Skip to page content
  • WDCH
  • LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC GIVES ITS FIRST PERFORMANCE OF JONGEN'S SYMPHONIE CONCERTANTE WITH GUEST CONDUCTOR EDO DE WAART AND ORGAN SOLOIST CHERRY RHODES
  • Apr. 22, 2005
  • Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet Performs Ravel's Piano Concerto in G

    FRIDAY, APRIL 22, and SATURDAY, APRIL 23, AT 8 PM; SUNDAY, APRIL 24, AT 2 PM

    April 22 sponsored by The Four Seasons Hotel; April 23 sponsored by Acura;
    Media support provided by K-Mozart 105.1 FM; Additional Media support for April 24 provided by KCET

    For the first time, the Los Angeles Philharmonic performs Joseph Jongen's Symphonie concertante for Organ and Orchestra, Op. 81, on April 22 and 23, at 8 PM, and April 24, at 2 PM. Conductor Edo de Waart (pictured) makes his Walt Disney Concert Hall debut with organ soloist Cherry Rhodes to perform Jongen's work on the 6,134-pipe organ. The program also features Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 and piano soloist Jean-Yves Thibaudet performing Ravel's Piano Concerto in G.

    Jongen's Symphonie concertante is one of the works for organ the Los Angeles Philharmonic programmed to celebrate the inauguration of the Walt Disney Concert Hall organ. Commissioned in 1926 by the Philadelphia department store owner Rodman Wanamaker, Symphonie concertante was intended for the inauguration of the restored Wanamaker Organ, an instrument of 1,670 pipes built for his department store. Unfortunately, he passed away before the premier of the work in 1928.

    Designed by Frank Gehry and Manuel Rosales of Rosales Organ Builders, the Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ contains pipes ranging in size from a pencil to a telephone pole, and is voiced with a wide dynamic range from pianississimo to a breathtaking fortissimo. The specially curved wood façade pipes were built and installed by Glatter-Götz Orgelbau of solid, vertical grain Douglas fir and consist of the Violone and Bassoon basses. Behind the facade are three levels of pipes, including metal pipes made of tin and lead alloys and wood pipes made of Norwegian pine.

    EDO DE WAART is the Chief Conductor of the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland, a post he has held since 1989, and recently became Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. De Waart was previously Artistic Director of the Netherlands Radio and Television Music Center, and he held the post of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Sydney Symphony from 1993 through 2003. He has held directorships of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and the Minnesota Orchestra. Future plans with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland include tour to Europe and numerous radio and TV projects. De Waart also appears regularly as a guest conductor with all of the leading symphony orchestras in Europe and the United States. In addition to his orchestral work, de Waart has enjoyed success in a large and varied repertoire in many of the world's great opera houses. Recent productions include Makropolous Affair, Madame Butterfly, Fidelio, Peter Grimes, Parsifal, The Trojans, Werther, Salome, Lohengrin, Der Rosenkavalier, and Jenufa with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland, Boris Godunov for Geneva Opera, a new production of Der Rosenkavalier for Opera de Bastille, The Magic Flute and Figaro for the Metropolitan Opera, and Figaro for the Salzburg Festival. Edo de Waart's recording catalog encompasses recordings with the Royal Concertgebouw, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland, Sydney Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and London Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the Netherlands Wind Ensemble.

    An acknowledged master pianist, JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET is in demand worldwide for his elegant playing and poetically strong interpretations. His extensive vocabulary of luminous colors and passionate sound, referred to as the "Thibaudet style," has helped him to forge an international career in both the performance and recording arenas. A versatile and sophisticated musician, he is sought-after by the world's foremost conductors, orchestras and music festivals. Thibaudet is equally at home with chamber music and recitals as well with orchestral repertoire. He currently performs and records with such artists as Cecilia Bartoli, Renée Fleming, Angelika Kirchschlager, Yuri Bashmet, and the Rossetti String Quartet. Thibaudet has recorded exclusively with Decca since 1989. In the fall of 2001 he released a CD of the Mendelssohn Piano Concerti with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and conductor Herbert Blomstedt. Thibaudet's talent has also been recognized outside of the traditional concert stage. He has an onscreen cameo in the Bruce Beresford feature film on Alma Mahler entitled Bride of the Wind, (released June 2001) and his playing is showcased throughout the movie soundtrack. His playing can also be heard in the soundtrack of the feature film Portrait of a Lady for which he played two Schubert Impromptus (1997).

    CHERRY RHODES has appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chamber Orchestra of the French National Radio, and the South German Radio Orchestra. She performed the inaugural recital of the new organ at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and has presented solo recitals at London's Royal Festival Hall, Lincoln Center, the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, and at international organ festivals in Bratislava and Presov (Czechoslovakia), Freiburg, Munich, Nurnberg, Paris, St. Albans, Luxembourg, Poland, and Vienna. Rhodes has been featured on recordings with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting, and on the CDs Everyone Dance (Pro Organo, 1995), Pipedreams Live! (Minnesota Public Radio, 1993), and Historic Organs of Boston (Organ Historical Society). Rhodes graduated from Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music and studied in Munich and Paris as a recipient of Fulbright and Rockefeller grants. In 1966 she became the first American to win an international organ competition, awarded in Munich. She made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age 17. Rhodes is Adjunct Professor of Organ at the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music, and has served on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    FRIDAY, APRIL 22, AT 8 PM

    SATURDAY, APRIL 23, AT 8 PM

    SUNDAY, APRIL 24, AT 2 PM

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

    Los Angeles Philharmonic

    Edo de Waart, conductor

    Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

    Cherry Rhodes, organ

    BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 1

    RAVEL Piano Concerto in G

    JONGEN Symphonie concertante for Organ and Orchestra, Op. 81

    April 22 sponsored by The Four Seasons Hotel; April 23 sponsored by Acura;
    Media support provided by K-Mozart 105.1 FM; Additional Media support for April 24 provided by KCET

    Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place one hour prior to each concert in BP Hall at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and are free to all ticket holders. Professor Music at U.C. Riverside and Composer Byron Adams hosts Upbeat Live for April 22, 23, and 24 concert series.

    Tickets ($15 - $125) 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.

    # # #

  • Contact:

    Adam Crane, 213.972. 3422; photos: 213.972.3034