The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra presents TCHAIKOVSKY & LISZT, 1/30-31

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra presents Tchaikovsky & Liszt on January 30-31, 2015 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Led by guest conductor James Feddeck, the performances feature Sibelius's "Valse Triste" fromKuolema, Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto with Principal Clarinet Todd Levy, Tchaikovsky's Romeo & Juliet Overture, and Liszt's Les Préludes.

Both concerts include Meet the Music, a free, interactive pre-concert discussion held one hour prior to concert start time in Anello Atrium.

Sibelius's "Valse Triste" from Kuolema, Opus 44 was composed in 1903 and premiered in 1904. Sibelius's brother-in-law, the playwright Arvid Järnfelt, asked him to write incidental music for his play Kuolema. Although Kuolema turned out to be a flop, Sibelius later salvaged some of the incidental music, including "Valse Triste" (Sad waltz), which ultimately became one of the composer's signature works. The six-minute piece begins mysteriously, brings a ray of a light in the middle section, and gains in intensity before finally dying away.

Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto, Opus 57 was composed and premiered in 1928. Nielsen was commissioned to write a work for the Copenhagen Wind Quintet, and he planned to write a concerto for each member as a kind of character study of the players. However, he only lived long enough to complete concertos for flute and clarinet. The Clarinet Concerto was written for Aage Oxenvad, whom the musicologist and Nielsen biographer Robert Simpson described as a person "of somewhat choleric temperament, irascible but warm at heart, full of personal, subjective problems."

The original score of Tchaikovsky's Romeo & Juliet was composed in just six weeks in 1869 and proved to be his first successful masterpiece. The Fantasy Overture premiered in March 1870 and immediately brought Tchaikovsky into an elevated level of fame and recognition. With its visceral drama and heart-on-a-sleeve melodic material, Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet continues to be a beloved staple of the orchestral repertoire to this day.

Liszt's Les Préludes, Symphonic Poem No. 3 was composed in 1848 and premiered in 1854. Liszt wrote a total of twelve symphonic poems, and the third has become the most well-known and one of the composer's most performed symphonic works. Les Préludes is relatively free-form in nature and foreshadows later works by composers such as Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

James Feddeck's 2014.15 season includes engagements with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, NAC Orchestra, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Milwaukee symphony orchestras and the Tampere Philharmonic. He also conducts the Béjart Ballet Company with the orchestra of Deutsche Oper Berlin. His recent debut with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra led one critic to comment that the "musicians of this caliber are gold dust." Other notable engagements include the Houston, Indianapolis, St. Louis, San Diego, and Atlanta symphony orchestras, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich.

Winner of the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award in 2013, James Feddeck's career in North America has developed strongly since his last season as assistant conductor in Cleveland. During his time with The Cleveland Orchestra, James conducted subscription concerts at Severance Hall, Blossom, and stepped in for Franz Welser-Möst in Cleveland's fully-staged production of Don Giovanni and subscription performances of Carmina burana, both to critical acclaim.

Principal Clarinet of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, three-time Grammy Award-winner Todd Levy has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Mostly Mozart, with the Israel Philharmonic, and at the White House; as chamber musician with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Orion, and Miami quartets; with James Levine, Christoph Eschenbach, and Mitsuko Uchida; and as guest principal clarinet with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, and frequently for Seiji Ozawa and Ricardo Muti in Japan. He has performed world premiere concerti or chamber works by composers such as John Harbison, Joan Tower, Peter Schickele, Paquito D'Rivera, Morton Subotnick, and Marc Neikrug and performs on the new release of Marc Neikrug's Through Roseschamber work with violinist Pinchas Zuckerman, actor John Rubenstein, and the composer conducting.

He has recorded the Brahms Clarinet Sonatas and Schumann pieces for Avie, and three educational book/CDs of clarinet competition works entitled the Clarinet Collection for G. Schirmer/Hal Leonard, and new exclusive editions/CDs of the Bernstein Clarinet Sonata and the Finzi Five Bagatelles for Boosey and Hawkes/Hal Leonard. He performs on Vandoren reeds, mouthpieces, and ligatures, and Selmer Signature clarinets. He is also on the faculty of UW-Milwaukee and is co-director of Chamber Music Milwaukee. For a more complete biography, visit toddlevy.org.

ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE

Tchaikovsky & Liszt
James Feddeck, conductor
Todd Levy, clarinet
Uihlein Hall, Marcus Center for the Performing Arts

Friday, January 30 | 8:00 p.m.
Meet the Music, Anello Atrium | 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, January 31 | 8:00 p.m.
Meet the Music, Anello Atrium | 7:00 p.m.

Tickets range from $25-105. For more information, please call 414.291.7605 or visit mso.org. Tickets may also be purchased through the Marcus Center Box Office at 414.273.7206.

ABOUT THE MSO
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, under the dynamic leadership of Music Director Edo de Waart, is among the finest orchestras in the nation and the largest cultural institution in Wisconsin. Now in his sixth season with the MSO, Maestro de Waart has led sold-out concerts, elicited critical acclaim, and conducted a celebrated performance at Carnegie Hall on May 11, 2012. The MSO's full-time professional musicians perform over 135 classics, pops, family, education, and community concerts each season in venues throughout the state. Since its inception in 1959, the MSO has found innovative ways to give music a home in the region, develop music appreciation and talent among area youth, and raise the national reputation of Milwaukee.

Photo Courtesy of the MSO

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