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  • CONDUCTOR STÉPHANE DENÈVE LEADS THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC IN HIS HOLLYWOOD BOWL DEBUT
  • Aug. 21, 2007
  • Rising Young Violinist Sergey Khachatryan Performs Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 on August 21

    Celebrated Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet Plays Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 5, "Egyptian" in a French Repertoire Concert on August 23

    TUESDAY AND THURSDAY, AUGUST 21 and 23, 2007, AT 8 PM

    Stéphane Denève, recognized internationally as an electrifying conductor, leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in two performances on Tuesday and Thursday, August 21 and 23, at 8 p.m. at the Hollywood Bowl. He is joined on August 21 by rising young violinist Sergey Khachatryan for Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2, in a program which also includes Stokowski's orchestration of Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor and Dvorák's Symphony No. 8.

    The August 23 concert features celebrated pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who performs Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 5, "Egyptian." The Philharmonic also plays Berlioz' Overture to Les francs-juges, Debussy's La mer, and Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe, Suite No. 2 (which features the Pacific Chorale, John Alexander, Artistic Director). Denève, who last conducted the orchestra in March at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Khachatryan make their Hollywood Bowl debuts.

    STÉPHANE DENÈVE made his inaugural appearance as Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in 2005 with a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. He has conducted the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Verdi Orchestra Milan, the Montreal Symphony, the Washington National Symphony, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Toronto Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, a Poulenc triple-bill at La Monnaie, the Russian National Orchestra at the Napa Valley and Tuscan Sun Festivals, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra at the BBC Proms in London and at the Edinburgh International Festival. A graduate of the Paris Conservatoire, where he was awarded a unanimous First Prize in 1995, Denève began his career as Sir Georg Solti's assistant for Bluebeard's Castle with the Orchestre de Paris (1995) and Don Giovanni at the Paris National Opera (1996). He also assisted Seiji Ozawa at the Saito Kinen Festival (1998). During those years, Denève developed relationships with such orchestras as the Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, and the Orchestre National de France. In 1997, he made his debut in Germany at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Dusseldorf and was immediately engaged on the conducting staff beginning the following season, going on to conduct an enormous range of opera repertoire during a two-season contract. He has a great affinity for the music of his native France and has conducted works from Debussy and Ravel to Connesson, as well as Berlioz, Roussel, Fauré and Poulenc. At the same time, he is very much at home in a broad range of repertoire, particularly in the music of the Romantic era, but also in works by Mozart and early 20th-century composers. In 2004, he made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with Cosi fan tutte and also at the Netherlands Opera in a new production of The Love for Three Oranges with the Rotterdam Philharmonic. He has also conducted productions of Marriage of Figaro, Don Quichotte, and La boheme at the Paris National Opera, Faust in Salzburg, Peter Grimes at Montpellier Opera, and Bluebeard's Castle at Cincinnati Opera.

    SERGEY KHACHATRYAN, born in 1985 in Yerevan, Armenia, began his studies with Prof. Josef Rissin of the Karlsruhe Musik Academy. In 2000 he won First Prize in the VIII International Jean Sibelius competition in Helsinki, the youngest ever winner in the history of the competition. He has subsequently appeared throughout Finland, most recently performing the Khachaturian Concerto with the Finnish Radio Symphony and Mikko Franck. Following his UK debut in 2001 with the English Chamber Orchestra, he has given performances throughout Great Britain with orchestras including the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra; the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; the BBC Philharmonic and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras. His recital engagements include performances at the Wigmore Hall in London; the Chatelet Theatre in Paris; the Tonhalle in Zurich; the Lincoln Center in New York; the Societa del Quartetto di Milano series in Milan; and appearances in Salzburg, Tokyo and Korea. Khachatryan's first recital recording was issued on EMI's 'Début' label, and another recording of the Khachaturian and Sibelius Concertos with Emmanuel Krivine and Sinfonia Varsovia marked the beginning of his collaboration with the French label Naive Classique.

    JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET's ongoing relationships with world-renowned symphony orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra bring him to such destinations as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Concertgebouw on a regular basis. Last season alone, he played at Carnegie Hall three times: in solo recital, with the Boston Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony. The current season takes Thibaudet to engagements on four continents including recitals in Washington, DC, Chicago, West Palm Beach, Portland (OR), and Vancouver (BC), and concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, and the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Dallas, and Nashville, among others. Highlights of his concerts abroad include recitals in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain, and performances with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (in Frankfurt), the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (in Birmingham and Cologne), the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, the Orchester des WDR (Cologne), the Spanish National Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the NDR Sinfonieorchester, the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, a five-city tour of the Netherlands with the Rossetti String Quartet, and another tour, with the Orchestre National de Lyon, to Turkey, Slovenia, Croatia, and Austria. An exclusive recording artist for Decca with over 30 releases, Thibaudet was the soloist on the 2005 Oscar-nominated soundtrack of Universal Pictures' Pride and Prejudice. Also new in 2005 was his recording of Strauss' Burleske with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. His recordings over the years have garnered a Grammy nomination and many prizes including the Schallplattenpreis, the Diapason d'Or, Choc de la Musique, Gramophone Award, two Echo awards, and the Edison Prize. Offstage, Thibaudet has appeared in Bruce Beresford's 2001 feature film Bride of the Wind and was featured on the soundtrack. He also performed two Schubert Impromptus on the movie soundtrack of the 1997 feature film Portrait of a Lady. On television, he was featured in the 2000 PBS/Smithsonian special, Piano Grand! hosted by Billy Joel to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the piano, and he has impacted the fashion world with concert attire designed by London fashion designer Vivienne Westwood.

    Since 1968, PACIFIC CHORALE has been widely recognized for the exceptional quality of its artistic product, providing regional, national, and international audiences with distinctive performances of classical and contemporary choral works. Under the leadership of Artistic Director John Alexander, both the 160-voice Pacific Chorale and the 30-voice John Alexander Singers present a concert series each year at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Pacific Chorale also serves as the resident chorus for Pacific Symphony, performs regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and is the "choir of choice" for visiting orchestras such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra. Artistic Director of Pacific Chorale since 1972, JOHN ALEXANDER has consistently received acclaim from critics and audiences for his inspired conducting. He has conducted his singers with orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, the former Soviet Union, and South American and, closer to home, with Pacific Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, Musica Angelica, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Equally versatile both on the podium and behind the scenes, Alexander has prepared choruses for many of the world's leading orchestral conductors including Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Slatkin, Zubin Mehta, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Pierre Boulez, Lukas Foss, Keith Lockhart, Michael Tilson Thomas, Gerard Schwarz, and Max Rudolf.

    One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and in 1991 gave its name to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. The 2004 season introduced audiences to a revitalized Hollywood Bowl, featuring a newly-constructed shell and stage and the addition of four stadium screens enhancing stage views in the venue. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 39th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and close to one million admissions have been recorded. In February 2007, the Hollywood Bowl was named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue for the third year in a row at the 18th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards; the Bowl's summer music festival has become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood

    TUESDAY, AUGUST 21 AT 8 PM

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    STÉPHANE DENÈVE, conductor

    SERGEY KHACHATRYAN, violin

    BACH/STOKOWSKI Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor

    PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 2

    DVORÁK Symphony No. 8

    THURSDAY, AUGUST 23 AT 8 PM

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    STÉPHANE DENÈVE, conductor

    JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET, piano

    PACIFIC CHORALE, John Alexander, artistic director

    BERLIOZ Overture to Les francs-juges

    SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 5, "Egyptian"

    DEBUSSY La mer

    RAVEL Daphnis and Chloe, Suite No. 2

    Tickets ($1 - $93) are on sale now at HollywoodBowl.com, at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office (Tuesday - Saturday, 12 p.m. - 6 p.m.), or by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Groups of 10 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details. For general information or to request a brochure, call 323.850.2000.

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  • Contact:

    Adam Crane, acrane@laphil.org, 213.972.3034; Rachelle Roe, rroe@laphil.org, 213.972.7310; Laura Stegman, Laura_Stegman@hotmail.com; 310.470.6321; For photos: 213.972.3034