Poetic Inspirations
Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie
Rheinland-Pfalz
Rheinland-Pfalz
Dubai, UAE
When, in 1839, Karl Adolf Suckow published his translation of Lord Byron’s dramatic poem ‘Manfred’ into German, he directly addressed Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy in the preface, asking him to set the words to music. It is not clear whether Mendelsohn had the opportunity to read the text that Suckow had promised to send him, but it was Robert Schumann who decided to face the task in 1848, one year after Suckow’s death. However, it was not until 1852 that the overture was first performed in Leipzig, with the complete work premièred three months later in Weimar, under the baton of none other than Franz Liszt.
As the title indicates, poetry was also the inspiration for Ernest Chausson’s ‘Poème’. When famous Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, a friend of Chausson for many years, asked him to write a violin concerto, the composer was intimidated by the challenge. However, he stated that he might be able to write a concert piece for violin and orchestra, instead. Chausson postponed the completion of his oeuvre several times, and repeatedly changed the title of his work that evokes the mysterious and passionate spirit of Ivan Turgenev’s romantic novella, ‘Песнь торжествующей любви’ (“Song of Triumphant Love”). When eventually finished, Poème rapidly became Chausson’s most beloved work. In this concert, the work provides soloist Anna Tifu the opportunity to show the expressive qualities and romantic colours of her playing.
It was not only Chausson that was vulnerable to self-doubts. In the shadow of Ludwig van Beethoven’s titanic oeuvre, it took Johannes Brahms fourteen years to finish his first symphony. When finally premièred under the baton of the composer, the reception was mixed. While friends and admirers saw the music as a worthy successor to Beethoven’s symphonic principles, opponents called Brahms merely an epigone. From a modern perspective, it is easier to understand that Brahms’ four symphonies instead contributed to overcoming the intimidating example set by Beethoven. As conductor of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Michael Francis sets up a fascinating dialogue between the works of Schumann, Chausson and Brahms.
ANNA TIFU
Michael Francis has quickly established himself as one of the leading international conductors of today. With the start of the 2019-20 season, Francis begins his tenure as Chief Conductor of Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. Appointed Music Director of the Florida Orchestra in the fall of 2014, he is now entering his fifth season with a contract extension through the 2023-24 season. His role in building a wide variety of transformative community engagement initiatives has significantly grown the organization. Since 2014 as Music Director of the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, California with a contract renewal through the summer of 2023, he continues his ambitious multi-year exploration of Mozart’s life. He was Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra from 2012-16.
For the 2019-20 season, upcoming engagements include a debut with the Detroit Symphony for their season opening, as well as return performances with the Indianapolis Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic, Philharmonia, MDR Leipzig, RSB Berlin and Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken.
Previous and upcoming highlights include North American performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Rochester Philharmonic, the symphony orchestras of Cincinnati, St. Louis, San Diego, Houston, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Pacific, Montreal, Toronto and National Arts Centre (Ottawa). In Europe, he has conducted the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE Madrid, the Mariinsky Orchestra, the London Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, the BBC Philharmonic, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the BBC Scottish Symphony. In Asia, Maestro Francis has worked with the NHK Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan as well as the philharmonic orchestras of Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Seoul.
Michael Francis has collaborated with notable soloists such as Lang Lang, Arcadi Volodos, Itzhak Perlman, Christian Tetzlaff, Vadim Gluzman, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Nicola Benedetti, Javier Perianes, Jamie Barton, Truls Mørk, Håkan Hardenberger, Maximilian Hornung, Miloš, Benjamin Grosvenor, Emanuel Ax, Ian Bostridge, James Ehnes, Sting, Rufus Wainwright and many others.
Educational outreach with young musicians is of utmost priority for Maestro Francis. He returns to the National Youth Orchestra of Canada during the summer of 2020, having conducted their Spanish tour in 2019. He has also frequently conducted Miami’s New World Symphony and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland. Francis works on a regular basis with young musicians in Florida as part of the orchestra's community engagement initiative.
Francis’ discography includes the Rachmaninov piano concertos with Valentina Lisitsa and the London Symphony Orchestra, Wolfgang Rihm’s Lichtes Spiel with Anne-Sophie Mutter and the New York Philharmonic, and the Ravel & Gershwin piano concertos with Ian Parker.
A former double-bass player in the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), Michael Francis came to prominence as a conductor in January of 2007 stepping in for Valery Gergiev and John Adams with the LSO.
Francis makes his home in Tampa, FL with his wife Cindy and four-year-old daughter Annabella.
Winner of the 2007 George Enescu Competition in Bucharest Anna Tifu is considered one of the leading violinist of her generation. Born in Cagliari, she started to play the violin at the age of six under the guidance of her father and to perform in public at eight years old when she won 1st prize with special honors at the Vittorio Veneto concert series.
At the age of 11 she made her debut as soloist with the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire and at 12 years old she performed the Bruch Violin Concerto at La Scala in Milan. At 14 she won first prize at the Viotti Valsesia International Competition as well as in Stresa, where she won the Marcello Abbado International Competition in the same year. She received her Music Diploma in Cagliari at the age of 15 with special honors. She studied with Salvatore Accardo at the Academy Walter Stauffer in Cremona and at the Academy Chigiana of Siena where, in 2004, she obtained the Certificate of Honor. She was supported by the Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund and at the age of 17, Anna was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studied with Aaron Rosand, Shmuel Ashkenzay and Pamela Frank.
Later she was awarded a scholarship from the International Music Academy in Cagliari to study in Paris where she received the Diplome Superieur de Concertiste at the Ecole Normale.
Anna has appeared with many of the world’s finest orchestras and chamber ensembles, including Orchestra Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestra Nazionale della RAI di Torino, Orchestra della Fondazione Arena di Verona, Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, Orchestra Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento, Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Simòn Bòlivar Orchestra of Venezuela, Stuttgarter Philarmoniker, Dortmunder Philharmoniker, George Enescu Philarmonic Orchestra and Radio Orchestra of Bucharest, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, KZN Philarmonic of Durban, Israel Philharmonic soloists, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Filarmonica del Qatar.
She has worked with conductors such as Yuri Temirkanov, Gustavo Dudamel, Diego Matheuz, David Afkham, Juraj Valcuha, John Axelrod, Christoph Poppen, Justus Frantz, Cristian Mandeal, Horia Andreescu, Sergiu Commissiona, Lü Jia, Giampaolo Bisanti, Julian Kovatchev, Hubert Soudant, Gèrard Korsten, Gabor Ötvös.
Highlights among her recent and forthcoming engagements include performances at the George Enescu International Festival of Bucharest with Orchestra RAI of Torino and Juraj Valcuha, a tour in Russia as well with Orchestra RAI, concert with Gustavo Dudamel and Simòn Bòlivar Orchestra, Season opening concert in Genova, Teatro Carlo Felice, where she played with the famous violin Guarneri del Gesù “IL CANNONE” of Niccolò Paganini, Season opening concert in Venice, Teatro La Fenice with Diego Matheuz, Season opening concert in Milano, for Società dei Concerti where she is regularly invited, Season opening concert in Verona, for Amici della Musica, performance at the Stradivari Festival in Cremona, where she performed with the Etoile Carla Fracci, concerts in Rome, with Yuri Temirkanov and Orchestra Accademia Santa Cecilia and Season opening concert in Paris, with Orchestre Philarmonique de Radio France, under the baton of Mikko Franck.
Most recently she made her debut for Warner Classics where she recorded with the italian pianist Giuseppe Andaloro.
She has collaborated with musicians such as Maxim Vengerov, Yuri Bashmet, Ezio Bosso, Julien Quentin, Giuseppe Andaloro, Pekka Kuusisto, Mario Brunello, Enrico Dindo, Michael Nyman, Boris Andrianov, the Etoile Carla Fracci, the actor John Malkovich and Andrea Bocelli, who invited Anna as special guest for concerts in Italy, Egypt and United States.
She performed in famous festivals such as Tuscan Sun Festival, Festival de Musique Menton, Ravello Festival, Al Bustan in Beirut and the George Enescu Festival where she is regularly invited, as well at in some of the bestknown institutions and concert halls including la Scala di Milano, Auditorium Parco della Musica di Roma, Sala Verdi di Milano, Great Hall of Saint Petersburg, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall of Moscow, Konzerthaus of Dortmund, Konzerthaus of Berlino, Beethoven-Saal of Stuttgart, Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Rudolphinum Dvorak Hall of Prague, Ateneo and sala Palatului of Bucharest, Madison Square Garden of New York, Staples Center of Los Angeles, Simòn Bòlivar Hall of Caracas.
Anna Tifu has been testimonial for the Italian airline company Alitalia, along with Riccardo Muti, the director Giuseppe Tornatore and the dancer Eleonora Abbagnato.
Anna plays the 1716 Antonio Stradivari “Marèchal Berthier” ex Napoleon on loan from the Associazione Canale of Milan.
In the shadow of the First World War, committed citizens in Landau met in September 1919 to decide on the formation of a travelling state symphony orchestra. After the founding concert on 15 February 1920, the orchestra set out on an initial concert tour through the Palatinate and Saarland. This was the start of the history of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, which in the meantime can look back on a more than 100-year tradition.
Even in the initial years the orchestra attracted transregional attention under the conducting of Richard Strauss and Hermann Abendroth. Principal conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach and Leif Segerstam, today honorary conductors, helped the orchestra to achieve international recognition. Michael Francis, who is also principal conductor of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz this season, will provide considerable fresh impetus and thus continue the orchestra’s tradition.
As an orchestra without a permanent domicile, providing the federal state with symphonic music is the most important task of the State Philharmonic Orchestra. It brings the music to the people with over 100 concerts per season. Guest performances at home and abroad as well as collaboration with internationally renowned conductors and soloists bears witness to the excellent reputation that the orchestra enjoys. Arrangement and family formats enhance the offer for young people. Even the very youngest are introduced to the world of classical music with visits to rehearsals and concerts for children. Regular concert recordings by SWR (“Southwest Broadcasting”) and Deutschlandfunk Kultur (German World Radio Service, Cultural Programming) as well as numerous CD productions round off the State Philharmonic Orchestra’s diverse range of activities.
Not only wanderlust and awakening characterise the orchestra in geographical terms. The State Philharmonic Orchestra also repeatedly hits the road in the figurative sense. As far as the orchestra is concerned, brining music to people not only means being on site, but also reaching people directly. So 101 years after formation the orchestra is also an integral part of cultural life, and more than ever a cultural beacon for the State of Rhineland-Palatinate and beyond.
