Bavārijas Radio simfoniskais orķestris un SUZANNA MELKI /Rūdolfs Buhbinders, klavieres/. Rīga Jūrmala mūzikas festivāls.

 

 

"Unmatched for podium presence” (New York Classical Review) and with an “ability to create viscerally arresting performances” (LA Times).

2018/19 marks Susanna Mälkki’s third season as Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, with highlights set to include Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, the world premiere of a new work by Enno Poppe, and – following a highly successful tour to Salzburg and Paris with cellist Truls Mørk in May 2018 – a tour of Central Europe with violinist Pekka Kuusisto, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Vienna’s Konzerthaus among the venues. Following an acclaimed first season as Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mälkki launches 2018/19 with the world premiere of Steve Reich’s Music for Ensemble and Orchestra; other projects include Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie and a staged performance of Sibelius’s The Tempest in collaboration with The Old Globe. Mälkki was previously Principal Guest Conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra (2013-17) and Music Director of the Ensemble Intercontemporain (2006-13).

A guest conductor at the highest level worldwide, 2018/19 sees Mälkki return to the Wiener Symphoniker and Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien (as a Wiener Konzerthaus “Portrait” artist), hr-Sinfonieorchester, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, among others. Recent engagements include the Berliner Philharmoniker, London Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, San Francisco Symphony and New York Philharmonic orchestras, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and her Czech Philharmonic Orchestra debut. Mälkki has previously worked with The Cleveland, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia, New World Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony (returning in October 2018), BBC Symphony (BBC Proms) and Oslo Philharmonic orchestras, London Sinfonietta, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Teatro La Fenice.

Besides her achievements as an outstanding conductor in her own right, Finland’s Susanna Mälkki has been a groundbreaking pioneer for female classical music conductors. She has been the only female music director of the Ensemble Intercontemporain since its creation in 1976 by Pierre Boulez and is the first female principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since the position was established in 1981. In the 136-year history of the Metropolitan Opera, she has been the fourth woman to ever conduct in the renowned opera house and the first to conduct a Metropolitan Opera Live in HD broadcast.

Concert programme:
Johannes BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat Major op. 83
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 2 in D Major op. 36

 

The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO) is considered one of the world’s best orchestras; it is named alongside the Berlin Philharmonic as the best German orchestra.
Various conductors have shaped the identity of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. However, the prevailing opinion is that it was Mariss Jansons, Artistic Director of the orchestra since 2003, who raised the sound of the orchestra to a new level. He himself has said: “For me as a conductor it’s like driving a Rolls-Royce. This orchestra can, quite simply, do everything.”

 

Speaking of driving: soon after the orchestra was founded by conductor Eugen Jochum in 1949, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra’s international fame was strengthened by its frequent touring.

From the very beginning, a significant tradition of the orchestra was the performing of contemporary music. As part of the Musica Viva concert series, composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, Paul Hindemith, Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Mauricio Kagel, Luciano Berio and many others have conducted the orchestra.

 

More recently, the orchestra has also turned its attention to early music, collaborating with experts in historical performance practice like John Eliot Gardiner, Giovanni Antonini and Thomas Hengelbrock.

With concerts taking place in the historic cities of Riga and Jurmala, the Riga Jurmala Music Festival features four weekends throughout the summer. A leading international orchestra and conductor anchor each weekend, offering a range of symphonic concerts and recitals that feature leading stars and young up-and-coming talent.

 

The repertoire of piano legend Rudolf Buchbinder (1946) stretches from Bach to contemporary music. The Austrian pianist’s almost sixty-year career, (including his first performance with an orchestra he was just twelve years old) has been reflected in over one hundred recordings.

His ability to make music come alive, inhabiting each phrase, is truly unique. He has set new standards in the performing arts, especially as a performer of the music of Beethoven.
“I learn every time. It is a challenge every time. Only since I started collecting old sources have I realised that knowledge is what makes me most free… The musical freedom back then was fantastisch! We are too strict today,” says Buchbinder.

 

In 1952, at the age of five, “Rudi” (as written in his school report) became the youngest ever pupil to attend the Vienna Academy of Music (although, at the time, he could only play two popular songs on the piano.) Four years later, he was already performing Chopin’s Étude Op. 25, No. 1 in the Brahms-Saal of the Vienna Musikverein. He credits his teachers Marianne Lauda and Bruno Seidlhofer as his greatest fortune.

 

Buchbinder celebrated his 70th birthday two years ago with concerts in New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Musikverein, and the Berlin Philharmonic. The Vienna Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra recognised him on his birthday with honorary membership, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, under conductor Mariss Jansons, invited him to be their Artist in Residence. In that year, the orchestra website announced that “Rudolf Buchbinder was the youngest student ever to have enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Music… Since then he has appeared with every major orchestra and international conductor. Although his technique continues to improve with age, he is now far more nervous than he used to be before a concert, because now he has to convince not only his audience but also – which is much harder – himself.”

 

In 2019 his concert schedule is full as usual – several concerts per week in opposite corners of the globe, with a total of around one hundred concerts each year. Since 2007, Buchbinder has been the Artistic Director of the Grafenegg Festival, and under his leadership the event has become one of Europe’s leading symphonic music forums.

 

With concerts taking place in the historic cities of Riga and Jurmala, the Riga Jurmala Music Festival features four weekends throughout the summer. A leading international orchestra and conductor anchor each weekend, offering a range of symphonic concerts and recitals that feature leading stars and young up-and-coming talent.

 

More information: www.riga-jurmala.com