Sir Mark Elder Leads CSO in Exploration of Literature's Influence
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ChicagoPride.com News December 13, 2011 Sir Mark Elder leads CSO in exploration of literature's influence on music By GoPride.com News Staff December 13, 2011 https://chicago.gopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/24335776 CST actors also to perform scenes from selected plays, January 5-10, and 12-15 CHICAGO, IL -- British conductor Sir Mark Elder makes his return to Orchestra Hall for a two-week residency that explores the influence of Shakespeare and other works of literature on music and features actors from Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST), under the direction of CST Artistic Director Barbara Gaines, bringing the Bard's words to life. Sir Mark Elder's first subscription week of concerts on January 5-10, is an all-Berlioz program, highlighted by the Queen Mab Scherzo and Romeo at the Tomb from the composer's Romeo and Juliet. Select readings from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, performed by Brendan Marshall-Rashid and Susan Strunk from the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, precede these two works. British violist Lawrence Power also makes his CSO debut on these concerts and is featured in Berlioz's Harold in Italy, a work Paganini encouraged Berlioz to compose and was inspired by Lord Byron's poetry. Elder concludes his two-week winter residency January 12-15, with a further exploration into Shakespeare's influence on music through works by Delius, Elgar, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky. Included on the program is Elgar's rarely performed orchestral work Falstaff, which portrays Shakespeare's Sir John Falstaff from Henry IV. Actor Greg Vinkler brings to life passages from Henry IV Parts 1 and 2. Concluding the program is Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet,/i>, based on Shakespeare's play of the same name. Sir Mark also leads a Civic Orchestra of Chicago concert on Monday, January 9, 2011 at 8 p.m. which features Berlioz's Overture to Béatrice et Bénédict and Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances. Sir Mark Elder is music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England and works regularly with the world's leading symphony orchestras. In the UK he enjoys close associations with both the London Philharmonic and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He was music director of English National Opera from 1979 to 1993, and he has been principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras. Sir Mark has appeared annually at the Proms in London for many years, including, in 1987 and 2006, the internationally televised Last Night of the Proms and since 2003 with the Hallé Orchestra. He appears regularly in many of the most prominent international opera houses, including Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, the Opéra National de Paris, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Glyndebourne; he was the first British conductor to conduct a new production at the Bayreuth Festival. Sir Mark has made many recordings with orchestras including the Hallé (on the Hallé's own label), London Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and English National Orchestra. His recent Hallé recordings of Wagner's Götterdämmerung and Elgar's Violin Concerto and The Dream of Gerontius received Gramophone Awards. In November 2011 he was closely involved in BBCTV's four part series Symphony. Sir Mark Elder was knighted in 2008, and was awarded the CBE in 1989. He won an Olivier Award in 1991 for his outstanding work at ENO and in May 2006 he was named Conductor of the Year by the Royal Philharmonic Society. He was appointed Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and awarded Honorary Membership of the Royal Philharmonic Society in 2011. www.cso.org Source: Press release .