For Immediate Release 19 July 2011 Hong Kong World renowned singers Michelle De Young & Stuart Skelton join forces with Maestro Edo de Waart in Mahler s The Song of the Earth on 2&3 September to celebrate the HKPO s 2011/12 New Season Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra s new concert season will officially open on 2&3 September 2011 (Fri & Sat) at 8pm, in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. The theme for the new season is Our Great Journey with Edo and it launches with the first part of a very special Edo de Waart Festival. The concert - Bank of Communications brings to you: Edo de Waart Festival: Season Opening Gala Heaven and Earth sees world renowned mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung and tenor Stuart Skelton join with Maestro Edo de Waart and the HKPO in a performance of Mahler s The Song of Earth. Also in the programme will be Mozart s Symphony No.41 in C Jupiter. Free pre-concert talks will be held on both nights, 7:15pm at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. For details, please visit www.hkpo.com Edo de Waart, conductor Mahler's majesty is de Waart's triumph." --- Sam Olluver, South China Morning Post Edo de Waart is currently Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the HKPO. Renowned for possessing the rare gift of being able to transform orchestras into world-class ensembles, he has held such distinguished positions as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of both the Sydney Symphony and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Opera, and Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and Minnesota orchestras. He is also Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Partner of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Conductor Laureate of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. Last September the HKPO undertook a critically-acclaimed tour of three major Chinese cities under Maestro de Waart s leadership. In addition to concerts in Xi an and Beijing, the HKPO performed in Shanghai at Expo 2010. Edo says: They re two of the most exciting singers around. Stuart brings phenomenal character to these songs, and Michelle is spellbinding there s no other word for sound like hers. This is Mahler s vision of infinity. It s timeless and very close to my heart.
Michelle DeYoung, mezzo-soprano a powerful singer with a warm, seductive tone that she used to consistently fine effect. ---The New York Times American mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung will be making her Hong Kong début at this concert. The music of Mahler has been central to her professional career, the first decade of which was devoted almost wholly to performances of it. As she says, I feel very fortunate because I love Mahler. I feel like I understand it more and more as I sing it. You can tell by how he wrote the symphonies and songs for the mezzo-soprano that he definitely liked that voice. It also suits his music. Michelle won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1992 and has been a regular performer at New York s Metropolitan Opera ever since. Her recording of Mahler s Kindertötenlieder and Third Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony for SFS Media was awarded the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Classical Album. She was also awarded the 2001 Grammy Awards for Best Classical Album and Best Opera Recording for Berlioz s Les Troyens with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra. Stuart Skelton, tenor like a true heldentenor, seething with bitterness and contempt while never being swamped by the huge climaxes nor resorting to bluster or rant. --- Limelight Magazine (on Skelton s recording of The Song of the Earth with the Sydney Symphony under Ashkenazy) Making his HKPO début in The Song of the Earth, which he has performed with Michelle DeYoung in Ravinia, Stuart Skelton was awarded the inaugural Lauritz Melchior Prize for the best Heldentenor on recording. He has also been recognized as one of the finest heroic tenors of his generation, and critically acclaimed for his beautiful voice, outstanding musicianship and intensely dramatic portrayals in performances on the leading concert and operatic stages of the world. He has performed The Song of the Earth with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under James Conlon, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal under Kent Nagano, the RTE National Symphony Dublin, the Netherlands Radio Symphony and the Sydney Symphony under Vladimir Ashkenazy, Michael Tilson Thomas in San Francisco and Daniel Harding in Frankfurt. Programme This year the musical world is commemorating the centenary of Mahler s death and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra joins in those global festivities with its season opening concert, which also launches Maestro de Waart s final season as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor. The concert presents Mahler s great song-symphony The Song of the Earth which infuses German translations of Chinese verses by the great poet Li Bai with luxuriant orchestral colours and powerful musical emotions. Described as having a voice ideally suited to Mahler s vocal writing (Newsday), the three-time Grammy winning mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung joins with famed Australian tenor Stuart Skelton, whose numerous performing and recording credits include many appearances in The Song of the Earth. These two great Mahler singers, along with the HKPO and Maestro de Waart, promise an once-in-a-lifetime performance of this monumental work.
Mozart never named his symphony Jupiter the title came much later and was apparently inspired by the Roman God of Thunder but the work not only provides the climatic culmination of Mozart s symphonic output but also sums up the whole essence of the Classical era; humanity and intelligence in perfect balance.
Bank of Communications brings to you: Edo de Waart Festival: Season Opening Gala Heaven and Earth 2&3 9 2011 FRI & SAT 8 PM HK Cultural Centre Concert Hall HK$400 $300 $220 $140 Available at URBTIX from now Artists Edo de Waart Michelle DeYoung Stuart Skelton conductor mezzo-soprano tenor Click the thumbnail to download press images [Or hold Ctrl then click to open the file] Programme MOZART Symphony No.41 in C Jupiter MAHLER The Song of the Earth
Ticketing Information Credit Card Booking (852) 2111 5999 Online Booking www.urbtix.hk For programme enquiry, please call HKPO at (852) 2721 2030 Or go on our website: www.hkpo.com Media Contact --- END --- Paul Tam, Director of Marketing Tel: (852) 2721 9035 Cell: (852) 9650 6818 Email: paul.tam@hkpo.com Alice Luk, Corporate Communications Officer Tel: (852) 2721 1585 Cell: (852) 6280 0156 Email: alice.luk@hkpo.com Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Edo de Waart Artistic Director and Chief Conductor The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPO) is one of Asia s leading orchestras. Enriching Hong Kong s cultural life for over a century, the Orchestra has grown into a formidable ensemble of Chinese and international talents, attracting world-class artists to collaborate on its stage. HKPO annually touches the lives of over 200,000 music lovers through more than 150 performances. Under the leadership of Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Edo de Waart, HKPO continues to scale new heights in musical excellence. The continuing cycle of Mahler symphonies and challenging programming outside the traditional repertoire, have become highly anticipated events as well as musical milestones for the Orchestra. The 2011/12 season will mark Maestro Edo de Waart s eighth and final season with the HKPO. Apart from his own series of five special programmes which are summaries of his achievements with the Orchestra over the last seven years, ending with Beethoven s Ninth Symphony, the new season will also attract a stellar cast of great artists and guest conductors. Star soloists such as Gil Shaham, Frank Peter Zimmerman, Paul Lewis, André Watts, Susan Graham, Paul Watkins and renowned maestros with the likes of Andrea Delfs, Jaap van Zweden, Osmo Vänskä, Alexander Lazarev, Hans Graf and Lawrence Foster will join the Orchestra on stage. The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region SWIRE is the Principal Patron of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is the Venue Partner of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre