ESA-PEKKA SALONEN

LEIF-OVE ANDSNES
photo © Simon Fowler/EMI

Sunday, December 4, 2005, 8 pm
LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
Leif-Ove Andsnes, piano

Sibelius: Finlandia
Stenhammar: Serenade
Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor

Principal Sponsor:
  The Samuel B. & Margaret C.
    Mosher Foundation
Co-Sponsor: Santa Barbara Bank & Trust

The Los Angeles Philharmonic returns for its 256th concert in Santa Barbara! Hailed as Southern California's leading performing arts institution, the Philharmonic is recognized today as one of the world's outstanding orchestras. Dynamic Finnish Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen leads his orchestra in an all-Nordic program featuring Norwegian pianist Leif-Ove Andsnes playing the famed Piano Concerto in A minor of his homeland's best-known composer, Edvard Grieg. A compelling artist on the international concert circuit, Andsnes was the youngest performer ever to be featured as a Carnegie Hall "Perspectives" artist, playing in seven concerts during Carnegie's 2004-2005 season.

"{Leif-Ove Andsnes is} one of the most exciting and impressive pianists to emerge from the new generation."
– The New York Times

Saturday, January 14, 2006, 8 pm
BUDAPEST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA

Iván Fischer, conductor
Renaud Capuçon, violin

Wagner: Overture to "Die Meistersinger"
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
Mahler: Symphony No. 1

Sponsors:
  The Stephen & Carla Hahn Fndn.
  André Saltoun & Michele Neely
Co-Sponsors:
  The CAMA Fellows
  Bertling & Clausen, LLC

Founded in 1983 by Iván Fischer and Zoltán Kocsis, the Budapest Festival Orchestra has become a vital part of Budapest's musical life as well as a frequent guest at the world's most important concert venues and festivals. The success of the BFO has established Maestro Fischer as one of the world's most visionary and successful orchestra leaders. Born in 1976, French violinist Renaud Capuçon is one of the leading violinists of his generation. He plays a 1737 Guarneri del Gesù, the "Panette," that belonged to legendary violinist Isaac Stern.

"Fischer combines a probing intellect with an acute awareness of every emotional shift in any given score ... feeling and formal logic are held in perfect balance."
– Tim Ashley, The Guardian

Wednesday, March 8, 2006, 8 pm
LONDON PHILHARMONIC

Osmo Vänskä, guest conductor
(Kurt Masur absent due to illness)
Sergey Khachatryan, violin

Britten: Simple Symphony
Khachaturian: Violin Concerto
  in D minor
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5

Sponsors:
  Judith L. Hopkinson
  The Nichols Foundation/
    John & Kathleen Moseley
  Bitsy Becton Bacon/
    Becton Family Foundation

The London Philharmonic Orchestra returns to Santa Barbara for its first visit since 1971. Founded in 1932 by Sir Thomas Beecham, the LPO is celebrated worldwide for its musical versatility and artistic excellence in the concert hall and opera house, and for its award-winning recordings and international tours. Celebrated conductor Kurt Masur, former music director of the New York Philharmonic, today leads both the London Philharmonic and Orchestre National de France. Born in 1985, Armenian violin prodigy Sergei Khachatrian has already mastered an extensive repertoire. Taking first prize at the 2000 International Jean Sibelius competition in Helsinki, he is the youngest winner in the history of the competition.

"When Kurt Masur conducts an orchestra, he makes his presence felt ... his performances boast an imposing, almost physical presence..."
– Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

Saturday, March 25, 2006, 8 pm
RUSSIAN NATIONAL ORCHESTRA

Mikhail Pletnev, RNO Founder and Artistic Director
Alexander Mogilevsky, piano

Rachmaninoff: Vocalise
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
  in D minor
Tchaikovsky: Suite No. 3 in G Major,
  Op. 55

Sponsors:
  Léni Fé Bland
  Herbert & Elaine Kendall
Co-Sponsors:
  Robert & Sherry Gilson/
    Merrill Lynch Montecito
  Nancy & Kent Wood

Since its 1990 debut in Moscow, the Russian National Orchestra has been in demand throughout the music world. The RNO, Russia's first independent orchestra, was founded by renowned Russian pianist, conductor and composer Mikhail Pletnev. Maestro Pletnev will lead the orchestra in an all-Russian program featuring pianist Alexander Mogilevsky as soloist in Rachmaninoff's dazzlingly difficult Third Piano Concerto. Mr. Mogilevsky's career was launched when he won the first Tchaikovsky International Competition for Young Pianists in 1992.

"a living symbol of the best in Russian art"
– Miami Herald

SAMUEL RAMEY
photo © Christian Steiner

FREDERICA VON STADE
photo © Scott G. Winterton/Deseret Morning News

Saturday, April 1, 2006, 8 pm
SAMUEL RAMEY, bass
FREDERICA VON STADE, mezzo-soprano
In Recital
Martin Katz, piano

I (Frederica von Stade)
Pauline Viardot
  Bonjour mon coeur
  L'Absence
  Die Sterne
  Berceuse
  Indécision

II (Samuel Ramey)
Maurice Ravel: Don Quichotte à Dulcinée
  Chanson romanesque
  Chanson épique
  Chanson à boire

III (Frederica von Stade & Samuel Ramey)
Aaron Copland
  Simple Gifts (FVS)
  The Dodger (SR)
  Little Horses (FVS)
  At The River (SR)
  I Bought Me A Cat (FVS/SR)

IV (Frederica von Stade & Samuel Ramey)
George Gershwin
  Fascinatin' Rhythm (FVS)
  They All Laughed (SR)
  How Long Has This Been Going On? (FVS)
  Embraceable You (SR)
  The Man I Loved (FVS)
  Just Another Rumba (SR)
  Let's Call The Whole Thing Off (FVS/SR)

V (Frederica von Stade & Samuel Ramey)
Cole Porter: Don't Fence Me In (SR)
Richard Rodgers: Everybody Loves You (FVS)
Oscar Hammerstein: People Will Say We're In Love (FVS/SR)
Stephen Sondheim: Send In The Clowns (FVS)
Cole Porter: Everytime We Say Goodbye (SR)
Jerome Kern: I Told Every Little Star (FVS)
Mitch Leigh: Impossible Dream (SR)
Cole Porter: So In Love (FVS/SR)

Sponsor:
  The Stephen & Carla Hahn Fndn.
Co-Sponsor: The CAMA Women's Board

For almost three decades, Samuel Ramey has been one of the world's leading interpreters of bass and bass-baritone repertoire in opera and in the concert hall. Appearing in live performances with the world's great opera companies, he is also the most recorded bass in history. Known for his expressive portrayal of operatic devils and villains, Ramey commands an impressive breadth of repertoire. Mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade has enriched the world of classical music for three decades with her appearances in opera, concert and recital. Since her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1970, she has sung nearly all of her great roles with that company, while also appearing with the world's leading opera companies and orchestras.

"Ramey's singing is the stuff of which operatic legends are made."
– New York Post

"{Frederica von Stade is} one of America's finest artists and singers."
– The New York Times

Thursday, October 27, 2005, 8 pm
HILARY HAHN, violin
In Recital
Natalie Zhu, piano

Ysaÿe: Sonata for Violin Solo No. 1
  in G minor
Enescu: Sonata for Violin and Piano
  No. 3 in A minor
Milstein: Paganiniana for Violin
Mozart: Sonata for Violin and Piano
  in G Major, K. 301
Beethoven: Sonata for Violin and Piano
  No. 3 in E-flat Major

Sponsors:
  The Stephen & Carla Hahn Fndn.
  Judith L. Hopkinson

At age 25, Grammy® Award-winning Hilary Hahn is already established as one of today's most compelling violin virtuosos. Named "America's Best" young classical musician by Time Magazine in 2001, she appears regularly with the world's great orchestras in Europe, Asia and North America.

"Hahn is one of those rare performers who can dazzle you with the warmth of her personality and knock you dead with the dexterity of her technique and the emotional depth of her interpretations." 
– Los Angeles Times

Tuesday, November 22, 2005, 8 pm
STEPHEN HOUGH, piano
In Recital

Mozart: Fantasia in C minor, K. 475
Tsontakis: Ghost Variations
Mozart: Sonata in B-flat, K. 333
Hough: Three Mozart Transformations
Liszt/Busoni: Figaro Fantasy

Co-Sponsors:
  Virginia Castagnola-Hunter
  Nancy & Kent Wood

English pianist Stephen Hough, winner of the 1983 Naumburg International Piano Competition, is a unique talent on the international concert scene. In recognition of his multiple skills as a virtuosic pianist, writer and composer, Hough was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 2001, often called a "genius grant."

"England's most imaginative pianist"
– Time Magazine

Monday, March 6, 2006, 8 pm
BELCEA QUARTET

Corina Belcea, violin
Laura Samuel, violin
Krzysztof Chorzelski, viola
Antoine Lederlin, cello

Mozart: String Quartet in D Major,
  K. 499
Britten: String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94
Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 3
  in F Major, Op. 73

Co-Sponsor: Carol L. Valentine

Established at London's Royal College of Music in 1994, the Belcea String Quartet is widely considered one of the leading quartets of the younger generation. Since the Fall of 2001, they have been the Resident Quartet of London's Wigmore Hall, touring extensively in Europe and the United States.

"...astonishingly mature in sound, though young in years, the Belcea Quartet left me wondering if it wasn't the best young quartet I had ever heard"
– The Independent on Sunday, London

Friday, April 7, 2006, 8 pm
OLGA KERN, piano
In Recital

Mendelssohn: Variations Serieuses,
  Op. 54
Mendelssohn-Rachmaninoff: Scherzo
  from "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Chopin: Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor,
  Op. 35
Rachmaninoff: Morceaux de fantasie,
  Op. 3
Liszt: Réminiscences de Don Juan

Sponsor: Dolores M. Hsu
Co-Sponsor: The CAMA Women's Board

Russian pianist Olga Kern, Gold Medalist at the 2001 Van Cliburn Competition, returns to Santa Barbara following her CAMA debut last season with the Warsaw Philharmonic. Since her two successful debut concerts at Carnegie Hall in May 2004, Ms. Kern remains in high demand for recitals around the United States.

"Kern...clearly has the musical ability and the personal charisma to place herself at the center of the classical music world."
– Wayne Lee Gray, Star-Telegram