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The 2010-2011 Season of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra
The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra – winners of the 2009 Scripps Corbett Award for Artistic Excellence – has announced their upcoming season. The concerts will be more affordable than ever this year, with most tickets priced at $10. According to CCO Trustee Larry Magnesen, “With the continued challenges facing many families, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra wanted to ensure that access to first-class performances remained affordable. Therefore, with the generous sponsorship of a patron, many of our ticket prices have been reduced for the upcoming season.” The 2010-2011 CCO Season will celebrate the 200th birthday anniversary of composer Robert Schumann.
Music Director Mischa Santora said, “I am thrilled that the CCO will bring you an in-depth musical and literary portrait of this unique artist. Schumann was not only the composer who brought Romanticism to music; he was also a brilliant pianist, the inventor of musical criticism, and a committed family man.”
The season begins in October, when the program will focus on his earlier piano works, including his famous “Carnaval”, as well as his piano concerto which he wrote for his wife Clara. The program will include a short piece by Clara herself, who was an accomplished composer in her own right. The CCO is thrilled to welcome superstar pianist Anne Marie McDermott to open the season.
The traditional collaboration with Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble will take place in November and this concert will present a couple of rarely heard masterpieces, including Johannes Brahms “Liebeslieder Waltzer” (love song waltzes) and his beloved set of Hungarian dances.
The February concert combines pieces from four different composers, who share a deep sense of Romanticism, even though they express it very differently. Edward Elgar admired Schumann’s music for its expressive beauty, and Franz Schubert is widely regarded as the creator of the romantic Lied (song) tradition, profoundly influencing composers who were active in that genre. Special guest artist will be renowned violinist Igor Gruppman , former concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra and presently the conductor of the Orchestra at Temple Square.
A dear friend of Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn enters the stage in March, with performances of his first Piano Concerto and his graceful “CalmSea and Prosperous Voyage”. And a year celebrating Robert Schumann would be unthinkable without including a piece highlighting the influence of J.S. Bach. This connection can be heard in Schumann’s “Fugues”, written on a theme that spells out the four letters “B A C H.”
In June the CCO is honored to have guest conductor Roberto Paternostro make his United States debut, leading the orchestra through pieces that have been inspired by composers traveling to distant and exotic lands. Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony and Hebrides Overture masterfully paint the rugged, foreboding Scottish landscape.
The season finale will pair two comic masterpieces. Mendelssohn’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a CCO favorite, complete with actors and female chorus. Shakespeare’s play has captivated audiences for generations, with its comic and romantic characters and unique world of dreams and fantasy.
The CCO performance of chamber opera “Death Knocks” will be the U.S. premiere by German composer Christian Jost, who is a rising star in Europe. Based on a one act play by Woody Allen, the whimsical plot is mirrored in the music with its jazzy accentuation and quotations from popular tunes. Maestro Santora said “I feel that the juxtaposition of Elizabethan comedy and 20th century urban neurosis will be a fitting close for our fabulous season!”
Last season, the orchestra received consistent rave critical reviews for its performances, described as “a musical treat of the highest order”. You won’t want to miss a note of this exciting season!
For ticket information, call 513-723-1182 x 102 or go to www.ccocincinnati.org