PRESS CONTACTS: Bernadette Horgan, bhorgan@bso.org Kathleen Drohan, kdrohan@bso.org 617-638-9280 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: DATE: April 2, 2012 BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONDUCTOR EMERITUS BERNARD HAITINK LEADS FINAL THREE PROGRAMS OF BSO S 2011-12 SEASON, APRIL 19-MAY 5 PROGRAMS INCLUDE BEETHOVEN S SYMPHONY NO. 1 AND MENDELSSOHN S INCIDENTAL MUSIC TO A MIDSUMMER NIGHT S DREAM, FEATURING VOCALISTS LAYLA CLAIRE AND KATE LINDSEY, WITH CLAIRE BLOOM AS NARRATOR, APRIL 19-24 WORKS OF DEBUSSY, BEETHOVEN, AND MOZART S PIANO CONCERTO NO. 22 WITH SOLOIST TILL FELLNER, APRIL 26-28 BEETHOVEN S SYMPHONY NO. 9 WITH SOLOISTS JESSICA RIVERA, MEREDITH ARWADY, ROBERTO SACCÁ, AND GÜNTHER GOISSBÖCK ON A PROGRAM WITH STRAVINSKY S SYMPHONY OF PSALMS; BOTH WORKS TO FEATURE THE TANGLEWOOD FESTIVAL CHORUS, MAY 3-5 Boston Symphony Orchestra Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink joins the BSO for three programs, April 19-May 5, closing out the 2011-12 BSO season. Maestro Haitink returns to the BSO podium for the first program on Thursday, April 19 Tuesday, April 24, to conduct Beethoven s Symphony No. 1 and Mendelssohn s Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night s Dream. Mr. Haitink and the orchestra are joined by soprano Layla Claire, mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey, narrator Claire Bloom, and the Women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. The young Austrian pianist Till Fellner makes his BSO debut with performances of Mozart s Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat, K.482, Thursday, April 26-Saturday, April 28. Maestro Haitink also leads the ensemble in Debussy s epochal Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun and Beethoven s evocative Symphony No. 6, Pastoral. Mr. Haitink concludes the BSO s 2011-12 season May 3-5 in three performances featuring Beethoven s always-inspiring Symphony No. 9, with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, soprano Jessica
Rivera, mezzo-soprano Meredith Arwady, tenor Roberto Saccá, and bass Günther Groissböck. The Tanglewood Festival Chorus will also be featured in Stravinsky s movingly contemplative Symphony of Psalms, commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the BSO. For complete programs, ticket information, photos, and artist bios, click here: www.bso.org/presskit. PROGRAM DETAILS, BEETHOVEN S SYMPHONY NO. 1 AND MENDELSSHOHN S A MIDSUMMER NIGHT S DREAM, APRIL 19-24 Performances to take place Thursday, April 19, Saturday, April 21, and Tuesday, April 24, at 8 p.m., and Friday, April 20, at 1:30 p.m., with an Open Rehearsal Wednesday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m. Opening Mr. Haitink s three weeks of BSO concerts, each of which features a Beethoven symphony, is the composer's Symphony No. 1. Though he is now identified more than any other composer with the symphonic genre, Beethoven was 29 years old and already well-known in Vienna as a virtuoso on and composer for the piano, as well as for a few works of chamber music, before this First Symphony emerged in 1800. Though it does not have the grandeur and violently revolutionary nature of its more famous successors, the Symphony No. 1 is clearly the work of a fresh new voice and is in no way an imitation of Haydn and Mozart. The second half of the program is dedicated to Mendelssohn s dazzling Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night s Dream. The Overture, which Mendelssohn wrote at the age of 17, is enduring proof of the composer s natural gift and an incredible feat of composition for one so young, demonstrating a full-fledged mastery of form, melody, harmony, and orchestration. Composed shortly after Mendelssohn first read a German translation of Shakespeare s drama, it captures the impish nature of the play, sparkling with lively rhythms and instrumental effects. Sixteen years later, in 1842, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, to whom Mendelssohn had dedicated the Overture, commissioned the now-famous and influential composer to write incidental music for a complete performance of A Midsummer Night s Dream. Mendelssohn composed 13 additional numbers, using the Overture as a curtain-raiser as well as a motivic foundation for the rest of the music. PROGRAM DETAILS, DEBUSSY, BEETHOVEN, AND MOZART, APRIL 26-28 Performances to take place Thursday, April 26, and Saturday, April 28, at 8 p.m., and Friday, April 27, at 1:30 p.m., with an Open Rehearsal Thursday, April 26, at 10:30 a.m. Inspired by a poem by Stéphane Mallarmé, the most famous of the French symbolists, Debussy s Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun was the composer s first major work in the style that would come to be known as musical impressionism (though Debussy hated the term) and is recognized by modern historians as an important waypoint in the prismatic diversion of musical styles beginning at the end of the 19th century and continuing throughout the 20th. The composer described the work as a succession of scenes through which pass the desires and dreams of the faun in the heat of the afternoon. Then, tired of pursuing the timorous flight of nymphs and naiads, he succumbs to intoxicating sleep, in which he can finally realize his dreams of possession in universal Nature.
After Mozart finally escaped his native Salzburg and settled in Vienna in 1781, he spent his first several years supporting himself largely through the composition of piano concertos for public performances in which he was the soloist. The Piano Concerto No. 22, K.482, was written in 1785, the last year before Mozart transferred his focus from keyboard music back to opera, and the same year that Haydn wrote to Mozart s father, saying I tell you before God, and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by reputation. Beethoven wrote his Symphony No. 6, Pastoral, contemporaneously with the Fifth Symphony between 1802 and 1808 but the two works present the composer in completely different moods. Where the Fifth is urgent and desperately earnest, the Sixth is leisurely and relaxed. This cheerful depiction of nature is one of few works for which Beethoven provided a specific programmatic explanation. PROGRAM DETAILS, BEETHOVEN S NINTH SYMPHONY AND STRAVINSKY S SYMPHONY OF PSALMS, MAY 3-5 Performances to take place Thursday, May 3, and Saturday, May 5, at 8 p.m., and Friday, May 4, at 7 p.m. According to Stravinsky, when Koussevitzky approached the composer for a new work to celebrate the BSO 50th anniversary, he requested a popular work for orchestra alone. The Symphony of Psalms, for orchestra and chorus, which was the eventual result of that commission, is far from that. Each of its three movements sets text from one of the Psalms (nos. 38, 40, and 150, respectively), and Stravinsky was adamant that the text as well as the spirit of traditional Psalm-singing was the foundation for the music. It is not a symphony in which I have included Psalms to be sung, the composer said. On the contrary, it is the singing of the Psalms that I am symphonizing. The music incorporates elements of sacred music from the Renaissance and Baroque eras and makes use of the unusual octatonic scale as well as modal harmony, which combined with Stravinsky s own unique instrumental style results in a distinctive ritualistic musical atmosphere. Beethoven s transcendent, all-encompassing Symphony No. 9 shows that the composer had not run out of fresh new ideas even in the last years of his life. The Ninth Symphony is not only one of the greatest and most well-known works ever, but also is a rare example of music that leaves behind the time in which it was written and heralds the arrival of a new era. In its scale and artistic ambition, it was unprecedented at the time of its creation: It was the first significant symphony to include voices, and did so in extravagant manner with a full chorus and four soloists; it was the longest (and is still among the longest) in duration of all symphonies; and it advocated in a direct, emphatic manner an idea for which people had been and still were giving their lives in wars and revolutions around the world that all Men are brothers. It was a tremendous success at its premiere in 1824, and it has never left the heart of the repertoire since. More than perhaps any other piece of music, it has permanently intertwined with Western culture and has become ubiquitous its strains can be heard in concert halls, commercials, cellphone ringtones, and as the basis of the European Anthem. Yet for all its familiarity, it has never lost its ability to amaze and inspire.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES BERNARD HAITINK BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink last led the BSO at Symphony Hall in programs on April 22-27, 2010 and April 29-May 1, 2010. He leads three weeks of performances this spring, from April 18- May 5. With an international conducting career that has spanned more than five-and-a-half decades, Amsterdam-born Bernard Haitink is one of today's most celebrated conductors. Mr. Haitink was for 27 years Chief Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; he is now their Conductor Laureate. In addition, Mr. Haitink has previously held posts as Music Director of the Royal Opera Covent Garden, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the Dresden Staatskapelle, and Principal Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic. He was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Boston Symphony in 1995 and Conductor Emeritus of the orchestra in 2004. Mr. Haitink has recorded widely for Phillips, Decca, and EMI with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His discography also includes many opera recordings with the Royal Opera, Glyndebourne, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, and Dresden Staatskapelle. Most recently he has recorded extensively with the London Symphony Orchestra for "LSO Live," including the complete Brahms and Beethoven symphonies, and with the Chicago Symphony on their "Resound" label. Mr. Haitink has received many international awards in recognition of his services to music, including both an honorary Knighthood and the Companion of Honour in the United Kingdom, and the House Order of Orange-Nassau in the Netherlands. He was named Musical America's "Musician of the Year" for 2007. LAYLA CLAIRE Soprano Layla Claire last performed with the BSO at Symphony Hall on October 7, 8, 9, and 12, 2010, for Mahler s Symphony No. 2, Resurrection. Layla Claire's "penetrating purity" (The New York Times) combined with "emotive force and a poised sensitivity" (Palm Beach Daily News) has quickly made her a sought-after artist on the opera and concert stage. She made her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut in 2010, on the opening night of the Tanglewood Music Festival under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas, with Mahler's Symphony No. 2, a performance she reprised to begin the 2010-11 season with the BSO and James Levine. She was also highly regarded for her August 2010 performances of Dvorák's Requiem at The Grant Park Music Festival. Her interpretations of Mozart's heroines in particular have garnered accolades throughout North America and Europe. With James Levine and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra she performed the roles of Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte (2007) and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (2009). She has been hailed as "the quintessential Susanna" for her 2009 performances of Le nozze di Figaro at Palm Beach Opera. Layla Claire recently became the first recipient of The Hildegard Behrens Foundation Award. In 2008 she received the Mozart Prize at the Wilhelm Stenhammar International Music Competition and was a Queen Elisabeth Competition Laureate. She is also a CBC Radio-Canada Jeunes Artistes recital winner, a recipient of J. Desmarais Foundation Bursaries, and a proud recipient of a Canada Council Grant. KATE LINDSEY Mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey last appeared with the BSO at Tanglewood on July 18, 2008, performing in Mahler s Symphony No. 5 with conductor James Levine. In 2008, she also performed in Berlioz s Les Troyens at Symphony Hall and at Tanglewood. This season, she returned to both the Metropolitan Opera as Nicklausse in Les contes d'hoffmann and to Seattle Opera as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and made her debut with Los Angeles Opera as Zaida in Il Turco in Italia. This spring she appears as Idamante in Idomeneo at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and next season she returns to
the Met as Hansel in Hansel and Gretel and makes her debuts at both the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the San Francisco Opera as Zerlina in Don Giovanni. Ms. Lindsey has already appeared in many of the world's prestigious opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Seattle Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Lille Opera, and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Her growing repertoire includes Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Angelina in La Cenerentola, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Nicklausse in Les contes d'hoffmann, and Idamante in Idomeneo. She also created the title role in the premiere of Daron Hagen's Amelia at Seattle Opera. An accomplished concert singer, Ms. Lindsey sang the premiere performances of John Harbison s Fifth Symphony with James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Met Chamber Orchestra (in Carnegie Hall), and at the Tanglewood and Mostly Mozart festivals. She has worked with many of the world's most distinguished conductors including Emmanuelle Haim, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, David Robertson, and Franz Welser-Möst. CLAIRE BLOOM Claire Bloom last appeared with the BSO at Tanglewood on July 20, 1996, in a performance of Mendelssohn s Midsummer s Night Dream. This is her BSO subscription series debut. Claire Bloom was born in London and made her first appearance on the stage with the Oxford Repertory Company at the age of 16. Her first major role came a year later, when she played Ophelia at Stratford-Upon-Avon opposite the alternating Hamlets of Paul Scofield and Robert Helpmann. Her first London appearance was as Alizon Eliot in John Gielgud's production of Christopher Fry's "The Lady's Not for Burning," opposite Richard Burton. Her performance in Peter Brook's production of Jean Anouilh's "Ring Round the Moon," also starring Paul Scofield, led to the role of Teresa in Charles Chaplin's 1952 film "Limelight. Since then she has divided her career between England and the United States. Her films include "Limelight," "The Man Between," "Richard III," "Look Back in Anger," "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," "Charley," "The Haunting," "A Doll's House," "Islands in the Stream," "Clash of the Titans," "Sammy and Rosie," Crimes and Misdemeanors, Imagining Argentina, The King s Speech, and the upcoming releases While We Were Here and Max Rose. Ms. Bloom has appeared as narrator with many leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony, the London Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the New Haven Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra (on an extensive American tour), the Jerusalem Symphony (for a performance of Mendelssohn's incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream), the Orchestra of St. Luke's, Boston's Handel & Haydn Society and Musica Viva, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic, with which she narrated the first U.S. performance of Georg Anton Benda's Medea. TILL FELLNER Pianist Till Fellner plays with scrupulous musicianship, purity of style, and sparkling keyboard command qualities that have earned him plaudits throughout Europe and in the United States and Japan. His readings of the works of Bach and Beethoven in particular have already placed him among the elect in this repertoire, and the inspired ingenuity of his performances of such 20th-century masters as György Kurtág and Elliott Carter have earned him many accolades. In the 2011-12 season, Fellner plays Beethoven s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Manfred Honeck and the Chicago Symphony; Beethoven s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Bramwell Tovey and the Vancouver Symphony, and with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony (to be recorded for ECM); the Schumann Piano Concerto with Xian Zhang and the Indianapolis Symphony; and Mozart s Piano Concerto in E-flat, K.482, with Bernard Haitink and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He will be heard in recital in Cleveland, Washington, D.C., Seattle, London, and in France, and in chamber music venues with his trio partners Adrian Brendel and Lisa Batiashvili. In
fall 2011, Fellner and the noted English tenor Mark Padmore continued their series of song recitals in Paris and Japan. Till Fellner has an impressive discography to his credit on the EMI, Claves, Erato, Philips, and ECM labels. JESSICA RIVERA Soprano Jessica Rivera last performed with the BSO December 7-9, 2006, in Adams s El Niño. Possessing a voice praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for its "effortless precision and tonal luster," Ms. Rivera is recognized as one of the most creatively inspired vocal artists before the public today. The intelligence, dimension, and spirituality with which she infuses her performances on the great international concert and opera stages have produced unique artistic collaborations with many of today's most celebrated composers including John Adams, Osvaldo Golijov, and Nico Muhly. Ms. Rivera was heralded in the world premiere of John Adams's newest opera, A Flowering Tree, singing the role of Kumudha, in a production directed by Peter Sellars as part of the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna. She made her European operatic debut as Kitty Oppenheimer in Peter Sellars's acclaimed production of John Adams's Doctor Atomic with the Netherlands Opera, a role that also served for her debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago. She performed the role in the Metropolitan Opera s new production of Doctor Atomic under the direction of Alan Gilbert. The 2011-12 season brings debuts with Finnish National Opera as Kitty Oppenheimer and with Madrid s Teatro Real as Margarita Xirgu in Golijov s Ainadamar. MEREDITH ARWADY Contralto Meredith Arwady last performed with the BSO November 5-7, 2009, in Beethoven s Symphony No. 9 under conductor Lorin Maazel. She will join the orchestra and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos at Tanglewood to close the orchestra s 75 th anniversary season on August 26, 2012. Born in Michigan, Ms. Arwady received a master of music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied voice with Marlena Kleinman Malas. She opened the 2011-12 season with a role debut as Erda in Oper Frankfurt s new production of Siegfried, followed by another role debut there as the First Norn in Götterdaemmerung. In summer 2012, she will perform Mahler s Eighth Symphony at the Aspen Music Festival. A Grand Finals winner of the 2004 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Meredith Arwady joined the roster of Astral Artists upon winning its 2002 National Auditions. She is also the recipient of other numerous awards and grants, including the 2005 Kirsten Flagstad Award, presented by the George London Foundation for a singer with a promising Wagnerian career, first prize-winner of the 2004 Licia Albanese/Puccini Competition, and recipient of the inaugural Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging Classical Artists in 2002, and a 2007 Richard Tucker Career Grant. As a member of Lyric Opera of Chicago s Opera Center ensemble, Ms. Arwady made her main stage debut with that company in 2005, as Tisbe in La Cenerentola conducted by Bruno Campanella, Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte, and She-Ancient in Sir Michael Tippett s A Midsummer Marriage, both conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. ROBERTO SACCÁ Of Italo-German extraction, Roberto Saccá was born and raised in Germany. He studied voice in Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, and initial engagements took him to Würzburg and Wiesbaden. His big breakthrough was in 1995 in Haydn's Orfeo ed Euridice with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Cecilia Bartoli at the Vienna Festival. Since then, Mr. Saccá has been much sought after by the world s major operatic theaters. The current season includes a revival of Palestrina at Hamburg State Opera, a new production of Palestrina and Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg at Zurich's Opera House (his role debut as Stolzing), then his debut in the title role of Werther at Vienna State Opera, his role debut as Don José in Carmen at Antwerp's Opera House as well as performances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with Bernard Haitink and the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Bruckner's Te Deum with Zubin Mehta in Tel Aviv and at the Salzburg Festival. Mr. Saccá s discography includes DVDs of La traviata, Cosí fan tutte, Don Giovanni,
Gianni Schicchi, and Messiah, and several CDs including a solo CD with arias from Donizetti to Verdi. GÜNTHER GROISSBÖCK The Austrian bass Günther Groissböck studied voice at the Academy for Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where he also took part in Robert Holl's master class. Since 2005 Günther Groissböck has been collaborating regularly with legendary Belgian bass-baritone José van Dam. As a Fellow of the Herbert von Karajan Centre, Günther Groissböck was an ensemble member of the Vienna State Opera in 2002-03. From 2003-04 until 2006-07 he was a member of the ensemble of the Zurich opera house, where he performed, among other roles, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, the King in Aida, Zoroastro in Orlando paladino, and Mephisto in Faust Szenen. Aside from his operatic work, Günther Groissböck has earned acclaimed for performances on the concert stage, including engagements at the Amsterdam Concertgebow, at Leipzig Gewandhaus, Berlin Philharmonie, the Royal Festival Hall in London, Symphony Hall in Boston, and the Vienna Musikverein. TICKET, SPONSORSHIP, AND OTHER PATRON INFORMATION TICKET INFORMATION Subscriptions for the BSO s 2011-2012 season are available by calling the BSO Subscription Office at 888-266-7575 or online through the BSO s website (www.bso.org). Single tickets are priced from $20 to $120, with Open Rehearsals priced at $20 each (general admission). Regular-season Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts on Tuesday and Thursday evenings are priced from $30 to $110; Friday afternoons are priced from $30 to $105; concerts on Friday and Saturday evenings are priced from $32 to $120. Tickets may be purchased by phone through SymphonyCharge (617-266-1200 or 888-266- 1200), online through the BSO s website (www.bso.org), or in person at the Symphony Hall Box Office (301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston). There is a $6.25 service fee for all tickets purchased online or by phone through SymphonyCharge. A limited number of Rush Tickets for Boston Symphony Orchestra subscription concerts on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Friday afternoons are set aside to be sold on the day of a performance. These tickets are sold at $9 each, one to a customer, at the Symphony Hall Box Office on Fridays beginning at 10 a.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning at 5 p.m. The BSO s <40=$20 program allows patrons under the age of 40 to purchase tickets for $20 Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis on both the orchestra and balcony levels. There is a limit of one pair per performance, but patrons may attend as many performances as desired. The Boston Symphony Orchestra offers groups advanced ticket reservations and flexible payment options for BSO concerts at Symphony Hall. Groups of 20 or more may take advantage of ticket discounts, backstage tours, clinics, and master classes. Pre- and post-concert dining options and private function space are available. More information is available through the group sales office at groupsales@bso.org. The BSO College Card and High School Card are the best way for students and aspiring young musicians to experience the BSO on a regular basis. For only $25 (College Card) or $10 (High School Card) students can attend most BSO concerts at no additional cost by registering the card online to receive text and email notifications of real-time ticket availability. American Express, MasterCard, Visa, Diners Club, and Discover, and cash (in person only) are all accepted at the Symphony Hall Box Office. Gift certificates are available in any amount and may be used toward the purchase of tickets (subject to availability) to any Boston Symphony Orchestra or Boston Pops performance at Symphony Hall or Tanglewood. Gift certificates may also be used at the Symphony Shop to purchase merchandise.
Patrons with disabilities can access Symphony Hall through the Massachusetts Avenue lobby or the Cohen Wing on Huntington Avenue. An access service center, accessible restrooms, and elevators are available inside the Cohen Wing entrance. For ticket information, call the Access Services Administrator at 617-638-9431 or TDD/TTY 617-638-9289. EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES AT SYMPHONY HALL As part of the BSO s ongoing initiative to make classical music programming and education widely available to listeners, the orchestra is offering adult educational initiatives for the 2011-2012 season. UnderScore Fridays is a uniquely formatted concert series. Subscribers hear directly from the evening s conductor, guest artist or other important guest about the program and a 7 p.m. concert starttime allows attendees to socialize following the performance. The UnderScore Fridays concerts series takes place on November 11, November 21, January 13, January 27, February 24, March 2, April 13, and May 4. Tickets for UnderScore Fridays range from $32 to $120. BSO 101: Are You Listening returns on a regular, expanded basis in 2011-2012 offering sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 5:30-6:45 p.m. Besides enhancing your listening abilities by focusing on upcoming repertoire, BSO 101 will now also feature presentations of various behind-thescenes areas of the BSO. Each session is followed by a complimentary reception. BSO 101: Are You Listening? will take place on October 19, November 2, November 16, January 10, January 18, and February 15. No prior musical training, or attendance at any previous session, is required. BSO 101: An Insider s View presents four Tuesday evening sessions with BSO administrative staff and musicians in discussions of behind-the-scenes activities including program planning, auditions, and the rehearsal process, as well as player perspectives on performing with the BSO. Each session is followed by a complimentary reception. BSO 101: An Insider s View will take place from 5:30-6:45 p.m. on November 8, February 7, February 28, and April 3. The popular Friday Preview Talks, during which sandwiches and beverages are available for purchase, run from 12:15 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. and the doors open at 11:30 a.m. Morning Open Rehearsal Talks run from 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. with doors opening at 9 a.m. The Wednesday evening Open Rehearsal Talks run from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., and the doors open at 6 p.m. Given primarily by BSO Director of Program Publications Marc Mandel and Assistant Director of Program Publications Robert Kirzinger, these informative half-hour talks incorporate recorded examples from the music to be performed. BSO MEDIA OFFERINGS In fall 2011, the BSO launched a redesigned and updated website at BSO.org. The site s Media Center, consolidates its numerous new media initiatives in one location. In addition to comprehensive access to all BSO, Boston Pops, Tanglewood and Symphony Hall performance schedules, patrons have access to a number of free and paid media options. Free offerings include audio concert previews, Emmy Award-winning audio and video interviews with guest artists and BSO musicians, up to 3-minute music excerpts highlighting upcoming programs as well as all self-produced albums by the BSO, Boston Pops, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and Tanglewood Music Center Fellows, and complete program notes for all performances which can be downloaded and printed or saved offline to an e-reading device such as a Kindle or Nook. Paid content includes digital music downloads of all self-produced and published content by the BSO, Boston Pops, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and Tanglewood Music Center Fellows. Albums available include the BSO s and James Levine s most recent recordings of Mozart s symphonies 14, 18, 20, 39, and 41; the BSO s Grammy-winning recording of Ravel s complete Daphnis and Chloé, Brahms s A German Requiem; the Boston Pops The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the
Kennedy Brothers featuring Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, and Ed Harris, and The Red Sox Album; as well as the Tanglewood Festival Chorus s 40th Anniversary CD. Digital music is available in standard definition MP3, and select content is also available in high definition (HD) stereo and surround formats. The Media Center can be visited by clicking on Media Center at bso.org. The BSO also launched its highly anticipated BSO Kids website. Kids and parents will be able to access a number of educational games and resources designed to be fun and help teach various aspects of music theory and musical concepts. Initial games include Cue the Conductor, build and play a Monstument, Catchy Tuba, Play that Tune, and Music Memory. In addition to games, teachers will have access to a number of resources including lesson plans, curriculum kits, and workshop information. BSO.org will also be available on in a phone/mobile device format. Patrons can use BSO.org Mobile to access performance schedules, purchase tickets as well as food and beverages to enjoy prior to a performance, download program notes, listen to music clips and concert previews, watch video exclusives and make donations to the BSO all in the palm of their hand. The Boston Symphony Orchestra s extensive website, www.bso.org, is the largest and mostvisited orchestral website in the country, receiving more than 7 million visitors annually and generating over $66 million in revenue since its launch in 1996. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is on Facebook at Facebook.com/BostonSymphony and on Twitter at Twitter.com/BostonSymphony. Video content from the BSO is also available at YouTube.com/BostonSymphony. RADIO BROADCASTS AND STREAMING BSO concerts are broadcast regularly by Classical New England, a service of WGBH. Saturdayevening concerts can be heard live on 99.5 FM, on HD radio at 89.7 HD2, and online at classicalnewengland.org. Broadcasts begin with exclusive features and interviews at 7 p.m., followed by the concert at 8 p.m. These concerts will be repeated on Sunday afternoons at 1 p.m. FOOD SERVICES AT SYMPHONY HALL The Boston Symphony Orchestra s catering partner, Boston Gourmet, offers a fresh perspective on the food and beverage options offered at Symphony Hall before concerts, during intermission, and in the popular Symphony Café. Symphony Café offers buffet-style dining from 5:30 p.m. until concert time for all evening Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts. In addition, Symphony Café is open for lunch prior to Friday-afternoon concerts. Patrons enjoy the convenience of pre-concert dining at the Café in the unique ambiance of historic Symphony Hall. The cost of dinner is $39 per person; the cost of lunch is $25. The Café is located in Higginson Hall; patrons enter through the Cohen Wing entrance on Huntington Avenue. Please call 617-638-9328 for reservations. Additionally, appetizers will be available at the bars in Symphony Hall s Cabot-Cahners Room and Hatch Room. Patrons can purchase these at bars or pre-order a pre-concert package that features an appetizer and half-bottle of wine through the BSO s website at www.bso.org. BSO patrons can also take advantage of the hall-wide beverage service by purchasing beverage coupons in advance through the Symphony Hall Box Office. SYMPHONY HALL SHOP AND TOURS The Symphony Shop, located in the Cohen Wing on Huntington Avenue, is open Thursdays and Saturdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and from one hour before concert time through. A satellite shop, located on the first-balcony level, is open only during concerts. Merchandise may also be purchased by visiting the BSO website at www.bso.org. The Boston Symphony Association of Volunteers offers weekly public and private tours of Symphony Hall during the BSO and Pops seasons. For more information on taking a Symphony Hall tour,
please visit us at www.bso.org. You may also email bsav@bso.org, or call 617-638-9390 to confirm specific dates and times. Schedules are subject to change. SPONSORSHIPS UBS is proud to be the Season Sponsor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and inaugural Lead Sponsor of the BSO Academy School Initiative at the Thomas A. Edison School in Brighton, MA. EMC Corporation is the supporting partner of the 2011-12 BSO season. The Fairmont Copley Plaza Boston, together with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, is the Official Hotel of the BSO. Commonwealth Worldwide Chauffeured Transportation is the Official Chauffeured Transportation Provider of the BSO. The Evening Open Rehearsal series is supported by Harvard University Extension School and Harvard Summer School. All programs and artists are subject to change. For current program information, dial 617- CONCERT (266-2378). For further information, call the Boston Symphony Orchestra at 617-266-1492. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is online at www.bso.org. # # # PRESS CONTACTS: Bernadette Horgan, Director of Public Relations (bhorgan@bso.org) 617-638-9285 Kathleen Drohan, Associate Director of Public Relations (kdrohan@bso.org) 617-638-9286 BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PROGRAM LISTING, APRIL 18-MAY 5, 2012 Wednesday, April 18, 7:30 p.m. (Open Rehearsal) Thursday, April 19, 8 p.m. Friday, April 20, 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 21, 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, 8 p.m. Bernard Haitink, conductor Layla Claire, soprano Kate Lindsey, mezzo-soprano Claire Bloom, narrator Women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 1 MENDELSSOHN Incidental music to A Midsummer Night s Dream Thursday, April 26, 10:30 a.m. (Open Rehearsal) Thursday, April 26, 8 p.m. Friday, April 27, 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 28, 8 p.m. Bernard Haitink, conductor Till Fellner, piano DEBUSSY Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun MOZART Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat, K.482 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6, Pastoral
Thursday, May 3, 8 p.m. Friday, May 4, 7 p.m. Saturday, May 5, 8 p.m. Bernard Haitink, conductor Jessica Rivera, soprano Meredith Arwady, mezzo-soprano Roberto Saccá, tenor Günther Groissböck, bass Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor STRAVINSKY Symphony of Psalms BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9