Baroque Variations Series Program Features Works by Bach, Mozart, and Respighi

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16 AT 8 PM

The Baroque Variations series is supported by a generous grant from the Michael J. Connell Foundation.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association presents the second of five Baroque Variations concerts during its 2004/2005 season with a performance by renowned baritone Thomas Quasthoff and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra conducted by Jeffrey Kahane at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Tuesday, November 16
at 8 p.m. The program features works by Bach, Mozart, and Respighi.

Quasthoff, who is a Los Angeles Philharmonic On Location resident artist during the 2004/2005 season, performs two of the Bach pieces at this concert, as well as both of the Mozart arias. Kahane performs as soloist and conductor in Bach's Concerto in G Minor, BWV 1058. The On Location residency also includes his appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and a jazz performance at REDCAT.

The Baroque Variations series, which made its debut during the Philharmonic's 2003/2004 season, continues to offer presentations of Baroque music on both period and modern instruments, performed by some of the world's most admired ensembles and soloists in a four-concert series. This year, a non-subscription concert has also been added to allow a broader audience to hear this important repertoire.

Performing the third concert in the Baroque Variations series on January 16, 2005, is violinist Christian Tetzlaff, who presents four of Bach's unaccompanied violin works. The fourth concert, on April 13, 2005, features Il Giardino Armonico from Milan, led by Giovanni Antonini. Nicholas McGegan leads the famed Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra with soprano Lisa Saffer on February 25, 2005, as a non-subscription performance.

The LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (LACO), founded in 1968, has acquired a reputation as one of the top ten ensembles of its kind in the world. Acclaimed for its virtuosic music-making and dynamic programming, the orchestra performs repertoire ranging from Baroque masterpieces to newly commissioned works. Led by Music Director JEFFREY KAHANE, the Orchestra enjoyed standing ovations at sold-out performances at Carnegie Hall on a recent East Coast tour. Kahane is the fifth music director of the Orchestra, following distinguished conductors Sir Neville Marriner, Gerard Schwarz, Iona Brown and Christof Perick. Since joining the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in 1997, Mr. Kahane has received much recognition for his innovative programming and community involvement. The Orchestra maintains its local presence with an annual home season at two historic theaters, the Alex in Glendale and UCLA's Royce Hall, and additional concerts at Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in downtown Los Angeles. Acclaimed for introducing up-and-coming young talent to Los Angeles first (violinists Hilary Hahn and Baiba Skride and pianists Lang Lang and Simon Trpceski all made their Los Angeles debuts with LACO under the baton of Jeffrey Kahane), LACO opens its 36th season in October 2004.

German bass-baritone THOMAS QUASTHOFF is recognized as one of the most remarkable singers performing today. Since making his US debut at the Oregon Bach Festival with Helmuth Rilling, he has sung with the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Boston and at Carnegie Hall, the Chicago Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony under the batons of Daniel Barenboim, Colin Davis, Mariss Jansons, Kurt Masur, Seiji Ozawa and Franz Welser-Möst. In recital, he has performed at Lincoln Center and The Kennedy Center, on the major recital series in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Toronto and Atlanta and made appearances at the Ravinia, Tanglewood, and Mostly Mozart festivals and the Hollywood Bowl. In Europe, Mr. Quasthoff regularly appears with the most distinguished orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and London Symphony Orchestra under such eminent conductors as Sir Simon Rattle, Claudio Abbado, Bernard Haitink, and Daniel Barenboim. His impressive discography includes recordings for BMG, Haenssler, EMI-Electrola, Philips, and the Bayer labels. In June, 1999 he signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. His first recording for DG, Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Anne Sofie von Otter and the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Claudio Abbado, received the 1999 Grammy Award for best vocal performance; his Winterreise received a Grammy nomination in the same category. In February 2004, Quasthoff won a second Grammy for his recording of orchestrated songs by Schubert with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Claudio Abbado A dedicated teacher and advocate for young vocalists, Quasthoff was a professor at the Music Academy in Detmold, Germany from 1996-2004. Beginning in October, 2004 he will become a Professor of Vocal Music at the Hanns Eisler School for Music in Berlin.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2004, 8 PM

Walt Disney Concert Hall

111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

JEFFREY KAHANE, conductor and piano

THOMAS QUASTHOFF, baritone

BACH Keyboard Concerto in G Minor, BWV 1058

BACH "Mache dich, mein Herze, rein" from St. Matthew Passion

BACH Cantata No. 82, Ich habe genug

MOZART "Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo" K. 584

MOZART "Non più andrai" (from The Marriage of Figaro)

RESPIGHI The Birds

The Baroque Variations series is supported by a generous grant from the Michael J. Connell Foundation.

Tickets ($15 - $78) are on sale now at the Walt Disney Concert Hall box office, online at LAPhil.com, or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000. When available, choral bench seats ($15), will be released for sale to selected Philharmonic, Colburn Celebrity Recital, and Baroque Variations performances beginning at noon on the Tuesday of the second week prior to the concert. A limited number of $10 rush tickets for seniors and full time students may be available at the Walt Disney Concert Hall box office two hours prior to the performance. Valid identification is required; one ticket per person; cash only. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for special discounts for selected concerts and seating areas. For all information, please call 323.850.2000.

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REMAINING CONCERTS IN THE BAROQUE VARIATIONS SERIES

SUNDAY, JANUARY 16, 2005, 7:30 PM

Walt Disney Concert Hall

111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF, violin

BACH Two Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2005, 8 PM

Walt Disney Concert Hall

111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA

NICHOLAS McGEGAN, conductor

LISA SAFFER, soprano

RAMEAU Orchestral Suite from Les Paladins

HANDEL Arias

HANDEL Suite in F major, Water Music

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2005, 8 PM

Walt Disney Concert Hall

111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

IL GIARDINO ARMONICO

GIOVANNI ANTONINI, artistic director

SCHEIDT Canzon a 5 sopra la Bergamasca [Hamburg, 1621]; Battaglia a 5

ZIANI Sonata in G Minor For Two Violins, Two Violas and Basso continuo

JOHANN ROSENMÜLLER Sonata XI For Two Violins, Two Violas and Basso continuo

VIVALDI Concerto in C Minor Rv 441 For Flute, Strings and Basso continuo

MANCINI Concerto in E Minor For Flute, 2 Solo Violins, 2 "Ripieno" Violins and Basso continuo

VIVALDI Concerto in F Major Rv 551 For 3 Violins, Viola And Basso continuo

FIORENZA Concerto For Flute, 3 Violins, Viola and Basso continuo