Presenter: La Filarmonica della Scala
Conductor: Semyon Bychkov
Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts - Concert Hall
Dates: Sept. 18, 2010　  19:30
Price:  VIP　  880　  680　  480　  280　  180 RMB

Programme Introduction 

La Filarmonica della Scala
La Filarmonica della Scala is an independent organisation founded by Claudio Abbado in 1982 with the musicians of the La Scala Opera House with the aim of developing a symphonic repertoire in order to add a further dimension to La Scala's great operatic tradition.  The Filarmonica has its own autonomous season of concerts together with the Opera House's symphonic season based on a contractual programme with La Scala Opera House.  From its formation, the Orchestra has been able to establish close relations with some of the most important conductors on the international scene.  Conductors who worked alongside Abbado during the Orchestra's first season have included Carlo Maria Giulini, Georges Prêtre, Lorin Maazel and Wolfgang Sawallisch.  Riccardo Muti took on the role of principal conductor from 1987 to 2005, marking a decisive contribution to the Orchestra's artistic development.  From 2006 La Filarmonica has intensified its association with Daniel Barenboim, Daniele Gatti and Riccardo Chailly. The inaugural concert for the 2009-2010 season was conducted by Antonio Pappano. The 2010-2011 season starts in November with a concert conducted by Valery Gergiev, celebrating twenty years of collaboration.  Other famous conductors who have all helped to shape the Orchestra's artistic growth over the years include Leonard Bernstein, Semyon Bychkov, Myung-Whun Chung, James Conlon, Gustavo Dudamel, Peter Eötvös, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel Harding, Philippe Jordan, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Gennadij Rozdestvenskij, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Yuri Temirkanov and Franz Welser–Möst.

In addition to the concerts it gives at La Scala itself, La Filarmonica has taken part in many tours – it has now given more than 800 concerts away from its home in the Opera House.  The first international tours were led by Carlo Maria Giulini.  La Filarmonica has played at the Salzburg and Lucerne Festivals and in all the musical capitals of Europe and Asia under the direction of Riccardo Muti.  The Orchestra toured the United States for the first time in 2007 with Riccardo Chailly, travelling to China with Myung-Whun Chung in 2008, the same year that they returned to the Vienna Musikverein with Daniele Gatti.  In 2009 the Orchestra played in the Berlin Philharmonie for the first time with Daniel Barenboim, following this were a selection of European tours conducted by Barenboim and Myung-Whun Chung. They then returned to Paris for a concert with Pierre Boulez and Maurizio Pollini.  In addition to their Shanghai and Beijing tour with Semyon Bychkov to mark the occasion of the Expo2010 the Orchestra will also be touring to Berlin for a performance to be conducted by Diego Matheuz.

La Filarmonica has commissioned new works from Giorgio Battistelli, Azio Corghi, Luis de Pablo, Pascal Dusapin, Peter Eötvös, Ivan Fedele, Luca Francesconi, Salvatore Sciarrino, Giovanni Sollima and Fabio Vacchi.  The Filarmonica has also made extensive recordings for the Sony, Decca and EMI labels; including Rossini's cantatas with Riccardo Chailly and the complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies conducted by Riccardo Muti. 

The Orchestra has a long association with Milan's main scientific institutions and voluntary organisations, arranging open rehearsals and special concerts for their benefit.  In recent years it has participated in the MiTo Festival (a joint initiative of the cities of Milan and Turin), giving concerts to a wider-audience. Filarmonica della Scala are not subsidised by public funds.  The Orchestra does, however, receive support from the UniCredit Group, the Orchestra's main institutional partner.

Conductor: Semyon Bychkov
Since leaving St Petersburg in 1975, Semyon Bychkov has enjoyed a career taking him across the globe conducting some of the greatest orchestras in the United States, Europe, the Far East and the former Soviet Union. Since his appointment as Chief Conductor of WDR Sinfonie-Orchester Köln in 1997, Bychkov has maintained a full concert schedule in Cologne while increasing the orchestra's touring commitments considerably – touring to North and South America, the Far East, as well as extensively in Europe – in addition to building an impressive archive of recordings and broadcasts. 

Recognised for re-creating familiar music in compelling new ways, Bychkov's performances stand out for the clarity of his interpretation and the translucency of his sound, communicated through a technique that is both elegant and eloquent.  He is a frequent guest with the world's best-known orchestras including those of New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Vienna, Berlin, Munich and London; where he is also regularly invited to conduct opera.  Recent and future productions include Don Carlo, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Elektra, Boris Godunov and La Bohème in London; Un Ballo in Maschera and Tristan und Isolde in Paris (and on tour in Japan); Boris Godunov, Otello and Rigoletto in New York; Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, Otello, Elektra and Daphne in Vienna; Elektra and Die Frau ohne Schatten in Milan; Elektra in Madrid and Der Rosenkavalier at the Salzburg Festival. 

An admired and prolific recording artist, Bychkov's discography features over 30 CDs and DVDs and he continues to record extensively with WDR Sinfonie-Orchester Köln – recent releases include Strauss Eine Alpensinfonie/Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Wagner Lohengrin (winner of the 2010 BBC Music Magazine Disc of the Year Award, also best opera), Verdi Requiem, Rachmaninov The Bells Op.35 and Symphonic Dances Op. 45 (Profil, Edition Günter Hänssler, also released on DVD (Arthaus Musik) coupled with Rachmaninov Symphony No 2) and Shostakovich No. 4, No. 10 and No. 11 on Avie, as well as two recordings of Strauss operas - Daphne and Elektra - for Decca Records and Profil, Edition Günter Hänssler respectively.  His recording of Shostakovich Symphony No 5 (for Philips Classics) with the Berlin Philharmonic was the winner of the Belgian Caecilia Award and Stereo Review's "Record of the Year" and his recording of Eugene Onegin (with Orchestre de Paris) was selected by Opera as one of the thirty all-time great opera recordings. 

A pupil of the legendary Russian pedagogue Ilya Musin, Bychkov came to international prominence in the mid-eighties following a series of high-profile cancellations.  Following his relationship with the Buffalo Philharmonic (first as Principal Guest Conductor and later as Music Director 1980-1989), concerts with the Concertgebouw, New York Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras, led to an exclusive recording contract with Philips Classics.  Bychkov has since held the positions of Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris (1989-98), Principal Guest Conductor of the St Petersburg Philharmonic (1990-94), Principal Guest Conductor of Maggio Musicale in Florence (1992-98); Chief Conductor of the Dresden Semperoper (1998-2003); and, most recently Chief Conductor of WDR Sinfonie-Orchester Köln (1997-2010).

Program
Overture to William Tell　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Gioacchino Rossini
Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  Giacomo Puccini
Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Pietro Mascagni
Overture to La Forza del Destino　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Giuseppe Verdi

——Intermission——

Symphony No. 6　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

 
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