In January 2010, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra performs three concerts at Carnegie Hall—two under the direction of conductor Daniel Barenboim and one under Pierre Boulez—in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. On Friday, January 15 at 8:00 p.m., Mr. Barenboim conducts the orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Schoenberg’s Variations for Orchestra, and Wagner’s Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde. The following evening, Saturday, January 16 at 8:00 p.m., Mr. Boulez leads the orchestra with Mr. Barenboim as soloist in Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto; also on the program is Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No. 2, Webern’s Six Pieces, and the Adagio from Mahler’s Symphony No. 10. The final concert on Sunday, January 17 at 2:00 p.m. features Mr. Barenboim returning to the podium to conduct Schoenberg’s Five Pieces for Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, and Mr. Boulez’s Notations I-IV and VII. The performances on January 16 and 17 launch Carnegie Hall’s celebration of Mr. Boulez’s 85th birthday year, which continues on January 30 and 31 with Mr. Boulez conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and on May 16 when he conducts The MET Orchestra.Artist Information
Renowned composer and conductor Pierre Boulez turns 85 in March 2010 and is feted at Carnegie Hall in four January concerts by two orchestras with which he has been closely associated throughout much of his life. In two of its three programs at Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra features Mr. Boulez—first as conductor, then, as composer, with Mr. Barenboim leading the orchestra in Boulez’s Notations I-IV and VII. Two weeks later, Mr. Boulez, Conductor Emeritus of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, leads the CSO in two concerts that include Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, Op. 11, with mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung and baritone Falk Struckmann; Bartók’s Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion, and Orchestra with pianists Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich; and Boulez’s own work Livre pour cordes. Mr. Boulez returns to Carnegie Hall in May to conduct The MET Orchestra in Bartók’s The Wooden Prince and Schoenberg’s Erwartung with soprano Deborah Polaski.
A native of Montbrison, France, Mr. Boulez pursued studies in piano, composition, and choral conducting at the Paris Conservatory. He began his conducting career in 1958 with the Südwestfunk Orchestra in Baden-Baden, Germany. From 1969 until 1972, he was principal guest conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra. In 1971, Mr. Boulez became both chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and music director of the New York Philharmonic, positions he held until 1975 and 1977, respectively. In 1974, the French government invited Mr. Boulez to create and direct a music research center at the Pompidou Centre. From the Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) sprang the Ensemble Intercontemporain, one of the world’s finest contemporary music ensembles. In 1991, he resigned as conductor of the ensemble, while continuing as its president. Mr. Boulez is also co-founder of Cité de la Musique in Paris. His numerous compositions are widely performed, including Le marteau sans maître, Pli selon pli, three piano sonatas, Eclat/Multiples, Le visage nuptial, Répons, Notations, and ...explosante-fixe... His awards and honors include honorary doctorates from Leeds, Cambridge, Basel, and Oxford universities, among others; Commander of the British Empire; and Knight of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Mr. Boulez’s discography includes prize-winning recordings of Parsifal and Berg’s Lulu. Recordings by Mr. Boulez have received 26 Grammy Awards since 1967, including eight with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Mr. Boulez was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1995 and has held the title of Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus with the Orchestra since 2006.
Renowned pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1942. Mr. Barenboim began his first piano lessons at the age of five. In August 1950, at the age of seven, he gave his first official concert in Buenos Aires. Mr. Barenboim made his debut in Vienna and Rome in 1952, Paris in 1955, London in 1956, and New York in 1957. His recording activities as a pianist began in 1954 and, during the 1960s, he recorded all the Mozart concertos in the dual role of soloist and conductor with the English Chamber Orchestra. During the same period, Mr. Barenboim began to devote more time to conducting and, in 1965, he established a close relationship with the English Chamber Orchestra that was to last for more than a decade. Mr. Barenboim made his conducting debut in London with the New Philharmonia Orchestra in 1967, Berlin in 1969, and in New York soon after. From 1975 to 1989, Mr. Barenboim was music director of the Orchestre de Paris, where he placed special emphasis on contemporary music and led performances of works by Lutoslawski, Berio, Boulez, Henze, and Dutilleux. In 1991, he succeeded Sir Georg Solti as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a position he would hold for 15 years. In 1992, Mr. Barenboim became general music director of the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin. In the fall of 2000, the Staatskapelle Berlin appointed him Conductor for Life. In 2006, Daniel Barenboim was named Maestro Scaligero at La Scala, Milan, where he will perform a Wagner Ring cycle in 2010. Mr. Barenboim also appears regularly as guest conductor with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1999, Daniel Barenboim and the late Edward Said established the West-Eastern Divan Workshop, which each summer invites young musicians from Israel and the Middle East to form an orchestra. In 2003, the orchestra played for the first time in an Arab country in the city of Rabat, at Moroccan King Muhammed VI’s invitation. Mr. Barenboim is the author of A Life in Music and co-author of Parallels and Paradoxes: Explorations in Music and Society, a series of conversations between Mr. Barenboim and Edward Said. In 2008, Italian publisher Feltrinelli released his latest book, La Musica Sveglia il Tempo (Music Quickens Time).
There is perhaps no other musical ensemble more consistently and closely associated with the history and tradition of European classical music than the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. In the course of its over 160-year history, the musicians of this most prominent orchestra of the capital city of music have been an integral part of a musical epoch that must certainly be regarded as unique. Since its inception through Otto Nicolai in 1842, the fascination that the orchestra has exercised upon prominent composers and conductors, as well as on audiences all over the world, is based not only on a homogenous musical style carefully bequeathed from one generation to the next, but also on its unique structure and history. The desire to provide artistically worthy performances of the symphonic works of Mozart and Beethoven in their own city led to the decision on the part of the court opera musicians to present a “Philharmonic” concert series independent of their work at the opera, and upon their own responsibility and risk.
With concerts at home and on tour around the world, today’s Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is much more than Austria’s most coveted “cultural export.” The orchestra’s members are considered ambassadors, expressing through their performances the ideals of peace, humanity, and reconciliation with which music is so inseparably bound, and regularly donating services to create events that promote peace through music. Examples of this include the orchestra’s historic performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Sir Simon Rattle in 2000 at Mauthausen, the former site of Austria’s largest concentration camp during World War II; the 2002 concert in New York City’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral in remembrance of victims of terrorism; annual benefits in New York City benefitting the American Austrian Foundation/Salzburg Cornell (Medical Seminars); and, beginning in 1999, the annual donation of partial proceeds from the VPO’s New Years Concerts to a variety of humanitarian organizations. The Vienna Philharmonic, since 2005, has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the World Health Organization, and, in 2006, became a supporter of the "Hear the World" initiative, a hearing awareness campaign. As of November 2008, Rolex is the worldwide presenting sponsor of the Vienna Philharmonic.
Program Information
Friday, January 15 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium//Perelman Stage
VIENNA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Daniel Barenboim, Conductor
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68, "Pastoral"
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31
RICHARD WAGNER Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
Sponsored by KPMG LLP
Tickets: $67, $81, $105, $145, $198, $219
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Saturday, January 16 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium//Perelman Stage
VIENNA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Pierre Boulez, Conductor
Daniel Barenboim, Piano
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Chamber Symphony No. 2, Op. 38
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Piano Concerto, Op. 42
ANTON WEBERN Six Pieces, Op. 6
GUSTAV MAHLER Adagio from Symphony No. 10 in F-sharp Major
Sponsored by Continental Airlines, the Official Airline of Carnegie Hall
This concert is made possible, in part, by the Audrey Love Charitable Foundation.
Tickets: $67, $81, $105, $145, $198, $219
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Sunday, January 17 at 2:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium//Perelman Stage
VIENNA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Daniel Barenboim, Conductor
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 16
PIERRE BOULEZ Notations I, VII, IV, III, and II
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
This concert is made possible, in part, by the Audrey Love Charitable Foundation.
Tickets: $67, $81, $105, $145, $198, $219
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Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.