’s Academy of Music, and gives masterclasses at the Aldeburgh Festival, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Schwetzingen Festival, and Yale University.
Christian Gerhaher’s recent engagements include performances of Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Kindertotenlieder with the Camerata Academica Salzburg, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Orchestra della Scala and also with the NHK Symphony on tour in Japan, and Das Lied von der Erde with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, in addition to concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the Vienna Philharmonic. Last season, Mr. Gerhaher served as artist-in-residence with the West German Radio Orchestra, performing in chamber music and in orchestral projects led by Semyon Bychkov, Heinz Holliger, and Lothar Zagrosek.
As a Lieder singer, Christian Gerhaher has appeared in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Paris, and Vienna, and at the Edinburgh, Lucerne, Rheingau, Schwetzinger, and Vienna festivals as well as the BBC Proms. In the United States, he has performed at the Aspen and Tanglewood festivals.
Besides his principal activity of performing in concerts and recitals, Mr. Gerhaher also appears in select opera productions. He has a close association with the Frankfurt Opera House, and at the Salzburg Festival in 2006 he sang the role of Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, conducted by Riccardo Muti (released by Decca on DVD). Recent or upcoming opera appearances include the title role in Henze’s Prinz von Homburg at the Theater an der Wien and the role of Wolfram in Wagner’s Tannhäuser at the Teatro Real Madrid, Vienna State Opera, and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London. Mr. Gerhaher will begin the 2010-11 season as the Count in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in Munich.
Now an exclusive artist of Sony Music, Christian Gerhaher has recorded Lieder, opera, and orchestral performances on a variety of major labels. Recordings include Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and, on his latest disc with pianist Gerold Huber, songs by Mahler, including the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and the Rückert Lieder. Mr. Gerhaher’s CD Abendbilder was named the best solo vocal recording of 2006 by Gramophone Magazine and his disc of Schumann songs titled Melancholie, also with Gerold Huber, received the BBC Music Magazine Award for 2009 in the Vocal category.
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Magdalena Kožená’s appearance as soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra is made possible by a gift to the Orchestra’s Guest Artist Fund from The Eleanore T. and Joseph E. Adams Fund.
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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.
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Ticket Prices: (Add $5 for Saturday): Orchestra: $66, $44; Dress Circle: $87, $51; Balcony: $66, $51, $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 prior to the performance start time.
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 online. The website offers secure ticket transactions with any major credit card and provides complete concert listings.
Free Concert Previews: Concert Previews will be given prior to the February 11, 12, and 13 concerts, beginning at 7:00 p.m., in Reinberger Chamber Hall. The Previews, titled “Strong Emotions Set to Music,” will be given by Rabbi Roger Klein of The Temple-Tifereth Israel. Concert Previews are designed to enrich the concert-going experience by providing historical background and critical insight into the music performed at each concert. This series is funded by a generous endowment gift from Dorothy Humel Hovorka.
Parking: For evening 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, but 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 online.
Calendar Listings
Thursday, February 11, at 8:00 p.m.
Friday, February 12, at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 13, at 8:00 p.m.
Severance Hall
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
PIERRE BOULEZ, conductor
MAGDALENA KOŽENÁ, mezzo-soprano
CHRISTIAN GERHAHER, baritone
MAHLER – Adagio from Symphony No. 10
MAHLER – Des Knaben Wunderhorn (“The Youth’s Magic Horn”)
Ticket Prices: $31-$92 – Call (216) 231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or order online
Season Sponsor: UBS
Guest Artist Fund: The Eleanore T. and Joseph E. Adams Fund
Concert Preview, in Reinberger Chamber Hall beginning one hour before concert time: “Strong Emotions Set to Music” Preview Speaker: Rabbi Roger Klein of The Temple-Tifereth Israel
Media Contacts: Jennifer Schlosser, (216) 231-7518; Email; or
Ana Papakhian, Office: (216) 231-7476; Cell phone: (216) 370-2595; Email
