2016-17 Chicago Philharmonic Season Opens with Legendary Lovers, Features Harp Duo in Foyer
By: A.A. Cristi Sep. 09, 2016
The Chicago Philharmonic's 2016-17 season, Love, begins with a concert exploring "Legendary Lovers" as depicted in music. Couples including Romeo & Juliet, Ruslan & Ludmila, and Tristan & Isolde all feature. Emily Birsan and John Irvin, Ryan Opera Center alumni recently heard at the Lyric Opera, sing duets by Verdi, Bernstein, and Gounod, and the orchestra performs symphonic works by Ravel, Wagner, Glinka, and Diamond. The Belle Harmonie harp duo, featuring Krista Hagglund and Anna Hirons of the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory, will perform in the foyer before the concert.
Legendary LoversSunday, September 18, 2016, 3 pm
Pick-Staiger Hall (50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston) Scott Speck, conductor
Emily Birsan, soprano
John Irvin, tenor
Foyer Music: Krista Hagglund and Anna Hirons, harpRichard Wagner:
Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde Charles Gounod: Love Duet from Romeo and Juliet
Mikhail Glinka: Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila Giuseppe Verdi: "Signor né principe" from Rigoletto David Diamond: Music for Romeo and Juliet
Leonard Bernstein: Balcony Scene from West Side Story
Maurice Ravel: Daphnis and Chloé, Suite 2 Tickets: $25 - $75 (https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe.c/10084850)
Subscriptions: $45 - $281 (https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/store/34171/packages)
More information: http://www.chicagophilharmonic.org/legendary-lovers/Emily Birsan, Soprano
Soprano Emily Birsan has been praised by the Chicago Tribune for her "fineness of expression..." and by Madison Isthmus as having a "...strong, clear, handsomely balanced and beautiful voice," and as "...an artist with a very great promise for the future." Birsan is an alumnus of the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and was most recently heard on the main stage of the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Servilia in the critically acclaimed Sir David McVicar production La clemenza di Tito and the 1st Flower Maiden in a new production of Wagner's Parsifal.
Most recently seen at Lyric Opera of Chicago for the highly anticipated world premiere of Lopez's Bel Canto, John Irvin brought "a handsome tenor voice and talented hands to the production with a searing portrayal of the diva's doomed accompanist. Earlier this season at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Irvin garnered rave reviews for his "irresistibly charming, commanding, clarion tenor" and "virile performance" in the challenging role of Matthew Gurney in a new production of Tobias Picker's Emmeline. Future engagements include Irvin's European debut as the tenor soloist in Berlioz's Grande Messe des Morts with Bochumer Symphoniker, Rodolfo in a new production of Puccini's La Bohe?me at Theater Heidelberg, and Lucas in the world premiere of Thomas Ades' The Exterminating Angel at the Salzburg Festival.
Scott Speck has inspired international acclaim as a conductor of passion, intelligence, and winning personality. He is the Artistic Director of the Chicago Philharmonic and Music Director of the Joffrey Ballet and Mobile (AL) and West Michigan Symphony Orchestras. Speck led four performances for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2014-15 and was immediately reengaged for four more concerts the following season. His concerts with the Moscow RTV Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky Hall garnered unanimous praise. His gala performances with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Midori, Evelyn Glennie, and Olga Kern have highlighted his recent and current seasons as Music Director of the Mobile Symphony. He was invited to the White House as former Music Director of the Washington Ballet. In past seasons Speck has conducted at London's Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the Paris Opera, Chicago's Symphony Center, Washington's Kennedy Center, San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House, and the Los Angeles Music Center. He has led numerous performances with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Houston, Baltimore, Paris, Moscow, Shanghai, Beijing, Vancouver, Romania, Slovakia, Buffalo, Columbus (OH), Honolulu, Louisville, New Orleans, Oregon, Rochester, Florida, and Virginia, among many others. Previously he held positions as Conductor of the San Francisco Ballet, Music Advisor and Conductor of the Honolulu Symphony, and Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Opera. During a tour of Asia he was named Principal Guest Conductor of the China Film Philharmonic in Beijing. In addition, Speck is the co-author of two of the world's best-selling books on classical music for a popular audience, Classical Music for Dummies and Opera for Dummies. These books have received stellar reviews in both the national and international press and have garnered enthusiastic endorsements from major American orchestras. They have been translated into twenty languages and are available around the world. His third book in the series, Ballet for Dummies, was released to great acclaim as well. ABOUT THE CHICAGO PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY The Chicago Philharmonic Society is a collaboration of over 200 of the highest-level classical musicians performing in the Chicago metropolitan area. Governed under a groundbreaking structure of musician leadership, the Society presents concerts at venues throughout the Chicago area that cover the full spectrum of classical music, from Bach to Britten and beyond. The Society's orchestra, known simply as the Chicago Philharmonic, has been called "one of the country's finest symphonic orchestras" (Chicago Tribune), and its unique chamber music ensembles, which perform as the Chicago Philharmonic Chamber Players (cp2), draw from its vast pool of versatile musicians. The Society's outreach programs connect Chicago-area youth to classical music and provide performance opportunities for members of the community. Founded 26 years ago by principal musicians from the Lyric Opera Orchestra, the Chicago Philharmonic currently serves as the official orchestra of the Joffrey Ballet, continues its 21-year association with the Ravinia Festival, and presents symphonic concerts in Chicago's North Shore region and, beginning in May 2016, at the Harris Theater.
Videos