Garrick Ohlsson Plays Beethoven
Fri Apr 28 — Sat Apr 29, 2023
Orchestra Hall
A solemn memorial, a symphony of blazing brass and an unpredictable piano concerto come together under the baton of Juanjo Mena, who makes a return to Orchestra Hall for a special treat: Bruckner’s sonorous Sixth Symphony. First, Philip Herbert’s Elegy pays tribute to the late Stephen Lawrence, who at 18 years old was killed in an act of racial violence. Then, world-renowned pianist Garrick Ohlsson plays Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto, an animated showpiece for piano filled with musical humor.
A Few Things To Know
- Juanjo Mena “showed himself as quite the podium dancer in a series of impromptu pirouettes and jump-like maneuvers,” read a Star Tribune review after Minnesota Orchestra concerts in 2019. “There wasn't a line of music that he didn't energize.”
- Juanjo Mena conducted the Orchestra’s historic radio broadcast-only concert (with no audience in the Hall) on March 13, 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic first made waves across the U.S.
- Garrick Ohlsson first performed with the Minnesota Orchestra in 1971, before the construction of Orchestra Hall. His first gig with the Orchestra involved a U.S. tour led by then-conductor Stanislaw Skrowaczewski.
Program
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HERBERT
Elegy: In Memoriam—Stephen Lawrence
-
BEETHOVEN
Piano Concerto No. 1
-
BRUCKNER
Symphony No. 6
Artists
Minnesota Orchestra
Juanjo Mena
conductor
Garrick Ohlsson
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.
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