OSL to Welcome Conductor Harry Bicket and Pianist Stephen Hough Next Month

Of OSL's first Carnegie Hall Orchestra Series concert this season, The New York Times wrote, "... this is an ensemble to watch ... the orchestra is brimming with enthusiasm." For its second series concert in January, OSL welcomes British conductor Harry Bicket and British pianist Stephen Hough for a program including Dvorák's beautiful, rarely performed Piano Concerto in G minor, Haydn's Symphony No. 104 "London," and Wagner's intimate Siegfried Idyll. This will be Bicket's first appearance with OSL, and Hough's first time joining the orchestra since 1986.

Regarded especially as a brilliant interpreter of the Classical repertoire, Bicket will lead OSL in Haydn's last symphony, "London." All 12 of the symphonies Haydn wrote for performance in London in the early 1790s, including this final one, were exceptionally well-received among audiences and critics. The music was immediately accessible, yet Haydn pushed the boundaries of symphonic structure. Hints of Slavonic folk tunes and popular London street songs would have been apparent to the audience of the day, and the energy and drive of the finale make it the perfect capstone to his symphonic output.

Dvo?ák's Piano Concerto in G minor was written early in his career and was his first large-scale work for orchestra and solo instrument. It rejects the flashy virtuosity common of Romantic concertos, instead fusing the soloist and orchestra more symphonically. The concerto has both the dance-like qualities and lyricism that Dvo?ák became known for further along in his career-however, its awkward piano writing made it difficult to find a publisher and willing soloists. In the 20th century, a revised solo part by Czech pianist Vilem Kurz brought the concerto into the repertoire. The revision remained popular for many years, but eventually pianists made the case for Dvo?ák's original score, which Hough will perform on this concert.

Hough is known as a Renaissance man of his time, securing a reputation not only as a uniquely insightful concert pianist, but also as a writer and composer. He performed the Dvo?ák Piano Concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in September of this year, and the Sydney Morning Herald review stated, "Dvo?ák's Piano Concerto has always been a wallflower ... In Stephen Hough it may have found its ideal champion. He brought disciplined tempos that clarified and strengthened the sense of form, architectural balance and gravitas, and the brilliant precision of his playing brought vividness and excitement ..."

"The Dvo?ák concerto is the ultimate lyric concerto, anti-virtuosic and deeply soulful-yet impossibly awkward to play," says Hough. "This concerto for ten thumbs is actually one of my favorites. It has a rare tenderness and human warmth which, when discovered, never loses its power."

The program opens with Wagner's most tender and intimate work. Siegfried Idyll was composed as a 33rd birthday gift for Wagner's wife, Cosima, right after their son, Siegfried, was born. It was first performed privately in the Wagner home to celebrate Cosima's birthday on Christmas Day, with the musicians lining the staircase that led to the bedroom and playing as a gentle wake-up call. Siegfried Idyll was never intended for public performance, but Wagner's financial trouble eventually forced him to sell the score. This heartfelt work for chamber orchestra will beautifully showcase many of OSL's principal musicians, often noted for their chamber music sensibility.

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