Former LA Phil Music Director and Famed Pianist Appear Together at Walt Disney Concert Hall for the First Time
Thursday – Saturday, December 10 – 12, 2009, at 8 pm; Sunday, December 13, 2009, AT 2 PM
December 10 Media Sponsor: KUSC
Former Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director Zubin Mehta returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall to lead the LA Phil in four performances of music by three European composers – Webern, Bartók and Beethoven – Thursday, Friday and Saturday, December 10, 11 and 12, at 8 p.m., as well as Sunday, December 13, at 2 p.m. Famed pianist Yefim Bronfman joins the program for Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2, which he recorded for Sony Classical with the LA Phil under the baton of then-LA Phil Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen.
The program opens with Webern’s Passacaglia, Op. 1, which was not his debut work, but the first work the composer considered worthy of publicly acknowledging as his own.
The second piece of the program, Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2, as with much of the composer’s work, is influenced by the strong folk elements of his native Hungary, as well as the styles of Debussy and Stravinsky. Composed in 1931, Bartók’s Second Piano Concerto was written as a vehicle for his own public performances and he served as the soloist in the 1933 premiere. The piece was first performed by the LA Phil under Mehta’s baton in December of 1962.
The program closes with Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony. The piece is a watershed moment in the history of Western music and is often cited as the moment the Classical era ended and the Romantic period began.
Zubin Mehta became Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1962, a post he retained until 1978.
In 2001, the Vienna Philharmonic awarded him the title of “Honorary Conductor,” as did the Munich Philharmonic in 2004, and the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 2006.
Yefim Bronfman is considered by many to be one of today’s most wide-ranging and virtuosic concert pianists. He made his international debut with Mehta and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in 1975. The two last appeared together with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1977.
The concerts are preceded by Upbeat Live pre-performance discussions which are free to ticket-holders, and occur in BP Hall one hour prior to the performances. Eric Bromberger, violinist, Fulbright nominee and recipient of a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship at Yale University, hosts.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under the vibrant leadership of Gustavo Dudamel, presents the finest in orchestral and chamber music, recitals, new music, jazz, world music and holiday concerts at two of the most remarkable locations 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 concerts, children's programming and community concerts, ever seeking to provide inspiration and delight to the broadest possible audience.
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2009, AT 8 PM
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2009, AT 8 PM
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2009, AT 8 PM
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2009, AT 2 PM
WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL
111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC
ZUBIN MEHTA, conductor
YEFIM BRONFMAN, piano
WEBERN Passacaglia, Op. 1
BARTÓK Piano Concerto No. 2
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”
December 10 Media Sponsor: KUSC
The concerts are preceded by Upbeat Live pre-performance discussions which are free to ticket-holders, and occur in BP Hall one hour prior to the performances. Eric Bromberger, violinist, Fulbright nominee and recipient of a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship at Yale University, hosts.
Tickets ($42 - $160) 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. 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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Sophie Jefferies, sjefferies@laphil.org, 213.972.3422; Lisa White, lwhite@laphil.org, 213.972.3408; Photos: 213.972.3034