MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY | BEETHOVEN
Yoel Levi / Michail Lifits, piano
Born in Romania, Yoel Levi grew up in Israel where he studied at the Tel Aviv Academy of Music, where he received a Master of Arts degree with distinction, and The Jerusalem Academy of Music under Mendi Rodan. He also studied with Franco Ferrara in Siena and Rome, with Kirill Kondrashin in the Netherlands and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
Music Director of the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul since 2014, Yoel Levi is known throughout the world from his work at the head of many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, his repertoire of symphonic, operatic and lyric works and his extensive discography.
Program
FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY
Concert n. 1 in G minor for piano and orchestra op. 25 (MWV O7)
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Symphony n. 3 in E flat major op. 55 “Eroica”
ComposERS
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Concert n. 1 in G minor for piano and orchestra op. 25 (MWV O7)
Year of composition: 1838
First performance: April 11,1838
Movements:
- Molto allegro con fuoco
- Andante
- Presto
Composed in Rome during a trip to Italy, the concert consists of three movements that use several relatively new formal techniques. In the Molto allegro con fuoco, for example, the piano comes in after a few bars immediately contrasting with the “tutti” orchestral, while in the era of classical concerts it was customary to precede the entry of a solo by an “tutti”. The first movement does not close but ends with a transition that accompanies the sound to the boundary with the Andante. In the Presto finale several themes return from the Molto allegro con fuoco.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Symphony n. 3 in E flat major op. 55 “Eroica”
Year of composition: 1802/1804
First performance: Vienna, Theater an der Wien, April 7, 1805
Movements:
- Allegro con brio
- Marcia funebre: Adagio assai
- Scherzo: Allegro vivace
- Finale: Allegro molto; Poco Andante; Presto
The four movements of the “Heroic Symphony, composed to celebrate the subsidy of a great man” (a title that was finally affixed to the Opera, leaving out the original one that included the name of Napoleon) they mark an instantly tangible rhythm in its astounding representative effectiveness. For this reason the slow movement is subjected to a game worthy of a great master of illusions: it appears to be slow and solemn, transformed into a Marcia funebre, one of the examples of the musical repertoire of the time. And the Scherzo could suggest that the hero in question is not the author himself of this music, that the musician is ready to distance himself. The last movement unleashes a series of variations at an insane speed, with a final theme that stems from a tune taken from the ballet The Creatures of Prometheus, presented by Beethoven in Vienna a short time before.
ORCHESTRA OF THE TEATRO COMUNALE DI BOLOGNA
With its long-standing tradition, the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna has been led by Musical Directors like Sergiu Celibidache, Zoltán Peskó, Vladimir Delman, Riccardo Chailly, Daniele Gatti, Michele Mariotti. Some of the conductors who have worked with the ensemble include Gary Bertini, Myung-Whun Chung, James Conlon, Pinchas Steinberg, Valery Gergiev, Eliau Inbal, Vladimir Jurowskij, Daniel Oren, Peter Maag, Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Mstislav Rostropovič, Esa Pekka Salonen, Georg Solti, Christian Thielemann, Charles Dutoit, Georges Prêtre. The Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale is often invited abroad (The Netherlands, Romania, Spain, France, and Switzerland) and has played in many prestigious festivals (Amsterdam 1987, Parma 1990, Wiesbaden 1994, Santander 2004 and 2008, Aix en Provence 2005, Savonlinna 2006, Macao 2013, Muscat 2015, Guanajuato in Mexico 2017, Paris 2018). A special connection with Japan has brought to several tours, including the tour in June 2019 in Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama, Fukuoka, with performances of Rigoletto directed by Alessio Pizzech, and of Il Barbiere di Siviglia directed by Federico Grazzini.
Its numerous recordings include La Favorite conducted by Richard Bonynge; Oberto Conte di San Bonifacio conduted by Zoltán Peskó, Il Barbiere di Siviglia conducted by Giuseppe Patané, La Fille du Régiment conducted by Bruno Campanella, Le Maschere and La Bohème conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti, La Scala di Seta conducted by Gabriele Ferro, Macbeth, Manon Lescaut, Rigoletto, La Cenerentola, Messa Solenne, and the video production of Vespri siciliani and Giovanna d’Arco and Werther conducted by Riccardo Chailly, Armide conducted by Daniele Gatti, Simon Boccanegra conducted by Michele Mariotti.
The Orchestra, conducted by Michele Mariotti, has recorded a CD under the label Decca with sacred arias sung by Juan Diego Flórez, and an album under Sony with Romantic arias sung by Nino Machaidze. Under Deutsche Grammophon the Orchestra recorded Le Comte Ory with Flórez, and La Nuit de Mai – a selection or arias and songs by Leoncavallo – with Placido Domingo. Under the label PENTATONE it recently released a CD containing overtures by Rossini, to celebrate 150 years since the death of the composer.
In March 2013 the artistic ensembles of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, led by Michele Mariotti, opened the IV International Festival Mstislav Rostropovich in Moscow, where they performed Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. In October 2015, again with Michele Mariotti on the podium, they opened the Lingotto Music Festival at the Auditorium Giovanni Agnelli in Turin, where they performed Stabat Mater by Rossini, and his Overture and Ballet Music from Guillaume Tell.
After working with the Rossini Opera Festival for nearly thirty years (from 1988 to 2016), the year 2017 brought new collaborations between the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and the Verdi Festival in Parma, where the Orchestra performed, among other productions, the Stiffelio directed by Graham Vick. Staged at the Teatro Farnese, the show was highly appreciated by audience and critics alike and was granted the Special Prize at the 37th edition of the “Franco Abbiati” Critics award. The Orchestra’s engagements with the Verdi Festival for the Fall of 2019 include Luisa Miller at the Chiesa di San Francesco del Prato in Parma, and Aida at the Teatro Verdi in Busseto.
The Teatro Comunale’s 2018 production of La Bohème staged by Graham Vick received the Abbiati Award as best show.