Jaap van Zweden and Storioni Trio: Sunny Beethoven - Epic Shostakovich

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[27 March 2017, Hong Kong] The opportunity to experience Beethoven’s “Triple Concerto” is very rare because it requires three equally outstanding soloists. But in the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s (HK Phil) Sunny Beethoven - Epic Shostakovich concert on 26 & 27 April 2017 in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, we are joined by three such players, the Storioni Trio. Maestro Jaap van Zweden also leads one of Shostakovich’s most tumultuous works, composed in the midst of World War II.

The Storioni Trio take their name from their historic instruments. Wouter Vossen plays on a violin made in 1794 in Cremona by Laurentius Storioni, while Marc Vossen plays on a cello made in Milan in 1700 by Giovanni Grancino. The third member of the trio is pianist Bart van de Roer, and together they have been described by Gramophone as ‘a close-knit, animated ensemble in sound and interpretative intent’. These are qualities they famously bring to their performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, a work which calls for a genuine trio of equals with no one player dominating the others.

Working as an auxiliary fireman in Leningrad during the German siege of the city in 1942, Shostakovich saw at first hand the horrors of a war-time siege. He recalled some of the more powerful and moving scenes he witnessed in his mighty Symphony no.8, but mostly he wanted the music to be optimistic; to “look into the future, into the post-war epoch. All that is dark and ignominious will disappear. All that is beautiful will triumph”. Experience the triumphs and tragedies of this epic symphony directed by Maestro Jaap van Zweden.

Sunny Beethoven - Epic Shostakovich is sponsored by The Macallan.

Classics: The Macallan Bravo Series: Sunny Beethoven - Epic Shostakovichwill be held on 26 & 27 April (Wed & Thu) at 8PMin the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Ticket prices: HK$680, $480, $380, $280 are now available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit www.hkphil.org

Artists
Jaap van Zweden, conductor [full biography]
Jaap van Zweden has risen rapidly in the past decade to become one of today’s most distinguished conductors. Starting with the 2018/19 season, he will be the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. Currently, he is Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra since 2008, and has been Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra since 2012. Van Zweden was named Musical America's 2012 Conductor of the Year. Born in Amsterdam, Jaap van Zweden was the youngest ever concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He began his conducting career in 1995.

Storioni Trio [full biography]
Leading expert in the triple concerto repertoire, the Storioni Trio offers works for piano trio, ranging from the Classical to the Contemporary, from Haydn to Henze. They recently performed Beethoven’s complete piano trios in Switzerland and the Netherlands, on period and modern instruments. The recording of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto on period instruments with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra (Jan Willem de Vriend) received international critical acclaim. It was an “Editor’s Choice” in the 2013 edition of Gramophone and Recording of the week on BBC Radio 3.

CLASSICS: THE MACALLAN BRAVO SERIES:
SUNNY BEETHOVEN - EPIC SHOSTAKOVICH
26 & 27 | 4 | 2017
WED & THU 8PM
Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
HK$680 $480 $380 $280
Tickets are now available at URBTIX
For ages 6 and above

Artist

Jaap van Zweden Photo Credit: Cheung Chi Wai/HK Phil	Storioni Trio Photo Credit: Merlijn Doomernik	Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Photo Credit: Cheung Wai Lok/HK Phil

Programme

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. The Orchestra presents more than 150 concerts over a 44-week season and 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 at least 2022. In addition, Maestro van Zweden will also be the next Music Director of the New York Philharmonic starting with the 2018/19 season.

Yu Long was appointed for an initial three-year term in the 2015/16 season as Principal Guest Conductor.

Under Maestro van Zweden, the HK Phil is undertaking a variety of initiatives including a four-year project to perform and record the complete Ring of the Nibelung (Richard Wagner). The Orchestra is in the third of this four-year journey, performing one opera annually in concert. The performances being recorded live for the Naxos label are winning rave reviews internationally; and mark the first performances by a Hong Kong or mainland Chinese orchestra of the entire Ring cycle.

Also under van Zweden, the orchestra has toured to Taiwan, Europe and Mainland China. The orchestra will undertake an ambitious five-city tour to Seoul, Osaka, Singapore, Melbourne and Sydney in April and May 2017 in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR.

Conductors and soloists who have recently performed with the orchestra include Yo-Yo Ma, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Ning Feng, Matthias Goerne, Lang Lang, Yu Long, Yundi Li, the late Lorin Maazel, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Yuja Wang.

The HK Phil promotes the work of Hong Kong and Chinese composers through an active commissioning programme, and has released recordings featuring Tan Dun and Bright Sheng, each conducting their own compositions, on the Naxos label. Its acclaimed community engagement programme brings music to tens of thousands of children annually. A recording was issued free to schoolchildren throughout Hong Kong of Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Leopold Mozart’s Toy Symphony.

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 also 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 and other supporters, the HK Phil now boasts a full-time annual schedule of classical music concerts, pops concerts, an extensive education programme, and collaborations for staged opera with Opera Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

The Orchestra celebrated its 40th season as a professional orchestra in 2013/14.


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