FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 29, 2016 Contact: Katherine E. Johnson (212) 875-5718; [email protected] CHRISTOPH VON DOHNÁNYI TO CONDUCT NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC IN BRAHMS’S A GERMAN REQUIEM Featuring Soprano CAMILLA TILLING and Baritone MATTHIAS GOERNE March 3–5 and 8, 2016 Christoph von Dohnányi returns to the New York Philharmonic to conduct Brahms’s A German Requiem, featuring soprano Camilla Tilling, baritone Matthias Goerne, and the New York Choral Artists, directed by Joseph Flummerfelt, Thursday, March 3, 2016, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, March 4 at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, March 5 at 8:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m. “The Requiem is one of the very greatest pieces Brahms ever wrote,” Christoph von Dohnányi said. “But it was written early in his life — he wasn’t much more than 35 — and it should sound that way. No self-pity, not too meditative, not too romantic. It is very easily mistaken for a piece emphasizing sadness. It is emphasizing just the opposite. There’s consolation. It’s very positive.” The Boston Globe wrote of his performance of Brahms’s A German Requiem with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2012: “He led an eloquent, wisely shaped performance that seemed true to the gentle spirit of this requiem.” The New York Times wrote of Mr. Dohnanyi’s 2011 appearance with the New York Philharmonic, when he led Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1: “The orchestra under Mr. Dohnányi, who has few equals in Brahms, played superbly.” Related Events Philharmonic Free Fridays The New York Philharmonic is offering 100 free tickets for young people ages 13–26 to the concert Friday, March 4 as part of Philharmonic Free Fridays. Information is available at nyphil.org/freefridays. Philharmonic Free Fridays offers 100 free tickets to 13–26-year-olds to each of the 2015–16 season’s 15 Friday evening subscription concerts. Pre-Concert Insights Author Fred Plotkin will introduce the program. Pre-Concert Insights are $7, and discounts are available for three (3) or more talks and for students. They take place one hour before these performances in the Helen Hull Room, unless otherwise noted. Attendance is limited to 90 people. Information: nyphil.org/preconcert or (212) 875-5656. (more) Christoph von Dohnányi / 2 Artists Christoph von Dohnányi started his career as assistant to Georg Solti in Frankfurt and thereafter held chief posts in Frankfurt, Cologne, Hamburg, and Paris. He was principal conductor and artistic adviser of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, where he is honorary conductor for life. As the sixth music director of The Cleveland Orchestra (1984–2002), Mr. von Dohnányi led the orchestra on tours to Asia and Europe; founded the Cleveland Youth Orchestra; oversaw the extension and renovation of Severance Hall; and initiated a new commissioning project. In 2002 he was named the orchestra’s first music director laureate. Since then, he has been a regular guest conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Chicago Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as with The Cleveland Orchestra. In Europe he continues to appear regularly with the orchestras in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, London, Milan, Israel, and elsewhere. Mr. von Dohnányi has conducted at the world’s great opera houses including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as well as Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, Vienna Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zurich, and in Berlin and Paris. In the U.S. he has led productions at The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Lyric Opera Chicago. Mr. von Dohnányi’s London/Decca opera recordings with Vienna include Beethoven’s Fidelio, Berg’s Wozzeck and Lulu, Richard Strauss’s Salome, and Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman, as well as orchestral works by Schubert, Strauss, Dvořák, and Tchaikovsky, as well as the complete Mendelssohn symphonies. His Decca recordings with Cleveland include works by Bruckner, Mahler, Strauss, Ives, Varèse, and John Adams. A compilation of all the Beethoven symphonies was recorded in Cleveland by Telarc, and a collection of the complete Brahms symphonies by Teldec. Christoph von Dohnányi was born in Berlin in 1929 and studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich, and at Florida State University with his grandfather, pianist and composer Ernst von Dohnányi. He completed his studies in the U.S. by attending a 1952 conducting class at Tanglewood. He has received honorary doctorates from the Eastman School of Music, Oberlin College of Music, and Cleveland Institute of Music; an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and the Anti-Defamation League’s Torch of Freedom Award. He is the recipient of the Goethe plaque of the city of Frankfurt, Bartók medal in Hungary, Verdienstkreuz of the Republic of Austria, and Bundesverdienstkreuz of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland, and he is a member of the Order of Arts and Letters of France. Christoph von Dohnányi made his New York Philharmonic debut in May 1981 leading works by Weber, Mendelssohn, and Schubert; he most recently helmed DOHNÁNYI / DVOŘÁK: A Philharmonic Festival in December 2014. Since her acclaimed 1999 debut as Corinna in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims at New York City Opera, Swedish soprano Camilla Tilling has appeared on the stages of the world’s most prominent opera houses and concert halls, and in regular collaborations with the greatest orchestras and conductors. Current season highlights include Berg’s Seven Early Songs with the London Symphony Orchestra led by Francois Xavier Roth and Schumann’s Faustszenen with the NDR Symphony Orchestra and Thomas Hengelbrock. She performs Brahms’s A German Requiem with Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and with the orchestra of Teatro alla Scala, both conducted by Bernard Haitink, and also with the New York Philharmonic led by Christoph von Dohnányi. She also returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Dutilleux’s Correspondances (more) Christoph von Dohnányi / 3 and concert performances as Mélisande in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande conducted by Esa- Pekka Salonen. Consistently in demand for concert appearances, Ms. Tilling’s recent highlights include Strauss’s Four Last Songs at the Salzburg Festival with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Dohnányi, Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 at the BBC Proms with the London Symphony Orchestra and Haitink, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at Berlin’s Waldbühne with the Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle. Among Ms. Tilling’s many recordings are three recital discs with Paul Rivinius on the BIS label; the most recent, I Skogen, released in the summer of 2015, is dedicated to songs from Nordic composers. She appears on Die Schöpfung with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, led by Haitink, and Mozart’s Mass in C minor, with Paul McCreesh. She performs the role of Ilia in Mozart’s Idomeneo on DVD from the Teatro alla Scala conducted by Daniel Harding. Ms. Tilling made her New York Philharmonic debut in December 2014 conducted by Gary Thor Wedow, as part of the annual presentation of Handel’s Messiah. Baritone Matthias Goerne has collaborated with the world’s leading orchestras, conductors, and pianists. Born in Weimar, he studied with Hans-Joachim Beyer in Leipzig, and later with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Mr. Goerne has appeared on the world’s principal opera stages, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as well as Teatro Real in Madrid, Paris National Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, and The Metropolitan Opera. Mr. Goerne has performed on numerous prize-winning recordings, including The Goerne/Schubert Edition, a series of selected Schubert works on 11 CDs for harmonia mundi. Highlights in the 2015–16 season include concerts with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic (with Yuri Temirkanov), Orchestre de Paris, London Philharmonic (Christoph Eschenbach), Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Manfred Honeck), Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra (Lionel Bringuier), Swedish Radio Symphony (Daniel Harding), and NHK Symphony (Paavo Järvi), as well as a series of recitals with Daniil Trifonov, Markus Hinterhäuser, Alexander Schmalcz, and the Quatuor Ebène at Lincoln Center, the San Francisco Opera, London’s Wigmore Hall, Opéra de Lille, the new Philharmonie de Paris, Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Gulbenkian in Lisbon, Amsterdam Muziekgebouw, Abu Dhabi, Schubertiade Hohenems, and the Sydney Festival. In addition, Mr. Goerne sang Orest in Richard Strauss’s Elektra at the Vienna Staatsoper in November 2015, and in January 2016 makes his debut as Wotan in a concert version of Wagner’s Die Walküre with the Hong Kong Philharmonic led by Jaap van Zweden. In the summer of 2016 he will return to prestigious festivals including those in Salzburg and Verbier. Matthias Goerne made his New York Philharmonic debut in March 2006 performing in Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle led by Christoph von Dohnányi; he most recently joined the Orchestra and Kurt Masur for J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in March 2008. Founded in 1979 by Joseph Flummerfelt, the New York Choral Artists has been a regular part of the New York Philharmonic season. Their many collaborations include a memorial performance of Brahms’s A German Requiem conducted by Kurt Masur immediately following 9/11 and, in more recent years, Britten’s War Requiem and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Lorin Maazel and, with Alan Gilbert, J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor, Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Ligeti’s Le Grande Macabre, and the Verdi Requiem. Noteworthy among its recordings with the Philharmonic are Mahler Symphony No. 3 conducted by Leonard Bernstein (nominated for a Grammy award), Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 with Masur, and John Adams’s Grammy–winning On the Transmigration of Souls with Maazel. In 2014 the New (more) Christoph von Dohnányi / 4 York Choral Artists also appeared with the Vienna Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony in Carnegie Hall.