From the heart of Central Europe comes a classical ensemble of the first rank. Veterans of over 300 concert tours throughout Europe and Asia, members of the Bohemian Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, direct from the Czech Republic, come to Houghton on their first American tour. Part of Michigan Tech's Great Events Series, the orchestra will present a concert at St. Ignatius Loyola Church on Saturday, March 18, at 8:00 p.m. For tickets call the Performing Arts Ticket Center (487-3200, Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.), stop by the Memorial Union Box Office (Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.), or purchase tickets online at www.tickets.mtu.edu.
Conducted by Tomas Koutnik with pianist Michiko Otaki, the program will include works by Beethoven and the Czech composer Vorisek, as well as the Schumann Piano Concerto in a minor, performed by Ms. Otaki.
The first of Beethoven's nine symphonies, the Symphony No. 1 in C major is considered one of the composer's brightest works and is described by one of his biographers, Romain Rolland, as "the poem of a youth who is smiling at his dreams."
Schumann's Piano Concerto in a minor was originally written as a "Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra," a "love offering" written in 1841 for his new young wife, Clara, during the year when he wrote most of his symphonies, and at a time when he was free of the terrible depressions that finally killed him. Four years later Schumann revised the piece, added the second and third movements, and made it into the masterpiece that we enjoy today. Michiko Otaki is a Japanese-born pianist, now living in the U.S., who studied at the San Francisco Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music. A veteran of numerous concert tours, she has performed at major venues throughout the U.S. and abroad, including Washington's National Gallery, Carnegie Hall, and Atlanta's Spivey Hall. A Washington Post critic remarked that her performance there was ". . . a tribute to chamber playing of the highest order." Others praise her virtuosic technique, her sensitivity, and her fluent interpretation of demanding works.
The final work on the program, the Symphony in D major by Jan Vaclav (Hugo) Vorisek (1791-1825), was completed when the composer was 31, but was not published until ten years ago. Vorisek wrote many works for piano, but only one symphony. He died young of tuberculosis and was unable to find work as a professional musician until one year before his death. Had it not been for these sad facts, Vorisek would certainly have occupied a more prominent place in the history of music. He was born in Bohemia the same year as Mozart's death and died sixteen months before Beethoven. He studied in Vienna when it was a mecca for Europe's leading composers of the time and was undoubtedly influenced by them. However critics agree that his major influences were his Czech background and upbringing.
Tomas Koutnik has achieved great international success as a guest conductor in ten European countries, and in Cuba, Mexico, and Russia. He has also served as music director and artistic director for several leading Czech orchestras. He has made over sixty radio recordings with many different international orchestras, and has also made a number of CDs on the Panton and Harmonia Mundi labels. He studied cello and conducting at the Prague conservatory, and later further developed his conducting skills in the master classes of the famous conductors Igor Markevich and Kurt Masur in Weimar.
"Over the past few years we have been fortunate enough to present some excellent chamber orchestras from Austria, Canada, Russia, and Ukraine on the Great Events Series," says Valerie Pegg, director of University Cultural Enrichment at Michigan Tech, "but we feel particularly privileged to host distinguished conductor Tomas Koutnik and the Bohemian Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra. Not only are they one of the very finest Czech orchestras, they bring with them an internationally acclaimed pianist to perform Schumann's beautiful piano concerto. Most of the orchestras we have seen in the past have been composed of string players only. This "Haydn/Mozart" mid-sized orchestra is considerably larger and includes winds, brass and timpani. The stage in Fisher Hall could not have accommodated all thirty-eight players and the piano."
In addition to their frequent tours, the Bohemian Philharmonic Orchestra performs at international festivals and for the Czech broadcasting and television networks and has recorded many CDs on labels such as CBS and Amabile that are available all over the world.
This concert has been made possible by funding from the Michigan Tech Committee for Campus Enrichment, and the Michigan Tech Fund. This is a Heartland Arts Fund program. The Heartland Arts Fund is a collaborative venture of Arts Midwest, Mid-America Arts Alliance, and their member state arts agencies (Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin) with primary funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, and support from private contributors.
For more information call the University Cultural Enrichment Department (487-2844).
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03/02/00