2019-20 Masterworks Series Continues with Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody and Piano Concerto No. 3

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (October 3, 2019) – The Utah Symphony’s 2019-20 O. C. Tanner Company Masterworks Series continues with two weekends of Rachmaninoff. Conductor Aziz Shokhakimov will lead the Utah Symphony and the debut of guest pianist and 2016 International Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition winner Lukáš Vondrácek through one of his most known and loved pieces, “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.” Give yourself a proper musical scare with Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, just in time for Halloween! Hear the full emotional range of your Utah Symphony as they perform Prokofiev’s tribute to the “noble spirit” of humanity during times of war. Carlos Miguel Prieto will conduct the orchestra, pianist Boris Giltburg and mezzo-soprano Kirstin Chávez through the deeply challenging “Concerto No. 3” and a program of Latin American composers.

Tickets for both concerts are priced from $17 to $92 and can be purchased online at: Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini or Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3  or by calling (801) 533-6683. Student tickets (50% off standard prices) are available as part of the Utah Symphony’s ongoing education programs.

OCTOBER 25 & 26 (FRIDAY/SATURDAY) — RACHMANINOFF’S RHAPSODY ON
A THEME OF PAGANINI

The 2019-20 Masterworks Series continues on October 25 & 26 with guest conductor Aziz Shokhakimov making his debut conducting Mussorgsky / Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Night on Bald Mountain” with guest pianist Lukáš Vondráček joining the Utah Symphony for a night of artistic expression and beloved classics.

The program will open with “Night on Bald Mountain” from Mussorgsky who is well known for his moody compositions that are steeped in Russian folk tradition. Although it was one of his earlier works its concert premiere didn’t occur until five years after his death in 1886. Described as a “hatful of horrors” this piece is the perfect opening for the week before Halloween.

Lukáš Vondráček joins the Utah Symphony for “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” with its slow, poetic transition before reaching its most famous interlude in the Rhapsody.

The third and final piece of the night is “Symphony No. 5.” One of only seven symphonies composed by Prokofiev his statement of patriotism and vision of what a more peaceful world would look like. Combining his styles of powerful percussion and narrative expressiveness this is an impassioned that he described as a theme that was “born in me and clamored for expression…it filled my soul.”

Mr. Lukáš Vondráček has performed all around the world including concerts with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchstra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, and National Orchestra of Belgium; he also won the International Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition in 2016.

Mr. Shokhakimov was recently appointed Kapellmeister at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Principal Guest Conductor at La Verdi Orchestra in Milan.

NOVEMBER 8 & 9 (FRIDAY/SATURDAY) — RACHMANINOFF’S PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3

The November 8 & 9 Masterworks performances feature guest mezzo-soprano Kristin Chávez and pianist Boris Giltburg, conducted by renowned Mexican conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto, Musical America’s 2019 Conductor of the Year, in his long-awaited Masterworks debut. The night begins with one of Revueltas’ most famous compositions: “Sensemayá.” First composed in 1937 in Mexico City for a small orchestra, it took only a year to expand it into a full orchestral work. Starting off slowly the work quickly adds instruments and the piece begins growing more vigorous before reaching its penultimate. When the work reaches its final notes the orchestra fills every open space in the room with its riotous finale.

Pianist Boris Giltburg will take the stage for one of the most technically challenging piano concertos, Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No. 3.” Often feared by pianists, this work is interwoven with detail and no note is wasted.

Closing the evening is Falla’s “El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat)” with the Utah Symphony and mezzo-soprano Kristin Chávez. Commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev and premiering in 1919 this work was a created from the minds of geniuses. From Falla to Massine all the way to Picasso this work tells the gripping story of infatuation, love, and seduction with Ms. Chávez at the helm.

Carlos Miguel Prieto is considered the leading Mexican conductor of his generation. Mr. Prieto is Musical America’s 2019 Conductor of the Year. He has led over 100 world premieres, and is a champion of American and Latin American composers. Serving as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México and Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in Mexico, and Music Director of the Orchestra of the Americas.

Boris Giltburg has toured China with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Petrenko, Germany with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and performed on the world’s biggest stages. He has also been praised by the Washington Post as a “variety of touch and broad dynamic palette capable of great surges of energy.”

Recognized as one of the most definitive Carmen’s of today Kristin Chávez’s presence on the worlds stages is impossible to ignore. From the Lincoln Center, the Sydney Opera House, and the Metropolitan Opera in “La Traviata,” Ms. Chávez has taken the worlds theatrical stages by storm.