Bravo Series: Dutoit & Lugansky (17 & 18 Nov)
A Spectacular French and Russian Musical Feast

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[24 October 2017, Hong Kong] For over 50 years Charles Dutoit has been recognised as one of the leading orchestral conductors. He has recently been awarded one of classical music’s highest honours, the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal. After a ten-year absence, the 80-year-old Swiss conductor returns to the stage of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orhcestra (HK Phil) on 17 & 18 November to present his notable interpretations of French and Russian repertoire. He is joined by Nikolai Lugansky, one of the best Rachmaninov interpreters of our time, in the epic Third Concerto.

“[Charles Dutoit’s] decades of familiarity have brought about a deep and intimate understanding of what works best.”
--- Straits Times

This colourful French and Russian musical night will start and end with French repertoire, opening with Berlioz’s extrovert and vivid Roman Carnival Overture, and closing with Ravel’s lushly atmospheric Daphnis and Chloé Suite no. 2.

Between these French works come two Russian masterpieces. The first is Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto no. 3, which the composer wrote for his American tour in 1909. The premiere with the New York Symphony Orchestra was a huge success and the piece is regarded as the pinnacle of Romantic piano concertos. The second is Stravinsky’s The Song of the Nightingale inspired by a story by Hans Christian Anderson (The Nightingale). Stravinsky first intended it to be an opera, turned it into a ballet and, in 1919, arranged it as the orchestral tone poem the HK Phil plays in this concert.   

Bravo Series: Dutoit & Lugansky will be held on 17 & 18 November 2017 (Fri & Sat), 8PM, in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced: HK$680, $480, $380, $280 are now available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit www.hkphil.org.

Free Pre-concert talks are available before both concerts, stay-tuned for more details at www.hkphil.org.

Artists
Charles Dutoit, conductor [full biography]
Recently appointed Chief Conductor and Music Advisor of the Philadelphia Orchestra as well as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Dutoit regularly collaborates with the world's pre-eminent orchestras and soloists. The maestro has been invited each season to conduct major orchestras in the US and all the great orchestras of Europe, including the Berlin Philharmonic and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw Orchestra, as well as the major orchestras of Japan, South America and Australia.

Nikolai Lugansky, piano [full biography]
Nikolai Lugansky was awarded the honour of People’s Artist of Russia in 2013. Described by Gramophone as “the most trailblazing and meteoric performer of all” Lugansky is a pianist of extraordinary depth and versatility. He regularly works with top level conductors including Charles Dutoit, and his concerto highlights for the 2017/18 season include engagements with the London and Baltimore symphony orchestras, the HK Phil and many more.

BRAVO SERIES: DUTOIT & LUGANSKY
17 & 18 | 11 | 2017
FRI & SAT 8PM
Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
HK$680 $480 $380 $280
Tickets are now available at URBTIX
For ages 6 and above

Artists

Charles Dutoit	conductor
Nikolai Lugansky	piano

Click the thumbnails to download press photos

Charles Dutoit Photo Credit: Aline Paley	Nikolai Lugansky Photo Credit: Marco Borggreve Naa¦âve-Ambroisie	Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Photo Credit: Cheung Chi Wai/HK Phil

Programme

BERLIOZ	The Roman Carnival Overture
RACHMANINOV	Piano Concerto no. 3
STRAVINSKY	The Song of the Nightingale
RAVEL	Daphnis and Chloé Suite no. 2

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Music Director: Jaap van Zweden
Principal Guest Conductor: Yu Long

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is recognised as Asia’s foremost classical orchestra. Presenting more than 150 concerts over a 44-week season, the HK Phil attracts more than 200,000 music lovers annually.

Jaap van Zweden, one of today’s most sought-after conductors, has been the orchestra’s Music Director since the 2012/13 concert season, a position he will continue to hold until 2022. Maestro van Zweden will be the next Music Director of the New York Philharmonic from the 2018/19 season.

Yu Long was appointed Principal Guest Conductor with the HK Phil for a three-year period commencing with the 2015/16 season.

Under the dynamic leadership of Music Director Jaap van Zweden, the HK Phil has attained new heights of artistic excellence, garnering international critical acclaim.

Following on from the success of the European tour which included a filmed concert from Vienna’s Musikverein, the HK Phil has toured extensively within the mainland China. In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, and with support of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices, the orchestra recently performed in Seoul, Osaka, Singapore, Melbourne and at the Sydney Opera House.

Jaap, the HK Phil, and a superb casts of soloists, have presented concert performances and recordings of the first three operas from Richard Wagner’s epic Ring cycle. These have been enthusiastically endorsed by both audiences and critics at home and abroad, and in recognition of their quality, the orchestra and Jaap have been invited to perform Wagner’s Die Walküre in staged performances at the Beijing Music Festival this October in a co-production with the Salzburg Easter Festival.

Conductors and soloists who have recently, or shortly will have, performed with the orchestra include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Matthias Goerne, Stephen Hough, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Ning Feng and Yuja Wang.

The HK Phil promotes the work of Hong Kong and Chinese composers through an active commissioning programme, and has released recordings on the Naxos label featuring Tan Dun and Bright Sheng, each conducting their own compositions. Its acclaimed education and community engagement programmes in schools, hospital and outdoor space, bring music into the hearts of tens of thousands of children and families every year.

The Swire Group has been the Principal Patron of the HK Phil since 2006. Through this sponsorship, which is the largest in the orchestra’s history, Swire endeavours to promote artistic excellence, foster access to classical music and stimulate cultural participation in Hong Kong, and to enhance Hong Kong’s reputation as one of the great cities of the world.

Thanks to a significant subsidy from the Hong Kong Government and long-term funding from Principal Patron Swire, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and other supporters, the HK Phil now boasts a full-time annual schedule of core classical repertoire and innovative popular programming, extensive education and community programmes, and collaborations with, among others, Opera Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

Originally called the Sino-British Orchestra, it was renamed the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1957 and became fully professional in 1974. The HK Phil is a charitable organisation.


The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and is Venue Partner of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
SWIRE is the Principal Patron of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.