The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1918. In the 1930s under chief-conductor Eduard Flipse it developed into one of the most prominent orchestras of the Netherlands. With Jean Fournet and Edo de Waart the orchestra entered a new era. It was together with De Waart, who was appointed chief-conductor in 1973, that the orchestra gained international recognition in numerous recordings and successful tours.

Valery Gergiev’s appointment as Music Director in 1995 heralded a new period of bloom.  The celebrated Russian conductor made his debut with the orchestra in 1988. During the years of his leadership, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra has developed into an orchestra of worldwide reputation. At the start of the 2008-2009 season, Yannick Nézet-Séguin succeeded Valery Gergiev as Music Director.

Especially notable is the orchestra’s opera tradition. It gave the world premiere of Alfred Schnittke’s Life with an Idiot, and participated in acclaimed productions of Pelléas et Mélisande, Parsifal, and Tristan und Isolde. Its concert performance of Wagner’s Parsifal under Rattle, as part of the September 2000 BBC Proms, was hailed a triumph.

One of the ambitions of the Rotterdam Philharmonic is to cultivate new audiences. Therefore special concerts for children are given; the boundaries between classical, world, and light music are explored in festive prom-concerts; and the world of classical music is introduced in educational concerts.

In addition to 70 subscription concerts, the Orchestra’s schedule each season includes the Rotterdam Philharmonic Gergiev Festival. Themed ‘Heaven and Earth’ the 13^th edition of this festival will take place from 6 to 13 September 2008, featuring symphonic concerts, chamber music, a film series and solo and song recitals.

    Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

At the start of the 2008/2009 season, Yannick Nézet-Séguin succeeded Valery Gergiev as Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and became Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.  He remains Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, a position he took up in March 2000, and during his tenure, has dramatically raised the orchestra’s standards and popularity, sharing with his musicians rigour and passion for music of many different styles.

Following his European debut in late 2004 with Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, he swiftly established a fine reputation in Europe, appearing with a wide range of orchestras, among them City of Birmingham Symphony, Frankfurt and Flemish Radio Symphony Orchestras, Sydney Symphony, Scottish Chamber and Northern Sinfonia and received re-invitations across the board.  He is now a regular guest conductor of many leading orchestras, such as the Dresden Staatskapelle, Orchestre National de France, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. During 2008, he made acclaimed debuts with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra Washington, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

In Canada, Yannick Nézet-Séguin regularly conducts the Toronto Symphony, and has worked with all the orchestras of note, including the National Centre of Arts Orchestra (Ottawa), Montreal Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, CBC Radio Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic and Victoria Symphony, of which he was Principal Guest Conductor between 2003 and 2006.

Forthcoming debuts include the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra,  the Zurich Tonhalle, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Orchestra Sinfonica dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

A native of Montreal, his productions for L’Opéra de Montréal have included Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte, Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande,Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore, Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri, Puccini’s Turandot and La Bohème. HIs most recent Canadian productions have been Gounod’s Faust for Canadian Opera (2007), and Madama Butterfly in Montreal (2008).  In August 2008 he made an outstandingly successful Salzburg Festival debut conducting the Mozarteum Orchestra in Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and a new production of Gounod’s Roméo and Juliette with a cast led by Rolando Villazon and Nino Machaidze. In May 2009 he will make his debut at the Netherlands Opera conducting Janacek’s The Makropoulos Case,with further productions scheduled for 2009/2010 and 2011/2012. Forthcoming debuts also include the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala, in Milan and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

He records for the dynamic Canadian company ATMA Classique and all his recordings with his Orchestre Métropolitain have received prizes and been extremely favourably reviewed by the international music press.  His most recent recordings, La Mer (a collection of works by Debussy, Britten and Mercure) and Bruckner Symphony No.9 with the Orchestre Métropolitain, have been widely acclaimed.  HIs first recordings with Rotterdam Philharmonic are due for release in the near future.

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PROGRAM

BRAHMS – Violin Concerto (38*)

intermission

Theo VERBEY  – (Conciso (9*)

BARTOK  – Concerto for Orchestra (36*)

VIKTORIA MULLOVA, violin

Viktoria Mullova is known the world over as a virtuosic violinist with exceptional versatility and musical integrity.  Her curiosity spans the gamut of musical development from baroque and classical right up to the most contemporary influences and improvisation.

Her interest in the authentic approach has led to collaborations with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Il Giardino Armonico, Venice Baroque and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique.  She has a close association with harpsichordist Ottavio Dantone with whom she tours and has recorded her all- Bach programme and which led Tim Ashley to write, “To hear Mullova play Bach is, simply, one of the greatest things you can experience…” in The Guardian.

Her ventures into creative contemporary music started in 2000 with her album “Through the Looking Glass” (with the renowned British jazz pianist Julian Joseph).  “…Mullova and friends transcended their contrasting musical origins and fused into something genuinely new and beguiling.” said Richard Morrison in The Times.  Her exploration continues, commissioning works from young composers such as Fraser Trainer and she is currently working on a project involving gypsy music and improvisation with Matthew Barley’s band.   She was recently asked by London‘s Southbank Centre to feature as the first “Artist-in-Focus” in their re-vamped International Chamber Music Series.  The Southbank’s head of music, Marshall Marcus described her as, “a great virtuoso with extraordinary courage and commitment with a rare propensity to try new things and experiment.”

Over the next two seasons, the Vienna Konzerthaus will also feature Viktoria in six very different concerts in recognition of her musical diversity.

As a recitalist, she regularly performs with Katia Labèque and she has recently formed a duo with the fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenout performing works by Schubert and Beethoven.  Later in the season, they will be joined by cellist Pieter Wispelwey for Trio concerts throughout Europe and she will continue her all-Bach recitals with Ottavio Dantone.   

She is also a familiar face on the international concert scene, regularly appearing with the world’s major orchestras and conductors.   In 2008-09 she performs with, among others, the Berlin Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel, Rotterdam Philharmonic and Yannick Nezet-Seguin, The Philharmonia with Paavo Jarvi and the Orchestre National de France as well as concerts with the Sydney and Melbourne symphony orchestras. 

Mullova’s extensive discography for Philips Classics has attracted many prestigious awards. In 2005 she joined the ONYX Classics label to present a series of new recordings. Her debut disc, Vivaldi Concertos with Il Giardino Armonico and directed by Giovanni Antonini, won the Diapason D’Or of the Year award for 2005.   Other discs have included the Schubert Octet with the Mullova Ensemble, “Recital” with Katia Labèque, and Bach Sonatas with Ottavio Dantone.   She has just completed her most important recording project of her life: all of J S Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin which will be released shortly.

She studied at the Central Music School of Moscow and the Moscow Conservatoire. Her extraordinary talent captured international attention when she won first prize at the 1980 Sibelius Competition in Helsinki and the Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1982. Since then, she has appeared with most of the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors and at the major international festivals. Viktoria either plays on her ‘Jules Falk’ 1723 Stradivarius or a Guadagnini violin.

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