This preview has been provided by the North Carolina Symphony.
World-renowned pianist Yefim Bronfman and the North Carolina Symphony, led by Music Director Grant Llewellyn, will perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in concert in Memorial Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Thursday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m., and in Meymandi Concert Hall in downtown Raleigh on Friday, April 25, and Saturday, April 26 at 8 p.m. The orchestra will also perform Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture and Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 6.
In notes for the program, scholar Dr. Richard E. Rodda writes, “Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto is a product of the Classical age, not just in date but also in technique, expression and attitude. Still to come were the heaven-storming sublimities of his later works, but he could no more know what form those still-to-be-written works would take than tell the future in any other way… Though his music was soon to explore unprecedented areas of expression and technique, this Concerto stands at the end of an era, paying its debt to the composer’s great forebears and announcing in conventional terms the arrival of a musician who was soon to change forever the art of music.”
Yefim Bronfman is widely regarded as one of the most talented virtuoso pianists performing today. His commanding technique and exceptional lyrical gifts have won him consistent critical acclaim and enthusiastic audiences worldwide, whether for his solo recitals, his prestigious orchestral engagements or his rapidly growing catalogue of recordings. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2009 for his recording of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s piano concerto with Salonen conducting, released on Deutsche Grammophon, and won a Grammy Award in 1997 for his recording of the three Bartók Piano Concerti with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
In addition to stellar performances, North Carolina Symphony concertgoers can enjoy pre-concert talks, post-concert discussions, and “Meet the Artists,” which feature interactive conversations with guest artists and select orchestra members, at many Symphony events. Before the Chapel Hill performance on April 24, an Evening Overtures program will take place at 6:30 p.m. in Gerrard Hall, adjacent to Memorial Hall. With chamber music performances and discussions, Evening Overtures allows for a deeper exploration of the music. Generous support for Evening Overtures has been provided by the Hulka Ensemble and Chamber Music Programs Fund of the North Carolina Symphony.
Before the Friday, April 25, and Saturday, April 26, performances in Raleigh, Dr. Jonathan Kramer of N.C. State University will give pre-concert talks at 7 p.m. in the Swalin Lobby of Meymandi Concert Hall.
Tickets to the Chapel Hill Classical Series performance on April 24 range from $18 to $72. Tickets to the Raleigh Classical Series performances on Friday and Saturday, April 25-26, range from $18 to $75. Student tickets at both locations are $15. Concert tickets at all performances are also available at the door one hour prior to concert start time.
Memorial Hall is located at 114 East Cameron Ave., on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Symphony provides a free shuttle service from two locations:
· University Mall between Dillards and Wells Fargo bank.
· Southern Villages near the Village Green Stage on Aberdeen Drive.
The shuttle service departs between 6:15 p.m. and 6:20 p.m.
Meymandi Concert Hall is located in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., in Raleigh.
Partners for the 2013/14 Chapel Hill Series include Carol Woods Retirement Community, Harrington Bank, and The Businesses of Market Street, Southern Village.
Partners for the 2013/14 Raleigh Classical Series include Clancy & Theys Construction; Duke Medicine; Smith Anderson; and Marriott Raleigh City Center.
This concert is made possible in part by The Helton Family Foundation Fund and by the E.T. Rollins, Jr. and Frances P. Rollins Foundation Fund. In recognition of Sandra L. Sully’s generous support of the North Carolina Symphony at the Pinnacle Circle Level, this concert has been named in her honor.
Statewide partner is Duke Energy.
About the North Carolina Symphony
Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony gives more than 200 performances annually to adults and school children in more than 50 North Carolina counties. An entity of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, the orchestra employs 66 professional musicians, under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn and Resident Conductor William Henry Curry.
Based in downtown Raleigh’s spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts and an outdoor summer venue at Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., the Symphony performs about 60 concerts annually in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary metropolitan area. It holds regular concert series in Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines and Wilmington—as well as individual concerts in many other North Carolina communities throughout the year—and conducts one of the most extensive education programs of any U.S. orchestra.
April 24-26 Concert/Event Listings:
North Carolina Symphony
“Bronfman Performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2”
Grant Llewellyn, Music Director
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Thursday, April 24, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
Memorial Hall, UNC-Chapel Hill
Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April 26, 8 p.m.
Meymandi Concert Hall, Raleigh
April 24-26 Program
North Carolina Symphony
“Bronfman Performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2”
Grant Llewellyn, Music Director
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Overture to Coriolan, Op. 62
Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 19
Ludwig Van Beethoven
I. Allegro con brio
II. Adagio
III. Rondo: Molto allegro
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Symphony No. 6 in E-flat minor, Op. 111
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
I. Allegro moderato
II. Largo
III. Vivace
