FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Press Contacts: September 29, 2015 Eileen Chambers: 312-294-3092 Rachelle Roe: 312-294-3090 Photos available upon request [email protected] SEMYON BYCHKOV RETURNS TO CSO FOR A WEEK OF BRAHMS INSPIRED REPERTOIRE Violinist Renaud Capuçon is Soloist in Brahms’ Violin Concerto CSO Gives U.S. premiere of Glanert’s Brahms-Fantasie October 8, 9 and 13 CHICAGO—Semyon Bychkov returns to lead the CSO in three performances at Symphony Center—Thursday, October 8, at 8:00 p.m., Friday, October 9, at 1:30 p.m. and Tuesday, October 13, at 7:30 p.m.—and one concert at the Krannert Center at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign on Saturday, October 10, at 7:30 p.m. with a program inspired by Johannes Brahms. Since his subscription debut in December 1988, Bychkov has led the CSO regularly, most recently returning for two weeks of subscription concerts last season. In this program, Brahms’ triumphant First Symphony is paired with the U.S. premiere of a modern-day reflection on Brahms' work by one of Germany's leading contemporary composers, Detlev Glanert. French violinist Renaud Capuçon, who last appeared with the CSO as soloist in October 2012, performs Brahms' lively, gypsy-infused Violin Concerto. Capuçon, praised for his "intensely lyrical" tone and "gloriously rich sound" (BBC Music Magazine), made his subscription debut with the CSO in January 2011. Opening the program is the U.S. premiere of Detlev Glanert’s Brahms-Fantasie, a modern re- imagination of Brahms’ romantic lyricism. Commissioned by the BBC to accompany Brahms’ First Symphony, the work had its world premiere in Edinburgh in 2012. Concluding the program is one of the greatest and most well-loved pieces in the orchestral repertoire, Brahms’ majestic Symphony No. 1. After long delaying the writing of a symphony under the specter of Beethoven and the previous Austro-German composers, the First Symphony marks Brahms pivotal foray into the symphonic form, an endeavor which he undertook masterfully. During his time in Chicago, Bychkov also leads an all-Tchaikovsky program, featuring the composer’s Third Symphony and Francesca da Rimini, in his podium debut with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago on Monday, October 12, at 8:00 p.m. Tickets for all CSOA-presented concerts can be purchased by phone at 800-223-7114 or 312- 294-3000; online at cso.org, or at the Symphony Center box office: 220 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60604. Discounted student tickets for select concerts can be purchased, subject to availability, online in advance or at the box office on the day of the concert. For group rates, please call 312-294- 3040. All Civic Orchestra of Chicago performances at Symphony Center are free, but tickets are required. Seating is general admission, and there is a nonrefundable $5 per ticket service fee for all performances. There is a maximum of six tickets allowed per concert, per household. Artists, programs and prices are subject to change. Bank of America is the Global Sponsor of the CSO. CSO Tuesday series concerts are sponsored by United Airlines # # # Chicago Symphony Orchestra Thursday,October 8, 2015, 8:00 p.m. Friday, October 9, 2015, 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 7:30 p.m. Chicago Symphony Orchestra Semyon Bychkov, conductor Renaud Capuçon, violin GLANERT Brahms-Fantasie [United States Premiere] BRAHMS Violin Concerto BRAHMS Symphony No. 1 Tickets: $36-$255 Chicago Symphony Orchestra Saturday, October 10, 2015, 7:30 p.m. Krannert Center for the Performing Chicago Symphony Orchestra Arts, Semyon Bychkov, conductor 500 S. Goodwin Ave., Renaud Capuçon, violin Urbana, IL 61801 GLANERT Brahms-Fantasie BRAHMS Violin Concerto BRAHMS Symphony No. 1 Tickets for this concert are currently sold out. Civic Orchestra of Chicago Monday, October 12, 2015, 8:00 p.m. Civic Orchestra of Chicago Semyon Bychkov, conductor TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 3 in D Major, Op. 29 (Polish) TCHAIKOVSKY Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32 Free and open to the public; tickets are required. Detlev Glanert Composer Detlev Glanert, studied with Hans Werner Henze in Cologne and has received acclaim for his operas and orchestral works which demonstrate lyrical gifts and a fascination with the Romantic past viewed from a modern perspective. He won the prestigious Rolf Liebermann Opera Prize in 1993 for The Mirror of the Great Emperor, staged at Mannheim in 1995 and Mönchengladbach in 1997, and the Bavarian Theatre Prize in 2001 for Jest, Satire, Irony and Deeper Meaning, with numerous stage productions, his most successful opera so far. Glanert’s orchestral output includes three symphonies and concertos for piano and violin. His works are conducted by, among others, Markus Stenz, Oliver Knussen, Kent Nagano, Semyon Bychkov, Donald Runnicles, Iván Fischer, Christian Thielemann and Jun Märkl. Looking ahewad Glanert will be composing new works within his residency as house composer with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam; in addition to premiering the work with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra this fall, Semyon Bychkov also conducts Brahms-Fantasie this season with the New York Philharmonic (Oct) and BBC Symphony Orchestra (Jan 2016). Renaud Capuçon Born in Chambéry in 1976, Renaud Capuçon began his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris at the age of fourteen, winning numerous awards during his five years there. Following this, Capuçon moved to Berlin to study with Thomas Brandis and Isaac Stern, and was awarded the Prize of the Berlin Academy of Arts. In 1997, Capuçon was invited by Claudio Abbado to become concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, which he led for three summers, working with conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Seiji Ozawa, Daniel Barenboim, Franz Welser-Moest and Abbado himself. Since this time, Capuçon has established himself as a soloist at the very highest level. He has played concerti with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic under Haitink and Robertson, the Boston Symphony under Dohnanyi, the Orchestre de Paris under Eschenbach and the Simon Bolivar orchestra under Dudamel. Capuçon also tours extensively as a solo recitalist and will perform complete cycles of the Beethoven violin sonatas with pianist Frank Braley around the world during the coming seasons. Upcoming concerto engagements for Capucon include concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra with Harding, City of Birmingham Symphony with Morlot, Philadelphia Orchestra with Bychkov, Chicago Symphony with Nezet-Seguin and Chamber Orchestra of Europe with Haitink. Capuçon has a great commitment to performing chamber music and has worked with Argerich, Barenboim, Bronfman, Grimaud, Kovacevich, Pires, Pletnev, Repin, Bashmet and Mørk, as well as with his brother and regular collaborator cellist Gautier Capuçon. These collaborations have taken him to the festivals of Edinburgh, London (Mostly Mozart), Berlin, Lucerne, Verbier, Aix-en-Provence, Roque d’Anthéron, San Sebastian, Stresa, Tanglewood and many others. Capuçon records exclusively for Virgin Classics. His most recent recording was of Beethoven Sonatas for violin and piano with Frank Braley. He also recorded the Beethoven and Korngold concertos with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Yannick Nezet-Seguin. Since 2007 Renaud Capucon has been an Ambassador for the Zegna & Music project, which was founded in 1997 as a philanthropic activity to promote music and its values. Renaud Capuçon plays the Guarneri del Gesù “Panette” (1737) that belonged to Isaac Stern, bought for him by the Banca Svizzera Italiana (BSI). Semyon Bychkov Born in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in 1952, Semyon Bychkov was 20 when he won the Rachmaninov Conducting Competition. Two years later, having been denied his prize of conducting the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra he left the former Soviet Union where, from the age of five, he had been singled out for an extraordinarily privileged education in music. First studying piano, Bychkov was then selected to study at the Glinka Choir School and received his first conducting lesson aged 13. Four years later he enrolled at the Leningrad Conservatory where he studied conducting with the legendary Ilya Musin. By the time Bychkov returned to St Petersburg in 1989 as the Philharmonic’s Principal Guest Conductor, he had enjoyed success in the US as Music Director of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic. His international career, which had begun in France where he made his debuts with the Opera de Lyon and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, had taken off when a series of high-profile cancellations resulted in invitations to conduct the New York Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 1989 he was named Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris; in 1997 Chief Conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne; and, the following year Chief Conductor of the Dresden Semperoper. Semyon Bychkov’s approach to music making combines innate musicality with the rigours of Russian pedagogy. With his time carefully balanced between the concert hall and the opera house, Bychkov conducts repertoire that spans four centuries. In the opera house Bychkov is recognised for his interpretation of Strauss, Wagner and Verdi. Nonetheless while Principal Guest Conductor of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino his productions of Janáček’s Jenufa, Schubert’s Fierrabras, Puccini’s La Bohème, Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov were awarded the prestigious Premio Abbiati. Most recently Semyon Bychkov conducted Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina at the Vienna