FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE UPDATED October 2, 2015 September 15, 2015 Contact: Katherine E. Johnson (212) 875-5718; [email protected] SEMYON BYCHKOV TO RETURN TO THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC BRAHMS’s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello with Violinist LISA BATIASHVILI and Cellist GAUTIER CAPUÇON BRAHMS’s Symphony No. 1 NEW YORK PREMIERE of Detlev GLANERT’s Brahms-Fantasie October 21–24, 2015 Semyon Bychkov will return to the New York Philharmonic to conduct works composed or inspired by Brahms: Brahms’s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, with violinist Lisa Batiashvili and cellist Gautier Capuçon; the New York Premiere of Detlev Glanert’s Brahms- Fantasie; and Brahms’s Symphony No. 1. The performances take place Wednesday, October 21, 2015, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, October 22, 2015, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, October 23, 2015, at 11:00 a.m.; and Saturday, October 24, 2015, at 8:00 p.m. “The music of Brahms is always intimate, no matter how loudly it’s talking. For me, this is the great paradox: the monumentality of Brahms is in its intimacy,” said Semyon Bychkov. “He was able to integrate everything that there is to life — action and reaction, objective and subjective — juxtaposing conflict and struggle with harmony and resolution.” In its review of Semyon Bychkov’s 2004 recording of Brahms’s complete symphonies, The Observer said: “Brahms is here accorded due respect and affection by the brilliant Russian conductor Semyon Bychkov. ... Bychkov [is] at his most magisterial in the stately first. Brahmsians will find it hard to find a more resonant collection in the catalogue.” Semyon Bychkov will again conduct the Philharmonic this season, leading Mahler’s Symphony No. 6, February 11–13 and 16, 2016. Lisa Batiashvili returns to the New York Philharmonic following her acclaimed tenure as the 2014–15 season Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence. The New York Times wrote of Ms. Batiasvhili’s performance of Brahms’s Violin Concerto at the start of her residency: “Ms. Batiashvili played it bracingly, without any sense of routine. She pushed the tonal envelope but never to breaking point, and sang with ravishingly long lines in the slow movement.” (more) Semyon Bychkov / Lisa Batiashvili / Gautier Capuçon / 2 This performance marks Gautier Capuçon’s first return to the Philharmonic since his debut in 2014, when his performance of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 was praised by The New York Times, which wrote: “Mr. Capuçon played the work beautifully, negotiating its difficulties with seeming ease,” and that the cellist’s “elegance paid dividends of its own.” This Philharmonic appearance follows a series of performances of the Brahms Double Concerto in which Ms. Batiashvili and Mr. Capuçon will collaborate on the work with Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra, on September 16–17 in Zurich and on September 19 in Prague, conducted by Lionel Bringuier. Detlev Glanert’s 2012 Brahms-Fantasie was written as a companion piece to Brahms’s Symphony No. 1. The composer said: “We hear Brahms, yet don’t hear him; we hear my music, yet it isn’t entirely my music. A picture puzzle, music about music, a mind game, and a fantasy along alien, yet familiar paths.” Related Events Pre-Concert Insights Composer Paul Moravec 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. Artists Semyon Bychkov won the Rachmaninov 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 (more) Semyon Bychkov / Lisa Batiashvili / Gautier Capuçon / 3 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. He made his New York Philharmonic debut in March 1984 leading a program of Beethoven, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff; he most recently led the Orchestra in works by Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich in October 2013. Lisa Batiashvili, Musical America’s 2015 Instrumentalist of the Year, was the New York Philharmonic’s 2014–15 Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence. This season she holds the position of artist-in-residence at Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra, and highlights include performances with the Berlin and London Philharmonic Orchestras (both under Yannick Nézet- Séguin), Orchestre de Paris (Paavo Järvi), Vienna Philharmonic (Esa-Pekka Salonen), and London Symphony Orchestra (Daniel Harding), as well as a European tour with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra (Sakari Oramo). She also performs a series of recitals with Gautier Capuçon, Frank Braley, Valery Sokolov, and Gérard Causse celebrating Henri Dutilleux’s centennial at London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein, Paris’s Philharmonie 2, and Zurich’s Tonhalle. Recent and forthcoming concerts include the Dresden Staatskapelle, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Philadelphia, and Boston Symphony orchestras. Last season she performed with Filarmonica della Scala and Berlin Staatskapelle, both led by Daniel Barenboim, and Orchestra della Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, led by Antonio Pappano. She and her husband, François Leleux, performed the World Premiere of Thierry Escaich’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe with Hamburg’s NDR Symphony Orchestra and the U.S. Premiere with the New York Philharmonic, led by Alan Gilbert, as part of her residencies with both orchestras. Lisa Batiasvhili records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon, and her most recent release is dedicated to works by J.S. and C.P.E. Bach, featuring Mr. Leleux, Emmanuel Pahud, and the Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra. Her past recordings include Brahms’s Violin Concerto with the Dresden Staatskapelle, led by Christian Thielemann (also available on DVD) and Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No.1 with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, led by Mr. Salonen. She has also recorded the Beethoven, Sibelius, and Lindberg concertos for Sony. A student of Ana Chumachenko and Mark Lubotski, Lisa Batiashvili gained international recognition at age 16 as the youngest-ever competitor in the Sibelius Competition. She has also been awarded two ECHO Klassik awards, the Beethoven Ring Prize, MIDEM Classical Award, Choc de l’année, and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival’s Leonard Bernstein Award, and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana International Prize. She made her New York Philharmonic debut in March 2005 performing Chausson’s Poème and Saint- (more) Semyon Bychkov / Lisa Batiashvili / Gautier Capuçon / 4 Saëns’s Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, conducted by then Music Director Lorin Maazel; she most recently appeared with the Orchestra in April 2015, performing the Escaich concerto and J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe with oboist François Leleux, led by Alan Gilbert. Gautier Capuçon was born in Chambéry in 1981 and began playing the cello at age five. He studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris, with Philippe Muller and Annie Cochet- Zakine, and later in Vienna with Heinrich Schiff. He has won first prize in leading international competitions, including the International André Navarra Prize. Mr. Capuçon was named New Talent of the Year by Victoires de la Musique (the French equivalent of a Grammy) in 2001, and he received a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award in 2004 as well as several ECHO Klassik awards. Mr. Capuçon has performed regularly with Valery Gergiev, Semyon Bychkov, Bernard Haitink, Christoph Eschenbach, and Yannick Nézet-Seguin.