Maestro Peter Oundjian returns to his second "home" in January as he leads the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in a special performance of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7, a tribute to the spirit of the composer's hometown of Leningrad. Joining the DSO's Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor is violinist James Ehnes who will be performing Barber's popular Violin Concerto.
The concerts take place in Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center on Thursday, January 10 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, January 12 at 8:30 p.m.; and Sunday, January 13 at 3 p.m.
The DSO's 2007-08 season is the first created in consultation with Peter Oundjian. He will lead a total of four weeks of concerts in Orchestra Hall while continuing to make regular visits to Detroit to help direct the Orchestra on artistic issues. He is also Artistic Director of the DSO's acclaimed 8 Days in June, a unique festival launched this past summer that challenges traditional ideas about classical music and the role of symphony orchestras today. Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since the 2004-05 season, Oundjian is a major presence in the orchestral world. His probing musicality, collaborative spirit and engaging personality have earned him accolades and continuing relationships with many international ensembles, including the Tonhalle in Zurich, Radio Philharmonique in Paris and the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, St. Louis and Houston symphonies. He is also Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor of the Caramoor International Music Festival in New York. For three years, through 2005-06, he served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Colorado Symphony. His team orientation and unique vision for the orchestra of the 21st century make him a perfect addition to the DSO leadership team.
Violinist James Ehnes performs Barber's raucous Violin Concerto for these concerts. A native of Canada, he began his violin studies at the age of 4. The 1997 graduate from the Juilliard School won numerous competitions in Canada as a teen, and in 2001, he won the Juno Award for Best Classical Album. In January 2002, Ehnes was named Young Artist of the Year at the Cannes Classical Awards in Cannes, France. In 2005, he received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant given to outstanding solo instrumentalists. He is one of the most prolific recording artists in any style of music with a total 17 recordings in 2006. Ehnes plays on the 1715 "Ex Marsick Stradivarius" which belongs to the Fulton Collection.
In 1939, Philadelphia industrialist Samuel Fels commissioned American composer Samuel Barber to write the Violin Concerto for Fels' adopted son, Iso Briselli, who had graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1934, the same year as Barber. Fels was quite pleased with the first two movements but thought the third movement was inferior and wanted the advance on the commission returned. Barber refused, and Briselli did not premier the piece. Its official premiere was by Albert Spalding with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1941. This beautiful, lyrical, fastidiously orchestrated concerto has become one of the most frequently performed of all 20th century concertos.
Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich had a complex and tortured relationship with the Soviet government that spanned his career. He was officially denounced twice but also received numerous accolades from the government. Written in 1941, his Symphony No. 7 was dedicated to the city of Leningrad, under siege by the Germans at the time, and was seen as a symbol of resistance and defiance to Nazi totalitarianism and militarism. During World War II, No. 7 was very popular in the West and Soviet Union. After the war, the symphony was viewed as bombastic Soviet propaganda but has since regained its popularity. Current scholars also view the piece as a depiction of totalitarianism and fascism in general and, more specifically, the brutality of Stalin's regime. -- www.detroitsymphony.com
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