BELOVED FRIEND — TCHAIKOVSKY AND HIS WORLD: A PHILHARMONIC FESTIVAL CONDUCTED BY SEMYON BYCHKOV JANUARY 24–FEBRUARY 11, 2017

IN BRIEF

The New York Philharmonic will present Beloved Friend — Tchaikovsky and His World: A Philharmonic Festival, January 24–February 11, 2017, featuring Russian-born Semyon Bychkov conducting works by Tchaikovsky as well as composers he was influenced by and whom he influenced. The festival will also include a vocal concert co-presented by the Kaufman Music Center and New York Festival of Song and a chamber music program co-presented by 92nd Street Y. Beloved Friend continues the Philharmonic’s annual, multi-week festivals, an initiative Alan Gilbert introduced in his inaugural season as Music Director.

Biography Semyon Bychkov won the Rachmaninoff Conducting Competition at age 20, but after being denied the prize of conducting the Leningrad Philharmonic, he left the former Soviet Union two years later. By the time he returned in 1989 to be principal guest conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic he had been recognized for his concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and had enjoyed success as music director of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic. He has since served as music director of the Orchestre de Paris (1989–1998) and chief conductor of Cologne’s WDR Symphony Orchestra (1997–2010) and Dresden Semperoper (1998). In addition to regular appearances at the Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra della Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI Torino, Orchestre national de France, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mr. Bychkov’s symphonic engagements include annual tours with the Munich and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. His repertoire spans the music of four centuries. In the opera house Mr. Bychkov is recognized for his interpretations of Richard Strauss, Wagner, and Verdi. While principal guest conductor of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, his productions of Janáček’s Jenůfa, Schubert’s Fierrabras, Puccini’s La bohème, Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, and Musorgsky’s Boris Godunov were awarded the prestigious Premio Abbiati. Most recently he conducted Musorgsky’s Khovanshchina at the Vienna Staatsoper, and over next season he will conduct Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and Wagner’s Parsifal at Madrid’s Teatro Real. Mr. Bychkov’s recordings with Philips include discs with the Berlin and London Philharmonic Orchestras, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, and Orchestre de Paris, which were followed by a series of benchmark recordings with Cologne’s WDR Symphony Orchestra, including a cycle of Brahms’s complete symphonies; works by Richard Strauss, Mahler, Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, Verdi, Detlev Glanert, and York Höller; and a recording of Wagner’s Lohengrin, which was voted BBC Music Magazine’s Record of the Year. Semyon Bychkov currently holds the Klemperer Chair of Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, and the Günter Wand Conducting Chair with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, with which he appears annually at the BBC Proms. The International Opera Awards named him 2015’s Conductor of the Year.

New York Philharmonic Highlights Semyon Bychkov made his New York Philharmonic debut in March 1984 leading a program of Beethoven, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff. By the end of the 2015–16 season he will have appeared with the Philharmonic 81 times. In the 2015–16 season he leads the Philharmonic in two programs: works by Detlev Glanert and Brahms with soloists Lisa Batiashvili and Gautier Capuçon in October 2015, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 in February 2016.

CHRONOLOGICAL LISTING OF BELOVED FRIEND — TCHAIKOVSKY AND HIS WORLD: A PHILHARMONIC FESTIVAL

BELOVED FRIEND — TCHAIKOVSKY AND HIS WORLD: A PHILHARMONIC FESTIVAL VOCAL CONCERT A Co-Presentation of the Kaufman Music Center and New York Festival of Song

Merkin Concert Hall

Tuesday, January 24, 2017, 8:00 p.m.

Artists to include: Antonina Chehovska, soprano Alexey Lavrov, baritone Michael Barrett, piano Steven Blier, piano and arranger

This vocal concert features songs by Tchaikovsky, his students including Rachmaninoff and Taneyev, and his teacher Anton Rubinstein.

BELOVED FRIEND — TCHAIKOVSKY AND HIS WORLD: A PHILHARMONIC FESTIVAL CONDUCTED BY SEMYON BYCHKOV; WITH YEFIM BRONFMAN

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center

Thursday, January 26, 2017, 7:30 p.m. Friday, January 27, 2017, 8:00 p.m. Saturday, January 28, 2017, 8:00 p.m.

Semyon Bychkov, conductor Yefim Bronfman, piano

GLINKA Valse fantaisie TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 2 TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5

BELOVED FRIEND — TCHAIKOVSKY AND HIS WORLD: A PHILHARMONIC FESTIVAL WITH YEFIM BRONFMAN A Co-Presentation of the New York Philharmonic and 92nd Street Y

92nd Street Y 1395 Lexington Avenue

Sunday, January 29, 2017, 3:00 p.m.

Frank Huang, Sheryl Staples, violin Cynthia Phelps, Rebecca Young, viola Carter Brey, Eileen Moon, cello Yefim Bronfman, piano

TCHAIKOVSKY Selections from The Seasons TCHAIKOVSKY Souvenir de Florence TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Trio

BELOVED FRIEND — TCHAIKOVSKY AND HIS WORLD: A PHILHARMONIC FESTIVAL CONDUCTED BY SEMYON BYCHKOV; WITH KIRILL GERSTEIN

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center

Thursday, February 2, 2017, 7:30 p.m. Friday, February 3, 2017, 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 4, 2017, 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 7, 2017, 7:30 p.m.

Semyon Bychkov, conductor Kirill Gerstein, piano

TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 (1879 version) TCHAIKOVSKY Manfred Symphony

BELOVED FRIEND — TCHAIKOVSKY AND HIS WORLD: A PHILHARMONIC FESTIVAL CONDUCTED BY SEMYON BYCHKOV

St. Paul the Apostle Church

Monday, February 6, 2017, 7:30 p.m.

Westminster Symphonic Choir Joe Miller, director

RACHMANINOFF All-Night Vigil (Vespers)

BELOVED FRIEND — TCHAIKOVSKY AND HIS WORLD: A PHILHARMONIC FESTIVAL CONDUCTED BY SEMYON BYCHKOV

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center

Thursday, February 9, 2017, 7:30 p.m. Friday, February 10, 2017, 8:00 p.m. Saturday, February 11, 2017, 8:00 p.m.

Semyon Bychkov, conductor

TANEYEV Oresteia Overture TCHAIKOVSKY Francesca da Rimini TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6, Pathétique

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