September/October 2016 27 Season 2016-2017 Thursday, October 20, at 8:00 The Philadelphia Orchestra Friday, October 21, at 2:00 Saturday, October 22, at 8:00 Stéphane Denève Conductor Denis Kozhukhin Piano Tchaikovsky/ Andante cantabile, from String Quartet arr. Stokowski No. 1 in D major, Op. 11 First Philadelphia Orchestra performances of this arrangement Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23 I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso— Allegro con spirito II. Andantino semplice——Prestissimo— Tempo I III. Allegro con fuoco Intermission Musorgsky/Boris Godunov: A Symphonic Synthesis arr. & orch. Stokowski Tchaikovsky Solemn Overture, 1812, Op. 49 This program runs approximately 2 hours. The October 20 concert is sponsored by Medcomp. The October 20 concert is sponsored by Jack and Ramona Vosbikian. The October 21 concert is sponsored by Constance Smukler. The October 22 concert is sponsored by a gift from the Estate of Edward B. Weinstein. Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM. Visit WRTI.org to listen live or for more details. 28 The Philadelphia Orchestra Jessica Griffin The Philadelphia Orchestra Philadelphia is home and impact through Research. is one of the preeminent the Orchestra continues The Orchestra’s award- orchestras in the world, to discover new and winning Collaborative renowned for its distinctive inventive ways to nurture Learning programs engage sound, desired for its its relationship with its over 50,000 students, keen ability to capture the loyal patrons at its home families, and community hearts and imaginations of in the Kimmel Center, members through programs audiences, and admired for and also with those who such as PlayINs, side-by- a legacy of imagination and enjoy the Orchestra’s area sides, PopUP concerts, innovation on and off the performances at the Mann free Neighborhood concert stage. The Orchestra Center, Penn’s Landing, Concerts, School Concerts, is inspiring the future and and other cultural, civic, and residency work in transforming its rich tradition and learning venues. The Philadelphia and abroad. of achievement, sustaining Orchestra maintains a strong Through concerts, tours, the highest level of artistic commitment to collaborations residencies, presentations, quality, but also challenging— with cultural and community and recordings, The and exceeding—that level, organizations on a regional Philadelphia Orchestra is by creating powerful musical and national level, all of which a global ambassador for experiences for audiences at create greater access and Philadelphia and for the home and around the world. engagement with classical US. Having been the first Music Director Yannick music as an art form. American orchestra to Nézet-Séguin’s connection The Philadelphia Orchestra perform in China, in 1973 to the Orchestra’s musicians serves as a catalyst for at the request of President has been praised by cultural activity across Nixon, the ensemble today both concertgoers and Philadelphia’s many boasts a new partnership with critics since his inaugural communities, building an Beijing’s National Centre for season in 2012. Under his offstage presence as strong the Performing Arts and the leadership the Orchestra as its onstage one. With Shanghai Oriental Art Centre, returned to recording, with Nézet-Séguin, a dedicated and in 2017 will be the first- two celebrated CDs on body of musicians, and one ever Western orchestra to the prestigious Deutsche of the nation’s richest arts appear in Mongolia. The Grammophon label, ecosystems, the Orchestra Orchestra annually performs continuing its history of has launched its HEAR at Carnegie Hall while also recording success. The initiative, a portfolio of enjoying summer residencies Orchestra also reaches integrated initiatives that in Saratoga Springs, NY, and thousands of listeners on the promotes Health, champions Vail, CO. For more information radio with weekly Sunday music Education, eliminates on The Philadelphia afternoon broadcasts on barriers to Accessing the Orchestra, please visit WRTI-FM. orchestra, and maximizes www.philorch.org. 29 Principal Guest Conductor Jessica Griffin As principal guest conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra, Stéphane Denève spends multiple weeks each year with the ensemble, conducting subscription, Family, and summer concerts. His 2016-17 subscription season appearances include a Rachmaninoff Festival; performances of John Williams’s iconic score to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial while the movie is shown in its entirety; and a tour to Florida, his second with the ensemble. Mr. Denève has led more programs than any other guest conductor since making his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 2007, in repertoire that has spanned more than 100 works, ranging from Classical through the contemporary, including presentations with dance, theater, film, and cirque performers. Mr. Denève is also chief conductor of the Brussels Philharmonic and director of its Centre for Future Orchestral Repertoire. From 2011 to 2016 he was chief conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and from 2005 to 2012 music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Recent engagements in Europe and Asia include appearances with the Royal Concertgebouw and Philharmonia orchestras; the Orchestra Sinfonica dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; the Vienna, London, Bavarian Radio, and NHK symphonies; the Munich and Czech philharmonics; and the Orchestre National de France. In North America he made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2012 with the Boston Symphony, with which he is a frequent guest. He appears regularly with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the San Francisco and Toronto symphonies. He made his New York Philharmonic debut in 2015. Mr. Denève has won critical acclaim for his recordings of the works of Poulenc, Debussy, Ravel, Roussel, Franck, and Connesson. He is a double winner of the Diapason d’Or de l’Année, was shortlisted in 2012 for Gramophone’s Artist of the Year award, and won the prize for symphonic music at the 2013 International Classical Music Awards. A graduate of, and prizewinner at, the Paris Conservatory, Mr. Denève worked closely in his early career with Georg Solti, Georges Prêtre, and Seiji Ozawa. He is committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians and listeners, and works regularly with young people in the programs of the Tanglewood Music Center and the New World Symphony. For further information please visit www.stephanedeneve.com. 30 Soloist Felix Broede Felix Russian pianist Denis Kozhukhin’s Philadelphia Orchestra debut was in Saratoga in 2014, and he makes his subscription debut with these current performances. He returns in February 2017 to tour Florida with the ensemble and to perform at McCarter Theater in Princeton, both with Stéphane Denève. Since winning First Prize at the 2010 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, he has established a formidable reputation and has appeared at many of the world’s most prestigious festivals and concert halls. Mr. Kozhukhin’s upcoming engagements include performances with the Toronto, Chicago, Houston, Frankfurt Radio, and RTE National symphonies; the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; the Luxembourg and Netherlands philharmonics; and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Recent performance highlights include appearances with the Royal Concertgebouw and Mariinsky orchestras; the San Francisco, Pittsburgh, BBC, São Paulo, and Stuttgart Radio symphonies; the Philharmonia; the Orchestre National de France; and the Brussels Philharmonic. He has toured China with the BBC Scottish Symphony and recently made his debut with an ensemble comprised of soloists from the West Eastern Divan Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim at the Salzburg Festival and at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Recent recital highlights include returns to the Concertgebouw’s Master Pianists Series, the Cologne Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, and London’s International Piano Series, as well as debuts at the Lucerne Festival, Vienna Konzerthaus, and the Boston Celebrity Series. In September 2015 Mr. Kozhukhin signed an exclusive recording contract with Pentatone. His first recording, of Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 and the Grieg Concerto with the Berlin Radio Symphony and Vassily Sinaisky, was released in April 2016. Future releases include a solo recital disc of works by Brahms. His debut recording in 2013 featured Prokofiev’s piano sonatas No. 6, 7, and 8, followed by a CD of Haydn sonatas, both for Onyx Classics. Born into a family of musicians in Nizhni Novgorod in 1986, Mr. Kozhukhin began his piano studies at the age of four with his mother. From 2000 to 2007 he was a pupil at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid where, upon graduating, he received his diploma personally from the Queen of Spain. 31 Framing the Program The program today presents two great Russian composers, Parallel Events exact contemporaries, who held very different views about 1868 Music music and aesthetics. Tchaikovsky was traditionally trained, Musorgsky Grieg consummately professional, and became an international Boris Godunov Piano Concerto celebrity. During his lone trip to America in May 1891, to Literature inaugurate Carnegie Hall, he conducted his First Piano Alcott Concerto in Philadelphia at the Academy of Music. Modest Little Women Musorgsky, on the other hand, was a self-taught radical Art whose magnificentBoris Godunov is one of the most Degas innovative operas of the 19th century.