ABU DHABI CLASSICS TO WELCOME EXTRAORDINARY INTERNATIONAL LINE-UP OF VIRTUOSO TALENT IN MARCH
MO 16 FEB 09
Abu Dhabi, UAE: The Abu Dhabi Classics season extends its musical reach even further next month, with concerts in both the capital and Al Ain, the garden city of the Gulf, proving that music knows no boundaries. An extraordinary line-up of international talent is set to transform the emirate’s musical landscape as the popular concert series welcomes two of the world’s greatest conducting legends - Indian Zubin Mehta and American Lorin Maazel as well as piano soloists Lang Lang and Arcadi Volodos.
Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, the stellar line-up also includes one of the world’s best respected orchestras - the Vienna Philharmonic - as well as the spectacular young and dynamic Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, co-founded by Maazel and Mehta some years ago.
The first Abu Dhabi Classics concert in March will take place in Al Ain, as guest performance within the 9th Al Ain Classics Festival which is taking place under the patronage of HH Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Led by Zubin Mehta, one of the world’s leading conducting luminaries and conductor-in-residence of the Abu Dhabi Classics, the Vienna Philharmonic makes a historic return to the Arab world. After a series of 9 concerts held in Cairo in 1950, the orchestra, will debut at the lovingly restored UNESCO-listed Al Jahili Fort. Set amongst Al Ain’s green avenues, the fort will provide a stunning cultural backdrop to the lively programme on the evening of Friday, 13th March. Known for the New Year’s concert in Vienna, transmitted live into more than 70 countries every year on January 1st, the programme is extremely popular and beloved: the music performed includes besides Franz Schubert’s Symphony No.9 “Great C Major” many pieces from the New Year’s concert: Johann Strauss’ Overture to Die Fledermaus, the “Emperor Waltz”; and a spirited run of waltzes and polkas including the Tritsch-Tratsch Polka.
Indian-born Mehta’s musical pedigree is undeniable. A veteran of the podium, he has wielded the baton at virtually every celebrated concert venue in the world from the New York Metropolitan Opera and the Vienna State Opera to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and La Scala Milan. His list of awards and honours is extensive and in 1999 he was presented the Lifetime Achievement Peace and Tolerance Award of the United Nations.
The following evening, Saturday, 14th March, Mehta and the Vienna Philharmonic will return to Abu Dhabi and the elegant surrounds of the Emirates Palace Auditorium for a performance that is already seeing record advance ticket sales, with the UAE debut of Chinese pianist, Lang Lang. This explosive combination of mature and emerging genius will feature a dramatic overture from Wagner's opera Rienzi, as well as Richard Strauss's tone poem Ein Heldenleben will be tempered by the lilting movements from Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor.
A duo of supremely sought-after talent will grace the stage, with Zubin Mehta at the conductor’s helm and Lang Lang on piano. Heralded as the ‘hottest artist on the classical music planet’ by the New York Times, 26-year-old Lang Lang has played sold-out recitals and concerts in every major city around the globe, and is the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic and the top ‘Big 5’ American orchestras. A piano prodigy at age three he gave his first public recital when he was just five years old and since being thrust into the musical spotlight aged 17, has played to world leaders and heads of state alike, under the expert tutelage of a veritable A-Z of renowned conductors. In August 2008, over five billion people tuned in to watch his extraordinary performance as part of the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics.
Fans of Lang Lang will be able to spend another moment in the company of this young maestro of the keyboard on the evening of Tuesday, 17th March, with a special piano recital. To be held in the gracious setting of the Emirates Palace Auditorium, Lang Lang has chosen an eclectic programme for his Abu Dhabi Classics recital debut. Leading the evening will be the classic sounds of Mozart’s Piano Sonata in B flat major, K. 333, and Robert Schumann’s, Fantasy in C major, Op. 17, cleverly juxtaposed with an exceptional set of six traditional Chinese works, as well as pieces from Enrique Granados’ Goyescas and Liszt’s arrangement of Richard Wagner’s “Liebestod” from “Tristan and Isolde”.
Wrapping up the March series on Thursday, 19th March, is a final evening of symphonic masterworks under the banner headline a ‘Spanish-Russian Night’. The fourth concert in the quartet of scheduled performances, the Emirates Palace Auditorium will resound to the intensely evocative notes of musical masterpieces from distinguished French, Spanish and Russian greats including Ravel (La Valse), Rodrigo (Homenaje a la Tempranica) and Rachmaninoff (Piano Concerto No. 3). Mussorgsky’s A Night on Bald Mountain and Paul Dukas’ the Sorcerer’s Apprentice complete the programme.
Leading the charge will be legendary conductor Lorin Maazel, and the evening will showcase the talent of young Russian pianist Arcadi Volodos ably supported by the prestigious Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana. Bringing five decades of experience to the table, Maazel first publicly took up the baton in 1939 and his diverse international career has seen him cross the world stage several times, making him one of the most revered and sought-after conductors on five continents.
Many people say no pianist on this planet performs Rachmaninoff’s 3rd piano concerto better than Russian pianist Arcadi Volodos. Known for his incomparable technique as well as for his timeless poetry, he is a regular guest of the Salzburg Festival, music capitals such as Vienna, Paris, London and Berlin and appears with who-is-who of orchestras and conductors, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic, under the direction of not only Maazel but the great Seiji Ozawa, Valery Gergiev, James Levine and Zubin Mehta.
