GALA CONCERT
Programme
I.
R. Wagner (1813-1883)
*Overture Tannhauser
R. Wagner (1813-1883)
*Liebestod aria from Tristan and Isolde
*Immolation Scene from Gotterdammerung
Soloist HILDEGARD BEHRENS soprano
II.
Fr. Chopin (1810-1849)
*Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante
for piano and orchestra in E-flat major, opus 22
Soloist DIMITRIS SGOUROS piano
C. Saint-Saens (1835-1921)
* Havanaise, opus 83
Soloist LEONIDAS KAVAKOS violin
P.I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
*Waltz Scherzo
Soloist LEONIDAS KAVAKOS violin
P.I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
*Rococo Variations
for violoncello and orchestra, opus 33
Soloist MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVITCH violoncello
ATHENS STATE ORCHESTRA
under the baton of YURI TEMIRKANOV
Mstislav Rostropovitch
The musical career of Mstislav Rostropovitch has been justly celebrated throughout the world. As a cellist, pianist, and catalyst for the creation of new music, his activities have earned international acclaim. His legacy of performance, recordings and new compositions will enrich future generations for centuries.
No less long-lasting, and no less noteworthy, are his efforts as a humanitarian and human rights activist. It was one of his deeds in this latter capacity that brought about his enforced exile to the West in 1974. Rostropovitch’s actions had long been a concern to the Soviet authorities: he had staunchly supported Shostakovich when the authorities denounced him; when Prokoviev was ousted from the Moscow Conservatory, in defiance, Rostropovitch, too, left.
Ironically, it was a simpler action, a mere compassionate gesture that led to his exile. Upon learning that an author, a friend of friends, was living in a draughty shack on the Kiev highway, Rostropovitch offered shelter in his country home. The man was Alexander Soltzhenitsyn, just released from the Gulag. The action destroyed Rostropovitch’s Soviet career. It took an entreaty from Leonard Bernstein to Senator Edward Kennedy, and a meeting between Kennedy and Leonid Brezhnev, to permit Rostropovitch and his family to leave the USSR. Once free, Rostropovitch would not only continue, but accelerate his humanitarian activities.
When the Berlin Wall came down, Rostropovitch was there playing his cello in a borrowed chair, celebrating the healing of the worlds he had known. When the reactionaries attempted to overthrow Gorbachev in 1990, Rostropovitch was there, unheralded, visaless, supporting those who believed in freedom. When the last tank left Czechoslovakian soil, Rostropovitch was there, performing the concert he had promised to give the nation, as a token of his joy at their liberation. And when hard-liners attempted to restore communism in 1993, Rostropovitch and his orchestra – the National Symphony Orchestra of the United States – were there, giving the first orchestral concert ever held in Red Square.
Yet Rostropovitch’s gestures are not all political. The question of adequate health care – particularly for children – has been near to his heart for virtually his entire life. While still in the USSR, he visited a hospital where Shostakovich was being treated. Upon learning that there were no beds for dozens of waiting patients, he led a group of fellow musicians in building a new wing, laying bricks and mortar. When the attempted coup failed in 1990, Rostropovitch’s joy led him to make an incredible gift to his country: the raising of sufficient funds to fully equip children’s hospitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Numerous other organisations and thousands of patients have been served by his efforts: children being treated for cancer in US hospitals, the Pasteur Institute, 280 persons who needed artificial kidneys, leukaemia foundations, dental clinics – these are just some of those who have cause to be grateful for Rostropovitch’s concerts.
Bodies are not all that need nurturing; so do souls. Rostropovitch has performed concerts in the tiniest of villages throughout Russia, Japan and other countries, has contributed his musical prowess to benefits for music and ballet schools, has participated in countless festivals and has given numerous performances that benefited everything from master classes, that keep children off the streets, to concerts providing funds for research. These activities are all part of the Rostropovitch legacy
Others who have cause to appreciate Rostropovitch’s generosity are those who have been victims of disasters. Half a dozen concerts provided relief for the victims of the Armenian earthquake of 1988. Proceeds from other concerts went to benefit victims of the Chernobyl disaster.
Yet even these actions do not represent all of Rostropovitch’s efforts. Humans are not the only species inhabiting this planet. Rostropovitch’s concerts have gone to support the well-being of other species that share our world. Rostropovitch’s musical talents have not only enriched the world’s cultural legacy, but have benefited all on our planet for generations to come.
Hildegard Behrens
Widely regarded as one of the greatest dramatic sopranos of her generation, Hilde-gard Behrens has consistently thrilled audi-ences around the world with her brilliant musical intelligence, combining stage presence and stunning vocal technique. “Here is a soprano” writes The New York Times “who has it in her to evoke an elemental response in opera lovers, to send electric shocks through the house – a heroine in whose performances the crowd can abandon itself.”
Born in Oldenburg, Germany, Hildegard Behrens graduated from law school in Freiburg, where she subsequently studied voice at the conservatory. She joined the Deutsche Opera in Rheim, Dusseldorf, where she was discovered by Herbert von Karajan. Salome in Salzburg under the Maestro’s direction launched her brilliant interna-tional career. Highlights of the artist’s career attest to her extraordinary accom-plishments. Ms. Behrens has made several important international debuts, sing-ing Giorgetta in Il Tabarro at the Met and Leonore in Fidelio at Covent Garden, and performing Janacek’s rarely-heard Katya Kabanova at the National Theatre of Prague. She made her Salzburg Festival debut in the title role of Salome, in a new production conducted by Herbert von Karajan which was subsequently re-corded for Angle Records. In 1979, she returned to Salzburg to sing the title role in, Ariadne auf Naxos, under the baton of the late Karl Böhm. These landmark engagements established Ms. Behrens as a leading dramatic soprano.
A distinguished orchestral soloist, Hildegard Behrens has performed with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic, Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado and the Chicago Symphony, Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Ricardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Lorin Maazel and the Cleveland Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic, and the Orchestre de Paris under Daniel Barenboim.
Her discography includes releases of Wagner’s Ring with James Levine, Berg’s Wozzeck with Claudio Abbado, Salome with Herbert von Karajan, Schumman’s cycle Frauenliebe und leben, lieder by Brahms, Bach, Elgar, Mozart, Schubert, Richard Strauss, and Wolf, Der Freischutz with Kubelik, Fidelio with Solti, Gotterdammerung, Die Frau ohne Schatten and Der Fliegende Hollander.
Dimitris Sgouros
Dimitris Sgouros was born in Athens, in 1969, and began piano lessons at the age of six. He completed his music studies at the Athens School of Music at the age of twelve, having been the recipient of every possible distinction. By then, his international career had already been launched and he had won first place four times in major piano contests. He subsequently enrolled in the University of Maryland, as well as the London Royal Academy of Music, from which he graduated with the highest grade ever given; 98/100.
In 1982, he gave his first performance at Carnegy Hall, playing Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto, accompanied by the Washington National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Mstislav Rostropovitch. The New York Post wrote; “Mozart, Liszt, welcome Sgouros!” He has performed with some of the most famous orchestras and conductors in the world, at locations such as Carnegy Hall, Sale Pleyelle de Paris, Herod Atticus Odeon, Berlin Philharmonica Hall, Royal Hall and Barbican Hall in London, Rome Capitol, Tokyo Symphony Hall, Sidney Opera House, the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Konzertgebouw in Amsterdam, and many others, always with enormous success. Many of these performances have been video-taped and broadcast by major international radio and television networks. His numerous recordings include works by Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Beethoven, Chopin and Rachmaninov.
Dimitris Sgouros has had several events established in his honour, including annual Sgouros Festivals in Ljubljana, Hamburg and Singapore. In addition, since 1987 he has been funding the Sgouros Scholarship Award in the New Salonica Odeon. He has also been involved in teaching and has given seminars and lectures at Athens University, the Togy Hagsen of Japan, The Methodist University of Dallas, as well as the Salonica Odeon and the Bosville conservatory in Switzerland.
In recognition of his amazing international career, at such young age, Dimitris Sgouros has been honoured by the Mayor of Los Angeles (for his participation in the opening ceremony of the 1984 Olympic Games), as well as by the Academy of Athens. He is also recipient of the Leonardo da Vinci Award.
Leonidas Kavakos
Leonidas Kavakos was born into a musical family. He started violin lessons with his father, and continued with Stelios Kafantaris. He graduated from the Greek Conservatory, winning first prize and a gold medal, awarded for the first time in the Conservatory’s history.
Leonidas Kavakos made his debut at the Athens Festival in the summer of 1984 and at the Cannes Midem where he received an honorary distinction. An Onassis Foundation Scholarship enabled him to attend master classes held by Joseph Gingold at the University of Indiana. His virtuosity and maturity established his name in the international music field very early; he won many first prizes in international competitions and great acclaim from both critics and audience.
Leonidas Kavakos has appeared with famous conductors and great orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Washington National Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic, the Moscow Philharmonic and the Helsinki Philharmonic.
Apart from his solo career and his collaboration with famous maestros, Leonidas Kavakos has taught master classes in the USA, and has made many audio and video recordings in the USA, Finland, Italy and several other European countries. In December 1990, he made a unique recording of the original version of the Sibelius Concerto, which won the Gramophone Award for Best Concerto Recording of the Year 1991.
Leonidas Kavakos is also recipient of the Leonardo da Vinci Award, as well as the Spyros Montsenigos Prize, awarded by the Academy of Athens.
Yuri Temirkanov
Yuri Temirkanov was born in 1938, in Nalhik, Caucasus, and is undoubtedly one of the most important modern Russian conductors. He completed his graduate and postgraduate studies at the famous Leningrad Conservatory, under Ilia Musin.
In 1968, he won first prize at the Soviet Orchestra Conducting Competition, and was granted instant acclaim. He was subsequently appointed Music Director of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he held until 1977, when he accepted the post of Artistic Director and Principal Conductor at the Kirov Opera. From the beginning of his career he showed a strong interest and became active in researching and conducting opera works, without, however, neglecting symphonic works.
He has very often been invited to conduct distinguished Symphonic Orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Paris Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1979, he appeared for the first time in London, conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as honoured Guest Conductor, a title he retains up to the present.
As Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Kirov Opera, he became seriously involved with opera productions, such as Mussorgsky’s Boris Gudunov Tchaikovsky’s Pikvaya Dama (Queen of Spades) and Eugene Onegin. In 1986, Yuri Temirkanov became the first Russian maestro to be invited to conduct the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, after a renewal of the Educational Exchange Treaty between the former Soviet Union and the USA. In the summer of 1989 he conducted some of the most important symphonic orchestras of North America.
In April 1988 Yuri Temirkanov was appointed to succeed Evgeni Mravinski as Maestro Director of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Athens State Orchestra
The Athens State Orchestra, the most important symphony orchestra in the history of Greek music, recently celebrated its centennial anniversary. It first performed in 1893, as the Athens Conservatory Student Orchestra and, in 1911, it became the Athens Symphony Orchestra. In the mid twenties, its name changed to Concert Association Orchestra, and in 1927 it was re-organised as the Athens Conservatory Symphony Orchestra. Finally, in 1942, it was placed under State patronage thus acquiring its present status and name.
Celebrated Greek musicians, foremost among whom was Dimitris Mitropoulos (1896-1960), a unique figure who guided and shaped the orchestra over a long period of time, offered their talent to the orchestra and formed an enduring musical tradition which served as an inspiring point of reference for ensuing generations of musicians.
The podium of the Athens State Orchestra has been occupied by famous composers (Richard Strauss, Camille Saint-Saens, Alfredo Casella, Gabriel Piernet) and first-rank conductors, such as Bruno Walter, Hans Knapperbusch, Leopold Stokowsky, Karl Munch, Eugene Ormandy, Jasha Horenstein, Clemens Kraus, Eugene Jochum, Igor Markewitch, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Herbert von Karajan, Lorin Maazel and many others.
