RI PHILHARMONIC PAIRS MOZART AND MAHLER ON FEBRUARY 22 MUSIC DIRECTOR LARRY RACHLEFF CONDUCTS

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1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 27, 2014 CONTACT: Kyle Phipps, Marketing Manager / kphipps@riphil.org RI PHILHARMONIC PAIRS MOZART AND MAHLER ON FEBRUARY 22 MUSIC DIRECTOR LARRY RACHLEFF CONDUCTS January 27, 2014 East Providence, RI With Music Director LARRY RACHLEFF on the podium, the RHODE ISLAND PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA will pair MOZART S beloved overture to THE MAGIC FLUTE with MAHLER S majestic FIFTH SYMPHONY. The concert takes place Saturday February 22 at 8:00pm at The Vets in Providence. The concert is sponsored by Marie Langlois and John Loerke. WPRO News Talk 630 is the media sponsor. Tickets (starting at $15) are available at riphil.org/tickets, by phone at , and in person at the RIPO box office, 667 Waterman Ave., East Providence. An Open Rehearsal will take place Friday February 21 at 5:30pm at The Vets. All Open Rehearsal tickets are $15, fees inclusive. In February s concert, we ll hear such an interesting pairing: Mozart and Mahler, two Austro-German Viennese composers, said Larry Rachleff, music director. Could there have been a Mahler without a Mozart? We ll hear the overture to The Magic Flute, one of the most popular of Mozart s operas, and then Mahler s towering masterpiece, his Fifth Symphony. Rachleff continued: We concluded last season with Mahler s Second, and his Fifth is no less a voyage into the human condition. It takes us through the depths of the human soul, through pain and anguish, from loss to love the famous Adagietto to his dear Alma and the last movement brings us to paradise. With over 100 musicians on stage, this concert will be another major musical event. The Philharmonic s season features eight Classical concerts on Saturday nights at The Vets. Four are preceded by Amica Rush Hour concerts on Friday, and four have Friday Open Rehearsals. The Amica Rush Hour Series offers an early start time 6:30pm on remaining Fridays March 21 and April 11. These shorter, informal, accessible concerts feature full performances of select repertoire from the Saturday Classical concerts. Open Rehearsals, on remaining Fridays February 21 and May 9 at 5:30pm, offer insight into the collaboration between the conductor, guest artists and orchestra musicians as they prepare for the upcoming classical concert. Subscriptions are on sale now. Please call the Philharmonic box office at , or visit

2 AT A GLANCE: Mozart & Mahler MOZART MAHLER The Magic Flute: Overture Symphony No.5, C-sharp minor Saturday February 22 at 8:00pm Open Rehearsal: Friday February 21 at 5:30pm TICKETS: starting at $15, with discounts for students and groups in select sections online: 24/7 by phone: Philharmonic box office: ; Monday-Friday 9 4:30 in person: Philharmonic box office, Carter Center, 667 Waterman Street, East Providence, Monday-Friday 9 4:30 OR Vets box office, Avenue of the Arts, Providence, concert Friday 2 5:30pm; concert Saturday 3:30 8pm This is a low-resolution image! Click here for a hi-resolution version of this image.

3 ABOUT THE PROGRAM: stories behind the music Mozart, The Magic Flute (overture) Premiered in 1791 in Vienna, Mozart s opera The Magic Flute is beloved for its fantastical plotting, featuring dragons and magic, a secret society, an impossible quest, the Queen of the Night and true love. Gorgeous melodies complete the package. The Magic Flute is the fourth most frequently performed opera worldwide. Sadly, Mozart died less than three months after its first performance. Mahler, Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor Courtship and marriage: Gustav Mahler met Alma Schindler in 1901 after he had completed two movements of the Fifth Symphony. They fell in love and decided to marry; Alma was pregnant. On January 5, 1902, she wrote in her diary, He sent me [part of] his Fifth Symphony yesterday. We played it through together today; I found it thrilling and liked it enormously. On March 9, they were married. Mahler completed his symphony in the early autumn. At a turning point: The Fifth was a turning point in Mahler s entire approach to symphonic composition. Before this work, he had employed either a literary program, as in the Symphony No.1, or a sung text, as in the next three symphonies. The Symphony No.5 relied on the music to speak for itself. He wrote: Clearly the routine I had acquired in the first four symphonies deserted me altogether, as if a totally new message demanded a new technique.... It is the sum of all the suffering I have been compelled to endure at the hands of life. Ahead of its time: Mahler had found a new musical language more contrapuntal, complex, and minutely detailed than that of his other works. He wrote to Alma, Oh, heavens, what are they to make of this chaos of which new worlds are forever being engendered, only to crumble in ruin the moment after? What are they to say to this primeval music, this foaming, roaring, raging sea of sound, to these dancing stars, to these breathtaking, iridescent and flashing breakers?... I wish I could give my symphony its first performance fifty years after my death!

4 RHODE ISLAND PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA: CLASSICAL SEASON TO COME 6. Tchaikovsky s passionate Pathétique Philippe Quint, violin UDOW The Shattered Mirror: Suite STRAVINSKY Violin Concerto, D major TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No.6, B minor, op.74, TH 30 (Pathétique) Saturday March 22 at 8:00pm AMICA RUSH HOUR performance: Friday March 21at 6:30pm 7. Levin plays Mozart Robert Levin, piano IVES The Unanswered Question, S.50 MOZART Piano Concerto No.20, D minor, K.466 SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.5, D minor, op.47 Saturday April 12 at 8:00pm AMICA RUSH HOUR performance: Friday April 11 at 6:30pm 8. Season Finale: Beethoven with Alon Goldstein Alon Goldstein, piano The Providence Singers, Christine Noel, artistic director R. STRAUSS Don Juan, TrV 156, op.20 BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.1, C major, op.15 RAVEL Daphnis et Chloé: Suites No.1 & 2 Saturday May 10 at 8:00pm Open Rehearsal: Friday May 9 at 5:30pm All programs and artists are subject to change without notice.

5 ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School is the largest fully integrated orchestra and music school in the United States. Our mission is to enrich and transform Rhode Island and our region through great music performance and education is the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra s 69th Season, Music Director Larry Rachleff s 18th with the Orchestra. The season includes an eight-concert Classical Series with a roster of world-renowned guest artists that includes pianists Alon Goldstein, Cecile Licad, Jean-Philippe Collard and Robert Levin, violinists Jennifer Frautschi and Philippe Quint, cellist Colin Carr, and guest conductor Michael Christie. Our Amica Rush Hour Series offers an early start time 6:30pm on four Fridays (October 18, November 15, March 21, April 11). These shorter, informal, accessible classical concerts feature full performances of select repertoire from the Saturday Classical concerts. Our four Open Rehearsals, on Fridays at 5:30pm (September 20, January 17, February 21, May 9), offer audience members insight into the collaboration between the conductor, guest artists and orchestra musicians as they prepare for the upcoming classical concert. Special events include the perennial holiday favorite Handel s Messiah with The Providence Singers on Saturday, December 7 at 7:00pm. Resident Conductor Francisco Noya conducts Handel s Messiah, our Education Concerts and our Summer Pops Concerts. Now in its 26th year, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School serves approximately 1,500 children, youth and adults every week with lessons, classes, ensembles and community partnership programs, and an additional 13,000 students annually through partnerships, residencies, education concerts and in-school performances. Ensembles include five youth orchestras, two wind ensembles, eleven jazz ensembles and many chamber music ensembles and the RI Philharmonic Community Orchestra for adults. Information is available at TICKETS AND DISCOUNTS Tickets may be purchased 24/7 on the Philharmonic website: Tickets may also be purchased at the Philharmonic box office at 667 Waterman Avenue, East Providence, by phone ( ) or in-person Monday Friday 9am 4:30pm. On Open Rehearsal and Amica Rush Hour Fridays, ticket sales are also available at The Vets box office, from 2:00pm and 2:30pm respectively until showtime. On Saturday concert days, tickets are available onsite at The Vets box office from 3:30pm until showtime, or by calling Ticket prices start at $15 for adults, with discounts in selected areas of the hall for full time students and groups. Rush Hour concert tickets range from $15 to $50. Additional facilities and handling fees apply. Tickets for Open Dress Rehearsals are $15, inclusive of fees. There is free parking for all Philharmonic concerts at designated lots along Smith Street. For Saturday evening concerts, the Philharmonic provides a free shuttle bus to and from the parking lots before and after the concerts. Also for Saturday evening Classical concerts, valet parking is available at the front door of The Vets, for a cash fee of $20. ###