The Opera World’s Premiere Ensemble La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra Debuts at the Kimmel Center with Conductor Riccardo Chailly and Tenor Ben Heppner Kicking Off ARC Wheeler’s Great Orchestras on Tour Series October 12
September 25, 2007
Ben Heppner
"Perfectly balanced orchestral sound... This was pure joy." — MusicWeb Live
The opera world's premiere orchestra stops in Philadelphia on its first U.S. tour in over 50 years, featuring two of its most celebrated collaborators, Riccardo Chailly and Ben Heppner, opera's reigning Wagnerian tenor. La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra makes their Kimmel Center debut on Friday, October 12, 2007 at 8pm in Verizon Hall. Internationally noted as a "first quality ensemble, agile and flexible, with a surprising compact expression" (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich), the Orchestra deepened its international success under the baton of Principal Conductor (and former Philadelphia orchestra Music Director) Riccardo Muti in 1987, who led the orchestra through a series of interpretative changes. The program includes opera selections from Wagner’s Lohengrin, Die Wesenkonk Lieder and Die Walküre; Nino Rota’s Ballet Suite from Federico Fellini’s film La Strada; and Respighi’s The Pines of Rome.
This concert is the first in the Great Orchestras on Tour series part of the Kimmel Center Presents 2007-2008 Season Sponsored by Citi. The next concert in the series will be Kirov Orchestra with Conductor Valery Gergiev on Friday, November 30, 2007 at 8pm.
Tickets for La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra are $33, $59, $67, $82, $100 and $115 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-790-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2.5 hours prior to curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra debuted on January 25, 1982 under the baton of its founder Claudio Abbado. From 1987 to 2005, Riccardo Muti was principal conductor and contributed significantly to the international success achieved in recent years. In 2006, the Orchestra began new collaborations with Myung-Whun Chung, Daniele Gatti and Riccardo Chailly. Most recently, the Orchestra played in Lugano under Daniel Barenboim (2007), and debuts in the United States and Canada under Riccardo Chailly this year. The Orchestra has performed at the Wiener Festwochen in Vienna, at the Salzburg Festival, at the Lucerne Festival, and also gave performances all over Europe and Asia. In 2006, tours included Istanbul, Belgrade and Budapest under the baton of Daniele Gatti; Warsaw, Moscow and Berlin with Myung-Whun Chung; and England and Ireland with Riccardo Chailly.
The Orchestra is dedicated to performing contemporary works and each year commissions a new piece of music by a major international composer. Recordings include Beethoven’s Symphonies with Carlo Maria Giulini, Rossini’s Cantate with Riccardo Chailly and the entire Symphonic works of Beethoven conducted by Riccardo Muti at La Scala in 1998.
Riccardo Chailly devotes himself to both concert and operatic repertoire. The native of Milan has conducted the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, among others. He has appeared at the most important opera houses throughout the world including Milan’s La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and the Zürich Opera. He opened the Salzburg Festival in 1984 and appeared as guest conductor at Salzburg’s Easter Festival and at the Lucerne Festival.
Riccardo Chailly was Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1983 to 1986 and Chief Conductor of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1982 to 1989. From 1986 to 1993 he was Music Director of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, where he conducted numerous opera productions with resounding success. Since his appointment as Chief Conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra (1988 to 2004), he has also devoted himself increasingly to symphonic repertoire. In addition to his position in Amsterdam, Riccardo Chailly accepted an appointment as Music Director of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi in 1999. Under its new Music Director, this municipal orchestra, founded by citizens of Milan, has become an internationally acclaimed ensemble that has since made recordings. Mr. Chailly left the Orchestra in 2005.
Recognized world-wide as the finest dramatic tenor, Ben Heppner excels in the challenging roles of Wagner’s Tristan and Lohengrin, Verdi’s Otello and Berlioz’ Aeneas. He has set new standards in his demanding repertoire with performances on the opera stage, as well as with the world’s leading orchestras in recital venues around the globe. In August 1998, Heppner sang his first performances of Tristan and Isolde for the Seattle Opera, a performance that the international press commended as "a Tristan for the new millennium." Subsequently, he sang this heroic role at the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Berlin State Opera, Salzburg Easter Festival, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and in a new Peter Sellars production for Paris Opera. He has been associated with the Wagner repertoire since 1988, when he won the first Birgit Nilsson prize, and the following year, when he sang Lohengrin with the Royal Swedish Opera and at the Bolshoi Theatre. Mr. Heppner made his Kimmel Center recital debut in March 2004 and sang with the Opera Company of Philadelphia on numerous occasions in the early stages of his career.
Kimmel Center Presents 2007/2008 season is sponsored by Citi. The Great Orchestra Series is supported by ARC Wheeler. Support for the Mellon Jazz Series comes from The Bank of New York Mellon. Support for the Mellon Jazz Series comes from The Bank of New York Mellon. Additional support is provided by the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Deloitte. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Mellon Jazz, Mellon Jazz Up Close and World & Pop. NBC-10 is a Media Partner for Kimmel Center Presents, and additional media sponsors include: WDAS, WRTI, WJJZ, Afro-Pop, WXPN’s Kids Corner 20th Anniversary.
The Kimmel Center also receives support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The William Penn Foundation, The Wachovia Foundation, Verizon Foundation, PNC Foundation, The Philadelphia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and the Philadelphia Music Project and Dance Advance, Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trust administered by The University of the Arts.
Free in the Plaza programming and subsidized tickets offered to the community and social service groups for $10 are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program, supported by a generous grant from Wachovia Foundation.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS SPONSORED BY CITI:
Friday, October 12, 2007 | 8pm
Verizon Hall
Great Orchestras on Tour series
La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly, conductor
Ben Heppner, tenor
Wagner, Opera Selections
Lohengrin, Prelude Act 3
Die Wesendonk Lieder
Die Walküre, Act 1: Scene 3
Rota
La Strada: Ballet Suite
Respighi
Pines of Rome
La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra's 2007-08 tour takes place under the high patronage of the President of the Italian Republic.
FREE AT THE KIMMEL EVENTS:
Friday, October 12, 2007 | 6pm
Commonwealth Plaza
La Vita Williams Guitar Duo
The guitar duo performs a repertoire of classical music by nationalistic composers from Argentina, Spain, and Italy as well as American-Japanese influenced works.
Friday, October 12, 2007 | Post Show
Verizon Hall
Organ Postlude
Organist Diane Meredith Belcher will perform a free organ postlude following the La Scala Philharmonic ticketed performance.
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