February 8, 2017
Beginning February 18, the Orchestre National de Lyon, “probably the most refined ensemble of the world” (The Guardian), tours the United States for the first time since 2003, playing concerts with music director Leonard Slatkin on a six-city tour. The Orchestra performs in renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and at the University of Georgia, Wake Forest University, and others. Special guest artists at Carnegie Hall include two of classical music’s most treasured American voices, soprano Reneé Fleming and baritone Thomas Hampson. The New York program will feature debut performances of Guillaume Connesson’s Celephaïs and a new Ravel arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Antar, with text by Amin Maalouf.
The programs predominantly feature music of French composers, namely Berlioz and Ravel, whom the Orchestra performs and records extensively. At Carnegie Hall, the program opens with a reconstructed version of Ravel’s arrangement of Antar by Rimsky-Korsakov. The ONL has pioneered what is essentially a new work, after commissioning French-Lebanese writer, Amin Maalouf, to compose a contemporary text to add new dimension to the music. Mr. Maalouf, whose work has included the libretti for four of Kaija Saariaho’s operas, collaborated closely with Maestro Leonard Slatkin to create a libretto with narrator (Thomas Hampson). The text is declaimed during and in between the musical movements. This inventive version of music and text premiered in France in 2014; an English translation by Matthew Hurt and Sarah Vermande makes its debut at Carnegie Hall on February 20.
US Tour Schedule:
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Jorgensen Auditorium
Storrs, Connecticut
Jennifer Gilbert, violin
Ravel: Shéhérazade, ouverture de féerie
Slatkin: Kinah
Ravel: Tzigane, rapsodie de concert, for Violin and Orchestra
-Intermission-
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Sunday, February 19, 2017
New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Newark, New Jersey
George Li, piano
Ravel: Shéhérazade, ouverture de féerie
Slatkin: Kinah
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1
-Intermission-
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Monday, February 20, 2017
Carnegie Hall
New York, New York
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Renée Fleming, soprano
Rimsky-Korsakov (arr. Ravel): Antar with narrator Thomas Hampson
-Intermission-
Connesson: Celephaïs US PREMIERE
Ravel: Shéhérazade (voice & orchestra) with Renée Fleming
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Wait Chapel Auditorium, Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Gil Shaham, violin
Ravel: Shéhérazade, ouverture de féerie
Barber: Violin Concerto No. 1
-Intermission-
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Friday, February 24, 2017
Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall
Athens, Georgia
Jennifer Gilbert, violin
Ravel: Shéhérazade, ouverture de féerie
Slatkin: Kinah
Ravel: Tzigane, rapsodie de concert, for Violin and Orchestra
-Intermission-
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Kravis Center
West Palm Beach, Florida
Gil Shaham, violin
Connesson: Celephaïs
Barber: Violin Concerto No. 1
-Intermission-
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Monday, February 27, 2017
Phillips Center Mainstage
Gainesville, Florida
Jennifer Gilbert, violin
Ravel: Shéhérazade, ouverture de féerie
Slatkin: Kinah
Ravel: Tzigane, rapsodie de concert, for Violin and Orchestra
-Intermission-
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
Sarasota, Florida
Gil Shaham, violin
Ravel: Shéhérazade, ouverture de féerie
Barber: Violin Concerto No. 1
-Intermission-
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique