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  • The Venice Baroque Orchestra Comes to Walt Disney Concert Hall As Part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2008/09 Baroque Variations Series
  • Jan. 21, 2009
  • Critically-Acclaimed Violinist Giuliano Carmignola is the Soloist for the All-Vivaldi Evening
    Program Update: Originally Scheduled Director Andrea Marcon Does Not Appear

    WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2009, AT 8 PM

    Media Sponsor: Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles

    The Venice Baroque Orchestra takes the stage at Walt Disney Concert Hall to perform an all-Vivaldi program featuring Italian violinist Giuliano Carmignola, Wednesday, January 21, at 8 p.m. The Orchestra's Founder and Director Andrea Marcon, originally scheduled to appear, has canceled for personal reasons. The concert is part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2008/09 Baroque Variations series.

    Antonio Vivaldi, one of baroque Europe's preeminent musical figures, achieved his fame as a composer for orchestra, giving him a unique status among Italian composers. The evening's works include Concerto in D major for strings, RV 121, Concerto "alla rustica" in G major for strings, RV 151, Sinfonia in B minor for strings, RV 168, Sinfonia in G major for strings, RV 149 and four Violin Concertos - E minor, RV 273, B-flat major, RV 375, D major, RV 222, and C major, RV 191.

    Recognized as one of Europe's premier ensembles devoted to period instrument performance, the Venice Baroque Orchestra has received wide acclaim for its concert and opera performances throughout North America, Europe, South America, and Japan.

    The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association's Baroque Variations offers presentations of Baroque music on both period and modern instruments, performed by some of the world's most admired ensembles and soloists. The 2008/09 four-concert series began earlier this season with pianist Piotr Anderszewski and continues March 24, 2009, with The English Concert led by Harry Bicket and featuring countertenor David Daniels, and concludes May 21, 2009, with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

    Founded in 1997 by Baroque scholar and harpsichordist Andrea Marcon, the VENICE BAROQUE ORCHESTRA is recognized as one of Europe's premier ensembles devoted to period instrument performance. The Orchestra has received wide critical acclaim for its concert and opera performances throughout North America, Europe, South America, and Japan. Highlights of the 2008/09 season include Andromeda liberata at the Ambronay Festival, Orlando furioso in Rome, and tours to Korea, China, Japan, France, Germany and the United States. The Orchestra will also present Vivaldi's Juditha triumphans in Amsterdam, Baden-Baden and Paris. During the 2007/08 season, the Orchestra toured South America with Giuliano Carmignola, Spain and Italy with mezzo-soprano Romina Basso, and performed Pergolesi's Stabat Mater with Anna Netrebko and Andreas Scholl in Vienna's Musikverein. Mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozen'a joined the orchestra in November for a program of Handel arias in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Frankfurt, Munich and Brussels; their performance was subsequently televised throughout Europe during Christmas. A highlight of their spring concerts was Vivaldi's Orlando furioso at the Concertgebouw. The Orchestra's U.S. tour during the 2006/07 included performances at Carnegie Hall, Disney Hall, and in Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, and Kansas City. Other highlights were a staged performance of Monteverdi's Orfeo in Cremona, and festival appearances in Halle, Schwetzingen, Dortmund, N"urnberg, Ludwigsburg, and Salzburg. Their season concluded in Cortona at the Tuscan Sun Festival with Cecilia Bartoli. Committed to the rediscovery of first-rate Baroque opera, Marcon has led the Orchestra in modern-day premieres of Francesco Cavalli's L'Orione, Vivaldi's Atenaide and Benedetto Marcello's La Morte D'Adone and Il trionfo della poesia e della musica. With Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Orchestra staged Handel's Siroe in 2000, followed by an equally successful staging of Cimarosa's L'Olimpiade in 2001. In April 2004, the Orchestra revived Siroe in its first full staging in the United States at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. At the 2004 Venice Music Festival, they gave the modern-day premiere of Andromeda liberata, a Venetian serenata recently discovered to have been written in part by Vivaldi. They subsequently performed Andromeda in Boston, New York, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Baden-Baden, London, Osaka and Tokyo. Their world-premiere recording of Andromeda liberata for Deutsche Grammophon was followed by two recordings of violin concertos with Giuliano Carmignola, an album of Vivaldi sinfonias and concertos for strings, Vivaldi motets and arias with soprano Simone Kermes, Handel arias with Magdalena Kozen'a, and Vivaldi concertos for two violins with Viktoria Mullova and Giuliano Carmignola. The Orchestra's earlier discography on Sony Classical includes The Four Seasons, two albums of previously unrecorded Vivaldi concertos, Locatelli violin concertos, and a collection of Bach arias featuring Angelika Kirchschlager. For its recordings, the Orchestra has been honored with the Diapason d'or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, Echo Award and the Edison Award. Their concerts have been filmed by the BBC and NHK, and broadcast by RadioFrance, France Musiques, ORF, RaiDue, BBC3, National Public Radio, RadioTre and Arte. The Venice Baroque Orchestra is supported by Fondazione Cassamarca in Treviso.

    Equally accomplished on modern and Baroque violin, GIULIANO CARMIGNOLA is highly regarded for his broad repertoire, encompassing Baroque, Romantic, Classical, and 20th-century works. Carmignola's career began with awards at the "Premio Citt`a di Vittorio Veneto" in 1971 and the Paganini Competition in Genoa in 1973. He quickly secured his status as a leading soloist under Claudio Abbado, Eliahu Inbal, Peter Maag and Giuseppe Sinopoli, appearing at Royal Albert Hall, La Scala, Musikverein, the Berlin Philharmonie, and Tchaikovsky Hall. He also toured extensively with I Virtuosi di Roma, and gave the Italian premiere of the Dutilleux Violin Concerto. Today, Carmignola enjoys a uniquely diverse career, with repertoire ranging from Vivaldi, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn to Debussy, Stravinsky and Schnittke. The 2008/09 season takes him on tour to Japan, Korea and the U.S. with the Venice Baroque Orchestra; to Germany for performances of the Schumann Concerto in Duisburg and of Vivaldi Concertos with Frankfurt Radio Orchestra under Christopher Hogwood; on tour with the Orchestre des Champs-'Elys'ees in Mozart concertos; and in recital with Robert Levin during the Salzburg Mozartwoche. He will also give a series of duo recitals with violinist Viktoria Mullova in Turin, Milan, Bologna, Florence, and Rome, performing on both original and modern instruments in works ranging from duo sonatas of C. P. E. Bach and Haydn to Bart'ok and Prokofiev. Highlights of the 2007/08 season included performances at the Bremen Festival, a tour of South America, recording the complete Mozart violin concertos with Claudio Abbado, and numerous concerts throughout Europe with the Academy of Ancient Music, Orchestra Mozart, Tonk"unstler Orchester Nieder"osterreich, Orchestra della Toscana and the Venice Baroque Orchestra. In recent seasons, in addition to his frequent collaborations with Claudio Abbado and Andrea Marcon, Carmignola has worked with Bernard Labadie and Ton Koopman, and has led the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Kammerorchester Basel, and Kammerakademie Potsdam. His festival appearances have included Aldeburgh, Ambronay, Dortmund, Dresden, Istanbul, Ludwigsburg, Lucerne, Salzburg, Vienna, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Mostly Mozart Festival and the Proms. Carmignola's extensive discography includes two albums of previously unrecorded Vivaldi concertos, The Four Seasons, and a collection of Locatelli violin concertos with the Venice Baroque Orchestra (VBO), as well as the complete Bach sonatas for violin and harpsichord with Andrea Marcon, all recorded for Sony. His recordings for Deutsche Grammophon include Concerto Veneziano, a collection of concertos of Tartini, Locatelli, and Vivaldi, and a disc of previously unrecorded concertos of Vivaldi that was awarded both the Diapason d'or and Choc du Monde de la Musique. DG has recently released his recording of Vivaldi concertos for two violins with Viktoria Mullova and the VBO, and the complete Mozart concertos with Claudio Abbado. A native of Treviso, Italy, Carmignola began his studies with his father and graduated from the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello in Venice where he studied with Luigi Ferro. He attended master classes with Nathan Milstein, Franco Gulli, and Henryk Szeryng. He is professor of violin at the Lucerne Hochschule as well as at Siena's Accademia Musicale Chigiana. Mr. Carmignola plays a 1732 Stradivari on permanent loan from the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna.

    The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, presents the finest in orchestral and chamber music, recitals, new music, jazz, world music and holiday concerts at two of the most remarkable places anywhere to experience music - Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. In addition to a 30-week winter subscription season at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the LA Phil presents a 12-week summer festival at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the Association's involvement with Los Angeles extends to educational programs, community concerts and children's programming, ever seeking to provide inspiration and delight to the broadest possible audience.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2009, AT 8 PM


    WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, 111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles



    BAROQUE VARIATIONS



    VENICE BAROQUE ORCHESTRA

    GIULIANO CARMIGNOLA, violin



    VIVALDI Concerto in D major for strings, RV 121

    VIVALDI Concerto "alla rustica" in G major for strings, RV 151

    VIVALDI Sinfonia in B minor for strings, RV 168

    VIVALDI Sinfonia in G major for strings, RV 149

    VIVALDI Violin Concerto in E minor, RV 273

    VIVALDI Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 375

    VIVALDI Violin Concerto in D major, RV 222

    VIVALDI Violin Concerto in C major, RV 191



    Media Sponsor: Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles

    Tickets ($36 - $92) are on sale now at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, online at LAPhil.com, or via credit card by phone at 323.850.2000. When available, choral bench seats ($17), will be released for sale to selected Philharmonic, Colburn Celebrity Recital, and Baroque Variations performances beginning at noon on the Tuesday of the second week prior to the concert. A limited number of $10 rush tickets for seniors and full time students may be available at the Walt Disney Concert Hall box office two hours prior to the performance. Valid identification is required; one ticket per person; cash only. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for special discounts for selected concerts and seating areas. For information, please call 323.850.2000.

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  • Contact:

    Lisa White, lwhite@laphil.org, 213.972.3408; Photos: 213.972.3034