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67th CONCERT SEASON 2023-2024 • Symphonic Adventures

PROGRAM 2 • MASTERWORKS SERIES

Saturday, November 25, 2023 • 8pm | Regent Theatre Oshawa

RACH 3 • CELEBRATING RACHMANINOFF’s 150th!

Join us in celebrating this milestone of the great composer and piano legend, Sergei Rachmaninoff, whose music has been revered in concert halls around the globe for countless years. Our Rachmaninoff extravaganza begins with his rapturous Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor performed by the young Armenian virtuoso, Eva Gevorgyan.
Following is Rachmaninoff’s glittering and powerful Symphonic Dances op. 45, arguably his greatest masterpiece.
Maestro Marco Parisotto and Ontario Philharmonic bring you the raw essence of one of the world’s most beloved of composers with his electrifying virtuosity and sweeping heartfelt melodies. Be enthralled!
Symphonic Dances, op.45‍
Intermission
Piano Concerto No.3, op.30 in D minor
Eva Gevorgyan, piano soloist
Sergei RACHMANINOFF
Sergei RACHMANINOFF

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EVA GEVORGYAN  • biography

Eva Gevorgyan has performed with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra, National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, Russian National Orchestra, State Academic Symphony Orchestra “Evgeny Svetlanov”, Canton Symphony Orchestra, Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Malta Philharmonic and others. She has already performed at major concert venues including the Royal Albert Hall, the Mariinsky Concert Hall, Moscow Conservatory Great Hall, and KKL Lucerne. Eva has participated in the Verbier Festival, Mariinsky International Piano Festival, Duszniki International Chopin Piano Festival, Stars on Baikal Lake Festival by Denis Matsuev, Stars of the White Nights Festival, Eilat Chamber Music Festival, «Vladimir Spivakov invites...”, Palermo Classica Festival, the Perugia Piano Festival, ClaviCologne Festival and Klassik vor Acht, Jeune Chopin à Cannes, Ferrara Piano Festival, Elena Cobb Star Prize Festival, Fränkische Musiktage Alzenau and others. In January 2020, Eva was invited to perform in Yerevan in front of the President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian and his spouse. At the Alto Adige Festival, she performed in the presence of Italy's President Sergio Mattarella.

Eva has appeared with such conductors as Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Spivakov, Vasily Petrenko, Lawrence Foster, Alexander Sladkovsky, Roberto Beltrán-Zavala, Eduard Topchjan, Dimitris Botinis, Piotr Gribanov, Tigran Hakhnazaryan, Ruth Reinhardt, Anatoly Levin, Ilmar Lapinsh, and others.

Evgeny Kissin chose Eva Gevorgyan as a scholar of the 2020 Klavierfestival Ruhr. Eva was also an ICMA Discovery Award winner at the 2019 International Classical Music Awards. She is a grand-prix winner of the Russian National Orchestra Competition in 2021 and will play with Russian National Orchestra in the season 2021-22. In total, Eva has received awards at more than forty international competitions for piano and composition in the United States, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, and Russia among others, including First Prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists (incl. special prize for the best interpretation of Bach and Canton Symphony Orchestra Prize), First Prize at the Robert Schumann Piano Competition in Dusseldorf, Second Prize and the Press Award at the Cliburn Junior International Piano Competition, Grand Prix and special prize for best Chopin interpretation at the Chicago International Music Competition, and First Prize at the Jeune Chopin International Piano Competition in Martigny. She has been a laureate and received five special prizes at Moscow's Grand Piano International Competition. Eva also won First Prizes at the Chopin International Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Szafarnia, Poland, and Portugal's St. Cecilia International Piano Competition, and won the Grand Prix at the International Piano Competition of Giuliano Pecar in Gorizia, Italy. Eva was awarded the Junior Prize (City Prize) at the Eppan Junior Piano Academy (Italy).

Eva is a Young Yamaha Artist. She received a scholarship from the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein and participates regularly in the intensive music weeks and activities offered by the Academy. She also holds scholarships from Denis Matsuev’s New Names Foundation, from YerazArt Foundation, Vladimir Spivakov’s International Foundation Artis Futura, and from the Armenian Assembly.

Eva Gevorgyan, an Armenian and Russian citizen, was born in 2004. She is studying with Professor Natalia Trull at the Central Music School in Moscow. Eva was invited to the International Piano Academy Lake Como, where she participated in masterclasses with Dmitry Bashkirov, Stanislav Ioudenitch and William Nabore. She has also participated in masterclasses with Pavel Gililov, Grigory Gruzman, Piotr Paleczny, Andrea Bonatta and Klaus Hellwig.

MARCO PARISOTTO • biography

Born in Montreal of Italian lineage, Marco Parisotto is among Canada's foremost conductors on the international scene. A guest with orchestras around the globe, with unrelentingly high standards of performance, he continues to thrill audiences with his passionate music making. He is the winner of seven major international competitions and crowned these achievements at the1997 “Besançon International Competition for Conductors”, being awarded both the Grand Prix as well as the Prix du Public - a historical first at this elite event.

As Artistic Director of the Ontario Philharmonic (OP), a title he has held for over two decades, he has earned praise for the orchestra’s development and adventurous performances, and he is credited with building OP to the high standard it enjoys today. Under his leadership, Ontario Philharmonic has received superlative audience and media recognition.

“…a fantastic orchestra [Ontario Philharmonic] being led by a first-rate conductor” • Musical Toronto.

Marco Parisotto’s close association with orchestras is manifested through the strong relationships he has maintained with ensembles under his leadership. In 2013, he was unanimously elected as Music Director of the Jalisco Philharmonic, transforming this ensemble into one of Latin America’s most distinguished orchestras. Under his direction, the Jalisco Philharmonic garnered international attention with its virtuosic performances and participated in recordings, tours, international festivals and major events such as Operalia, The World Opera Competition. During his tenure, the orchestra undertook major concert tours eliciting great critical and public acclaim as they visited Germany, Austria, the USA and Mexico in leading concert halls of Berlin, Munich, Essen, Vienna, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Busan and Mexico City. As well, through Maestro Parisotto, the orchestra completed significant commercial recording projects, starting with the Philharmonic’s first release under the SONY Classical label.

“Amidst this exciting pillar of sound growing constantly, stands Marco Parisotto. Under his control, directing the orchestra with the greatest finesse, like an architect he gives precise instructions that develop into a majestic edifice of sound…  He ingeniously manages the full spectrum of colors of his orchestra… We hope that this fantastic orchestra with this dynamic conductor will visit our German concert halls more frequently, bringing with them their style of spicy and fiery music-making.” • Klassik Begeistert, Raphael Eckardt

Following a special concert celebrating Canada-China relations in 1999 at the Grand Theatre in Shanghai, Marco Parisotto was appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, a position he held until 2003.

Marco Parisotto has won critical and public praise for his interpretations of the great Austro-German repertoire - as R. Strauss, Bruckner, Wagner, and as an avid Mahlerian. He has also been acclaimed for his readings of Russian masters as Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and for his passionate performances in the operatic field. He has led productions including, among others, Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana, Carmen, Otello, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, La Boheme, Aida, Rigoletto, Don Giovanni and Turandot.

“The star of the evening was without a doubt Marco Parisotto…inspired, passionate and in a virtual state of grace, impressing a supreme flow and agility to this extremely challenging opera [Puccini’s Turandot].” • Opera World.

Marco Parisotto has appeared in major concert halls throughout the world, conducting many leading orchestras including the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Philharmonia Orchestra of London, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano "La Verdi", Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano, New Jersey Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Edmonton Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, Busan Philharmonic, Osaka Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic, Erfurt Philharmonic, Belgrade Philharmonic, Georges Enescu Philharmonic, Janacek Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Opéra de Bordeaux, Opéra de Marseille, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and Philharmonique de Liège. He was received with great enthusiasm at the international Festivals of Evian, Menton, Besançon, Festival Cervantino, Wieniawski International Festival (Poland), May Festival of Guadalajara, Festival of Opera in Jalisco, Skaneateles Festival New York, Busan Maru International Music Festival and Bolzano Festival; at the Montreal Opera, Shanghai Opera, Opera Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste, Serbian National Theatre; in Mexico with the Mexico City Philharmonic, Orquesta Filarmonica de la UNAM, Orquesta Sinfonica Sinaloa de las Artes, Orquesta Sinfonica de UANL, Camerata de Coahuila, Sinfonica Carlos Chavez, Camara de Bellas Artes, Orquesta de Baja California; in China with the Shanghai Symphony, China National Symphony and Gui Yang Symphony. He has also led to acclaim the Polish National Radio Symphony, Monte-Carlo Philharmonic, Orchestra Nazionale della RAI of Torino, Orquesta de Cordoba, Orchestre de Bayonne Côte-Basque. On several occasions, at Théâtre des Champs Élysées in Paris, he was a guest of Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux.  

Marco Parisotto is the winner of seven important international competitions. Aside from his noteworthy awards at the prestigious Besançon Competition, joining the ranks of maestros like Seiji Ozawa and Michel Plasson, other top prizes have included the Tokyo International Conductors' Competition in Japan, Constantin Silvestri Competition in Romania and the Antonio Pedrotti in Italy. He was moreover honored with all other special awards at these events.  

He took his training both as a violinist and pianist and studied conducting with eminent maestros including Leonard Bernstein, Carlo Maria Giulini, Leonard Slatkin, Charles Brück, Yuri Temirkanov, Georg Tintner and, initially, with Raffi Armenian at the Conservatoire de Musique du Québec in Montreal.

PROGRAM NOTES
by John Green

SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873-1943)
Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor

In keeping with his family’s musical heritage, Sergei Rachmaninoff took up the piano at age four. Eventually, after several years of compositional training under Anton Arensky, he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1892. By that time, he had already completed several pieces for piano and his Symphony No. 1. The symphony was not well received which drove the composer into a deep depression, a condition he endured for four years. After several sessions of successful therapy he regained his health and wrote his highly acclaimed 2nd Piano Concerto, now a standard in the piano concerto repertoire.
In 1909 there followed Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Piano Concerto considered to be one of the most technically challenging works in all of piano literature. So challenging, in fact, that many pianists fear it to the point where they won’t attempt it. The work premiered in New York City accompanied by the New York Symphony Society with the composer himself at the piano. It follows the standard three movement pattern of Allegro, Intermezzo and Finale and was accepted with resounding enthusiasm. When he discussed the origins of the concerto, Rachmaninoff’s own comments were significant:  
"A composer's music should express the country of his birth, his love affairs, his religion, the books which have influenced him, the pictures he loves...my music is the product of my temperament, and so it is Russian music."


SERGEI RACHMANINOFF
Symphonic Dances op. 45


Sergei Rachmaninoff lived the majority of his adult life in exile. The horror and chaos of the revolution persuaded him to leave his beloved Russia, and although he remained in close contact with family and friends he was labelled an outcast, a western foreigner; as he himself predicted he never returned to his homeland. “Losing my country, I lost myself also,” he wrote. “To the exile whose musical roots, traditions, and background have been annihilated, there remains no solace apart from the unbroken and unbreakable silence of his memories.”
The Symphonic Dances are his last compositional offering—completed entirely in the U.S. where he was living and where he would eventually die in 1943. The work is nostalgic, full of remembrances of the Russia the composer had known in his early years; they are represented in the original titles “Noon”, “Twilight” and “Midnight”. At its completion in 1940 Rachmaninoff wrote to conductor Eugene Ormandy requesting that due to his hectic practice schedule as a concert pianist, he would like help with the orchestration of the Dances. This task was completed and the Dances were premiered by Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1941, an orchestra that had premiered three of his previous works, and with whom he had a long association.
As was the case with many composers who went before him, Rachmaninoff felt free to borrow from his own work; the Dances are a prime example of that: the theme from his Symphony No. 1 appears in the title marked “Noon”; and a melody found in the concluding “Midnight” taken from his Vespers alludes to his life-long struggle with depression, a dark forbidding danger perhaps brought on by homesickness.
Was his last compositional work a farewell to life and music? A goodbye? The memory Rachmaninoff left for us to ponder is expressed in his own words: “A composer always has his own ideas about his work. Each listener should find his own meaning". And at the conclusion of the work on the last page he wrote: “I thank thee, Lord.”

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