Ingrid Fliter Plays Mozart
Fri Dec 3 - Sat Dec 4, 2021
Orchestra Hall
Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) tells of thrilling adventures, romance, adversaries, and ultimate fulfillment. We welcome Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård to the podium for his Minnesota Orchestra debut and Argentinian pianist Ingrid Fliter for her return in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23. Up first, though, is Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade for Orchestra, his very first commissioned work and the piece that set him on track to be one of the finest composers at the turn of the 20th century.
A Few Things to Know
- Ingrid Fliter recently opened an Etsy shop to sell her original paintings that are created from a place of improvisation and intuition; she says that through painting, “a magical world unleashed in front of my eyes.”
- Mozart often scored his concertos and symphonies without clarinets, but in the Piano Concerto No. 23, he swapped the oboes for clarinets to darken the overall tone.
Program
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COLERIDGE-TAYLOR
Ballade for Orchestra
1 min noteOne Minute Note
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade—premiered two months before the cantata Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast that made the composer famous—is music of drama and heart, beginning and ending in urgency. A slow central section is filled with passionate, lushly-scored melodies.
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MOZART
Piano Concerto No. 23
1 min noteOne Minute Note
This concerto is filled with music of lovely and touching gallantry, highlighted by a poignant minor-key middle movement in which the piano sings with operatic grace. The spirited finale keeps the soloist in perpetual motion.
- INTERMISSION
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R. STRAUSS
Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life)
1 min noteOne Minute Note
Richard Strauss’ epic tone poem contains all the vivid theatricality of an opera, telling the story of a hero, his companion, his struggles and his ultimate fulfillment. Of note are the sweeping hero’s theme, introduced by horns, and the virtuosic violin lines that represent the hero’s lover—an idealized version of Strauss’ wife.
Artists
Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård
conductor
Ingrid Fliter
piano
The Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra, led by Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård—who is serving as music director designate during the 2022-23 season—is recognized for distinguished performances around the world, award-winning recordings and broadcasts, educational engagement programs, and commitment to building the orchestral repertoire of the future. Founded in 1903, the Orchestra has an extensive history of touring throughout Minnesota, nationally and abroad, including high-profile visits in recent years to Cuba, Europe and South Africa. Recording projects undertaken in the past two decades include complete cycles of symphonies by Beethoven, Sibelius and Mahler, all recorded under Osmo Vänskä, who is now the Orchestra’s conductor laureate.
Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård, the newly announced 11th music director of the Minnesota Orchestra, will serve for the 2022-23 season as the ensemble’s music director designate before beginning his music director role in September 2023. He is the current music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO), following six seasons as principal guest conductor. Between 2012 and 2018, he served as principal conductor of BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW), after stepping down as principal conductor and musical advisor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.
Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter—winner of the 2006 Gilmore Artist Award, one of only a handful of pianists and the only woman to have received this honor—made her American orchestral debut with the Atlanta Symphony just days after the announcement of her Gilmore Award. Since then, she has appeared with most of the major North American orchestras including those of Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, New Jersey, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Toronto, as well as the National Symphony Orchestra and New World Symphony. She has also performed at the Mostly Mozart, Tanglewood, Grant Park, Aspen, Ravinia, Blossom, Tippet Rise and Brevard summer festivals. She has recorded both Chopin concertos with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for Linn Records as well as the complete Chopin Preludes for the same label.
Your Concert Experience
Join us for Q&A’s, hosted discussions, exhibits and more. All free with your concert ticket!
Andrew Seymour Exhibit
by Interact Center for the Visual & Performing Art
When: Fri Dec 3-Sat Dec 4 | Pre-Concert and Intermission
Where: Balcony A
Interact Center for Visual and Performing arts will present a solo display of work by visual artist Andrew Seymour. Seymour’s autobiographical work includes vibrantly patterned drawings, featuring large congregations of circular forms, which represent people in all aspects of Seymour's life.
Accessibility Services
- Assistive Listening Devices
- Large Print Programs
- Service Animals
- Wheelchair & Accessible Seating
Additional services are available upon request.
Sponsored By
With these concerts we honor the memory of Elizabeth J. Indihar in appreciation of her generous estate gift to the Minnesota Orchestra.
