News Release
Franz Welser-Möst leads The Cleveland Orchestra
in concerts featuring Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1
with Yefim Bronfman as soloist
on February 2, 3, and 4 at Severance Hall
Concerts continue three-week mini-festival featuring the three solo concertos of Johannes Brahms
Release date: January 5, 2012
Thursday, February 2, at 8 p.m.; Friday, February 3, at 8 p.m.; and Saturday, February 4, at 8 p.m
Franz Welser-Möst
Photo by Don Snyder
Yefim Bronfman
Photo by Dario Acosta
Franz Welser-Möst conducts The Cleveland Orchestra in Severance Hall concerts featuring Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Opus 15, with Yefim Bronfman as soloist. The program also includes Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major, K. 543, and the United States premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s Laterna Magica.
These concerts complete a three-week presentation of the three solo concertos of Johannes Brahms, with violinist Lisa Batiashvili and pianist Yefim Bronfman. This mini-festival begins with concerts on January 12, 13, and 14 that feature the Violin Concerto, followed by concerts on January 19, 20, and 21 featuring the Second Piano Concerto and concerts on February 2, 3, and 4 featuring the First Piano Concerto. All concerts are under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst. The mini-festival concludes with a recital of Brahms chamber music performed by Mr. Bronfman and members of The Cleveland Orchestra on Sunday, February 5, at 2 p.m. (Mr. Bronfman will also perform the Second Piano Concerto with the Orchestra and Mr. Welser-Möst in Miami on January 27 and 28.)
Pianist Yefim Bronfman made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in April 1986, as soloist in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting. Since then, Mr. Bronfman has appeared with the Orchestra in more than 25 concerts, including Franz Welser-Möst’s debut as guest conductor with the Orchestra, in February 1993. More recently, Mr. Welser-Möst and Mr. Bronfman performed together in June 2010 in a special outdoor concert with the Vienna Philharmonic that was televised internationally and released on the Deutsche Grammophon label. Mr. Bronfman has not performed the Brahms Piano Concertos with the Orchestra previously at Severance Hall, although he performed each concerto once during the 2002 Blossom Festival. Mr. Bronfman’s most recent concerts with the Orchestra were in April 2003.
When Yefim Bronfman performed the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in February 2010, the Chicago Sun-Times stated, “…seldom does the combined presence of classical, romantic and baroque influences in this great orchestral calling card become as clear as it was [here].”
To hear Yefim Bronfman perform the second movement from Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2, click here.
Kaija Saariaho and Laterna Magica
Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho has written that her 2008 work titled Laterna Magica (The Magic Lantern) “alludes to the autobiography of the same name by film director Ingmar Bergman. The book caught my eye after many years whilst I was tidying my bookcases in autumn 2007. In time, as I read the book, the variation of musical motifs at different tempos emerged as one of the basic ideas behind the orchestral piece on which I was beginning to work. Symbolizing this was the Laterna Magica, the first machine to create the illusion of a moving image: as the handle turns faster and faster, the individual images disappear and instead the eye sees continuous movement….”
Laterna Magica was written for the Berlin Philharmonic, which gave the world premiere performance of the work in Berlin on August 28, 2009, with a second performance at the Lucerne Festival on September 2, 2009. The Cleveland Orchestra gives the United States premiere performances at Severance Hall on February 2, 3, and 4, 2012.
The Cleveland Orchestra first performed a work by Kaija Saariaho in October 2001, when Franz Welser-Möst led performances of Du Cristal. Mr. Welser-Möst led the Orchestra in the world premiere performances of Saariaho’s Orion in January 2003 that were followed by tour performances of the work at New York’s Carnegie Hall; in Boston, Philadelphia, and Vienna; and at the 2003 Blossom Festival. In 2006, the Orchestra and Mr. Welser-Möst performed Orion in Berlin, Linz, and Lucerne during a European tour. Orion will be performed at the Cleveland Orchestra concerts of January 12, 13, and 14, 2012. The Orchestra has also performed Saariaho’s works titled Quatre Instants, in June 2006, and Asteroid 4179: Toutatis, in November 2010.
FREE CONCERT PREVIEWS
Beginning one hour prior to these concerts, a Concert Preview titled “Back to the Future: Mozart, Brahms, and the Idea of Progress” will be given in Reinberger Chamber Hall by Francesca Brittan, assistant professor of music at Case Western Reserve University. This series is funded by a generous endowment gift from Dorothy Humel Hovorka.
Yefim Bronfman’s appearance with The Cleveland Orchestra is supported through the generosity of the Baker Hostetler Guest Artist series sponsorship.
Ticket and Parking Information
FEBRUARY 2 TICKET PRICES: Orchestra: $64, $44; Dress Circle: $87, $50; Balcony: $64, $50, $31.
FEBRUARY 3 and 4 TICKET PRICES: Orchestra: $69, $50; Dress Circle: $93, $57; Balcony: $69, $57, $39.
Call the Ticket Office at 216-231-1111 for Box seat availability.
Ticket Office
The Severance Hall Ticket Office is located in the Smith Lobby. The entrance and 15-minute Ticket Service parking are along East Boulevard. The Ticket Office is open 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., Monday-Friday and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. The office is closed Sundays and holidays, except for those days with performances, when it opens 3 hours before concert start time.
Group Sales (groups of 10 or more)
Call the Cleveland Orchestra Group Sales Office at Severance Hall at 216-231-7493 or email groupsales@clevelandorchestra.com for information.
Parking
For information about parking for Severance Hall concerts, click here.
Venue information
Severance Hall, which opened in 1931 as the home of The Cleveland Orchestra, is located at 11001 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44106.
For more information or to order tickets, call 216-231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or visit online.
Calendar Listing
Thursday, February 2, 2012, at 8:00 p.m.
Friday, February 3, 2012, at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 4, 2012, at 8:00 p.m.
(Free Concert Preview one hour before each concert)
The Cleveland Orchestra
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Brahms First Piano Concerto
Saariaho: Laterna Magica (U.S. Premiere)
Mozart: Symphony No. 39
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1
Tickets: $31-$93
To order: 216-231-1111, 800-686-1141, or visit online to select your own seats and print your tickets at home
Location: Severance Hall, 11001 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland
All artists and programs are subject to change.
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Press Contact
Ana Papakhian, 216-231-7476; Email
