Dubai, UAE
The evening’s concert begins with Zoltán Kodály’s ‘Dances of Galánta’. Together with his friend Béla Bartók, the composer became involved in ethnomusicological research, visiting remote villages where he asked the inhabitants to sing their folk songs into phonograph cylinders. ‘Dances of Galánta’ refers to a city located in Slovakia — a place that when Kodály lived there as a child, however, was still part of the Kingdom of Hungary. When Kodály was asked, in 1933, to write a composition for the 80th anniversary of the Philharmonic Society in Budapest, he remembered the music Roma orchestras were playing in the city of his childhood. Thus, he also underlined how much Hungarian music owes to the creativity and virtuosity of Romani people.
Without any doubt, David Aaron Carpenter is one of the most outstanding violists of our time and the ideal soloist for Béla Bartók’s late Concerto for Viola and Orchestra. When the Hungarian composer was asked to write his concerto by the famous violist William Primrose, he was already suffering from leukaemia. Unfortunately, he did not have the time to finish the orchestration. As a highly praised apprentice of Béla Bartók, Tibor Serly brought the composer’s sketches into the form which made it one of the most widely performed works of the genre.
Robert Schumann’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A minor was originally meant to become a Fantasy. As such, the concerto we know today is marked by a distinctly symphonic character. It illustrates the longing and joy felt by a loving couple, the difficulties that Clara and Robert Schumann had to overcome before they were finally allowed to marry easily recognisable in the concerto played on this occasion by Julia Zilberquit, a soloist the Los Angeles Times described as “forceful and rhapsodic”. Tonight’s concert will feature the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arkady Feldman.
DAVID AARON CARPENTER
JULIA ZILBERQUIT
Born on January 1, 1947 in the city of Ovruch, Zhytomyr region of Ukraine.
In 1962 he graduated from school there.
In 1966 he graduated from the music college in Kaliningrad.
Graduated from the Saratov State Conservatory in 1974.
In 1986 he returned to Kaliningrad, in 1987 he created and devoted his entire creative life to the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra.
The ensemble, whose artistic director and chief conductor is Arkady Feldman, represents the Russian musical art with great success and tours in Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Poland.
Arkady Feldman maintains creative ties with the Bolshoi Theater of Russia, the opera studio of the Moscow P.I. Tchaikovsky, the Minsk Operetta Theater, the Saratov Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra A. Schnittke, German choral collectives.
As a guest conductor Arkady Feldman worked with many Russian ensembles, orchestras in Lithuania, Poland, USA, Mexico.
Feldman A.A. - Honored Art Worker of Russia, member of the Union of Composers of Russia, laureate of the Kant Prize, the Inspiration Prize for the creation and performance of highly artistic works of literary and poetry, musical, theatrical, visual and decorative and applied arts, the Prize of the Kaliningrad Region “Recognition” for achievements in the field of culture, literature and art, is an honorary citizen of the city of Kaliningrad.
As a composer, the maestro has worked with many Russian theaters and will write music for the performances of the Kaliningrad Drama Theater, where he has held the position of musical director for many years.
For achievements in creative activity and promotion of musical art he was awarded the title "Honored Art Worker of Russia", awarded numerous certificates of honor, as well as the medal of the Federal Republic of Germany "For the development of cultural relations between Russia and Germany" and the gold cross "For Merit" of the Republic of Poland.
Recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Award, First Prize Winner of the Walter E. Naumburg Viola Competition and the Avery Fisher Career Grant, David Aaron Carpenter is widely considered one of the most talented and charismatic musicians of his generation.
David is a former Rolex “Protégé” for which he was mentored by Pinchas Zukerman. David made his solo debut at the Kennedy Center after winning the Presidential Scholar Award and the first-ever Gold Medal Award at the National Foundation For Advancement In The Arts. Since then he has performed with leading musicians and orchestras around the world, from the Philadelphia Orchestra to the Philharmonia, the Dresden Staatskapelle to the Lucerne Symphony.
As a chamber musician, David has collaborated with such renowned artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Sarah Chang, Leonidas Kavakos, Gidon Kremer, Alan Gilbert, Julian Rachlin, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Jan Vogler, and Yuja Wang. He is a regular guest artist at the Verbier Music Festival, and was proud to be an integral part of their 20th anniversary season. He is currently the Artistic Director of the Salomé Chamber Orchestra, which he co-founded with his brother Sean and sister Lauren.
David received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and International Relations from Princeton University in 2008. David was featured in The New Yorker article “Musical Gold” by Rebecca Mead in July, 2014, on the cover of The Strad magazine in August 2013, and a few months earlier was the subject of a three-page article in The New York Times. Along with the Salomé Chamber Orchestra, David released his Warner Classics recording featuring Vivaldi, Piazzolla and Shor's Twelve Seasons. His newest release on Warner Classics features the Bartok, Walton, Shor and Dvorak Concertos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Maestros Vladimir Jurowski, David Parry, and Kazushi Ono.
David plays on a viola made by Michele Deconet, Venice (1766).
Russian-born American pianist Julia Zilberquit has earned critical acclaim as a recitalist, chamber musician and recording artist. She was praised by The New York Times as 'an outstanding soloist' after her Carnegie Hall performance of Cesar Franck's symphonic poem Les Djinns for piano and orchestra with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra. In 2014, Warner Classics released her CD Bach: Complete Solo Keyboard Concertos. This recording features the premiere of two Bach-Vivaldi Concerti Grossi arranged by Ms. Zilberquit for piano and orchestra. The recording was hailed as a “gorgeous rendition” by the prestigious Gramophone Magazine. Her arrangement of the Shostakovich Concertino for 2 Pianos, Op. 94 for piano and orchestra was premiered it at Carnegie Hall. She performed it worldwide to critical acclaim and recorded it with Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi. Other recordings include a solo recording, The Mystery of Bagatelles, released by Naxos. The CD was praised as a “superb performance” by The Washington Post, and described as an “adventurous program, sparkling with unusual clarity and pointillistic luminescence” in London’s Piano Magazine. Ms. Zilberquit has also recorded 'Jewish music from Russia', featuring works by Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Sergei Slonimsky on the Harmonia Mundi label. She premiered the Slonimsky Jewish Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra, which she commissioned. Slonimsky dedicated the piece to her and she performed it with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra in commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel. Julia Zilberquit has performed under the baton of Sir Yehudi Menuhin at the Beethoven Festival in Vienna. Ms. Zilberquit discovered a virtually unknown early piano concerto by Beethoven and performed it in Moscow with Yuri Bashmet and the “Young Russia” orchestra. She has been a guest soloist with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Russian State Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Deutsche Symphony, Moscow Soloists, Cairo Symphony, Moscow Virtuosi, Bolshoi Orchestra, Musica Viva, “I Musici de Montr al”, The Russian Philharmonia, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonietta Cracovia, and Sinfonia Varsovia. Her recitals at major concert halls including New York's Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y, and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Engagements at major international music festivals include appearances in Seattle, Colmar (France), Klangbogen (Vienna), Valery Gergiev's “White Nights” (St. Petersburg), Richter's “December Nights” (Moscow), “The Palaces of St. Petersburg,” the Bard Music Festival in New York, and the Penderecki Festival (Poland). Highlights of last season included a performance of Beethoven Concerto no. 0 at the 21st Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw under the baton of Mikhail Jurowski and an appearance with the Russian State Orchestra and Marius Stravinsky in Moscow. Julia was guest artist at the last two Malta International Music Festivals. A native of Moscow, Julia Zilberquit was born into a family of musicians. She graduated from Moscow Gnessin School of Music and The Juilliard School (class of Bella Davidovich). She lives in New York City with her husband, son, and daughter.
The first concert of the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra was performed on March the 14th in 1988. The program of the first concert included Symphony № 40 by W.A. Mozart, “The Unfinished Symphony” by F. Schubert, “Waltz-fantasy” by M. Glinka and the Overture to the opera “The Barber of Seville” by G. Rossini. The Founder of the Orchestra is the composer and conductor Arkadiy Feldman, who is an artistic leader and the main conductor. He was rewarded the honorary title “The honoured Art worker” for his achievements in the creative activities and propaganda of the musical art.
During all the time orchestra prepared a range of programs, which showed a wide possibility of the musicians, devotion to the artistic ideals. The systematic performances in front of audience, participation of the well-known musicians in some programs, special programes for children and young people determined the wide repertoire aspirations, it’s level of performance. Among the bright interpretations the most famous are Symphony № 6 and Fantasy “ Francesca da Rimini” by P. Tchaykovski, “Scheherazada” and “Spanish Capriccio” by N. Rimsky-Korsakov, Symphony № 5 by L. V. Beethoven. Symphonies by J. Brahms, A. Dvorak, S. Frank. The orchestra performed all the symphony plays of M. Glinka and A. Lyadov, it often performs some symphony fragments from Wagner’s operas.
Performances of symphonies № 5, 6, and 7 by D. Shostakovich, symphony “Iyeremia” were a considerable step forward in the creative biography of the orchestra. The collective originally read the scores of symphony plays of the Kaliningrad composers T. Terehova, E. Storodgeva, A. Feldman and also the German composer Z. Mattus, who was born in the East Prussia.
A creative friendship connects the orchestra and it’s conductor with the Saratov composer A. Brening: his symphony poems were played in the programs, he created symphony № 9 “From the History of the Cathedral” specially for the Kaliningrad Orchestra.
Remarkable soloists played with the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Feldman. They are Antony Hewitt (the piano) – laureate of the international competitions in London, Washington, Munich, Claudio Bohorquez (violoncello) – laureate of the international competitions in Germany, Prague, the P. I. Tchaikovski’s competition in Moscow, Paris and Holland, Eric Shuman (the violin) – laureate of the international competitions in Novosibirsk and Poland, Irina Osipova (the piano) – laureate of the S. V. Rachmaninov’s international competitions in Moscow, the Long-Thiboud Compettitions in Paris, Honoured Artist of Russia J. Skvortsov (bassoon), laureates of the international Tchaikovsky competition Hayk Kazazyan, Boris Andrianov, Alexander Ramm, laureate of the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, USA Ekaterina Mechetina and other solosts.
The Kaliningrad symphony orchestra always takes part in international festivals in Kaliningrad and abroad, various charity actions, performances in the Kaliningrad Drama Theatre, concerts i ballets in Yantar-Hall in Svetlogorsk.
The Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra often goes on tour to the countries of Europe: Germany, Poland, Italy and Spain. Together with the chorus from Germany, chorus from America, Amy Wagar (soprano) – soloist from Metropolitan-Opera, Elizabeth Ann Sadilek (flute) – professor of the Iowa State (the USA) cantata “Veni Creator Spiritus” by the American composer Jeffrey Prater was played in the cultural program of the international exhibition “EXPO – 2000” in Hannover, the orchestra took part in the premiere of the oratorio "Night" by the American composer Leib Glantz, based on the book of the Nobel Prize laureate in literature Elie Wiesel, held in 2019 in Kaliningrad and in 2020 at the Kuppel Hall in Hanover.
