Kent Nagano – Page 20

8. October 2014

Tour to Asia – Kent Nagano & Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (October 2014)

Kent Nagano and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal will embark on a major tour to Japan and China in October with concerts in Tokyo, Fukui, Kyoto, Yokosuka, Sapporo, Beijing and Shanghai. The programmes feature works by Debussy, Stravinsky, Mussorgsky and Ravel. In Koriyama they will give a charity concert in memory of the 2011 Fukushima earthquake.

10 October, Tokyo, Metropolitan Theatre
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Debussy : La Mer
Stravinsky: Violin Concerto
Mussorgsky: Pictures of an Exhibition
Ryu Goto – Violin

11 October, Fukui, Harmony Hall
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Debussy: La Mer
Stravinsky: Violin concerto
Ravel: Suites Nos. 1 & 2, from: Daphnis & Chloé
Ravel: Bolero
Ryu Goto – Violin

12 October, Kyoto, Concert Hall
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin
Prokofiev: Piano concerto No. 2
Mussorgsky: Pictures of an Exhibition
Boris Berezovsky – piano

13 October, Yokosuka, Arts Theatre
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Ravel: Suites Nos. 1 & 2, from: Daphnis & Chloé
Ravel: Mother Goose
Ravel: La Valse
Ravel: Bolero

15 October, Koriyama, Women’s University
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Charity concert in memory of the 2011 Fukushima earthquake
Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye
Japanese children songs
Mussorgsky: Pictures of an Exhibition
Akie Amou – Soprano

16 October, Tokyo, Suntory Hall
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Debussy : La Mer
Stravinsky: Violin concerto
Ravel: Suites Nos. 1 & 2, from: Daphnis & Chloé
Ravel: Bolero
Ryu Goto – Violin

18 October, Sapporo, The Kitara
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin
Ravel: Bolero
Mussorgsky: Pictures of an Exhibition

21 October, Beijing, Forbidden City Theatre
22 October, Shanghai, Oriental Art Center
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Strauss: Sinfonia domestica
Strauss: Tod und Verklärung
Strauss: Vier letzte Lieder
Olga Peretyatko – Soprano

28. September 2014

Kent Nagano: Book publication & CD releases (September 2014)

Kent Nagano: „Erwarten Sie Wunder! Expect the unexpected

Kent Nagano’s book „Erwarten Sie Wunder! Expect the unexpected“ will be published on 6 October by the Berlin Verlag. Based on his own biography, Kent Nagano discusses the importance and future of classical music: Classical music is in danger of disappearing from the everyday reality of the general public and becoming an antiquarianism of a social elite. Its loss would not only impoverish society from a cultural perspective, but would deprive it of inspiration, wit, emotional depth and a sense of community. Concerned about a change of values in the western societies, Kent Nagano makes a passionate plea for classical music. The book is being published in German, a publication in English and other languages is anticipated for the near future. Please click here for further information (in German).

CD releases

There will be three new CDs being released in October under the baton of Kent Nagano. Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4 “The Poetry of Freedom” will be published by Sony Classical as the last part of a recording of all the Symphonies by Beethoven with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal under Kent Nagano.

A CD with Japanese Children Songs has been recorded by Analekta with Kent Nagano and the OSM. Kent Nagano was intrigued by those songs when he heard his daughter singing them. He comments: “They were at once both, intensely moving emotionally and disturbing. Their haunting, mysterious beauty has continued to entice all generations since their creation making them actual and vividly relevant to our modern world.”

The label Edel publishes a complete recording of all piano concertos by Beethoven together with the Triple concerto played by Mari Kodama (with Kolja Blacher, violin, and Johannes Moser, cello). The piano concertos No. 4 & 5 are released for the first time as part of the box. Kent Nagano leads the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.

20. August 2014

CD Releases (August 2014)

Our artists have recorded various CDs that will be released over the upcoming months.

Please click here for all CD releases at a glance.

11. August 2014

Virée classique in Montréal (August 2014)

Kent Nagano and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal will be hosting the third edition of their succesful “Virée classique” from 14 to 16 August: This grand Montréal classical-music festival is a true celebration of classical music and will feature more than 30 concerts taking place in four venues, including the Maison symphonique de Montréal. The opening concert on 14 August presents Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with a chorus of 1,000, a large-scale free concert on the Olympic Park’s Esplanade Financière Sun Life. On 15 and 16 August Kent Nagano and the orchestra welcome artists such as violinist Vadim Repin, pianists Rafał Blechacz, Andreas Haefliger and Marc-André Hamelin, soprano Erin Wall and many others. Together they will present a splendid variety of solo recitals, chamber music and orchestral concerts. As a special concert-event, the festival is staging Leonard Bernstein’s A Quiet Place.

Kent Nagano comments: “Offering musical experiences to a broad and diverse audience is a special role that the OSM takes very much to heart. As musical ambassadors for all Montrealers, we deeply value the opportunity to reach an ever-growing audience of experienced and potential music lovers.”

Please click here for the full programme.

10. July 2014

Kent Nagano leads Vorsprung-Festival (July 2014)

Up until 2016 inclusive, conductor Kent Nagano will be leading the “Vorsprung Festival” as part of the Audi Summer Concerts. In its first year, the new series comprises five concerts.

The “Vorsprung Festival” will focus on the Audi Youth Choir Academy with two concerts on 10 and 13 July together with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano. Kent Nagano has already worked with the Audi Youth Choir Academy on several occasions in the past.

The “festival within a festival” also provides a platform for renowned musicians such as pianist Rudolf Buchbinder (16 July), tenor Ian Bostridge (11 July) and the ChorWerk Ruhr ensemble (12 July). Following the evening of Lieder by Ian Bostridge, the members of the Youth Choir Academy will have an opportunity to chat with the singer as well as with Kent Nagano. This – along with the performance by the young award-winning cellist Raphaela Gromes in the same concert as Rudolf Buchbinder – reflects Nagano’s desire that the “Vorsprung Festival” should provide a platform for talented young people to meet internationally renowned artists.

More Information on the Audi Sommerkonzerte

24. May 2014

Kent Nagano & the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal: Inauguration of the new organ & Season announcement 2014-15 (May 2014)

Kent Nagano and his Orchestre symphonique de Montréal await with excitement the inauguration of their new Grand Organ Pierre Béique on 28 May 2014. The organ – named after the founder and first manager of the orchestra – was built by the Canadian organ maker Casavant in cooperation with the architects of the concert hall Diamond Schmitt+Ædifica. The concert on 29 May with two world premieres of organ works by composers Kaija Saariaho and Samy Moussa will be broadcast live and for free on Medici.tv (CEST: 30 May, 2.00 am) and will be available online for three months. Please click here for the Webcast.

Kent Nagano – whose contract was recently extended until 2020 – opens the 2014-15 season on 10 and 11 September with Belioz’s dramatic symphony Romeo and Juliet. In March 2015, Kent Nagano presents two rarely performed compositions: Amériques by Varèse on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death and the musical drama L’Aiglon – a joint composition by Arthur Honegger (Acts II, III and IV) and Jacques Ibert (Acts I and V) on Napoleon II.

For further details on the season’s programme please have a look at the brochure which you can access as a PDF: http://www.osm.ca/pdf/Brochure_OSM_saison14_15_An.pdf.

Kent Nagano and the OSM just returned from a tremendously successful European tour. The concerts in Zurich, Bern, Geneva, Vienna, Madrid, Oviedo, Cologne, Essen and Munich were received with much acclaim by both, audience and press. The orchestra and Kent Nagano presented an unusually broad repertoire with works by Berlioz, Stravinsky, Ravel, Debussy, Vivier, Unsuk Chin, Liszt’s Piano concerto, Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 as well as a world premiere by David Philip Hefti.

You can still watch two of the orchestra’s recent concerts on Medici.tv for free:
Concert from Montréal 5 March 2014
Tour concert from Wiener Konzerthaus 17 March 2014

5. March 2014

Kent Nagano & the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal | CD Release & European tour (February 2014)

New CD | Beethoven: Symphonies No. 1 & 7

Just in time for their European tour in March, Kent Nagano and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal will be releasing a CD with Beethoven’s Symphonies No. 1 & 7 on Sony. The CD “Departure – Utopia” is part of a recording of all the Symphonies by Beethoven by the orchestra and its Music Director. The Symphonies No. 3, 5, 6, 8 & 9 have already been released.

European Tour | 11 to 25 March 2014

From 11 to 25 March 2014 the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Kent Nagano embark on a major European tour with concerts in Zurich, Bern, Geneva, Vienna, Madrid, Oviedo, Cologne, Essen and Munich.

Three of the tour concerts will be broadcast free of charge as online video streams and on the radio:

Vienna: Medici.TV – Video live stream on 17 March, 19:30 CET – available for 3 months
Cologne: Philharmonie.TV – Video live stream on 23 March, 20:00 CET
Deutschlandfunk – Radio broadcast on 6 April, 21:05 CET
Geneva: Radio Espace 2 – Radio broadcast on 9 April, 20:00 CET

As a preview of the tour the OSM’s concert on 5 March in Montréal – featuring the Swiss tour programme – will be streamed live and free of charge by Medici.TV (6 March, 2.00 am CET) and will stay available online for 3 months. The programme includes the World premiere of a new work by Swiss composer David Philip Hefti “Adagio – Beziehungsweisen für Orchester”.

The tour dates and programmes at a glance:

11 March, Zurich, Tonhalle
12 March, Bern, Kulturcasino
13 March, Geneva, Victoria Hall
Wagner: Parsifal – Prelude
David Philip Hefti: Adagio – Beziehungsweisen für Orchester European premiere
Liszt: Piano concerto No. 2
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
Marc-André Hamelin – Piano

16 March, Vienna, Konzerthaus
Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Chin: Snags and Snarls (from: Alice in Wonderland)
Stravinsky: Petrushka
Ekaterina Lekhina – Soprano

17 March, Vienna, Konzerthaus
Mahler: Symphony No. 7

19 March, Madrid, Auditorio Nacional de Musica
Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Chin: Snags and Snarls (from: Alice in Wonderland)
Stravinsky: Petrushka
Ekaterina Lekhina, Soprano

20 March, Madrid, Auditorio Nacional de Musica
22 March, Oviedo, Principe Felipe Hall
Mahler: Symphony No. 7

23 March, Cologne, Philharmonie
Ravel: Mother Goose, Ballet
Chin: Snags and Snarls (from: Alice in Wonderland)
Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe, Suite No. 1
Stravinsky: Petrushka
Ekaterina Lekhina – Soprano

24 March, Essen, Philharmonie
Vivier: Orion
Liszt: Piano concerto No. 2
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique op. 14
Kit Armstrong – Piano

25 March, Munich, Philharmonie im Gasteig
Debussy: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
Liszt: Piano concerto No. 2
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique op. 14
Marc-André Hamelin – Piano

21. January 2014

DVD Release: Kent Nagano conducts „Boris Godunov” at the Bayerische Staatsoper (January 2014)

Mussorgsky’s opera „Boris Godunov“ was Kent Nagano’s final new production in his last season as Music Director at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. The label Bel Air will now release a DVD of the performance beginning of February. “If there was a live recording, one would have to get it immediately“, wrote Helmut Mauró on 14 February 2013 at the Süddeutsche Zeitung on the occasion of the premiere.

Child murder, scheming monks and a tsar lapsing into madness – Modest Mussorgsky spreads the thematic arc wide in his choral opera, with which he attempted to awaken an awareness of his own time through the indirect route of a historic story.

Kent Nagano and stage director Calixto Bieito put the less often performed and much shorter first version of the opera on stage – this way the spotlight is turned on the inner life of Godunov who is beset with hallucinations and feelings of guilt.

For a trailer of the performance please visit Kent Nagano’s website.

BORIS GODUNOV
Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)

Opera in four parts and seven scenes
First version (1868/1869)
Libretto: Modest Mussorgsky after Alexander Pushkin and Nikolai Karamsins

Boris Godunov – Alexander Tsymbalyuk
Fyodor – Yulia Sokolik
Xenia – Eri Nakamura
Xenia’s nurse – Heike Grötzinger
Schuisky – Gerhard Siegel
Andrey Chelkalov – Markus Eiche
Pimen – Anatoli Kotscherga
Grigory Otropyev – Sergey Skorokhodov
Varlaam – Vladimir Matorin
Missail – Ulrich Reß
Hostess – Okka von der Damerau
Simpleton – Kevin Conners
Nikititch – Goran Jurić
The Boyar – Dean Power
Mityucha – Tareq Nazmi
Captain – Christian Rieger

Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Conductor Kent Nagano
Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper, Chorus master Sören Eckhoff

Stage direction – Calixto Bieito

Set design – Rebecca Ringst
Costume design – Ingo Krügler
Lighting – Michael Bauer
Dramaturgie/Dramaturgy – Andrea Schönhofer

HD recording: Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich), February 2013
Produced by François Duplat
Directed by Andy Sommer