ACCLAIMED VIOLINIST/CONDUCTOR PINCHAS ZUKERMAN GRACES STAGE FOR PERFORMANCE OF BEETHOVEN’S VIOLIN CONCERTO
AT PACIFIC SYMPHONY’S “ZUKERMAN PLAYS BEETHOVEN”
Zukerman also conducts the orchestra in Stravinsky’s Concerto in D,
“The Basler” and Haydn’s Symphony No. 83, “The Hen”
World-renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman—who has been wowing audiences with his unique ability to both play and conduct for several decades—gives concert-goers a double treat when he joins Pacific Symphony for “Zukerman Plays Beethoven.”
Zukerman’s remarkable technique and distinct sound give fresh life to Beethoven’s only violin concerto, for one of only two Symphony concerts this season that feature the violin in solo performances. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said of Zukerman: “His elegant bowing is beautiful to watch, his tone at once robust and silken, his approach to Beethoven magisterial.”
Also acclaimed as a conductor, Zukerman leads the first half of the program, which features the graceful clarity of Stravinsky’s Concerto in D, “The Basler,” and the vigorous use of strings by Haydn in his Symphony No. 83, “The Hen,” nicknamed for the clucking sounds in the first movement.
The concert takes place Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 13-15, 2011, at 8 p.m. in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.
A preview talk with Alan Chapman begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25-$109; for more information or to purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org.
“Zukerman again seemed the forever-young virtuoso; expressively resourceful,
infectiously musical, technically impeccable, effortless. As usual, it was a joy to be in his musical company.”—Los Angeles Times.
“The beauty of knowing how to conduct is when not to conduct,” says Zukerman. “And it’s inexplicable to me why some people can and some people can’t do it. It’s one of the most extraordinary phenomena of human nature: Human energy that flows from one person to 180 eyes.
“And the orchestra knows, and it knows it within a minute, or less, if it’s going to work well for them or not.”
The evening’s highlight, conducted and played by Zukerman, is Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, a work that encompasses nearly the entire practical range of the violin. Yet its delicacy demands the greatest musical expression of the musician—making it the ideal piece to showcase Zukerman’s inimitable sound.
The Violin Concerto is only one of more than a dozen Beethoven works being presented during the 2010-11 season, spread across the orchestra’s various concert series.
Zukerman also conducts the first half of the concert featuring Stravinsky’s Concerto in D, “The Basler,” composed in 1946 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Basler Chamber Orchestra. Then, the clucking of Haydn’s Symphony No. 83, “The Hen,” provides a whimsical contrast to the dark, almost stormy opening in the second of six of Haydn’s “Paris symphonies,” commissioned by a French concert society in 1785.
“Both conducting and performing [at the same time] is in short, enlarged chamber music,” says Zukerman. “I go back and forth; I turn around when necessary to conduct; and turn around to play, but the guys in the back can pick up a lot from my body language. So it’s not that difficult. When it works very well, it’s a whole new feeling for a lot of people on stage as well as the audience.”
Over the last decade, Zukerman has become as equally regarded a conductor as he is a violinist. Currently in his 12th season as music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and in his second season as principal guest conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, he is recognized for inaugurating the prestigious National Arts Centre Summer Music Institute.
Zukerman also leads his own chamber orchestra, the Zukerman Chamber Players, and is a devoted and innovative pedagogue, chairing the Pinchas Zukerman Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music.
Maestro Zukerman maintains long-term conducting relationships with such esteemed ensembles as the Chicago Symphony, Israel Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras. In North America, he has led the New York and Rochester philharmonics, the National Symphony, The Florida Orchestra, and the symphonies of Atlanta, Dallas, Toronto, Milwaukee, Saint Louis, Madison, Oregon, Utah and Colorado, among others.
Internationally he has conducted the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Radio France and Nagoya Philharmonics and the Barcelona, São Paulo and Singapore symphony orchestras. The year 2009 saw his operatic conducting debut of “The Magic Flute” with Opera Lyra.
The Symphony’s classical series performances are made possible by the Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Foundation, with additional support from the Symphony’s official airline, American Airlines; official hotel, The Westin South Coast Plaza, official classical music station, KUSC; and official television station, KOCE-TV.
Jayce Keane
Director of Public Relations
Pacific Symphony
3631 S. Harbor Blvd. Suite 100
Santa Ana, CA 92704
Direct: 714/ 876-2383 │Tickets: 714/ 755-5799
www.PacificSymphony.org
