Turkish Pianist Extraordinaire
Hüseyin Sermet Closes HKPO 2011/12 Season
With Ravel’s Two Piano Concertos (6 & 7 July)

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[16 June 2012 – Hong Kong]In December 2010, Turkish pianist extraordinaireHüseyin Sermetrounded off Istanbul’s year as European City of Culture. This year he brings his unique blend of the exotic and the exciting to the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPO) stage to round off our concert season in a Finale which includes Ravel’s Piano Concertos in G and for the Left Hand. Conducted by Lawrence Foster , the Swire Maestro: “Enigmas” concerts will be held at 8pm, 6 & 7 July 2012 (Fri & Sat) in Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Rest of the Finale programme will include Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn and Elgar’s Variations on an Original Theme Enigma.

Audience will have a chance to find out more from conductor Foster in a Post-Concert Chat on 6 July. Audiences with tickets (either Fri or Sat) are welcome to stay and join. Free Pre-concert Talks, Swire Classic Insights, will be given at 7:15pm on both evenings, also at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

Tickets, priced at $320, $240, $180 and $120, are available at URBTIX. Programme Enquiries: 2721 2030.

Hüseyin Sermet, piano

“Most impressive was Sermet’s delicacy and his remarkable ability to terrace his tone to elucidate textures”

--– International Piano

Pianist, composer, and pedagogue, Turkish-born Hüseyin Sermet is an artist at the peak of his powers; his extensive repertoire, refined over the course of a distinguished thirty-year career, reflects his wide ranging musical interests and pianistic versatility.

He has performed and recorded with some of the world’s finest musicians, including Lorin Maazel, Mstislav Rostropovich, Semyon Bychkov, Antal Dorati, Jonathan Nott and David Robertson; and has worked with orchestras such as the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Orchestre de Paris, Bamberger Symphoniker, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony, Shanghai Symphony, Detroit Symphony and Royal Philharmonic orchestras.

In December 2010, Sermet participated in the closing classical music event of the 2010 Istanbul European Capital of Culture with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski at the Is Sanat Concert Hall in Istanbul. He has been bestowed the title of State Artist by the Turkish Government.

Lawrence Foster, conductor

“It was, however, a real pleasure to hear the score so lovingly conducted by Foster, who drew warm French colors from the Orchestra.”

--– Opera News USA

Lawrence Foster holds the positions of Music Director of Orchestre et Opéra National de Montpellier and Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra. He brought the Gulbenkian Orchestra to the Kissinger Sommer Festival for two concerts in June 2010, and will also take them to the Enescu Festival in Bucharest in September 2011. They have made a number of recordings for PentaTone Classics which include Salieri’s Requiem combined with Beethoven's Meerestille und gluckliche Fahrt and a CD of Hungarian music featuring works by Bartók, Kodály and Ligeti.

Orchestral highlights of Maestro Foster include appearances with NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Gewandhausorchester (with Lisa Batiashvili as soloist), Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, and Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. He also conducted both Chopin Piano Concertos with Daniel Barenboim as soloist with both the Gulbenkian Orchestra and Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo. He has a long-standing relationship with Radu Lupu; they performed all of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos together with Orchestre National de Lyon last season, and this season they will collaborate with Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. 

Born in 1941 in Los Angeles to Romanian parents, Lawrence Foster has been a major champion of the music of Georg Enescu, serving as Artistic Director of the Georg Enescu Festival from 1998 to 2001. In January 2003 he was decorated by the Romanian President for services to Romanian Music.

Programme
Turkish pianist extraordinaire, Hüseyin Sermet, rounded off Istanbul’s year as European City of Culture in December 2010. This year he brings his unique blend of the exotic and the exciting to Hong Kong to round off our concert season in a Finale which is sure to satisfy even the most enquiring of minds.

Brahms thought his delightful set of variations for orchestra was based on a tune by Haydn, while Elgar refused to tell anyone who wrote the theme that inspired his famous work – hence the Enigma of the title. For his part, Ravel wrote two piano concertos but only one where the pianist uses both hands. 

Puzzled? Popular American English conductor Lawrence Foster has all the answers at the tip of his baton.

Swire Maestro: Enigmas
6&7 | 7| 2012
FRI & SAT 8 PM
HK Cultural Centre Concert Hall
HK$320 $240 $180 $120
Available at URBTIX now

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Ticketing Information

Credit Card Booking
(852) 2111 5999
Online Booking
www.urbtix.hk

For programme enquiry, please call HKPO at
(852) 2721 2030

HONG KONG PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPO) is one of Asia’s leading orchestras. Enriching Hong Kong’s cultural life for over a century, the Orchestra has grown into a formidable ensemble of Chinese and international talents, attracting world-class artists to collaborate on its stage. The HKPO annually touches the lives of over 200,000 music lovers through more than 150 performances. Under the leadership of Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Edo de Waart, the HKPO has scaled new heights of musical excellence, and will continue to do so under the artistic leadership of Jaap van Zweden, the Orchestra’s Music Director from the 2012/13 season.

The HKPO stays in tune with our city by presenting the Orchestra in unexpected venues and bringing the excitement of the concert experience to every home through radio and television broadcasts including the largest symphonic event of the year, Swire Symphony under the Stars, at Happy Valley. The Orchestra runs a comprehensive schools education programme, HSBC Insurance Creative Notes, bringing the joy of classical music to primary, secondary and special school kids. The Orchestra also collaborates regularly with other performing arts organisations such as Opera Hong Kong in addition to its crossover series with Western and Chinese pop artists.

The Orchestra also builds its reputation and raises its artistic standards by touring. In September 2010, de Waart and the HKPO returned to China, performing at the Expo 2010 Shanghai, Xi’an and Beijing to critical acclaim.

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

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