Charlotte Symphony Classics Open Rehearsal

CSO Music Director Christof Perick leads the Charlotte Symphony with violinist Viviane Hagner for the Charlotte Symphony's 75th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee Season Classics concerts Friday, February 2 and Saturday, February 3, 2007 at 8 PM at the Belk Theater of the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center (130 N. Tryon St., Charlotte, NC 28202).

The concerts play as follows:

1. BRAHMS - Violin Concerto

2. BRAHMS - Symphony No. 4

A Friday Morning Coffee Classics Open Rehearsal will also be held Friday, February 2, 2007 at 10:00 AM in the Belk Theater. Open rehearsals offer a casual, behind-the-scenes look at the Symphony's creative process. They also allow the public to meet the musicians during the break over complimentary coffee and sweets provided by Caribou Coffee and Great Harvest Bread Company.

These two warhorses of the repertoire helped secure Brahms membership in "The Three B's" of classical music, his Violin Concerto vying with B2's (Beethoven's) for the Number One spot in the genre. Rising star and Brahms enthusiast Viviane Hagner delights in bringing the work's characteristic gypsy fire to life.
These tickets are on sale now for $15 to $69. Friday Morning Coffee Classics Open Rehearsal tickets are $15. Student rush tickets are available at the door one hour before the concerts for $7.50. For tickets, please contact 704-972-2000; visit www.charlottesymphony.org; stop by 201 S. College St., Ste. 110, Charlotte, NC 28244; or purchase at the door. For tickets at a group discount, please contact Group Sales Manager Joan Foley at 704-972-2003 x 233 or joanf@charlottesymphony.org.

UBS is the 75th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee Season sponsor. UBS is also the 2006-07 Classics series sponsor. WDAV 89.9 FM Classical Public Radio is the 2006-07 Classics series radio sponsor. WMYT 12 is the 2006-07 Classics series television sponsor. Lake Norman Infiniti is a 2006-07 Classics series additional sponsor.

About Christof Perick

Christof Perick begins his sixth season as Music Director of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in 2006-07. In his first five seasons in Charlotte, he has expanded the Orchestra's literature to include many previously unperformed masterworks and has brought particular attention to the Neighborhood Concerts series. Since 2006, Maestro Perick has served as Music Director of the Nuernberg Philharmonic and State Opera in his home country of Germany. Perick has also served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Dresden Semper Opera, one of Europe's most renowned opera houses since 1992 and as Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra from 1992 to 1995.

He held the position of Music Director of the Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester and Staatsoper in Hanover, Germany until 1996 where he recently returned to lead Wagner's complete Ring Cycle. In Karlsruhe, he was Music Director of the Badische Staatskapelle and Staatsoper for ten seasons from 1977 to 1986. He also led the Staatsoper in Saarbrücken, Germany from 1974 to 1977. In Europe, he has guest conducted many leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic and returns regularly to conduct the Orchestre National de France in Paris and the Orchestre National de Lyon.

He has conducted often and has been a principal guest conductor of the Vienna and Berlin State Operas, as well as the Hamburg Staatsoper. He also conducts frequently at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. In recent seasons, he has led Dresden productions of Strauss' Die schweigsame Frau, Salome, and Capriccio; Wagner's Parsifal, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Der fliegende Holländer, Die Meistersinger, and Tristan und Isolde; and Beethoven's Fidelio. In addition to having served as Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Perick has guest conducted many of the USA's leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic; Los Angeles Philharmonic; the orchestras of Boston, San Francisco, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Detroit, Seattle, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee; and The National Symphony, among others.

Summer festivals have included Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival and Chicago's Grant Park Music Festival. In Canada, he has led the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Toronto Symphony, and Calgary Philharmonic. With American opera companies, Perick has led many productions at New York's Metropolitan Opera for ten consecutive seasons including Fidelio, Tannhäuser, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Hänsel und Gretel, and Die Meistersinger. He has also conducted productions at the Lyric Opera of Chicago including Der fliegende Holländer and Parsifal, productions of Der fliegende Holländer at the San Francisco Opera, Così fan tutte and Ariadne auf Naxos at the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, and Fidelio and The Magic Flute at the San Diego Opera. Perick is an advocate and mentor for young musicians and has been very involved with music education and young artist development. He was closely associated with Germany's National Youth Orchestra for many years and conducted the first United States tour of the Bundesjugendorchester.

He has also guest conducted at the Music Academy of the West Festival in California. Perick's recent guest engagements include appearances with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood; the Vancouver, Pacific, and Columbus Symphonies; a pair of subscription concerts with the Stuttgart Philharmonic; productions of Parsifal and Der Freischütz at Munich's Bayerische Staatsoper; and Parsifal at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Perick resides near the Black Forest in Karlsruhe, Germany with his wife Ulrike, a professional actress, and their two dogs. In his time off the podium, he enjoys swimming and literature.

About Viviane Hagner, Violin

Born in Munich, violinist Viviane Hagner has won exceptional praise for her highly intelligent musicality and passionate artistry. The Washington Post has written that Hagner performs "a spine-chilling recital, an almost hauntingly masterful display of technique and artistry."

Since making her international debut at age twelve, and a year later participating in the legendary joint concert of the Israel and Berlin Philharmonics, Hagner has acquired a depth and maturity in her playing reflected in her serene stage presence. She has appeared with the world's great orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Czech Philharmonic, and the Bavarian State Orchestra.

Hagner's 2006-2007 season showcases her as soloist, chamber musician, and recitalist. She returns to the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa for two engagements. In July she performed Bach, Mozart, and Brahms with co-soloist and conductor Pinchas Zukerman; later in the season, she played Brahms' Violin Concerto under the leadership of Robert Minzcuk. Hagner appeared at the Utah Symphony's Abravanel Hall in Brahms's Double Concerto with cellist Daniel Muller-Schott under Music Director Keith Lockhart. Hagner reprises the Brahms Violin Concerto at Tampa's Florida Orchestra under Stefan Sanderling and with the Charlotte Symphony with Christof Perick conducting. Hagner will also participate in the Making Music Series at Carnegie's Zankel Hall performing Sofia Gubaidulina's Rejoice! Sonata for Violin and Cello.

Recent concerts have included performances of Brahms' Double Concerto with Yo-Yo Ma and Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with Pinchas Zukerman and the Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Dallas Symphony Orchestras, as well as recitals in New York, Washington, and Boston. Hagner appeared with WDR Köln, the Tokyo NHK and BBC symphony orchestras, and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.

A committed chamber musician, Hagner has played at renowned American and international festivals, including the Schleswig-Holstein, Salzburg Easter, Marlboro, Ravinia, and Santa Fe festivals. She appeared recently at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw alongside pianist Markus Groh, and last season's recital tour included visits to Barcelona and Tokyo.

As well as bringing insight and virtuosity to the core concerto repertoire, Hagner is an ardent advocate of new, neglected, and undiscovered music. Composers whose work she champions include Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Karl Goldmark, and Krzysztof Penderecki. In 2002, she gave the world premiere of Unsuk Chin's Violin Concerto with the Deutsche Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin under Kent Nagano, later playing the work in the United States--an event that prompted the San Francisco Chronicle to rave that her performance was "vibrant, warm-toned and jaw-droppingly precise [and] may well be unimprovable." After her 2006 premiere of Simon Holt's new Violin Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra led by Jonathan Nott, The Sunday Times critic wrote that she "caught the music's soul." Her debut recital album for EMI Classics features works by Beethoven, Saint-Saëns, and Schubert. Her next disc of works by Bartok, Hartmann, and Bach on Altara records comes out this fall.

Viviane Hagner plays the Sasserno Stradivarius built in 1717, generously loaned to her by the Nippon Music Foundation. In 2004, she was a winner of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.

By www.charlottesymphony.org