Vasily petrenko conductor biography of abraham

Synopsis

Today’s date marks the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. It is also the birthday of famous American symphonist Roy Harris, who stated he was born in Lincoln County near Chandler, Oklahoma on February 12, Some have challenged the accuracy of the date, as a land deed associated with his family suggests his birth year might have been , and Harris was the main source of information regarding the actual day of his birth.

There’s also some confusion about exactly how many symphonies Harris wrote, since he didn’t assign numbers to some of the works he labeled “symphonies” or “symphonic” — and in deliberately misnumbered his Symphony No. 13 as being his Symphony No. 14, because he considered 13 an unlucky number.

Despite all this, Harris’ Symphony No. 3 from is regularly cited as one of the best American symphonies of the 20th century.

As the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musiciansput it, “the musicality, breadth of vision, and generosity of impulse that form his best music assure him long-term recognition.”

So, whether or not it was in or , or even on February 12 — Happy Birthday, Mr. Harris!

Music Played in Today's Program

Roy Harris (): Symphony No. 3; Dallas Symphony; Eduardo Mata, conductor; Dorian

On This Day

Births

• - Baptism of English composer and poet Thomas Campion, in London;

• - Bohemian composer and keyboard virtuoso Jan Ladislav (Johann Ladislaus/ Ludwig) Dussek (Dusik), in Cáslav;

• - American composer Roy Harris, in Chandler, Oklahoma;

• - American composer Mel Powell, in New York City;

Deaths

• - Czech composer and pianist František Xaver Dušek (Duschek, Duscheck or Dussek), age in Prague; He was a friend and colleague of Mozart;

• - French composer Amboise Thomas, age 84, in Paris;

• - Russian composer Anton Arensky (Gregorian date: Feb. 25);

• - French composer, conductor and pianist Emile Waldteufel, age 77, in Paris;

• - Ameri

FRANS-AERT BURGHGRAEF

CONDUCTOR

"He is talented, knows what he wants, and is very capable of conveying this to the orchestra." 

Edo de Waart about Frans-Aert Burghgraef
 

Education and Masterclasses
Frans-Aert Burghgraef studied orchestral conducting at the conservatories of Groningen and Utrecht. From an international selection of two hundred conductors, he was invited to participate in a masterclass with Bernard Haitink as part of the renowned Lucerne Festival. Edo de Waart selected him to lead a concert with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. In September , Frans-Aert Burghgraef was admitted to a highly coveted masterclass with Dima Slobodeniouk and his Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia in A Coruña.

Engagements
Since the beginning of his conducting career in , Frans-Aert Burghgraef has conducted nearly all Dutch symphony orchestras, including the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, Philharmonie Zuid, Residentie Orkest, and Phion.

His international engagements include the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, Luzern Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, and assisting James Gaffigan in La Fanciulla del West at the Bayerische Staatsoper.

From to , Frans-Aert Burghgraef worked as assistant conductor at the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest. In that capacity, he assisted chief conductor Markus Stenz, as well as guest conductors including David Zinman, Edo de Waart, James Gaffigan, Vasily Petrenko, Kevin John Edusei, Dima Slobodeniouk, Sir Mark Elder, Martyn Brabbins, Edward Gardner, and Bernard Haitink. Burghgraef conducted the orchestra in in the premiere recording of Hans Kox's Symphony No. 6. In , he conducted the Dutch Student Orchestra in a series of concerts around Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, and in January , he made his debut in the Zaterdagmatinee series, conducting the Radio Filhar

“Elijah is like an opera. It comes right at you, and the choruses are overwhelming. Yet it also has lyrical moments, the oases of calm that make this piece just so beautiful.” Sir Antonio Pappano, Chief Conductor Designate of the London Symphony Orchestra, thus commends a work once seen as Mendelssohn’s masterpiece, though relatively neglected since the ubiquitous presence of its Victorian heyday. Perhaps Pappano likes to challenge the orchestra’s librarian to rummage in the backs of cupboards.

But if the music was covered in dust, Pappano blew that away from the stirring, innovative opening of this mighty tale of the Biblical prophet. Elijah himself pre-empts the overture proper with threats to the Israelites, then the LSO launched into an intense, troubled D minor fugal prelude with fine attack, itself then dramatically interrupted by the first choral entry with a mighty cry of “Help, Lord!”. There is little piety in Elijah, rather Old Testament fire, vengeance, suffering and slaying. As Pappano said, “It comes right at you.”

When was Elijah last so strongly cast? Dame Sarah Connolly is still the first name on the team-sheet for such works, her mezzo-soprano well able to encompass the designated alto roles with her usual care for the music’s meaning. Her “Oh, rest in the Lord” made the most of that famous number. Allan Clayton, whose bushy beard gives him the appearance of a young arrivisteprophet with spiritual ambitions, sang the tenor numbers with pathos and ringing tone, not least in his aria “Then shall the righteous shine forth”. Soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha had one of the score’s plums, in the opening aria to Part 2, “Hear ye, Israel!”, quite beautifully sung, as was everything else she contributed.

But appropriately enough it was our Elijah, the magnificent Gerald Finley, who claimed the vo