Back to Press Release List > - Pierre Boulez Leads Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Two Carnegie Hall Performances, 1/30 & 1/31/2010

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) returns to Carnegie Hall in January 2010 for two performances in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage under the direction of Conductor Emeritus Pierre Boulez. On Saturday, January 30 at 8:00 p.m., the CSO’s program features Marc-André Dalbavie’s Flute Concerto with CSO principal flutist Mathieu Dufour as soloist, Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle with mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung and baritone Falk Struckmann, and Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin. A pre-concert talk begins at 7:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage with Ara Guzelimian, Provost and Dean of The Juilliard School. The following evening, Sunday, January 31 at 8:00 p.m., the CSO and Maestro Boulez perform Boulez’s work Livre pour cordes as well as Bartók’s Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion, and Orchestra with pianists Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich, and Stravinsky’s The Firebird (complete). These concerts are part of Carnegie Hall’s celebration of Mr. Boulez’s 85th birthday year, featuring collaborations this season with internationally acclaimed orchestras: the CSO, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and The MET Orchestra.

Artist Information
Renowned composer and conductor Pierre Boulez—who turns 85 on March 26, 2010—is feted at Carnegie Hall in four January concerts by two orchestras with which he has been closely associated throughout much of his life. Mr. Boulez conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, January 16 in a program that also features longtime Boulez collaborator Daniel Barenboim as soloist in Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto. The Vienna Philharmonic’s performance on Sunday, January 17 highlights Mr. Boulez’s achievements 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 bass-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’s connection to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra began in 1969, when he first conducted the orchestra. Since then, he has performed, toured, and recorded extensively with the CSO. He was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1995 and has held the title of Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus since 2006.

Mr. Boulez returns to Carnegie Hall on Sunday, May 16 to conduct The MET Orchestra in Bartók’s The Wooden Prince and Schoenberg’s Erwartung with soprano Deborah Polaski.

Born in 1925 in Montbrison, France, Pierre 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. He has won 26 Grammy Awards since 1967, including eight with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. From 1999 to 2003, he was holder of the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall.

Mathieu Dufour is the principal flutist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 1999. Before coming to Chicago, he was principal flutist of the Paris National Opera Orchestra from 1996 to 1999, and prior to his appointment there he served as principal flutist of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse for three years. Mr. Dufour began his flute studies at the age of eight with Madeleine Chassang at the National Regional Conservatory in his hometown of Paris and subsequently studied with Maxence Larrieu at the National Conservatory of Music in Lyon. Awards include second prize at the Jean-Pierre Rampal International Flute Competition (1990); third prize at the International Flute Competition in Budapest (1991); and second prize at the International Flute Competition in Kobe, Japan (1997). Mr. Dufour is in demand as a coach and teacher, and he has led master classes in Canada, Japan, Europe, and the United States. He serves on the faculty at Roosevelt University in Chicago. Mr. Dufour's discography includes a recently released solo recital of sonatas by Prokofiev, Martinu, and Hindemith, as well as recordings of Poulenc's complete chamber music and the complete flute works by Roussel.

Mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung has established herself as one of the most exciting artists of her generation having appeared with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper Orchestra, and Berliner Staatskapelle, among others. Ms. DeYoung has appeared at many of the finest opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, the Bayreuth Festival, Berliner Staatsoper, the Opera National de Paris, the Théâtre du Châtelet, and Tokyo Opera. Her roles include Fricka, Sieglinde, and Waltraute in the Ring; Kundry in Parsifal, Venus in Tannhäuser, Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde, Dido in Les Troyens, Marguerite in Le Damnation de Faust, Gertrude in Hamlet, Jocaste in Oedipus Rex, and the title role in The Rape of Lucretia. This season, Ms. DeYoung made her debut at La Scala, opening the season in a new production of Tristan und Isolde. She also returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Fricka in Tristan und Isolde. Ms. DeYoung's recording of Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Symphony No. 3 with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony was awarded the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Classical Album. She was also awarded Grammy Awards in 2001 for Best Classical Album and Best Opera Recording for Les Troyens with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Bass-baritone Falk Struckmann was born in Heilbronn, Germany, and made his operatic debut in Kiel, Germany, in 1985. Mr. Struckmann has performed at many prestigious international opera houses, including the State Operas in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, and Vienna; the Gran Teatre de Liceu in Barcelona; the Royal Opera Covent Garden; La Scala in Milan; the Metropolitan Opera; the Opéra National (Bastille) Paris; as well as at the Salzburg Festival. At the Vienna and Berlin State Operas he has performed the roles of Orest, Scarpia, Kurwenal, Wozzeck, Don Pizarro, Telramund, Wotan/Wanderer, Wozzeck, Barak, Holländer, Jago, Rangoni, Amfortas, Amonasro, and Hans Sachs. Mr. Struckmann made his debut with the Bayreuth Festival in 1993 and performed the role of Kurwenal in a new production of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde and returned to the festival in the roles of Donner and Gunter in a new Ring cycle production led by James Levine. Mr. Struckmann is also a regular guest at the concert stage and his many recordings and DVDs include productions of Tristan und Isolde, Elektra, Lohengrin, Fidelio, Herzog Blaubart, Der fliegende Holländer, Tiefland, The Ring Cycle, Die Meistersinger, and Parsifal.

This season, pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard has the rare opportunity to appear as soloist on consecutive nights at Carnegie Hall with two leading orchestras: first with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on January 31 and then with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on February 1 (performing works by Elliott Carter and Ravel). Widely acclaimed as a leading interpreter of the standard piano repertoire, Mr. Aimard enjoys an internationally celebrated career that transcends traditional boundaries. In recent seasons Mr. Aimard has been invited by Carnegie Hall, the Konzerthaus Vienna, the Berliner Philharmoniker, Palais Garnier/Opera de Paris, the Lucerne Festival, Mozarteum Salzburg, The Cleveland Orchestra, and Cité de la Musique in Paris to devise groundbreaking residential projects, performing himself within chamber music, lieder, solo piano, and orchestral programs. Highlights of Mr. Aimard’s 2009–10 season include an Auftakt residency at the Alte Oper Frankfurt comprised of a joint piano recital with Tamara Stefanovich, a lieder recital with soprano Christine Schäfer, and chamber music with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe; as well as solo recitals in Paris, New York, Rome, Madrid, Vienna, and Berlin. Mr. Aimard was the recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist Award in spring 2005 and was named by Musical America Instrumentalist of the Year in 2007. Born in Lyon, France, in 1957, Mr. Aimard studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Yvonne Loriod, and in London with Maria Curcio. Early career landmarks included winning first prize in the 1973 Messiaen Competition, and being appointed at the age of 19 by Pierre Boulez to become the Ensemble Intercontemporain's first solo pianist. Mr. Aimard records exclusively for the Deutsche Grammophon label.

Hailed as a fantastic and highly intelligent pianist, Tamara Stefanovich is a regular performer at major concert venues including Köln Philharmonie, Salzburg Mozarteum, Wiener Konzerthaus, Luxembourg Philharmonie, and London’s Royal Festival and Wigmore Halls. Ms. Stefanovich has appeared at numerous international festivals such as Aldeburgh, La Roque D'Antheron, Klangspuren, Lucerne, Musica Strasbourg, Ojai, and Klavier-Festival Ruhr. Known for her innovative programming, she has worked with ensembles such as The Cleveland Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, NDR Sinfonieorchester, Camerata Salzburg, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Bamberger Symphoniker. Highlights of her 2009–10 season include performances with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra under Eivind Aadland, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra with Pierre-Laurent Aimard under Vladimir Jurowski. In the same season Ms. Stefanovich will tour the UK with the Britten Sinfonia and make her recital debut at the Concertgebouw in November 2010. Ms. Stefanovich has recorded for AVI Records and the Harmonia Mundi labels. Recent releases include Bartok’s Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion, and Orchestra with Pierre-Laurent Aimard; Pierre Boulez and the London Symphony Orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon; and Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos with Jonathan Nott, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and Camerata Salzburg for the ARTE television network. Ms. Stefanovich studied with Claude Frank at the Curtis Institute and with Pierre-Laurent Aimard at the Cologne Hochschule where she is now a member of the faculty staff.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is consistently hailed as one of today’s leading orchestras. The CSO currently enjoys unique artistic leadership among international orchestras, with three of the world’s most celebrated conductors: eminent Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink, renowned French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez, and Italian conductor Riccardo Muti. Mr. Haitink became principal conductor in 2006 and concludes his successful tenure at the end of the 2009–2010 season. Mr. Boulez, whose long-standing relationship with the CSO led to his appointment as principal guest conductor in 1995, was named Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus in 2006. In May 2008, Mr. Muti was appointed the Orchestra’s tenth music director; his tenure begins in September 2010, and he currently serves as music director designate. In collaboration with internationally renowned conductors and guest artists, the CSO performs well over 120 concerts each year at its downtown Chicago home, Symphony Center, and at the Ravinia Festival on Chicago’s North Shore, where it is in residence each summer. With its Institute for Learning, Access and Training, the CSO engages more than 150,000 Chicago-area residents annually. Since 1971, the CSO has undertaken 36 overseas tours: 27 to Europe, six to the Far East, and one each to Russia, Australia and South America. In 2007, three media initiatives were launched—the creation of CSO Resound, the Orchestra’s in-house record label; a return to the national airwaves with the BP Chicago Symphony Orchestra Radio Broadcast Series; and the expansion of the CSO’s web presence through free video downloads of the innovative Beyond the Score® presentations.

Program Information
Saturday, January 30 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Pierre Boulez, Conductor Emeritus
Mathieu Dufour, Flute
Michelle DeYoung, Mezzo-Soprano
Falk Struckmann, Bass-Baritone

MAURICE RAVEL Le Tombeau de Couperin
MARC-ANDRÉ DALBAVIE Flute Concerto
BÉLA BARTÓK Bluebeard's Castle, Op. 11

Pre-concert talk starts at 7:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage with Ara Guzelimian, Provost and Dean, The Juilliard School.
___________________________________________

Sunday, January 31 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Pierre Boulez, Conductor Emeritus
Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Piano
Tamara Stefanovich, Piano

PIERRE BOULEZ Livre pour cordes
BÉLA BARTÓK Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion, and Orchestra
IGOR STRAVINSKY The Firebird (complete)

Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.