Boston Philharmonic Presents Liza Ferschtman In Her Boston Debut

The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Maestro Benjamin Zander, continues its 41st season with Nielsen, Beethoven, and Rachmaninoff on Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. in Sanders Theatre at Harvard University; Saturday, November 16, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. in Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory; and Sunday, November 17, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. in Sanders Theatre. The program features acclaimed Dutch violinist Liza Ferschtman in her Boston debut performing Beethoven's Violin Concerto, paired with Nielsen's Helios Overture and Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances.

The second concert of the season opens with an enthralling depiction of the sun rising and falling over the Aegean Sea, as composer Carl Nielsen experienced it during a visit to Greece in 1903. From darkness to brilliance, the Helios Overture builds and recedes as it tracks the path of the sun.

Of Liza Ferschtman, Maestro Zander says, "One of the joys of touring to other countries is that occasionally I discover a remarkable artist whose reputation has not yet reached the United States. During the last BPYO tour to Europe, I was introduced to one of Holland's most revered musicians, Liza Ferschtman. Her performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto is subtle, impassioned, richly hued, and deeply considered. I look forward to merging my own strong convictions about this work with the insights and radiant musical personality of one of our era's finest violinists."

Zander explains closing the concert with Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances: "Considering the intimacy of the Beethoven, the final piece on the program had to be a work that could challenge the orchestra to the limit. What better choice than Rachmaninoff's Dances? A recently released historic recording allows us to hear Rachmaninoff himself demonstrating a substantial portion of the work on the piano. Rachmaninoff forbade private recordings of his piano playing, but fortunately someone secretly switched on a tape recorder in the next room while the composer was showing Eugene Ormandy how he wanted the piece to go. This performance will be inspired by the revelations of that before now hidden source. His greatest orchestral work, the dances inhabit both the Old and New Worlds: they are Russian to the core, but with a filmic element that reflects its place of birth, Los Angeles. It is also Rachmaninoff's swan song, and displays his total mastery of orchestration as well as a succinctness not evident in his earlier orchestral works."

The Thursday evening concert at Sanders Theatre is part of the orchestra's Discovery Series. Mr. Zander speaks from the stage prior to each piece, introducing and explaining each of the works that will be performed, often with musical examples played by the orchestra. The Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon concerts are preceded by Mr. Zander's Guide to the Music, an hour and fifteen minutes prior to concert start time. These talks offer an in-depth preview of the music on each program, which allows audience members to gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the pieces.

Program Information
Nielsen, Beethoven, and Rachmaninoff

Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 7:00 p.m.
Discovery Series discussion of music takes place prior to performance of each piece.
Sunday, November 17, 2019 at 3:00 p.m.
Guide to the Music pre-concert talk takes place beginning at 1:45 p.m.
Sanders Theatre at Harvard University | 45 Quincy Street | Boston, MA 02138

Saturday, November 16, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
Guide to the Music pre-concert talk takes place beginning at 6:45 p.m.
Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory | 30 Gainsborough Street | Boston, MA 02115

Program:
Nielsen: Helios Overture
Beethoven: Violin Concerto
Liza Ferschtman, violin
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances

Ticket Information
Tickets are available by visiting www.bostonphil.org or by calling 617-236-0999.

About Liza Ferschtman
Renowned for her strong musical personality and the versatility of her musicianship, which combines powerful dynamism and intense lyricism, Liza Ferschtman has been praised in the international musical press, with The New York Times describing her as "nothing short of revelatory," and referring to the "laserlike intensity, purity and refined beauty of her playing," while The Guardian commended her "vivacious musical personality" and "lovely lyrical quality."

Since winning the Dutch Music Award, the most distinguished prize for Dutch musicians, in 2006, Liza has appeared as a soloist with many of the world's top orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic and Brussels Philharmonic, collaborating with conductors including Jaap van Zweden, Iván Fischer, Stéphane Denève, Jacek Kaspszyk, Jun Märkl, Frans Brüggen, Neeme Järvi, Otto Tausk, Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Thomas Søndergård. Liza Ferschtman is also a passionate chamber musician and a popular guest at festivals and concert venues throughout the world; since 2007 she has been artistic director of the Delft Chamber Music Festival. Her chamber music partners include Elisabeth Leonskaja, Jonathan Biss, Alisa Weilerstein, Christian Poltéra, Julius Drake, Martin Roscoe, Nobuko Imai, Lars Anders Tomter, Marie Luise Neunecker, Sharon Kam and Amihai Grosz.

The 2019-20 season includes concerto performances with the Stuttgart Philharmonic, Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Flanders Symphony Orchestra, Het gelders Orkest and the Nertherlands Philharmonic in Europem, while North and Central American performances include the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, the Toledo Symphony and Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco. The season also includes recital tours with Enrico Pace and performances of the Schubert piano trios with Elisabeth Leonskaja and István Várdai / Jakob Koranyi in venues including London's Wigmore Hall, the Musikverein Wien, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Théâtre des Champs Elysées.

The daughter of prominent Russian-Jewish musicians, Liza grew up in a musical environment and as a young child she was soon taking her first violin lessons from the legendary violinist and family friend, Philip Hirschhorn. After his death she studied with Herman Krebbers, Ida Kavafian at the celebrated Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and David Takeno in London. Learn more at www.lizaferschtman.com.

About the Boston Philharmonic
The Boston Philharmonic, founded by Benjamin Zander in 1979, is comprised of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO), the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (BPYO), and its robust series of Crescendo Education and Community Engagement programs. The mission of the Boston Philharmonic is to share the vibrancy of classical music with new and existing audiences, aspiring to expand the limits of possibility to reinvigorate the classical music experience for audiences and players alike.

As one of Boston's premier orchestras and under the leadership of Maestro Zander, the BPO features student, professional, and amateur musicians who perform inspiring renditions of celebrated masterworks in Boston's most storied concert halls. The BPYO offers year-long orchestral and leadership training at the highest level for talented musicians between the ages of 12 and 21, completely tuition-free. The Crescendo Education and Community Engagement programs provide high quality music education for children who would otherwise not have access, often serving the most disadvantaged, at-risk, and under-resourced children in the city.

About Benjamin Zander
For the past 50 years, Benjamin Zander has occupied a unique place as a master teacher, deeply insightful and probing interpreter, and as a profound source of inspiration for audiences, students, professional musicians, corporate leaders, politicians and more. He has persistently engaged most well-informed musical and public intellectuals in a quest for insight and understanding into the western musical canon and the underlying religious, social, and political issues that inspired its creation.

For 25 years, Zander has enjoyed a unique relationship with the Philharmonia Orchestra, recording a series of Beethoven and Mahler symphonies. High Fidelity named the recording of Mahler's 6th as 'the best classical recording,' of 2002; the 3rd was awarded 'Critic's Choice' by the German Record Critics'; The Mahler 9th, Mahler 2nd and Bruckner 5th recordings were nominated for Grammy Awards.

Zander enjoys an international career as a leadership speaker, with several keynote speeches at the World Economic Forum in Davos and at TED. The best-selling book, The Art of Possibility, co-authored with leading psychotherapist Rosamund Zander, has been translated into eighteen languages.

*Image by Marco Borggreve

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